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WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2008 – With life returning to normal in Iraq’s Anbar province, the way forward now is driven more by the economy than security, the commander of Multinational Force West said today. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John F. Kelly spoke to Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Fallujah. He said coalition forces continue to mentor Iraqi security forces, but the Iraqis are in the lead and have become more capable and confident. Anbar has been under provincial Iraqi control since the beginning of September, and the coalition and Iraqi forces are putting in place policies that minimize the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2008 – Coalition forces have turned over primary security responsibility for Iraq’s Babil province to the Iraqis today, another sign of improvements being made in Iraq, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said at a news conference here. “[President Bush] is appreciative of all the work that our forces have done, but also recognizes that the Iraqis have done a lot of work too to get to this point,” Perino said. Babil, south of Baghdad, became the 12th of Iraq’s 18 provinces to take the lead for its own security operations, she said. “[Coaltion forces and the...

When Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly deployed to Iraq in February, the violence had fallen so low in Anbar province that he began figuring out how to start closing bases and prepare to go home. In the last 10 months the Marines in Fallujah have done what was unthinkable before the surge began — they have quietly transferred out of one of Anbar province's largest cities. FOX News has learned in an exclusive interview with Kelly from Fallujah that 80 percent of the move is complete. In February there were 8,000 Marines living at Fallujah base. Now there are about...

WASHINGTON — After three months commanding Multi-National Division - Southeast in Iraq, British Marine Maj. Gen. Andy Salmon said he’s struck by progress since the Iraqi Army’s “Charge of the Knights” operation this spring and the way Iraqi security forces have stepped up since securing Basra. Speaking to Pentagon reporters via teleconference, Salmon cited low levels of violence, on par with crime and murder rates in Manchester, England, and lower on a per-capita basis than in Washington. “Overall, there seems to be a spirit of reconciliation and peace in the air here in Basra,” he said. “That’s really constant.” People...

One of the reasons for the success of the surge in Baghdad was the construction of blast walls that separated Sunni and Shia neighborhoods. These walls gave a certain level of security to both sides who had been ravaged by sectarian violence for months. The walls come a tumblin' down. .. Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another."They protected against car bombs and drive-by attacks," said...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2008 – Just weeks after wrapping up his stint as the top commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said yesterday that progress there has become a little less fragile and more durable. The soon-to-be commander of U.S. Central Command spoke to the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, here. Petraeus finished his 19-month command of Multinational Force Iraq three weeks ago. But Petraeus qualified the statement, saying that enormous difficulties lie ahead for long-term stabilization in Iraq. The general said that violent attacks in Iraq spiked to 180 a day in June of 2007, but...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 8, 2008 – As Iraqi security forces across northwestern Baghdad’s Kadhamiyah district continue to take the lead in securing the local population, the effort of improving their skills continues simultaneously. Army Sgt. Jay Gillam demonstrates the kneeling firing position to local police officers in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah district, Sept. 26, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s Company D, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, spend many mornings honing the basic rifle marksmanship skills of the local police force in Kadhamiyah. By focusing...

The United States is preparing to hand control of Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace in Baghdad to the Iraqi Government in one of the most symbolic examples of the country's increasing sovereignty. Plans are also under way to turn over swaths of the green zone, which surrounds the palace, to the Iraqi authorities, with Iraqi forces expected to replace US troops at some checkpoints over the next year, according to sources inside the compound. The transition is part of a process in which the Iraqi Government has taken full responsibility for security in 11 out of 18 provinces as its police...

BAGHDAD — The Iraq ministry of interior’s Division of Border Enforcement graduated 1,538 border police in September, one of its highest monthly graduation rates this year. With the new graduates, the border police surpassed an assigned strength of 43,000. The graduating classes included 1,173 basic recruits. The border police graduates completed specialized skills training such as non-commissioned officer and platoon sergeant schools, and courses in internal affairs, immigration, and patrol tactics. “The Division of Border Enforcement now includes 13 brigades with 51 battalions, along with the Coast Guard for guarding Iraq’s ports and coastline,” said Ashford Mohammed, the DBE’s CPATT/DOIA...

JAMILLA, Iraq –This year the children of Iraq will have safer, refurbished schools thanks to the work of Renegade Soldiers.Before Company A, Task Force 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, arrived in Sadr City’s Jamilla neighborhood, the schools here were not even used for classes; militants were using the grounds as makeshift hiding places and torture cells. At the few schools that remained open, militants would kidnap children as they went to or from school and hold them for ransom.“The schools in Jamilla were places of terror, not places of learning,” said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Boykin, Co. A, TF 1-6, 2nd...

