Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2005 – Passion for his country, pride in his soldiers and acceptance of his own personal sacrifice are traits exuded by Col. Abbas Fadhil, the Iraqi military commander in Taji, Iraq, a senior Defense Department official recalled here after meeting him in Iraq. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Allison Barber, who led a group of military analysts on a visit to Iraq the week of Oct. 17, said that in the first several months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the colonel began recruiting soldiers to join the new Iraq military. After he had been on television several...