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Despite reports of casualties, captures and explosions continually permeating the news about Iraq, much necessary work is being accomplished in the country by Iraqis with U.S. and coalition forces. For example, about 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will attend freshly refurbished schools this autumn. Forty-three schools in the northern and southern provinces have received funds for renovation and repair; contracts have been awarded to do the work. More than $1.3 million within the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund has been budgeted to continue a nationwide school repair program to rehabilitate sanitary facilities, electrical and mechanical systems, and make structural repairs to schools in...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 August 15, 2005Release Number: 05-08-19 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUCCESSES THIS WEEK IN IRAQ (5-11 AUG) BAGHDAD, Iraq – Reconstruction projects strengthened Iraq’s infrastructure this week, while community leaders showed their commitment to rebuilding. Iraqi Security Forces continue to be an essential part in working to increase the country’s security. Approximately 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts in about six weeks. Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced Aug. 6...

Baghdad, Iraq – Major General Joseph Taluto, commanding general, 42nd Infantry Division, participated in a ribbon cutting of the 101st Airborne Division’s future headquarters last weekend at Forward Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq. The 101st Airborne Division will be relieving the 42nd Infantry Division before the end of the year. The new facility, known as the ‘D Main’ will be a fully functional division headquarters consisting of 51,000 square feet when elements of the ‘Screaming Eagles’ arrive in the fall. The facility is the largest single structure built to date in Iraq for coalition forces. The U.S. Army Corps...

CAMP JUSTICE, Iraq, The 1st Iraqi Army Brigade faced the challenge of implementing the first Non-commissioned Officer Academy in the country, and succeeded. Now their challenge is to spread the knowledge to brigades throughout Iraq. "Grab hold of the NCOs and give them the knowledge and skill to succeed on the battlefield," said Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Rachal from Alexandria, La., instructor for the Iraqi Army Leadership Training Course as he addressed a group of freshly-graduated NCOs. On Aug. 6, IA Soldiers from the most recent class, Class 0505, graduated as the last group to be instructed by the U.S....

Since the war in Iraq began, there has been a breakdown of critical thinking in this country. Forget what the official reports say. The interpretation of the report by the media or Internet sources is what is important. There are people in this country that believe Al-Jazeerah and the terrorists before they will believe any statement issued by the government. Cindy Sheehan and her comrades get front page billing while spouting half-truths and flat out lies about the situation in Iraq. Day after day we are subjected to nothing but “bad” news from Iraq. A suicide bombing here, a convoy...

Rosemary Goudreau, the editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune, has received the same e-mail message a dozen times over the last year. "Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq?" the anonymous polemic asks, in part. "Did you know that 3,100 schools have been renovated?" "Of course we didn't know!" the message concludes. "Our media doesn't tell us!" Ms. Goudreau's newspaper, like most dailies in America, relies largely on The Associated Press for its coverage of the Iraq war. So she finally forwarded the e-mail message to Mike Silverman, managing editor of The A.P., asking...

Iraq's parliamentary speaker summoned lawmakers on Sunday to a special meeting of the National Assembly at 6 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Monday. Members of the committee drafting a constitution said the meeting would give parliament its first opportunity to review a text of the new charter, which they said would be ready on time for the Aug. 15 deadline set a year ago. The National Assembly issued a statement announcing Monday's unusual evening session, giving no other details. "At this meeting, the draft constitution is expected to be delivered," Nasser al-Awadi, a Sunni Arab member of the constitutional drafting committee,...

On June 4, Jalal Talabani, president of Iraq, attended the inauguration of the Kurdistan National Assembly in Irbil, northern Iraq. Talabani, a Kurd, is not only the first-ever democratically elected head of state in Iraq, but in a country that traces its history back to the Garden of Eden, he is, as one friend observed, "the first freely chosen leader of this land since Adam was here alone." While Kurds are enormously proud of his accomplishment, the flag of Iraq - the country Talabani heads - was noticeably absent from the inauguration ceremony, nor can it be found anywhere in...

Aug. 12, 2005 Release A050812a Successes this week in Iraq (5-11 Aug., 2005) BAGHDAD, Iraq – Reconstruction projects strengthened Iraq's infrastructure this week, while community leaders showed their commitment to rebuilding. Iraqi Security Forces continue to be an essential part in working to increase the country's security. Approximately 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts in about six weeks. Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced Aug. 6 that renovations of 43 schools in the northern and southern provinces are funded for repairs, and contracts have been awarded for the work. As part...

