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Najari bin Jade Abbas, who lost the use of her legs after a kidney removal operation three years ago, gains the gift of mobility during a wheelchair delivery to the Qays Clinic in Radwaniyah, Nov. 22. U.S. troops of 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, distributed 20 wheelchairs at the clinic courtesy of “Free Wheelchair Mission,” of Irvine, Calif. Photo by Spc. Ruth McClary, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — U.S. forces answered a call from Dr. Qays Ibrahim Rashid, owner of the Radwaniyah area Qays medical clinic, who requested wheelchairs for mobility impaired patients in...

KIRKUK — "If terrorists knew this explosion would have unified Arabs, Turks, and Christians, they wouldn't have done it," said Mayor Talib of Taza, referring to a truck bomb attack here in June. "It has united us!" Representatives from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and Kirkuk's Provincial Reconstruction Team traveled to Taza, June 27, to assist in the recovery. Capt. Nathan Jennings, a company commander with 2nd BCT, met with Talib. According to Jennings, the purpose of the visit was to assess the security situation in the city, deliver much needed water, and examine a tent city...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S. troops pulled out of Baghdad on Monday, triggering jubilation among Iraqis hopeful that foreign military occupation is ending six years after the invasion to depose Saddam Hussein. Iraqi soldiers paraded through the streets in their American-made vehicles draped with Iraqi flags and flowers, chanting, dancing and calling the pullout a "victory." One drove a motorcycle with party streamers on it; another, a Humvee with a garland of plastic roses on the grill. U.S. combat troops must pull out of Iraq's urban centers by midnight on Tuesday under a bilateral security pact that also requires all troops...

The Friday Prayer Imams agreed on the importance of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) after the American forces withdraw from the cities. At the same time, they condemned a number of media outlets for doubting the ISF’s capabilities. The Friday Prayer Imams demanded that a national holiday be declared on the day that the US is scheduled to withdraw from the cities - which coincides with the anniversary of the 1920 Revolt. The Friday Prayer Imam at Holy Najaf - his Eminence Sayid Sadr Al Din Al Qubanchi - called for the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Defense, and...

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2009 – U.S. soldiers are making a difference in the lives of Iraqis, as evidenced recently by the opening of a senior center and orphanage, a new school and school renovations, and a refurbished joint security station. Iraqi students and teachers participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 12-classroom secondary school for girls in Diwaniyah province, Iraq, Feb. 26, 2009. The school can accommodate 360 students. U.S. Army photo by Alicia Embrey  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We are making a difference -- you can see it in the smiles of the local residents...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 23, 2009 – Soldiers with the 63rd Armor Regiment got the chance to buy homemade products and souvenirs and further the cause of Iraqi women and their families recently when they hosted a bazaar to sell the women’s handiwork. Soldiers from Task Force 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, buy from a vendor during a women's bazaar at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiya in Baghdad, Feb. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jamie Vernon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "This is a great way for local women to improve their small businesses and take care...

After a five-day trip through the Middle East, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Wednesday that Iraq has become safer and more politically stable. But the Democrat doesn't think that change is necessarily a result of a surge in troops she opposed two years ago. That's a vote Giffords says she stands by. Instead, Giffords said in an interview Wednesday, the positive change — which comes as President Obama prepares to draw troops out of Iraq and increase military levels in Afghanistan — is a result of efforts by Iraqi citizens themselves. "Largely, it's the Iraqi people realizing they would prefer...

An Iraqi man displays his purple finger after voting at the polling station in Yusifiyah during the provincial elections, Jan. 31, 2009. Every citizen who voted was required to dip their finger in indelible ink to ensure each cast but one vote. Photo by Pfc. Evan Loyd, 1st Armored Division. BAGHDAD — The citizens of Mahmudiyah Qada went safely to the election polls to vote during the provincial elections, Jan. 31. With no reports of serious violence, the free election was a monumental effort and achievement for the Iraqi Security Forces. The 17th Iraqi Army Division and Iraqi Police were...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2009 – Iraqis of all backgrounds are preparing to vote during their country’s first election since 2005, a senior Defense Department official said here today. An Iraqi Army colonel shows his purple index finger indicating that he voted during the provincial elections in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 28, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Douglas York  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. More than 15 million Iraqis are eligible to vote in the Jan. 31 provincial elections, which will select representatives for 440 council seats across the country’s 18 provinces, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told Pentagon...

BAGHDAD – One terrorist was killed during a force operation in Mosul Sunday targeting an alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq military leader and improvised explosive device facilitator. Forces attempted to stop a vehicle assessed to be driven by the suspected terrorist. The driver of the vehicle ignored the force’s orders to stop and continued to accelerate. Coalition forces, following established procedures, gave warnings and fired a disabling shot in an attempt to stop the vehicle. However, the driver continued to accelerate and drove through an Iraqi Army checkpoint. As the vehicle was going through a second Iraqi Army checkpoint, the Iraqi...

