NationStates Jolt Archive

MARINES OFFER MOSQUE REPAIRS, RADIOS TO Al ANBAR; MAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT VISIT

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines in Ramadi met with the governor of the Al Anbar Province and 51 Imams at the government center to present an offer for Marines to assist in repairs and improvements to mosques.

Lt. Col. Paul J. Kennedy, commanding officer for 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, told the Imams that it was important for elected leaders and peaceful Imams to work closely with Coalition forces for relations to improve. Kennedy reminded the Imams that Marines are trained to respect Islamic culture and mosques. He added that the repair initiative was a token of Coalition goodwill and gratitude.

The mosque repair proposal would fund $1,200 worth of projects for each mosque, employing about 10 people per project, and is slated to last about two weeks.

Marines also took delivery of 1,400 radios to be distributed to the Iraqi people throughout the province. The radio distribution will allow citizens of Al Anbar Province greater access to news, events and public services being offered to them that they might not otherwise know.

Marines also visited the Women's and Children's/Maternity Hospital April 30 to assess the medical needs there. The Marines compiled a list of necessities, some critical to offering safe and effective medical care to Iraqi women and children. Marines are coordinating with a Governorate Support Team health representative and Iraq's Director of Health.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040501.txt

I know with the media reporting the alleged prison abuse, soldiers being killed, and the percieved chaos that most Americans do not see all the great things we are doing for the Iraqi people. I will try to add a story like this once or twice a day.

Good for you..it's sad that all the press can concentrate on our the bad apples...that there is an entire country that is being assisted..yes..the Sunni Triangle is part of Iraq, but by no means is it the entirety of Iraq, that vast stretches of land are pacified and even prospering under the current Administration and will continue to prosper under Iraqi sovereignity

$1200 per mosque to pay for the damage... that's quite a good deal for the US me thinks

$1200 per mosque to pay for the damage... that's quite a good deal for the US me thinks

Consider the fact that in that part of the world $1200 US could probably drywall most of the facility, paint it and cover landscaping....and could you at least not belittle the attempt?..Geesh...

Consider the fact that in that part of the world $1200 US could probably drywall most of the facility, paint it and cover landscaping....and could you at least not belittle the attempt?..Geesh...because there are no minimum wages there and there will never be (because they are now slaves of the US).

Consider the fact that in that part of the world $1200 US could probably drywall most of the facility, paint it and cover landscaping....and could you at least not belittle the attempt?..Geesh...because there are no minimum wages there and there will never be (because they are now slaves of the US).
Without the US helping the Mosque, $0 USD going to the Iraqi people
With the US helping the Mosque, $1200 USD going to the Iraqi people, I think the choice is clear which is better for the people of Iraq.

Without the US helping the Mosque, $0 USD going to the Iraqi people
With the US helping the Mosque, $1200 USD going to the Iraqi people, I think the choice is clear which is better for the people of Iraq.Don't forget to mention where this money come from. It's from the iraqi's oil. Let's see... The US exploits the oil, paying Halliburton to do the job and paying at least $50 per hour the people of Halliburton. They sell the oil, and with the benefits, they give back $1200 for ten iraqis for one month or so to repair what they have destroyed... I say it again, the US is getting a good deal there.

This is not news. 80 People Dying in a Bomb blast is news. Petty cash is not.

And perhaps no money is better than a little from a psycological point of view. They need to stand on thier own two feet and solve thier own problems rather than suckling at the coalitions teat.

This is not news. 80 People Dying in a Bomb blast is news. Petty cash is not.

And perhaps no money is better than a little from a psycological point of view. They need to stand on thier own two feet and solve thier own problems rather than suckling at the coalitions teat.

The American press knows that death and destruction will sell more newspapers, not rebuilding Iraq. This is why the world always sees the worse end of things.

The American press knows that death and destruction will sell more newspapers, not rebuilding Iraq. This is why the world always sees the worse end of things.

The American press knows that death and destruction will sell more newspapers, not rebuilding Iraq. This is why the world always sees the worse end of things.

whoops

The American press knows that death and destruction will sell more newspapers, not rebuilding Iraq. This is why the world always sees the worse end of things.
I guess thats why they say, "if it bleeds, it leads."

