Free Republic

BAGHDAD -- For the olive-green pickup truck, it was just one small stretch of road. For the half-dozen Iraqi men and one woman seated inside the cabin and flatbed, it was one giant leap.     For the first time since the announcement of sovereignty, the squad of young soldiers of the new Iraqi National Guard ventured out onto the streets without a U.S. Army escort.     The mission one recent day: Escort a busload of young recruits from the Muthana Airport base to Camp Sara, another base on the other side of town.      A giant Iraqi flag waved from their vehicle....

Chaplain Tells Of U.S. Building Schools And Good Will In Iraq By Greg Jefferson When a 19-year-old soldier was killed last November in Iraq, the miserable job of going through his belongings fell to Rabbi Carlos Huerta. But what the Army major and chaplain found heartened him. "He had pictures of the children," Huerta said during a talk Sunday afternoon on the North Side. The photos showed beaming youngsters in the Iraqi city of Mosul. They'd been won over by the new schools, clinics and hospitals that U.S. soldiers built, said Huerta, the Jewish chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The miniature Liberty Bell clanged. Elbows flew. Sweat poured down foreheads. Sales tickets were passed and, with a flick of the wrist, 10,000 shares of the Middle East Bank had more than doubled in value. The frantic pace Sunday of those first 10 minutes of trading typified the enthusiasm behind the Iraq Stock Exchange a new institution seen as a critical step in building a new Iraqi economy. In just five sessions, trading volume has nearly quadrupled and the value of some stocks has surged more than 600 percent, gains traders say reflects the pent up frustration...

ARTICLE TOOLS Email This Article E-Mail This Article Printer Friendly Format Printer-Friendly Format Most E-mailed Articles Most E-Mailed Articles Reprints & Permissions Reprints & Permissions Single Page Format Single-Page Format The Reach of War Go to Complete Coverage TIMES NEWS TRACKER Topics Alerts Iraq Armament, Defense and Military Forces United States International Relations Lynsey Addario for The New York Times While on patrol last week, Iraqi soldiers paused to speak with an Iraqi woman south of Baghdad. BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 17 — Gradually, ever so imperceptibly, the ground is beginning to shift. The legions of American soldiers who not so...

Detroit News July 14, 2004 War And Reconstruction In Iraq Pay Off For America Despite an unrelenting drumbeat of negative news, Iraqis and coalition forces make substantial progress in freedom, safety, health and development By U.S. Rep. Joseph Knollenberg Three months of relentlessly negative media coverage of the situation in Iraq may have left many here wondering whether our efforts in Iraq were really worth it. While there were and are legitimate issues in Iraq to be covered by the media that may not put our country in the best light, that unrelenting drumbeat of negativity has obscured and ignored...

In a speech today at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, President Bush outlined our country's strategy for winning the War on Terror and detailed the progress made over the last three years. Three Commitments in Our Strategy for Peace: To overcome the dangers of our time, America is also taking a new approach in the world. The administration is determined to challenge new threats - not ignore them, and simply wait for future tragedy. The strategy for peace has three commitments: First, defending the peace by taking the fight to the enemy - confronting them overseas so America does...

BAGHDAD -- In the two weeks since they took back control of their country, Iraqi security forces are showing their mettle. Last week, on the capital's busiest shopping street in Karada, an alert cop spotted a car bomb packed with 1,500 pounds of explosives that could have killed dozens. Farther north, a platoon of Iraqi National Guard killed a pair of suicide bombers and dragged the explosives from the vehicle before they detonated. Hundreds of Iraqi soldiers now patrol the streets, and dozens have been killed or injured in the past week in firefights with insurgents who seem to be...

Facts and Figures Education: 3300 Iraqi schools renovated, or soon to be completed, since the overthrow of Saddam. ("What We've Accomplished," Fox News Sunday, April 30, 2004) 9 Million New math and science textbooks printed and distributed with pro-Saddam propaganda extracted. ("What We've Accomplished," Fox News Sunday, April 30, 2004) 85% Primary and secondary schools that have re-opened since the overthrow of Saddam. ("Free After 50 Years of Tyranny," The Observer, October 5, 2003) 159,000 Student desks distributed to Iraqi schools. ("Countdown to Sovereignty," Coalition Provisional Authority, countdowntosovereignty.org) 81,735 Teaching kits distributed to Iraqi primary school teachers. ("Countdown to Sovereignty,"...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Not much has changed for U.S. troops since the handover of power to an Iraqi government. The blowing dust, searing heat and guerrilla war still make life miserable, and the daily routine remains eat, patrol, raid, guard and sleep. The one improvement, however, is a new enthusiasm among the soldiers' Iraqi counterparts — the security forces intended to take over so the Americans can go home. The Iraqis are showing greater pride and initiative under a sovereign government than under the U.S.-led occupation, even though the U.S. military remains in charge of security. Lt. Col. Mohammed Faiq...

