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There is an interesting piece of graffiti on a bridge near Basra. A fleeing militiaman has scrawled “We'll be back”; underneath an Iraqi soldier has scribbled in reply “And we'll be waiting for you”. The Shia militias, the Jaish al- Mahdi, who controlled large parts of Basra until March this year, has now gone and instead the city is firmly under the grip of Iraq's new security forces, in whom the coalition has invested so much training. They re-established control in April, in an operation romantically named “The Charge of the Knights”, systematically clearing the city with British and American...

BAGHDAD — 1,698 officers, the largest class ever, graduated from the Ministry of Interior’s Baghdad Police College here July 20 and took the loyalty oath to uphold the rule of law and protect the citizens of Iraq. The new course is known as the 1st Qualification Course. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki spoke of this initiative during Basrah operations as a means to promote both reconciliation and new jobs for former government employees and other recruits who met the qualifications. To become lieutenants in the police force, the graduates must complete the retraining and certification in the four-month course. Most were...

Iraqi children celebrate the transfer of security responsibility to Qadasiyah province from coalition forces in a parade during a ceremony in ad-Diwaniyah, July 16. Photo by Sgt. David Turner. FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO — The governor of Qadasiyah province assumed security responsibility from Multi-National Force - Iraq during a ceremony in the provincial capital of ad-Diwaniyah, July 16. Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq, signed an agreement with Provincial Governor Hamed al-Khoudari, which gives responsibility of providing security to the people of Qadisiyah and the Government of Iraq.Austin thanked Maj. Gen. Andrjez Malinowski, Polish Army commander...

DOHUK — Two schools and a renovated water distribution network under construction in the Dohuk Province, will improve the quality of life for the residents. The projects, overseen by the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, are constructed by Iraqi firms using funds from the Economic Support Fund. The schools in the Malta and Shindohka neighborhoods each consist of 12-room compounds that include an administrative building, laboratory rooms, toilet facilities, a play area and garden, as well as a perimeter wall, guard house and a maintenance room. The facilities will support approximately 2,400 children in two school sessions...

Cpl. Chris Sarlo, a rifleman with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, receives a 'thumbs up' from young citizen in Ramadi, May 23. The city of Ramadi was once-considered the most violent city in Iraq. But now, the locals have revolted against al Qaida and are cooperating with coalition forces to weed out al Qaida in the province. Photo by Lance Cpl. Casey Jones. RAMADI — A mostly Sunni city with about 500,000 residents, Ramadi was considered to be one of the most violent cities in the world during the early part of Operation Iraqi...

A single-digit month. Looking at the coalition fatalities for the first half of July, 2008 shows something remarkable...something not yet noted by any mainstream news agencies or blogs. At first glance, the stats show that 6 good Americans gave their lives for our country so far this month in Iraq. But that number of 6 doesn't tell the tale. Looking more closely at the numbers, two of our lost soldiers were due to non-hostile work accidents (e.g. one was electrocuted). But that doesn't mean that we've lost 4 good men to combat this month...you see...two of those lost to combat...

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2008 – Security progress in Basra is “overwhelming” and Iraq’s second-largest city could be “another Dubai in the coming decade,” the commander of Multinational Division Southeast said today, referring to the bustling international business hub. British Army Maj. Gen. Barney White-Spunner told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad that Operation Charge of the Knights -- ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in March -- has “well and truly” turned the tide in the city. Before the operation, militias controlled large parts of the city. Militia leaders, many under control of Iran, intimidated the populace and turned...

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2008 – Even with the positive trend lines in Iraq, leaders will not rush the assessment process for determining U.S. force levels in the country, Pentagon officials said today. The assessment process is as transparent as the department can make it, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. While pundits have called for greater redeployments from Iraq, the department will wait and see what commanders recommend. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates finds his most valuable advice comes from commanders on the ground, and he will continue to rely on them, Whitman said. “We are reaching that period of...

Just some of the unreported progress in Iraq that the media is not telling you about courtesy of Sgt. Freedom: 1. 47 countries have re-established embassies in Iraq. 2. Over 1 million new cell phone subscribers in Iraq. 3. Jan. 2005 - 25 Iraqi students came here to re-establish the Fulbright Scholarship program for Iraq. 4. There are 1.2 million Iraqis now employed by the Iraqi government. 5. There are 3,100 schools that have been renovated. 6. There are 364 schools under rehabilitation. 7. There are 4 research centers that have been built. 8. There are 263 new schools under...