This is not news. 80 People Dying in a Bomb blast is news. Petty cash is not.

And perhaps no money is better than a little from a psycological point of view. They need to stand on thier own two feet and solve thier own problems rather than suckling at the coalitions teat.

nice tripple post New Astrolia

Psylos...slaves of the US?....really..I must have missed the auction blocks going up in each Iraqi market area...hmmm...just what does a healthy young buck go for these days..I need some gardening done..and will the cost of transporting them overseas to my house come out of my initial cost or are they subsidized by the Bremer administration?...ooo..oo..I know..I need a maid...does it cost extra if they are pretty....I don't want to have to watch some 50 yr old with bad teeth clean my house?

Psylos...slaves of the US?....really..I must have missed the auction blocks going up in each Iraqi market area...hmmm...just what does a healthy young buck go for these days..I need some gardening done..and will the cost of transporting them overseas to my house come out of my initial cost or are they subsidized by the Bremer administration?...ooo..oo..I know..I need a maid...does it cost extra if they are pretty....I don't want to have to watch some 50 yr old with bad teeth clean my house?Sorry, when I said slave of the US, I was not precise enough. I meant slave of Halliburton. BTW you too are.

Psylos...slaves of the US?....really..I must have missed the auction blocks going up in each Iraqi market area...hmmm...just what does a healthy young buck go for these days..I need some gardening done..and will the cost of transporting them overseas to my house come out of my initial cost or are they subsidized by the Bremer administration?...ooo..oo..I know..I need a maid...does it cost extra if they are pretty....I don't want to have to watch some 50 yr old with bad teeth clean my house?Sorry, when I said slave of the US, I was not precise enough. I meant slave of Halliburton. BTW you too are.

Really...slave to Halliburton..Halliburton is in the business of oil exploration...last time I heard they didn't sign my checks..if anything I'm a slave to those royal-wannabees in Riyadh..

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Well at least we are doing someting. I just wish the money I pay for taxes wasn't all going to killing people and then rebuilding another country.

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Nor can we charge the appeasers of Saddam's regime the 300,000 of his own people he cruelly tortured, raped, murdered, and/or dumped in mass graves.

Look..we can bat this around forever..the bottom line is this regarding a cruel dictator..this CURRENT administration for various reasons, some moral, some based on faulty intel saw fit to actually DO something bout that madman, while France, Russian, and other entities in the UN were getting rich off the corrupt Food for Oil program.. and while they looked the other way while Saddam murdered his own people.

Now..you can say all you want that we've caused deaths sure..but when you're trying to defeat a regime, it was unavoidable of some civilian deaths..but we have no idea how many of those 9,000 were Saddam's cronies, or insurgents now do we?...and coldly I'll stack up my 9,000 over his 300,000 anyday of the week.

Really...slave to Halliburton..Halliburton is in the business of oil exploration...last time I heard they didn't sign my checks..if anything I'm a slave to those royal-wannabees in Riyadh..It is the other way around. You pay taxes for Halliburton, they don't pay you, you pay them.

Look..we can bat this around forever..the bottom line is this regarding a cruel dictator..this CURRENT administration for various reasons, some moral, some based on faulty intel saw fit to actually DO something bout that madman, while France, Russian, and other entities in the UN were getting rich off the corrupt Food for Oil program.. and while they looked the other way while Saddam murdered his own people.
Ah and when will you do something for the people of Iraq now?

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Nor can we charge the appeasers of Saddam's regime the 300,000 of his own people he cruelly tortured, raped, murdered, and/or dumped in mass graves.

Yeah, I love those numbers.. what you don't hear about those numbers is the time frame. You hear about how Saddam gassed his own people, they forget to tell you it was in the 80's when America was still Iraq's ally.. They tell you about Saddam gassing the people of Iran, what they don't tell you is it was the Americans who gave Iraq those WMD, what they don't tell you is that when the UN tried to pass a resolution to hold Saddam accountable for gassing Iran that the Americans VETO'd it. They tell you about how Saddam brutally went after the Shia after Gulf War I, what they don't tell you is that the Shia was rising up against the government on the encouragement of the Americans who left them high and dry.

There is a lot of things they tell you.. but those of us old enough to remember all those things.. recall all the things they don't tell you.

thats because conservative replicons can do no wrong.