In speeches, briefings, interviews and an online chat, President Bush, Vice President Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and others used the events surrounding this week's handover of political autonomy in Iraq to rebuild their case that Iraq is experiencing a "historic transformation" and Americans are safer as a result. Returning to the main justification for the Iraq war, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in an interview released by the Pentagon, said forbidden chemical weapons were found in Iraq in recent days. Rumsfeld said the Polish defense minister told him this week "that his troops in Iraq had recently come...

For all the Michiganders out there, Drew and Mike were discussing an article this morning that stated Iraq is worse off today than they were before the war. They claimed that they had less electricity and less water. I know that this is false, so I tried a search to find the true facts to forward to them. I can't seem to find any summary that clearly disputes their claim. Do any of you Freepers have a link to an article that I could send these misinformed folks. BTW, these guys are pretty supportive of GWB, they are just easily...

KUWAIT today announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with Iraq, which had been severed since Saddam Hussein's forces invaded in 1990. Following the transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi government yesterday "the state of Kuwait announces the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with its Arab republic sister", a Kuwaiti foreign affairs spokesman said. Kuwait will send an ambassador to Baghdad at a later date, the spokesman added. The move showed Kuwait's desire "to cooperate and coordinate (with Iraq) in the interests of the two fraternal countries and their peoples and to consolidate the foundations of security and stability in the...

Coalition Continues to Prepare Iraq for Sovereignty By Rudi WilliamsAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 26, 2004 – Iraqi and coalition security forces continue joint operations to establish a stable Iraq, repair infrastructure, stimulate the economy and pass sovereignty to the people of Iraq, said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt during a news conference in Baghdad today. Kimmitt, the deputy operations chief for Multinational Force Iraq, said that in the past 24 hours, the coalition conducted 1,792 patrols and 14 offensive operations, flew 50 Air Force and Navy sorties and released 33 detainees. "The next release at Abu Ghraib...

KHARABRUD, Iraq, June 25, 2004 — It had to be an exciting day for the people of this small village when soldiers of Task Force 2-11 Field Artillery, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps came here May 31. It was a day of two significant ceremonies for the village and its surrounding communities, as a new health clinic was opened and a ground breaking ceremony was held to mark the start of construction on a new elementary school.

Iraqi Security Forces Open the First JCC in Northern IraqStory by Task Force OlympiaMOSUL, IRAQ – The Iraqi Security Forces in the Ninevah Province increased their ability to protect Iraqi citizens and to react to emergencies, when they opened the first Joint Coordination Center in northern Iraq June 23. All security operations will operate from the Mosul JCC where a representative from every security force element will be stationed to facilitate coordination. Representatives from the Iraqi National Guard, Iraqi Police, Facility Protection Services and Iraqi Armed Forces will be stationed at the JCC to efficiently fight crime and terrorism....

Obsessed by bombs and bullets, the West ignores a political renaissance, says Amir Taheri, newly returned from Iraq.In London the other day the Iraqi national football team met a team made up of MPs, mostly opponents of the war, for a friendly match. The Iraqis won 15-0. Six months ago the team did not even exist. But in August, after defeating several opponents, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, the men will stand to attention as Iraq's new flag is raised at the Olympic games in Athens. Iraq today is no bed of roses, I know. I have just come back...

Lt. Gen. Sanchez Meets with Security Leaders in Northern IraqStory by Task Force OlympiaMOSUL, IRAQ – Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of Multinational Force-Iraq, visited Mosul Monday to discuss the upcoming transfer of sovereignty on June 30 with Iraqi security officials from throughout Iraq’s three northern provinces – Ninevah, Irbil and Dahuk. Leaders and officials of the Iraqi Security Forces to include the Iraqi National Guard, the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Border Police, the Iraqi Armed Forces, Facilities Protective Services, and other civil defense leaders came from Dahuk, Irbil and other cities to discuss security needs and concerns with...

Interior Ministry stages exercises on how to maintain security as handover looms Baghdad, Iraq Press, June 22, 2004 – The security forcers under the command of the Interior Ministry are staging large-scale exercises in several areas of the capital Baghdad. The games come a few days ahead of the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis. The exercises are interpreted here as a message to insurgents, who have intensified their attacks in the run-up to sovereignty, that the security forces are in control. Thousands of police, traffic and emergency officers are involved in the exercises during which they are being trained...

Bremer Details Top Accomplishments of Post-War Iraq By Kathleen T. RhemAmerican Forces Press Service BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 21, 2004 – As he prepares to leave Iraq after the handover of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government, the American who has led the country since the end of major offensive operations looked back and detailed what he believes are the three greatest accomplishment there to date. "I think what's important is actually to step back and look at the broader picture of what's been achieved over the last year," Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III explained June 16 to American reporters...

Iraqis to Manage All Ministries Before June 30 By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 21, 2004 – Iraqis will assume management of all national government ministries before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty, the Coalition Provisional Authority's chief spokesman said today. "Nearly 60 percent of the Iraqi government is already transitioned to sovereignty," Dan Senor told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. And, he noted, Iraqi officials are slated to assume control of the remaining ministries by the end of the week. With nine days remaining before the transfer of power, Iraqis now run 15 of...