Women and children wait patiently to receive free medical care from Iraqi doctors during a medical clinic at a schoolhouse in the Zafaraniyah area of eastern Baghdad, Dec 20, 2008. Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Todd, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs. FOB RUSTAMIYAH — Iraqi doctors offered free medical care to residents in Baghdad’s Zafaraniyah area as Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers provided security, Dec 20. Iraqi doctors and an Iraqi nurse tended to area residents seeking health care as Coalition forces medical personnel, who did not directly get involved with treatments, observed and offered medical advice and...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2008 – Iraqi citizens of Babil province yesterday led U.S. soldiers to the seizure of a huge amount of components suitable for the construction of deadly explosively formed penetrator-type bombs, military officials reported. Acting on a tip from local Iraqi citizens, the U.S. soldiers discovered more than 2,500 bomb-making components at three separate locations in an area southeast of Samrah Village in Babil province. Officials believe this discovery will significantly disrupt explosively formed projectiles attacks within central Iraq. U.S. soldiers found the cache after a group of local Iraqi citizens informed them of a suspected cache location...

For years, when she approached Iraqi Army checkpoints and produced an identification card for soldiers to study for clues about her sect, Nadia Hashim used a simple formula to signal the mostly Shiite Muslim force that she, too, is a Shiite. "I am one of you," she'd say. The soldiers would harass Sunnis, but they'd simply wave Hashim through. Now her pat line gets her an official reproach. When a relative used it recently, a soldier admonished the driver and the passengers. "'We are Iraqis, and you shouldn't say such a thing,' " recalled Hashim. The 35-year-old mother of three...

'The war in Iraq is over. We won. Which means the Iraqi people won." When I wrote this on my Web site a few days ago, I set off a mini-firestorm. Perhaps because I have spent more time embedded with combat troops in Iraq than any journalist I know - and have interviewed countless Iraqis and members of the coalition military. But I stand by my words, just as I stood by my assertion of February 2005 that Iraq was in a state of civil war, and later understood that Al Qaeda was its proximate cause. Those statements went against...

Winning Hearts and Minds July 7th, 2008 Way back at the beginning of this war, and continuing through tomorrow, we have debated how to win the hearts and minds of the people of the Middle East. I have always viewed this discussion as important, but perhaps ultimately unknowable, because as Machiavelli loves to remind us, these things are all about winning and losing. The war, not the debate. During the Cold War there was an endless discussion about our enemy, just as there is today. Back then, the main question was: are we fighting a global movement (international communism), and...

Sgt. Joseph Quirarte, a non-commissioned officer from Pacifica, Calif., takes a moment to hold an Iraqi child while on patrol in a neighborhood near the forward operating base, May 31. Quirarte serves with Military Police Platoon, Brigade Special Troop Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division-Baghdad. Photo by Spc. Grant Okubo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY — Patriot Brigade Soldiers of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, exuded a genuine, vested interest for the community as they patrolled neighborhoods surrounding Forward Operating Base Loyalty, May 31. Soldiers assigned to Military Police Platoon, Headquarters...

Iraqis Fear Rapid US Withdrawal Would Cause 'Chaos and Anarchy,' Says Iraqi Parliamentarian (CNSNews.com) - Most Iraqis support the U.S. troop presence in Iraq and think a rapid withdrawal would lead to "chaos and anarchy," said Adnan Pachachi, a member of the National Assembly of Iraq and a former president of Iraq's Governing Council (IGC), on Friday. He also said that the best policy now lies somewhere between the strategies outlined by Sen. John McCain (r-Ariz.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "There is very widespread support for an American presence in the short and intermediate term," said Pachachi, who spoke...

/29/2008 - ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- A single doctor, a retired Air Force colonel, arrived here without much fanfare May 18 and left four days later. He left in his wake improved sight for many Iraqis and priceless training for Nasiriyah General Hospital physicians in Nasiriyah, Iraq. He traveled with a few bags and a 50-pound box containing a microscope. A specialized, portable, eye-surgery microscope he used to treat people who may not have otherwise afforded it. He also carried 200 prescription glasses and 300 sunglasses to hand out freely to those in need. He performed his wonders at...

BAGHDAD – Local residents in the Sadr City district of Baghdad gathered for a peaceful prayer demonstration May 16. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people, some carrying Iraqi flags, joined together for a peaceful prayer meeting coordinated by the tribal leaders of Sadr City. One large group of people marched to the office of the Martyr Sadr Mosque for prayer service. The timing of the gathering corresponded with mosque services and the crowd dispersed at the end of prayer service. A second large group met peacefully near al-Habibiyah by al-Hamza Square and was organized by tribal leaders of Sadr City....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Approximately 120 men of the Chalabi tribe returned to their homes recently in the Sayafiyah region, about 25 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, more than a year after being driven out by al-Qaeda in Iraq extremists. Escorted by Sons of Iraq leader Jumah al-Kazarji and Soldiers of 1st Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), a large convoy of cars and trucks ushered the Chalabi men back to their abandoned village. Their reclamation of homes signaled the hopeful beginning of a new era of peace and...