Yeah, I love those numbers.. what you don't hear about those numbers is the time frame. You hear about how Saddam gassed his own people, they forget to tell you it was in the 80's when America was still Iraq's ally.. They tell you about Saddam gassing the people of Iran, what they don't tell you is it was the Americans who gave Iraq those WMD, what they don't tell you is that when the UN tried to pass a resolution to hold Saddam accountable for gassing Iran that the Americans VETO'd it. They tell you about how Saddam brutally went after the Shia after Gulf War I, what they don't tell you is that the Shia was rising up against the government on the encouragement of the Americans who left them high and dry.

There is a lot of things they tell you.. but those of us old enough to remember all those things.. recall all the things they don't tell you.

This is all undeniably true and I am old enough to remember all those things you're referring to, Steph. However, it is interesting that when there is a spot of good news amid all the bad (and that does seem to be all there is), instead of letting it go it has to be jumped on and attacked. I still agree that the bad we've done out there far outweighs the good, but that's no reason to slap down what good things do happen out of reflex.

Look..we can bat this around forever..the bottom line is this regarding a cruel dictator..this CURRENT administration for various reasons, some moral, some based on faulty intel saw fit to actually DO something bout that madman, while France, Russian, and other entities in the UN were getting rich off the corrupt Food for Oil program.. and while they looked the other way while Saddam murdered his own people.

So it's ok for China to execute and torture thousands of innocent people? Of course, because the US benefits from China allowing its population to become slave-labourers in sweatshops.
It's ok for Pakistan to sell components that can be used in nuclear bombs to anyone who stumps up the cash? Of course, because in return for the US ignoring nuclear proliferation, Pakistan stops harbouring Bin Laden.
And of course, let's not forget who put Saddam in power: The CIA.
If anything, the US should be paying Saddam a big pension. He's the CIA's longest serving operative.
:roll:

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Nor can we charge the appeasers of Saddam's regime the 300,000 of his own people he cruelly tortured, raped, murdered, and/or dumped in mass graves.

Yeah, I love those numbers.. what you don't hear about those numbers is the time frame. You hear about how Saddam gassed his own people, they forget to tell you it was in the 80's when America was still Iraq's ally.. They tell you about Saddam gassing the people of Iran, what they don't tell you is it was the Americans who gave Iraq those WMD, what they don't tell you is that when the UN tried to pass a resolution to hold Saddam accountable for gassing Iran that the Americans VETO'd it. They tell you about how Saddam brutally went after the Shia after Gulf War I, what they don't tell you is that the Shia was rising up against the government on the encouragement of the Americans who left them high and dry.

There is a lot of things they tell you.. but those of us old enough to remember all those things.. recall all the things they don't tell you.

And the Bush Jr. administration put an end to it.

The reason the previous administrations let the issue sit and gather dust was at the request of regional leaders. When the Shia rose up against Saddam, it was Syria, Canada and Saudi Arabia which lobbied the U.S. not to help them. Their primary fear was regional destabilization with the Kurds taking the opportunity to fight for independence.

U.S. policy is NOT continuous because its a democracy, get used to it. All democracies flip flop on issues until things become either unmanageable or a pain in the political arse.

And the Bush Jr. administration put an end to it.Well it already ended 13 years ago.

The reason the previous administrations let the issue sit and gather dust was at the request of regional leaders. When the Shia rose up against Saddam, it was Syria, Canada and Saudi Arabia which lobbied the U.S. not to help them. Their primary fear was regional destabilization with the Kurds taking the opportunity to fight for independence.And when the US will deal with the destabilization issue? Well we'll think about it after the war, right?

U.S. policy is NOT continuous because its a democracy, get used to it. All democracies flip flop on issues until things become either unmanageable or a pain in the political arse.some more flop than flip though.

I'm eating an apple right now.

This situation is interesting, but quite simple.

Side A tries to show the good and acknowledges the bad.

Side B refuses to see the good, and will only point the finger of blame.

Now to side B I would say this: Ya, we're not perfect, but I've got dirt on every major nation in the world. You want to point the finger, well that's fine. Keep being an annoying hippy liberal douche and I'll axe you.

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Paaaalease!

Like that was even the intent of move.