WASHINGTON -- The potentates on the Potomac have been so busy ranting about an imminent financial "catastrophe," dissecting Sarah Palin's debate debut and prognosticating John McCain's political demise that other news -- particularly about the war being waged against radical Islam -- has been hard to find. Here are some facts about the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan that haven't captured the attention of our so-called mainstream media: First, and most importantly, the campaign in Mesopotamia is all but won. This week, the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines arrived in Anbar province -- once the bloodiest place on the planet --...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2008 – With terrorists on the run and violence down, coalition forces are now also able to concentrate on areas other than the battlefield, thanks to the improvement of the Iraqi security forces, a military official said yesterday. Al Qaeda insurgents are “in disarray” and attacks are down 80 percent since June of last year, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, chief of staff of Multinational Corps Iraq told bloggers during a teleconference from Iraq. “The corps and our major commands have driven violence down to four-year lows and secured the Iraqi population in the process,”...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2008 – Continuing to build the capacity and the strength of the Afghan National Army is strategically important to progress in Afghanistan and eliminating the insurgency’s influence over the population, an official there said yesterday. If the Afghan army can provide security on its own, it would help to remove the relationship between the insurgents and the populations they still influence, Marine Corps Col. Jeffrey Haynes, commander of Regional Corps Advisory Command Central, said in a teleconference with bloggers. “As we continue to drive the wedge between the population and the insurgents, it will be harder and...

CAMP TAJI — Residents are slowly returning to the city of Sab al Bour, northwest of Baghdad. But they are coming back to homes with barely enough power to run their air conditioners, a necessity in the stifling heat of Iraq. Sab al Bour was once a thriving city of almost 200,000 residents, but criminal violence made the city a ghost town by 2006, chasing out all but approximately 20,000. “Getting electricity back to the town is a necessity, and it will give the people a reason to come back to their homes,” said Capt. Mark Gillman, a native of...

CAMP STRIKER — Coalition forces handed over Patrol Base Shanghai to the Iraqi Army during a ceremony here, Sept. 30. Company B, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) traded places with 3rd Co., 1st Bn., 23rd Bde., 17th IA Division. “Today is an honor for us [to receive] Shanghai,” said 2nd Lt. Muhammad, commander of 3/1/23/17th IA Div. In spite of the pomp and circumstance and VIPs, the commander of Co. B, 3-187th Inf. said the day was just an official recognition of what the IA troops have been doing all along. “Today...

BAYJI — The Iraqi Army took full control of the Bayji National Ammunition Depot from Coalition forces during a turnover ceremony here, Sept. 29. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Steven Salazar, Coalition Army Advisory Training Team commanding general, turned over the golden key to Iraqi Brig. Gen. Mohammed Ali Madlom, Commander, Iraqi Army ammunition command, to mark the event. “This is a historical day – the day we receive full responsibility,” said Gen. Madlom. “It’s an honor for me, and we thank our Coalition friends for the supplies and equipment needed for the [Iraqi] Army to perform their duties.” The depot...

Maj. Gen. Khadim Hamed Sharhn al-Muhamadani, Baghdad provincial director of police, cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of the Al Mustafa Expedient Local Police Station, Sept. 25, 2008. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs. CAMP STRIKER — A ceremony marked the grand opening of the Al Mustafa Expedient Local Police Station, Sept. 25. “[Without] cooperation between the tribes, residents, Iraqi Police, 17th Iraqi Army Division under the leadership of Staff Maj. Gen. Ali … we would not be able to open the Al Mustafa Iraqi Police Station,” said Brig. Gen. Abed Muhammed...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 1, 2008 – A new organization is improving the Afghan National Army’s ability to move capable forces from its training center to the operational commands. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jesse Edwards, senior mentor and team chief for the Afghan National Army’s Consolidated Fielding Center, stands with ANA leaders during a graduation ceremony at Pol-e-Charki Garrison, Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 20, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The sense of urgency for this new concept has increased following the announcement of plans to grow the Afghan National Army past the initial authorization of 82,000...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2008 – Trends across the security, political and economic landscape of Iraq continue to improve, but the fundamental character of the conflict remains unchanged, according to a Defense Department report submitted to Congress yesterday. The improved security in Iraq has opened the doors for dialogue between the leading parties in the country’s government and communities and has made room for other institutional developments. But results are still tenuous and long-term stability will only be realized if the Iraqi government continues to build its legitimacy and take on existing challenges, the report says. The quarterly report is...

BAQUBAH — A ribbon cutting ceremony recently took place in a western Baqubah neighborhood to reopen a road that had been closed to the locals in the area for more than a year. "This was in the workings since early May," said Capt. Kevin P. Ryan, the officer behind coordinating the opening. "My idea is to transition this area of operations (AO) back to the Iraqi people and to open the roads up, to give something back to the people." To do that, though, he had to work with Iraqi security forces (ISF) to set up some conditions, which were...