The U.S. military has achieved major success in developing and training an Iraq Army battalion. U.S. officials said the success in the training and deployment of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Brigade was demonstrated in operations in the Mosul area. The reconstituted battalion, part of the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, has operated its own personnel, intelligence and logistics sections. "This battalion is undoubtedly one of the best in Tall Afar," Capt. Greg Mitchell, a U.S. company commander, said. "It can maneuver on its own without American support. If it's going to take control of the city, they'll require more...

Fly into Irbil, the regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and you feel that you have arrived in another country

Fly into Arbil, the regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and you feel that you have arrived in another country. It is the Kurdish, not the Iraqi, flag that flutters from Arbil International Airport, Kurdistan's new, glass-fronted "gateway" to the world, which saw its first flights from Dubai, Beirut and Amman arrive last month. The airport was built on a former military base once used by Saddam Hussein's regime to bomb the Kurds of Halabja. Now it brings in investors. Businessmen, scared away from other parts of Iraq, are coming to Kurdistan instead, and helping its economy to take off. "Before...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2005 – More than 110 Iraqi battalions are involved in the fight against terrorists, officials in Baghdad said this week. The contributions of the units vary, but all are participating in operations. The Iraqi ministries of Defense and Interior have developed readiness assessment criteria for units. Much like the readiness assessments for the U.S. Army, the criteria measure capabilities in six different areas: personnel, command and control, training and mission-essential tasks, sustainment, equipment, and leadership. Different readiness levels indicate different capabilities. Level 1 is the highest rating, where units are fully independent in all aspects. This includes...

Rumsfeld's cautious optimism Cal Thomas August 10, 2005 There are at least two presumptions some people make about the peace effort in Iraq (yes, I'm being semantically clever to make a point). One presumption is the falsehood that the United States can say "never mind," stop its effort to help bring freedom and self-determination to Iraq and, like magic, those who now hate and wish to destroy us will also say "never mind" and go back to killing each other instead of us. The other false presumption is that those who tell opinion pollsters they now oppose the war and...

NAJAF, Iraq, Aug. 10, 2005 — Donkey cart, bicycle and the occasional jury-rigged car have dominated transportation methods in the bumpy, rugged rural Najaf Province of Iraq for many years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South District has been paving the way for modern asphalt roads in these areas in order to facilitate agriculture sales and to provide better routes to village schools and hospitals. "The intent of these projects is to provide paved roads for everyday use by the local population." Art Bennett, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “(Gulf Region South) is currently managing the construction...

<p>Progress cannot be measured by the number of deaths or bombs, writes Frederick Kagan.</p> <p>DESPITE what you may have read, the military situation in Iraq today is positive - far better than it ever was when we were fighting guerillas in Vietnam, or when the Soviets were fighting the Afghan mujahideen, or in almost any other major insurgency of the 20th century.</p>

Baghdad, Iraq—Slightly more than six weeks from now, approximately 18,000 Iraqi school children will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts. A team of Iraqi and U.S. government entities announce today that renovations of 43 schools in the northern and southern governorates are funded for repairs, with contracts awarded for the work. As part of the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund, over $1.3M was set aside to continue a nationwide school repair program. Repairs include rehabilitating sanitary facilities, and electrical and mechanical systems, as well as structural repairs to schools in Karbala, Dahuk, Najaf, Basrah, and Qadisiyah....

A controversial Islamic cleric has left the UK for the Middle East, his spokesman has said, amid speculation he would be investigated for treason. Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed - former head of radical group Al Muhajiroun - left on Saturday for Lebanon, his colleague Anjem Choudary told the BBC. Tony Blair had warned Mr Mohammed's organisation faced a potential ban under new anti-terrorism measures. Mr Choudary said the cleric believed "Britain had declared war on Muslims". The news came as it was revealed police and lawyers were to consider whether some outspoken Islamist radicals could face treason charges. He has...

MOSUL, Iraq - There's one clear sign that life in the Sunni Arab-dominated western half of this city is changing for the better — children are again playing soccer at night. The reason: fewer insurgent attacks. The U.S. military says there were fewer bombings and mortar attacks in July than any month since October. A 50-percent drop in attacks in western Mosul over the past eight months is a marked improvement from the days when U.S. troops routinely had to call in airstrikes and repel synchronized attacks. But that doesn't mean violence has been eradicated. Though attacks in July were...

Baghdad – Abdel Kareem Al Enezi, minister of Iraqi national security, has announced the existence of a mutual plan for the withdrawal of the multinational forces from the secure cities during this month (August). Al Enezi said that the plan includes the withdrawal of the multinational forces from 7 secure Iraqi cities and hading them over, to Iraqi authorities. Al Enezi pointed out that the 7 provinces are Najaf, Karbala, Al Naseria, Al Diwaneya, Al Samawa, Al Selaimania and Erbil. He noted that the procedures of withdrawal from some of these cities have already started. On their behalf, the American...