Really...slave to Halliburton..Halliburton is in the business of oil exploration...last time I heard they didn't sign my checks..if anything I'm a slave to those royal-wannabees in Riyadh..It is the other way around. You pay taxes for Halliburton, they don't pay you, you pay them.

Hey it's Sheik Yassim!

Not an exact quote:
"The american people pay taxes. Those taxes to to Israel. The american people are not innocent civilians"

Sorry but our tax system is not so cut and dry like that.

This situation is interesting, but quite simple.

Side A tries to show the good and acknowledges the bad.

Side B refuses to see the good, and will only point the finger of blame.

Now to side B I would say this: Ya, we're not perfect, but I've got dirt on every major nation in the world. You want to point the finger, well that's fine. Keep being an annoying hippy liberal douche and I'll axe you.It's campaing time. We should not show the good side of the war without remembering the huge price paid.
That would like telling a children about all the good things Ossama ben laden has done for the people and not telling them about the bad things he has done as well.

Look..we can bat this around forever..the bottom line is this regarding a cruel dictator..this CURRENT administration for various reasons, some moral, some based on faulty intel saw fit to actually DO something bout that madman, while France, Russian, and other entities in the UN were getting rich off the corrupt Food for Oil program.. and while they looked the other way while Saddam murdered his own people.

So it's ok for China to execute and torture thousands of innocent people? Of course, because the US benefits from China allowing its population to become slave-labourers in sweatshops.
It's ok for Pakistan to sell components that can be used in nuclear bombs to anyone who stumps up the cash? Of course, because in return for the US ignoring nuclear proliferation, Pakistan stops harbouring Bin Laden.
And of course, let's not forget who put Saddam in power: The CIA.
If anything, the US should be paying Saddam a big pension. He's the CIA's longest serving operative.
:roll:

Listen..I'm sure we'd love to help every little 3rd world nation in trouble but the fact is we can't ..so we have to pick and choose based on our national interests and our capabilities..

I like to read from the Bible quotations..."He who is without sin cast the first stone"...and "Remove the plank from your own eye before you look to mine"....There isn't a nation on this planet that doesn't conduct it's foreign policy in a totally altruistic manner..there isn't a nation on this planet that hasn't conducted themselves in a totally appropriate manner during war. We're far from perfect..but like I said..at least we DID something....and Steph....whatever was done to Iraq and previous Administrations has nothing to do with THIS administration..also..while previous administrations may have done business with Iraq..we hardly expected Saddam to kill his own people with anything we might have sold him..after all he was in a war with Iran...and we would rather have had a destabilized Iran at the time of the Iran-Iraq War..we were not going to allow the sizeable reserves in Iraq to become Iranian property. certainly not so soon after Iran had held hostage our people for over a year.

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Nor can we charge the appeasers of Saddam's regime the 300,000 of his own people he cruelly tortured, raped, murdered, and/or dumped in mass graves.

Yeah, I love those numbers.. what you don't hear about those numbers is the time frame. You hear about how Saddam gassed his own people, they forget to tell you it was in the 80's when America was still Iraq's ally.. They tell you about Saddam gassing the people of Iran, what they don't tell you is it was the Americans who gave Iraq those WMD, what they don't tell you is that when the UN tried to pass a resolution to hold Saddam accountable for gassing Iran that the Americans VETO'd it. They tell you about how Saddam brutally went after the Shia after Gulf War I, what they don't tell you is that the Shia was rising up against the government on the encouragement of the Americans who left them high and dry.

There is a lot of things they tell you.. but those of us old enough to remember all those things.. recall all the things they don't tell you.

Ok Steph, I am going to challenge you on that one.

Evidence please. Do show us where the US blocked a resolution about gassing the Kurds.

As to leaving them high and dry on the uprisings. Yea I will grant you that one.

But then why are you and your compatriates complaining about the old "no fly zones" which happened to be barriors for the Kurds and the Shia in the South?

Finally, I think the Iraqis were more Russian Allies. We supported them in the war against Iran. After all, we were still alittle annoyed over the hostage crisis.....

Aye, both sides should be shown. But you, my twisted little friend, don't see the other side. You are so malicious in your opinion that there simply isn't any good. If the US devoted its entire budget to rebuilding Iraq, it wouldn't be enough for you. No, you'd find something wrong. You people are so lost in your anger that you can't see any good.