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2008 – The Iraqi security forces’ increasing capabilities have been making a world of difference in the country, a top coalition military commander said today. Army Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, commander of Multinational Division Center, briefed Pentagon reporters from Baghdad via teleconference along with Maj. Gen. Ali Salih Farhgood Oothman, commander of 8th Iraqi Army Division. Oates, who served in Iraq twice before, said he has noticed three distinct changes from his last assignment in the country in 2006. “The first is the security situation is much improved,” he said. “It’s indisputable that the number of...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2008 – Iraqi soldiers and police are demonstrating increased capability, yet more work needs to be done in view of the continued terrorist threat in Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer said at a Capitol Hill hearing today. Iraq’s security forces acquitted themselves well during recent Iraqi-initiated anti-terrorist operations in Baghdad’s Sadr City section, Basra, Mosul and Amarah, Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, the former commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq and the NATO training mission in Iraq, said in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick took over command...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2008 – Every day, soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, patrol the streets of the Iraqi Family Village, an area near the Victory Base Complex here that is relatively safe and is home to citizens from throughout Iraq. Army 1st Lt. Andrew Bowling, a native of Medfield, Mass., listens to concerns of an Iraqi man during a council meeting in the Iraqi Family Village on the outskirts of Baghdad, July 7, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. James Hunter, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. When the...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2008 – Iraqi and coalition personnel are using the security improvements of the past year to make tremendous progress on the energy front, the director of energy for Multinational Force Iraq said yesterday. At a news conference in Baghdad, British Brigadier Carew Wilks said repairing Iraq’s neglected and battered energy infrastructure -- including pipelines carrying fuel and power lines carrying electricity -- is the focus of his office. “Much of Iraq's energy infrastructure is old and in poor condition and has not kept pace with demand,” Wilks said. “It will take many years and major investment to...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, July 7, 2008 – Leaders from Multinational Division Baghdad, the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government broke ground July 5 for a project to revitalize the road from Baghdad International Airport to the heart of the Iraqi capital. A member of the Iraqi National Police stands behind three gold-painted shovels while Baghdad Mayor Saber al-Esawi speaks during a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the Airport Road revitalization effort in southern Baghdad, July 5, 2008. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team worked with leaders from...

Five-year-old Ahmed and his father, Warrant Officer Othman Mallouki, an Iraqi policeman with Fallujah Headquarters District, get ready to leave the Joint Command Center after a visit with Marines from Company B, Police Transition Team 8, Regimental Combat Team 1, June 21. Marines with the team are working with the family to arrange transportation for Ahmed's surgery in Jordan. Photo by Cpl. Chris Mann. FALLUJAH — Sounds of joy and laughter resonate through a police station’s narrow hallways. A young boy slowly enters through a doorway at the end to greet the boisterous group of Marines, but the sounds of...

RAMADI — Ramadi was regarded by many to be one of the most violent cities in Iraq for much of the last five years. The thought of rebuilding the troubled city during that time was improbable, the risks were too high. Now, Ramadi is much safer and rebuilding the city is no longer just an impossible idea but an everyday reality in the recovering region. The country is now transitioning from violence and fighting, to healing and freedom. The focus in Ramadi, and all of al-Anbar province, is no longer on warfare but on reconstructing the region’s damaged infrastructure. “Ramadi...

FALLUJAH — Marines geared for war walk in tactical columns through the once mean streets of Fallujah, ready for what may lay around the next corner. “Mister, mister shokalata! Shokalata!”shout exuberant children from a crowded neighborhood as Marines and Iraqi police pass out candy. Marines with Company B, Police Transition Team 8, Regimental Combat Team 1, have been working diligently over the past few months to help train Iraqi police to take over their respective areas and become self-supportive in day-to-day operations in the city. Recent increases in the number of Iraqi police have drastically subdued the violence in the...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2008 – A pair of Defense Department reports published today on Afghanistan describe progress with regard to the country’s security and national forces. The studies, which analyze results of Operation Enduring Freedom through March, were mandated by Congress and represent the first installment of what are slated to be semi-annual progress updates. The Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan depicts a “fragile” security environment in much of the country. It concludes, however, that coalition forces’ counterinsurgency approach has demonstrated how a hybrid of military and nonmilitary resources can create stability and connect Afghan citizens...

Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of Americas small businesses. The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government. "This is a provision with astonishing reach, and that was slipped into the bill.Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like...

FALLUJAH — The Joint Security Station (JSS) in the Khadairy District of Fallujah is now home solely to Iraqi Police, as Company K, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, detached from the station in a step toward transitioning security to IPs. IPs will continue their daily tasks here on their own as part of the transition of security from Coalition forces. “We really didn’t ‘de-militarize’ it, we more or less unpartnered,” said 1st Lt. Cory Colistra, platoon commander, 3rd Platoon. “We left the station intact. It’s an IP station now instead of a joint security station. We...