Winning In Iraq. The Iraqi Edition...

[Volpone]

I've bolded the best bits:

Marines Visit Family of Brave Iraqi
December 16, 2008
Marine Corps News|by LCpl. Jerry Murphy

JAZEERA, Iraq — The family of a slain Iraqi policeman welcomed Marines of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, and Iraqi police into their home in Jazeera, Iraq.

The Marines and policemen visited the family of Capt. Ali Rezaij, who was killed when an insurgent detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, to express their gratitude for his service and sacrifice.

Capt. Rezaij responded to the early-morning VBIED report despite getting little rest the night prior when he was assisting an elderly woman to the hospital. At the scene, he cordoned off the area around the device to prevent the loss of innocent lives.

“Capt. Ali (Rezaij) worked very hard into the night and he still performed his duties,” said Lt. Col. Hathim Abdullah, the chief of police at Huriyah police station. “His actions serve as an example for other IPs to live by.”

Upon learning of the death of Capt. Rezaij, Abdullah said he and other officials decided they would not lie to rest Capt. Rezaij’s body until the insurgent who planted and detonated the VBIED was captured.

“For the first time in Ramadi, we caught the person who planted and detonated this IED without the help of Coalition forces,” Abdullah said. “We figured out how to use evidence and the best way to find him and after just five hours, he was captured and detained.”

Rezaij’s father said the family is thankful for the swift capture of the insurgent who murdered his son. And although the family is torn over what happened to their loved one, they expressed their confidence in the professionalism of the Iraqi police.

“My son loved his job and sacrificed his life to help the innocent people of Iraq. The police did a wonderful job of tracking down and capturing the insurgent who did this to my son,” Rezaij said. “These terrorists claim that their enemy is the Coalition forces but they are liars. The truth is that they will target anyone, anywhere; Coalition forces, (Iraqi) police, (Iraqi) army, innocents and even their own people. They must pay for what they have done.” ...

The Iraqis, increasingly, can stand on their own two feet. hpup:

 

[Ancalagon]

If so, that is a very good thing.


I've heard that the ISF have made great leaps since I got back, but those bastards still leave a bad taste in my mouth. :/

 

[Volpone]

Iraq is a completely alien culture. Hell, you probably know this better'n me, but when you're dealing with Iraqis you just have to understand corruption is part of doing business and reputation is more important than getting it right. That makes working with them a challenge, but we'll get there eventually.

If we do the 28th meetup, I'll bring you my MacArthur autobiography. But you have to get it back to me when you finish it. Did you read the electronic version of "On Strategy: The Vietnam War in Context"? If not, I can bring that along too.

Those two books should be required reading for Iraq and, to a degree, Afghanistan. "On Strategy" is a quick read--only 120 pages--and the whole thing is relevant. "MacArthur: Reminiscences", the most important part is from about the point where the Big Mo steams into Tokyo Harbor up to the Korean War. The chapter or two where he is military governor of Japan is, like, completely the opposite of how we handled winning in Iraq. (And a good deal more successful, I must say.)

 

[Ancalagon]

:techman:

Sounds good to me.


Also I think us forcing the ISF to take Sunnis, and then later former AIFs.... Many were exSaddam Army and actually have some soldering skills. Alot of what we were working with beforehand were the dregs of society (with the HUGE exception of the Kurds. Peshmerga were the fucking shit!).

 

[Volpone]

At the risk of again giving away the plot, MacArthur had spent a large chunk of his childhood growing up in Asia and Japan, so he had a lot better understanding of the way a Japanese thinks than most Americans. He was also very concerned about being a military governor--because he knew far more people fuck it up than get it right.

Second thing, was that he did NOT disband or disarm the Japanese military. He rounded up the war criminals, but he used the regular army for most of his garrison work. He also used them to police up their WMD-type things--stuff that had to be surrendered under the treaty. I'm no expert, but I suspect that if, instead of disbanding the Iraqi military, we'd have rooted out the war criminals and used the rank and file as the backbone of the new military, things would've went a lot more smoothly than they did. :S:

 

[ctmelvital]

What's this stuff about one of the Sunni coalitions breaking up though? How bad is that going to be?
Something about a minister who commented on the shoe thing and then had to resign...

 

[Volpone]

Hmm. Hadn't heard anything. But that doesn't sound much worse than the whole Dem/Lieberman feuding.

In the 1850s, a Southern Democrat beat a Northern Whig(?) with a cane so severely that he broke the cane and sent the guy to the hospital. And IIRC there is a table in the British Parliament that was specifically designed to be wide enough that two people with swords couldn't hurt each other across it.

 

[Ancalagon]

Pylades, I haven't heard anything about that. Got any more info on it?