Now should I axe all the organizations you actually do like? Those organizations that present a conspicuous double standard, but hide behind the banner of peace? I have no qualms with that.

I would suggest, if only for your own blood pressure, that you start seeing the good in things. If not for you own, then do it for mine.

Hey it's Sheik Yassim!

Not an exact quote:
"The american people pay taxes. Those taxes to to Israel. The american people are not innocent civilians"

Sorry but our tax system is not so cut and dry like that.Yes I know that is why I don't use the exact quote of Yassin and I say something different. I didn't know what he said.
Read again please. I said he was a slave of Halliburton, I didn't said he was not innocent. Anyway, I see you have learn the propaganda method of the Bush administration, which is peace activist = terrorist = evil.
I hope nobody think it is that simple.

Listen..I'm sure we'd love to help every little 3rd world nation in trouble but the fact is we can't ..so we have to pick and choose based on our national interests and our capabilities..

So, what you're saying is, we export liberty, but only if you can tell us what's in it for us? How much is a human life worth?

We're picking and choosing based on the grudges held by those in power and in order to make those who are already wealthier even more wealthy. Neither of those are good reasons to get involved in an open-ended, fiscally irresponsible conflict that is unpopular with the entire world and not only kills both our boys and innocent Iraqis, but then dehumanizes everyone in the region so much that our "liberation" looks no different from Saddam's "occupation."


I like to read from the Bible quotations..."He who is without sin cast the first stone"...and "Remove the plank from your own eye before you look to mine"....There isn't a nation on this planet that doesn't conduct it's foreign policy in a totally altruistic manner..there isn't a nation on this planet that hasn't conducted themselves in a totally appropriate manner during war. We're far from perfect..but like I said..at least we DID something.

Yes. But why here? Why now? And why have we done it so badly and botched it so completely? Why are we not willing to admit it was a mistake and try to make repairs? Of course no nation on the planet is perfect. Everyone's got blood on their hands. That doesn't make our actions any more justified. The Bible also says "Thou shalt not kill," but it's amazing how people forget that commandment when it doesn't suit their purposes.


...and Steph....whatever was done to Iraq and previous Administrations has nothing to do with THIS administration.

It absolutely does if we are making the same damn mistakes this time as we've made in the past. Perhaps an argument for the invasion is that we put Saddam in power and now that we think he's a threat, it's our right and responsibility to take him out. But that's not the argument that's being made. From the get go, pro-war lobbies have said "Well, there's WMD and he's gonna use them any second." When that didn't pan out, suddenly it was, "Well, he was a cruel dictator and we did it to 'liberate' the Iraqis." Now that we're seeing how untrue that whole lie was, I wonder what the next ruse will be? What will the next justification be?


.also..while previous administrations may have done business with Iraq..we hardly expected Saddam to kill his own people with anything we might have sold him.

What did we think he was going to do with those chemical weapons we sold him, weed his garden? C'mon, that is a terrible justification. We knew exactly who and what Saddam was and, because it suited our interests at the time and we couldn't be bothered to care about either the Kurds or the Shias, we sold him weapons anyway. To say we didn't know that it was at least a possiblity that he would use them on his own people is pure hogwash.


.after all he was in a war with Iran...and we would rather have had a destabilized Iran at the time of the Iran-Iraq War..we were not going to allow the sizeable reserves in Iraq to become Iranian property. certainly not so soon after Iran had held hostage our people for over a year.

So gassing Iranians would have been okay then? You have got one interesting moral structure.

Look..we can bat this around forever..the bottom line is this regarding a cruel dictator..this CURRENT administration for various reasons, some moral, some based on faulty intel saw fit to actually DO something bout that madman, while France, Russian, and other entities in the UN were getting rich off the corrupt Food for Oil program.. and while they looked the other way while Saddam murdered his own people.

So it's ok for China to execute and torture thousands of innocent people? Of course, because the US benefits from China allowing its population to become slave-labourers in sweatshops.


So China is only trading with the US?


It's ok for Pakistan to sell components that can be used in nuclear bombs to anyone who stumps up the cash?


Ok? ahm that's the fault of the US? We only started "really" talking to them after 9/11.


