Free Republic

PELHAM, N.H. — Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Monday that a new message from Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden in which he scolds his followers in Iraq proves that U.S. efforts there are succeeding. "Basically he encouraged the extreme elements — Al Qaeda in Iraq particularly in the Sunni areas — to join together and be more effective in bringing terrorism and murder and suicide bombings to Iraq and to Anbar province," McCain said. "It's a clear sign that we are succeeding in Iraq because people got very tired of Al Qaeda taking their young women, killing their...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2007 – The Army is working quickly to field and fully staff new warrior transition units, which provide critical support to wounded soldiers and their families, the general in charge of the Army Medical Action Plan said. The Army has created 35 warrior transition units, which consist of 58 companies of about 200 soldiers each, Army Brig. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, deputy commanding general of the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command, said at a media roundtable Oct. 19. These units are designed to fill a gap in support personnel for wounded troops that the Army identified...

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq. But as the White House and its military commanders plan the next phase of the war, other officials have cautioned against taking what they see as a premature step that could create strategic and political difficulties for the United States. Such a declaration could fuel criticism that the Iraq conflict has become a civil...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2007 – Building an Iraqi air force will take years, but the service already is contributing to the counterinsurgency effort in the country, the chief of the Coalition Air Force Transition Team said today. The Iraqi air force has made tremendous strides since January, Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert R. Allardice told defense experts today via a conference call from Baghdad. The Iraqi air force now has around 1,200 personnel and about 50 aircraft. The force is involved with intelligence and surveillance missions today, but “they will be shooting rockets next year,” Allardice said. The general leads...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces conducted a coordinated operation targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders in the Lake Thar Thar region Thursday killing an estimated 19 terrorists and 15 civilians, wounding six and detaining one suspect.Intelligence reports indicated senior members of al-Qaeda in Iraq were meeting in the area.  Surveillance elements observed and confirmed activity consistent with the reports and supporting aircraft engaged the time-sensitive target.The ground force assessed that 4 terrorists were killed on site.  Surveillance elements observed some members from the initial meeting location travel to an area south of Lake Thar Thar.Upon assault, Coalition forces were engaged...

LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Oct. 10, 2007 — The Nuristan Police Mentor Team and soldiers of the 66th Military Police Company traveled south to Laghman Province and met with the local chief of police at the Alingar Police Station, Oct. 2, to discuss training and other issues in the area. The frequent assessments cover many things including training, equipment and personnel management; all to make sure the police stations are up to capacity and able to perform their mission. "These assessments make the police much more able and willing to work with us," said Army Maj. Justin Bogue, of New Castle,...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2007 – Security improvements in Fallujah, Iraq, are allowing coalition forces and Iraqis to reinforce success, the city’s provincial reconstruction team leader said today. A year ago, Fallujah was a battlefield between al Qaeda and coalition forces. Today it is recovering, and local Iraqi leaders are setting the pace of that recovery, said Stephen G. Fakan, leader of the provincial reconstruction team in the Anbar province city. “We have to find Iraqi solutions to Iraqi problems,” Fakan said during a conference call with defense reporters. His 14-member team works hand in hand with local Iraqis and members...

In late July when I visited a police station in the town of Mushadah just north of Baghdad, I worried that Iraq was doomed to become the next Gaza. As many as half the police officers, according to most of the American Military Police who worked as their trainers, were Al Qaeda sympathizers or agents. The rest were corrupt, lazy cowards, according to every American I talked to but one. No one tried to spin Mushadah into a success story. By itself this doesn't mean the country is doomed. How important is Mushadah anyway? I hadn't even heard of it...