Hmm. Hadn't heard anything. But that doesn't sound much worse than the whole Dem/Lieberman feuding.

In the 1850s, a Southern Democrat beat a Northern Whig(?) with a cane so severely that he broke the cane and sent the guy to the hospital. And IIRC there is a table in the British Parliament that was specifically designed to be wide enough that two people with swords couldn't hurt each other across it.

Even better was the fact that they had to take the fire pokers out of the Convention Hall in Philly during the CC. :lol: Due to the high heat (it was summertime) and sensitive subject, fights broke out daily.

 

[Volpone]

Next Chapter...

We're handing off responsibility for security in Baghdad's Green Zone to the Iraqis:

Iraq Takes Control of Green Zone From U.S.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
AP

BAGHDAD — The U.S. formally transferred control of the Green Zone to Iraqi authorities Thursday in a pair of ceremonies that also handed back Saddam Hussein's former palace. Iraq's prime minister said he will propose making Jan. 1 a holiday marking the restoration of sovereignty.

Under the new security agreement between Washington and Baghdad to replace a U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, the Iraqi government also now has control of American troops' operations and of the country's airspace.

The moves came amid a dramatic fall in violence over the past year. However, insurgents still stage daily attacks and there are worries insurgents may try to expand the fight now that U.S. troops cannot take unilateral action.

Two Iraqi soldiers and three policemen were killed in attacks Thursday. In the northern city of Kirkuk, Iraqi and U.S. troops killed three suspected Al Qaeda gunmen during a raid, police said.

Many of the changes inaugurated on New Year's Day won't bring immediately visible results. The Green Zone, the country's government and military command center, remains ringed by concrete blast walls and off limits to most Iraqis. U.S. troops still man its checkpoints, although now as trainers rather than leaders. ...

 

[Ancalagon]

European flight lands in Baghdad

The first commercial flight between Europe and Iraq in at least 17 years has landed at Baghdad airport.

Swedish-based company Nordic Leisure says it expects to fly to the Iraqi capital once a week.

About 150 passengers, mainly Iraqis, arrived from Denmark on the first such flight since UN sanctions were imposed after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Iraqi national carrier Iraqi Airways has said it hopes to start flying routes to Europe in the coming months.

More international arrivals are expected in the next two days, including one from Hong Kong, Iraqi Transport Minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail told journalists, AFP news agency reported.

Air France-KLM signed a preliminary accord with Iraq just days ago, setting out plans for Iraqi Airways to fly to European destinations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7809167.stm

Damn... The Airport looks ALOT different from when I was last there.

I wonder though, considering BIAP is right in the middle of the Victory Complex, how much a hassle it is for civilians (especially Iraqi civilians) to get to and from it.

 

[Volpone]

Iraq: The USMC Deploys...

...cows!?!?

Corps Deploys Cows for Iraq's Economy
January 12, 2009
Los Angeles Times

AL-ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq -- As U.S. forces work to revive Iraq's tattered farming economy, they seem to have found an effective new weapon.

Cows.

At the suggestion of an Iraqi women's group, the Marine Corps recently bought 50 cows for 50 Iraqi widows in the farm belt around Fallujah, once the insurgent capital of war-torn al-Anbar province.

The cow purchase is seen as a small step toward re-establishing Iraq's once-thriving dairy industry, as well as a way to help women and children hurt by the frequent failure of the Iraqi government to provide the pensions that Iraqi law promises to widows.

The early sign is that the program is working. Widows, many with no other income, have a marketable item to sell, as well as milk for their children. Although Iraqis, particularly women, are often reluctant to participate in an American effort, the cows were immediately popular.

"It was an easy sell," said Maj. Meredith Brown, assigned to the Marines' outreach program for Iraqi women.

The idea, proposed by members of the Women's Cultural Center in Fallujah, at first met with resistance from U.S. military officers and civilian officials involved in aid programs for al-Anbar. Nothing in their training provided guidance in haggling for livestock.

Those objections evaporated when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the top Marine in Iraq, signaled his support, Brown said. The Iraqis now refer to their animals as Kelly's Cows. ...

So we continue to make progress, stabilize the country, and restore normalcy. We're increasingly handing over military and police operations to the Iraqis, and now we're rebuilding the infrastructure and economy. One cow at a time.

 

[Ancalagon]

Good stuff... Hopefully Obama will be able to rally the Gulf States to really start ponying up on reconstruction.


Kuwait and Saudi Arabia should be first in line IMO.

 

[Hambil]

Now you, I, and Sir Galihad LEAP out of the cow...

 

[Malarky]

Holy Grail quote fail, Hambil :no:

Now you, I, and Sir Galihad LEAP out of the rabbit...

Monty Python quoted corrected.