Of course, because in return for the US ignoring nuclear proliferation, Pakistan stops harbouring Bin Laden.


Why would we want Nuclear proliferation amount 3rd world countries? With the Soviets; you could at least talk to them? How do you talk to some rogue goverment?

I really doubt Musharuf(sp) is readily selling stuff as he isn't in complete controll of his country.


And of course, let's not forget who put Saddam in power: The CIA.
If anything, the US should be paying Saddam a big pension. He's the CIA's longest serving operative.
:roll:

Didn't I see this episode on the X-Files? :roll:

Aye, both sides should be shown. But you, my twisted little friend, don't see the other side. You are so malicious in your opinion that there simply isn't any good. If the US devoted its entire budget to rebuilding Iraq, it wouldn't be enough for you. No, you'd find something wrong. You people are so lost in your anger that you can't see any good.

Now should I axe all the organizations you actually do like? Those organizations that present a conspicuous double standard, but hide behind the banner of peace? I have no qualms with that.

I would suggest, if only for your own blood pressure, that you start seeing the good in things. If not for you own, then do it for mine.You say that because you live in a country where Bush is acceptable and where you can debate whether he is good or bad.
I live in a country where he is not. Would you say that Ossama helped the hungry and not say he has hidden intends or that that was after he made them hungry?
There is a war going on and some people are saying that war made some people find a job, don't you think it is important to remember what war is?
I have talked to many republicans and at first I remember they said that the peace activists were gay, that they provided arguments for the war and that the peace activists had nothing against the war.
Don't you think they need some education?
I know you never experienced war, neither did I, but I've lost a grand father and that period is still present in the mind of many of my friends and when you have talked to them you know it has to be avoided at all cost and I'm there to fight with everything I have to make people remember what it is.

Where has the original topic gone?

--- dp ---

I know you never experienced war, neither did I, but I've lost a grand father and that period is still present in the mind of many of my friends and when you have talked to them you know it has to be avoided at all cost and I'm there to fight with everything I have to make people remember what it is.

Interesting. Seems you have some really strong feelings against war. They are so strong that you are "...there to fight with everything I have to make people remember what it is"

Sounds rather warlike to me.

And I have experienced war, sad to say.

Trust me on this...you sound like the type of person that causes war. Open your mind and your heart.

MARINES OFFER MOSQUE REPAIRS, RADIOS TO Al ANBAR; MAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT VISIT

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines in Ramadi met with the governor of the Al Anbar Province and 51 Imams at the government center to present an offer for Marines to assist in repairs and improvements to mosques.

Lt. Col. Paul J. Kennedy, commanding officer for 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, told the Imams that it was important for elected leaders and peaceful Imams to work closely with Coalition forces for relations to improve. Kennedy reminded the Imams that Marines are trained to respect Islamic culture and mosques. He added that the repair initiative was a token of Coalition goodwill and gratitude.

The mosque repair proposal would fund $1,200 worth of projects for each mosque, employing about 10 people per project, and is slated to last about two weeks.

Marines also took delivery of 1,400 radios to be distributed to the Iraqi people throughout the province. The radio distribution will allow citizens of Al Anbar Province greater access to news, events and public services being offered to them that they might not otherwise know.

Marines also visited the Women's and Children's/Maternity Hospital April 30 to assess the medical needs there. The Marines compiled a list of necessities, some critical to offering safe and effective medical care to Iraqi women and children. Marines are coordinating with a Governorate Support Team health representative and Iraq's Director of Health.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040501.txt

I know with the media reporting the alleged prison abuse, soldiers being killed, and the percieved chaos that most Americans do not see all the great things we are doing for the Iraqi people. I will try to add a story like this once or twice a day.
Well this kind of stuff is really neat and all that but considering that the US has destroyed much of the Iraqi environment, killed thousands of innocent people, and are about to hijack the Iraqi economy under Bremer's Orders, it is the very least that they can do.

http://www.earthisland.org/project/newsPage2.cfm?newsID=550&pageID=177&subSiteID=44

While the Marines are being nice, the head honchos are salivating over the big bucks they can "steal" from their captives, through the hijacked economy. How nice!!

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.

Here, here Myrth!

Nor can we charge the appeasers of Saddam's regime the 300,000 of his own people he cruelly tortured, raped, murdered, and/or dumped in mass graves.

