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BAGHDAD — Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Dragon, have been in country less than a month and have picked up where their predecessors left off by working with the Iraqi citizens to make their neighborhood a better place. District Council members, tribal leaders from the Doura neighborhood and Coalition forces met for a reconciliation meeting to discuss current challenges facing the area at the Rashid District Council Hall, Jan. 8. San Diego native Lt. Col. Timothy Watson, commander of the 2nd Bn., 4th Inf. Reg., from Fort Polk, La., said reconciliation must start with the...

Those who claim that the surge strategy in Iraq has paid no dividends because it hasn't met Congressional benchmarks may wish to skip to the next post. The Iraqi National Assembly has passed one of the two most critical benchmarks that the American government had pressed for Baghdad to adopt, the de-Baathification reform that will allow Sunnis to once again enter government jobs: Iraq's parliament adopted legislation Saturday on the reinstatement of former Baath party supporters to government jobs, a benchmark sought by the United States as a key step toward national reconciliation. The voting was carried out by a...

WASHINGTON - Iraq's western province of Anbar, origin of the Sunni Arab insurgency that arose in the early months of U.S. occupation, will be returned to Iraqi control in March, a senior U.S. general said Thursday. Thus far, nine of 18 Iraqi provinces have reverted to Iraqi control, most recently the southern province of Basra in December. The process has gone substantially slower than the Bush administration once hoped, mainly because of obstacles to developing sufficient Iraqi police and army forces. Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of the roughly 35,000 Marine and Army forces in Anbar, said levels...

In this file photo, an Iraqi policeman hands out fliers of fugitives to Iraqi locals at a checkpoint, Nov. 29, 2007, in Baghdad. In a monumental step toward Iraqi sovereignty, the Baghdadi police force has taken sole responsibility of security within the Anbar Province city limits. Photo by Cpl. Jeffrey Sandstrum, Joint Combat Camera Center. COMMAND OUTPOST BAGHDADI — How many Marines does it take to secure Baghdadi? Last year, it took an entire company. Then, as the situation improved, that number dropped to a platoon. And now, with the onset of 2008, the grand total is zero. The Marines...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2008 – President Bush today hailed provincial reconstruction teams operating in Iraq as vital partners in the strategy that has improved security and helped to create conditions for the Iraqi government to succeed. Speaking in the White House Rose Garden after meeting with PRT members and their brigade commanders, Bush praised the members for progress they’ve helped make possible during the past year and emphasized the important work they’re doing in communities throughout Iraq. Also participating in the meeting were Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael G....

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2008 – The commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq today cited a series of positive trends that includes more civilian cooperation and declines in attacks and in military and civilian casualties. During a conference call with military analysts from his headquarters in Baghdad, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said that June through December 2007 saw 28 straight weeks of declines in attacks. The decline brought the levels of violence in Iraq down to levels not seen since 2004, Odierno said. The decline covered all areas of the country and included...

KARKH DISTRICT — After eight weeks of intense training, Iraqi Army Soldiers finally graduate from the first ever mechanics course, Dec. 30. More than 150 Soldiers now possess valuable knowledge in vehicle maintenance which will greatly help them with their mission. The training encompassed the basics repair of engines, clutches, manual and automatic transmissions, differential gear, two-and-four-wheel drive vehicles, brakes systems, mechanical and hydraulic steering mechanisms, cooling systems and basically everything else on the vehicle, said Eugene Koster, contractor of Fiafi Group and senior trainer at the training center. From the theoretical to in-depth, practical training, the Soldiers received clear...

I’m starting 2008 feeling good about California. Why the optimism? Well, as one of 12 kids growing up in Barrio Logan, I guess I came naturally to holding on to a sense that things can be made better in the future. In reality, that’s how most Californians are. They see how things can be improved, and they are willing to do what it takes to get there. That’s why I’m confident that despite some disturbing headlines of late, 2008 can be a banner year for California. I’m confident we will move forward with health care reform and that next November...

PATROL CAMP CORREIGDOR, Iraq — If the United States wants to reduce its presence in Iraq, more involvement in local communities at the lowest level soldiering must be accomplished. That was the opinion of 1st Lt. James Watson and Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Maurin. During a break in patrolling, the officer and noncommissioned officer leaders of 2nd Platoon, Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) out of Fort Campbell, Ky., expressed their personal opinions of what is happening in Iraq. Early on New Year’s Day in Iraq — it was still two hours before Arizona...

