Dear Interested Reader,
Brig. Gen Swan attends tribal reconciliation meeting. A school is being built for young women in the region of Fallujah, while a young child gets a package of diapers. Detainees return to society equipped with skills & education. SoI to become integrated into ISF and GOI. Many AQI detained, and weapons caches seized.
Joanna
__________________________
Sept. 28, 2008
Multi-National Corps - Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
Diaper Depot
A young Iraqi girl walks away with her new diapers, given to her by U.S. Soldiers from the 101st Abn, 65th MP Co during a humanitarian mission at the free health clinic in Mahmudiyah, Sept. 22, 2008.
Photo by Spc. Richard Del Vecchio
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Brig. Gen. Swan attends tribal reconciliation meeting
Iraqi Sunni and Shiite sheiks gathered at a hotel in the International Zone in Baghdad, Sept. 25 for a tribal reconciliation meeting in an attempt toward fellowship and reconciliation.
Brig. Gen. Robin Swan, a deputy comm. gen. with 4th ID, speaks with an Iraqi sheik during a tribal reconciliation meeting.
(Army photo by Sgt. Whitney Houston)
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New School
1st Lt. Michael Robison (left), team leader, Civil Affairs Team 3, talks to a lead contractor about a school construction project currently under way, Sept. 17, 2008. Civil Affairs Team 3, 2nd Bn, 11th Marines, in direct support of Task Force 3rd Bn, 6th Marines, RCT 1, is currently overseeing a project in the southwest region of Fallujah to build a secondary school for young women. A two-story, 12 classroom school is being built with the help of Iraqi contractors and the ministry of education.
Photo by Cpl. Chris Lyttle.
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Detainees return to society equipped with skills, education
CAMP VICTORY - This year alone, nearly 14,000 detainees returned to their families, with the goal in mind to benefit a society that was once filled with violence. Still today, Joint Task Force 134 is working to reinstate about 75 detainees per day, equipped with new job skills and an education.
"This is a process that shows the people of Iraq that we are working with the GOI to reconcile the past," said Navy Lt. Micah Brewer, a personal representative for the MNF Review Committee.
The detainees benefit from a number of programs to better their lives as far as learning job skills and gaining an education. Carpentry, art, literacy, civics classes and even a sewing shop are among the many classes available during detainment.
Camp Bucca also hosts an enrichment school offering different levels of educational courses. Detainees can learn arithmetic, Arabic reading and writing, English and social sciences, among others.
The Bucca Compound also holds a vocational technical school, an arts-and-crafts shop, a library and different recreational activities. In fact, Bucca detainees at these facilities have been working to craft 200 desks, which will be delivered in October to nearby schools in support of renovation efforts.
The release process is one of the most important aspects of detainee ops. It is a very calculated process, followed closely to ensure those released no longer pose a threat to their country or fellow citizens. The measured and deliberate release allows former detainees a chance to find jobs and successfully reintegrate into society.
Former detainees greet their family members outside FOB Kalsu, Aug. 25.
(U.S. Army photo by Spc. Josh LeCappelain)
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‘Sons of Iraq’ Meet With Iraqi Leaders to Clarify Changeover
By Spc. Katrina Faulkner-Brown
FOB LOYALTY — SoI and Iraqi SF leaders met at 1st NP Div. HQ in eastern Baghdad, Sept. 20, to discuss transitioning the SoI to GOI control.
The SoI is an organization of volunteers, formerly known as concerned local citizens, who provide security in their neighborhoods to protect people from criminals, militants and other anti-Iraqi forces. Now, the GOI has incorporated SoI into the ISF and govt service.
“Gen. Abdulrahman, as an Iraq cmdr., was laying out expectations to all the SoI leadership, as the GOI assumes control of the SOI programs,” said Lt. Col. Richard Gledhill, ISF bde coordinator assigned to 4th BCT, 10th Mtn Div. “It went very well, because he’s clearly articulating what the PM has put out in the order he was referencing today, and he’s trying to address the concerns that the individual SoI leaders may have.”
Abdulrahman explained that the PM’s order outlines that 20% of the SoI will work with the ISF and 80% will be employed with the civilian Iraqi govt as a reward for their efforts, as long as they have not committed crimes against innocent Iraqis.
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MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
PRESS DESK
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Coalition forces capture four wanted men, 12 more suspected terrorists
BAGHDAD – In the vicinity of Tall Mayy, about 41 km southeast of Mosul, CF captured a wanted man and detained an additional suspect Sept. 25. The wanted man is believed to have connections to multiple AQI administrative and financial bookkeepers in the area.
A multi-day CF op aimed at preventing AQI sanctuaries in areas near Al Qasr, about 15 km south of Mosul, wrapped up Sept. 25, netting 3 suspects. CF in Baghdad also apprehended a wanted man who intel reports suggest is one of the city’s car bomb cell leaders.
Forces operating Sept. 26 near Batra, about 17 km west of Baghdad, dealt another blow to AQI’s car bomb network, capturing an alleged terrorist and 3 additional suspects. The suspected terrorist is believed to be a member of the area’s car bomb network and possibly has connections with some of its top leaders.
A wanted man believed to be an AQI extremist with connections to int'l. al-Qaeda operatives was detained by CF Sept. 26, during an op near Khan Asad, about 23 km south of Baghdad. Intel reports suggest the suspected terrorist procures illegal documentation, money and weapons for AQI and facilitates the movement of suicide bombers into the country. After he was detained, the man led CF to another location, where they apprehended one of his associates.
Forces targeting AQI communication and leadership nodes near Bayji Sept. 26, about 160 km south of Mosul, detained 4 suspects. The men are believed to be associated with a suspected terrorist courier who facilitates AQI communications throughout the Tigris River Valley.
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IA Soldiers discover foreign fighter, cache in Ninawa
NINEWAH - An al-Qaeda foreign fighter detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and 2 al-Qaeda members after IA soldiers conducted a raid near Tal Afar in Ninawa province, Sept. 25.
During the op, the IA soldiers recovered documents showing the suicide bomber was from Yemen. They also detained 4 other al-Qaeda members and discovered a large weapons cache containing an additional suicide vest, a pair of night-vision goggles, 4 bags of bulk explosives, timing devices, blasting caps, grenade primers and more than 2,200 rounds of ammo.
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IA detains 2 suspected criminals in Niewah, uncovers weapons cache in Diyala
BALAD - In an op Sept. 22 in Rabiah, approx. 100 km northwest of Mosul, elements of the IA captured 2 suspected AQI mid-level IED facilitators wanted by Tal Afar SWAT. One of the individual's clothes tested positive for explosive materials.
During an op in Diyala province, IA soldiers uncovered a cache consisting of mortar rounds, DSHKA rounds and an anti-aircraft DSHKA weapon, Sept.21.
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MND-B Soldiers find IED thanks to Iraqi citizen tip
BAGHDAD - Sept. 25, in the Hadar community of southern Baghdad, at approx. 11:15 a.m., Soldiers from Troop A, 7th Sqdrn, 10th Cav Regt, 1st BCT, 4th ID, discovered the IED (a 130 mm projectile) next to a community school after receiving a tip from a concerned Iraqi citizen.
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Local citizen leads IA to large weapons cache
BALAD - Info from a local Iraqi citizen lead IA soldiers to a large weapons cache in al Kut, Sept. 23. The cache consisted of more than 500 57 mm high explosive projectiles, 5 other types of projectiles, and 2 mortars.
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