In a town tucked tight against the Syrian border, US Marines pass softly along a darkened street as the crack of contact rings out. Instead of a panicked rush for cover, the leader of the patrol turns to cheer. The familiar sound was not from the barrel of gun but the baize of an upstairs pool hall. A transformation has swept western Iraq that allows Marines to walk through areas that a year ago were judged lost to radical Islam control and hear nothing more aggressive than a late-night game of pool.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2007 – Provincial reconstruction teams are extending the reach of the Afghan government and helping stabilize Iraq as its government transitions to self-reliance, a panel of Defense Department officials told Congress yesterday. Panelists told the House Armed Services Committee’s oversight and investigations subcommittee that while these teams are making a strong impact, sustaining their efforts will require more civilian reserve capability beyond what the Defense Department can provide. In Afghanistan, PRTs have matured since November 2002 from a single U.S.-led pilot project in Gardez to an international effort involving 25 teams in most of Afghanistan’s 34...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2007 – The surge of additional U.S. forces into Iraq continues to improve circumstances for the Iraqi government, a Joint Staff spokesman said here today. The trends in Iraq are encouraging, said Army Maj. Gen. Richard Sherlock, a Joint Staff spokesman. Overall violence in the country is down to level it was at before the Golden Mosque bombing in Samarra in February 2006. Al Qaeda in Iraq fanned sectarian fires in Iraq with the dramatic attack. But now, car bombs, improvised–explosive-device attacks, civilian deaths, and attacks against coalition and Iraqi security forces are all down. “Iraqi security...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2007 – United States-backed programs designed to jump-start Iraq’s battered infrastructure are making meaningful progress, a senior U.S. Army engineer general said in Baghdad today. The United States has contributed more than $22 billion for projects to reconstruct Iraq’s water, electricity and other infrastructure damaged by decades of neglect and war, Brig. Gen. Michael J. Walsh, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. “Every day we see successes in the U.S. government’s reconstruction program here,” Walsh said. More than 4,100 projects from 4,700 planned projects...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2007 – Efforts to oust al Qaeda and other insurgents from Iraq and to revitalize the country’s worn infrastructure continue to make progress, a senior U.S. military officer said in Baghdad today. “We continue to work with the Iraqi security forces to maintain pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq by targeting their leadership, their networks and their sanctuaries,” Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. For example, coalition and Iraqi security forces killed or captured 29 senior al Qaeda in Iraq leaders during anti-insurgent operations during the...

From a Chaplain in Iraq. I recently attended a showing of "Superman 3" here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way through the National Anthem the music stopped. Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a...

After reporting sluggish progress last month, U.S. officials announce that the stretch of barriers has grown to 145 miles. ...Whether the new fencing slows illegal immigration remains to be seen, but the project is a milestone in another way. Once limited mainly to cities, fencing along the 1,952-mile border is now going up in rural areas, where much of the illegal immigration traffic has shifted in recent years. Fleets of tractor-trailers loaded with fence posts and steel tubing have been crossing remote highways and deserts. Crews of National Guard troops spend hours welding raw materials under tarps. In some areas,...

I have in this column and other places been more than a little critical of what I regard as our misadventure in Iraq. However, I find MoveOn.org’s mischaracterization of General Petraeus’ recent statement as a “betrayal” of the American people to be at best scandalous, at worst simply left-wing propaganda. Bluntly, military officers in our nation are subject to the instruction and command of legitimate civil authority. However, the General’s report was frank and, I believe, sincere — and it was his opinion, after all. I hope he was correct in many of his assessments. Especially that “Iraqi leaders are...

US military losses in Iraq for September stood at 70 on Sunday, the lowest monthly figure since July last year, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures. The figure also marks the fourth consecutive drop in the monthly death toll following a high of 121 in May. June saw 93 deaths, July 82 and August 79. The monthly toll in July 2006 was 53. Two US soldiers were killed on Saturday in separate incidents, pushing the overall toll of American losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,801. A surge in US troop numbers saw an extra 28,500...

“The al Qaeda that’s here is not guys … from Syria or Somalia. They are local people who grew up here,” Adgie said. “They were bad, bad teenagers who stole cars, and (with) the lure of fast money from al Qaeda … they joined al Qaeda, and they carry out al Qaeda’s bidding.” These home-grown terrorists employed “ultra-violence” against their fellow villagers to “strike fear in their hearts,” the colonel explained. Coalition forces from the final phase of the U.S. troop surge streamed into the region earlier this summer.

ARAB JABOUR — In the seven weeks since its inception, the concerned citizens group here has made a significant impact on its community. Former Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Mustafa Kamil Hamad Shabib al-Juburi, more commonly known as Gen. Mustafa, and Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, organized the concerned citizens group to establish a local security force responsible for protecting the community’s critical infrastructure. In the process of defending the town’s mosques, vital roads, water pump stations and electric infrastructure, concerned citizens have also had success in combating al-Qaeda. In the past...

FIRST COLUMN IS KILLED< SECOND COLUMN IS KILLED NOT YET ID'D