An Ongoing War, Concrete Barrier or Family Disapproval Could Stop This Couple From Marrying. Eman Jabbar and Luay Rudha's love story has become an example of Iraq's progress. Jabbar, a teacher, is a Sunni, while her new husband is a Shiite. The couple fell in love in one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods and waited six years to marry. "I loved him from the first look," Jabbar said. "I felt he was the one person I could live with." Rudha, who is a plumber, was unable to get Jabbar's family to agree to the marriage initially. First the war arrived,...

The critics said it couldn't be done, but the vision and determination of General David Petraeus have brought greater security and cause for optimism to the people of Iraq. He is The Sunday Telegraph's Person of the Year .........For a man whose critics say he is far too fond of the television cameras, General David Petraeus, commander of US forces in Iraq, has been rather out of the limelight this Christmas. The sprightly, media-friendly 55-year-old is not perturbed, however, that his face is no longer number one item on the US networks. As he said last week, where Iraq is...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Dec. 27, 2007 – When the senior leadership and soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team arrived in Iraq nearly 15 months ago, the security situation here was quite different from the one they now experience as they patrol the streets throughout their area of operations. Keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious, Katy, Texas, native Army Spc. Frank Maier, a scout for Troop A, 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, pulls security in Ath Alba, Iraq, a village north of Baghdad, in mid-March 2007...

A surge of their own: Iraqis take back the streets - Under the embers of the wintry evening sun the Tigris river, usually as brown as old boots, had turned almost blood red. Its waters were calm but its oily sheen was disturbed by the oars of a rower as he sculled his way through the city's fractured heart.

RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2007 – Driving through downtown Ramadi today is a strange experience for anyone who saw the city in 2006. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the city today and said he’s amazed at the differences from a year ago. There is construction in the streets of the city; school is out of session and children play on playgrounds, including riding on a makeshift Ferris wheel that would give a safety inspector fits. The firehouse stands full of trucks, and firefighters sit outside waiting for a summons. Iraqi police patrol...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2007 – The latest quarterly report on the situation in Iraq notes significant improvement across nearly every major category measured, with big security and economic progress and momentum in reconciliation at the local and provincial levels. But the report, “Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq,” says it’s now up to the Iraqi government to capitalize on this progress, with continued help from the United States, its coalition partners and others in the international community. The Defense Department released the latest in its series of quarterly reports, covering the period from September through November, to Congress yesterday....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — As part of the counterinsurgency program being implemented by U.S. troops in Iraq, American Soldiers frequently find themselves living side-by-side with Iraqis in their neighborhoods. The latest patrol base being constructed by members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., is Patrol Base (PB) Stone in Hawr Rajab. The base, which will be shared by the 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers and members of the local Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) group, is located in two houses near the city...

WASHINGTON - Growing numbers of people think the U.S. is making progress in Iraq and will eventually be able to claim some success there, a poll showed Tuesday in a sign the politics of the war could become more complicated for Democrats. With diminishing U.S. and Iraqi casualties and the start of modest troop withdrawals, the public's mood seems to have brightened a bit, the Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed. That is a rarity in what has been a relentlessly unpopular war. "I still have hopes the people in Iraq will appreciate us being there," said Daniel Laird, 30, a firefighter...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2007 – Basra, the second-largest city in Iraq, will be turned over to Iraqi provincial control in the next two weeks, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced yesterday during a visit to Iraq. The city will be the largest population turned over to the Iraqis and will complete the turnover to the Iraqis of the southern provinces of the country. Brown told British soldiers gathered at Basra International Airport that he had spoken with Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki by phone. “He asked me to pass on his thanks to you for what you have done to...

CAMP FALLUJAH — Camp Corregidor and Combat Outpost were returned to the Government of Iraq during a signing ceremony held in the provincial capital of Ramadi Dec. 7. Governor Mamoun Sami Rashid Alawani, on behalf of the National Government, signed the documents and officially took possession of the property at the Provincial Government Center a few kilometers from the campus. Coalition Forces established Camp Corregidor on the abandoned campus of the Agricultural College in early 2004. Strategically located on the main highway connecting Baghdad to Syria, the outpost was under constant attack by Al Qaeda in Iraq foreign fighters and...

Watch Now http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15674&Itemid=130 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visits to get first-hand look at progress in Iraq following troop surge, holds press conference. Police Progress – US Marines mentor members of Iraqi Police. The “Raid Report” – Daily update on Iraqi and Coalition security progress. Weather News Desk – Warring Iraqi parties agree to end strife in Basra. Accord heightens control of private security firms in Iraq. Red Crescent says there is a four percent drop in Iraq’s internally displaced peoples. Col. Twitty praises Iraqi Security Forces in Talafar. One Mile At A Time – Army Corps of Engineers paving...