Yeah, I love those numbers.. what you don't hear about those numbers is the time frame. You hear about how Saddam gassed his own people, they forget to tell you it was in the 80's when America was still Iraq's ally.. They tell you about Saddam gassing the people of Iran, what they don't tell you is it was the Americans who gave Iraq those WMD, what they don't tell you is that when the UN tried to pass a resolution to hold Saddam accountable for gassing Iran that the Americans VETO'd it. They tell you about how Saddam brutally went after the Shia after Gulf War I, what they don't tell you is that the Shia was rising up against the government on the encouragement of the Americans who left them high and dry.

There is a lot of things they tell you.. but those of us old enough to remember all those things.. recall all the things they don't tell you.

Ok Steph, I am going to challenge you on that one.

Evidence please. Do show us where the US blocked a resolution about gassing the Kurds...

First, please read my post again, I never said the Kurds. The only thing I said was he gassed the Kurds in the 80's.

As for what I did say.. the Veto and an abstention that the Americans did do during the Iran/Iraq war..

Here you go...

The Abstention
http://www.gulfinvestigations.net/document469.html

The VETO (Resolution 582: Iraq-Islamic Republic of Iran (24 Feb))

http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/1986/scres86.htm

Read em and weep folks. Note that the Americans knew as early as 1983 that Saddam was using chem weapons on Iran, but then went ahead and Vetoed the resolution in 1986. This was even before Rumsfeld even went over to Iraq in that famous picture we have all seen of him shaking hands with Saddam.

So, the next time you want to rant to me about what human rights advocates the Americans are and how they're "liberating" the Iraqi people, spare me.. :roll:

Also, let me share some other resolutions the Americans in all their humanitarian ways Vetoed, right down to my favorite..

1986 Calls on all governments (including the USA) to observe international law.

I guess they just kept Vetoing that one to this day huh!

From 1972-2002


The following is a list of resolutions vetoed by the USA during the period:

1972 Condemns Israel for killing hundreds of people in Syria and Lebanon in air raids.
1973 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians and calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
1976 Condemns Israel for attacking Lebanese civilians.
1976 Condemns Israel for building settlements in the occupied territories.
1976 Calls for self determination for the Palestinians.
1976 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians.
1978 Urges the permanent members (USA, USSR, UK, France, China) to insure United Nations decisions on the maintenance of international peace and security.

1978 Criticises the living conditions of the Palestinians.
1978 Condemns the Israeli human rights record in occupied territories.
1978 Calls for developed countries to increase the quantity and quality of development assistance to underdeveloped countries.
1979 Calls for an end to all military and nuclear collaboration with the apartheid South Africa.
1979 Strengthens the arms embargo against South Africa.
1979 Offers assistance to all the oppressed people of South Africa and their liberation movement.
1979 Concerns negotiations on disarmament and cessation of the nuclear arms race.
1979 Calls for the return of all inhabitants expelled by Israel.
1979 Demands that Israel desist from human rights violations.
1979 Requests a report on the living conditions of Palestinians in occupied Arab countries.
1979 Offers assistance to the Palestinian people.
1979 Discusses sovereignty over national resources in occupied Arab territories.
1979 Calls for protection of developing counties' exports.
1979 Calls for alternative approaches within the United Nations system for improving the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

1979 Opposes support for intervention in the internal or external affairs ofstates.
1979 For a United Nations Conference on Women.
1979 To include Palestinian women in the United Nations Conference on Women.
1979 Safeguards rights of developing countries in multinational trade negotiations.
1980 Requests Israel to return displaced persons.
1980 Condemns Israeli policy regarding the living conditions of the Palestinian people.
1980 Condemns Israeli human rights practices in occupied territories. 3 resolutions.
1980 Afirms the right of self determination for the Palestinians.
1980 Offers assistance to the oppressed people of South Africa and their national liberation movement.
1980 Attempts to establish a New International Economic Order to promote the growth of underdeveloped countries and international economic co-operation.

1980 Endorses the Program of Action for Second Half of United Nations Decade for Women.
1980 Declaration of non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.
1980 Emphasises that the development of nations and individuals is a human right.
1980 Calls for the cessation of all nuclear test explosions.
1980 Calls for the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
1981 Promotes co-operative movements in developing countries.
1981 Affirms the right of every state to choose its economic and social system in accord with the will of its people, without outside interference in whatever form it takes.

1981 Condemns activities of foreign economic interests in colonial territories.
1981 Calls for the cessation of all test explosions of nuclear weapons.
1981 Calls for action in support of measures to prevent nuclear war, curb the arms race and promote disarmament.
1981 Urges negotiations on prohibition of chemical and biological weapons.
1981 Declares that education, work, health care, proper nourishment, national development, etc are human rights.
1981 Condemns South Africa for attacks on neighbouring states, condemns apartheid and attempts to strengthen sanctions. 7 resolutions.

1981 Condemns an attempted coup by South Africa on the Seychelles.
1981 Condemns Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, human rights policies, and the bombing of Iraq. 18 resolutions.
1982 Condemns the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. 6 resolutions (1982 to 1983).
1982 Condemns the shooting of 11 Muslims at a shrine in Jerusalem by an Israeli soldier.
1982 Calls on Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights occupied in 1967.
1982 Condemns apartheid and calls for the cessation of economic aid to South Africa. 4 resolutions.
1982 Calls for the setting up of a World Charter for the protection of the ecology.
1982 Sets up a United Nations conference on succession of states in respect to state property, archives and debts.
1982 Nuclear test bans and negotiations and nuclear free outer space. 3 resolutions.
1982 Supports a new world information and communications order.
1982 Prohibition of chemical and bacteriological weapons.
1982 Development of international law.
1982 Protects against products harmful to health and the environment .
1982 Declares that education, work, health care, proper nourishment, national development are human rights.
1982 Protects against products harmful to health and the environment.
1982 Development of the energy resources of developing countries.
1983 Resolutions about apartheid, nuclear arms, economics, and international law. 15 resolutions.
1984 Condemns support of South Africa in its Namibian and other policies.
1984 International action to eliminate apartheid.
1984 Condemns Israel for occupying and attacking southern Lebanon.
1984 Resolutions about apartheid, nuclear arms, economics, and international law. 18 resolutions.
1985 Condemns Israel for occupying and attacking southern Lebanon.
1985 Condemns Israel for using excessive force in the occupied territories.
1985 Resolutions about cooperation, human rights, trade and development. 3 resolutions.
1985 Measures to be taken against Nazi, Fascist and neo-Fascist activities .
1986 Calls on all governments (including the USA) to observe international law.
1986 Imposes economic and military sanctions against South Africa.
1986 Condemns Israel for its actions against Lebanese civilians.
1986 Calls on Israel to respect Muslim holy places.
1986 Condemns Israel for sky-jacking a Libyan airliner.
1986 Resolutions about cooperation, security, human rights, trade, media bias, the environment and development. 8 resolutions.
1987 Calls on Israel to abide by the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of the Palestinians.
1987 Calls on Israel to stop deporting Palestinians.
1987 Condemns Israel for its actions in Lebanon. 2 resolutions.
1987 Calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.
1987 Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States.
1987 Calls for compliance in the International Court of Justice concerning military and paramilitary activities against Nicaragua and a call to end the trade embargo against Nicaragua. 2 resolutions.

1987 Measures to prevent international terrorism, study the underlying political and economic causes of terrorism, and to differentiate it from the struggle of people from national liberation.

1987 Resolutions concerning journalism, international debt and trade. 3 resolutions.
1987 Opposition to the build up of weapons in space.
1987 Opposition to the development of new weapons of mass destruction.
1987 Opposition to nuclear testing. 2 resolutions.
1987 Proposal to set up South Atlantic "Zone of Peace".
1988 Condemns Israeli practices against Palestinians in the occupied territories. 5 resolutions (1988 and 1989).
1989 Condemns USA invasion of Panama.
1989 Condemns USA troops for ransacking the residence of the Nicaraguan ambassador in Panama.
1989 Condemns USA support for the Contra army in Nicaragua.
1989 Condemns illegal USA embargo of Nicaragua.
1989 Opposing the acquisition of territory by force.
1989 Calling for a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict based on earlier UN resoltions.
1990 To send three UN Security Council observers to the occupied territories.
1995 Afirms that land in East Jerusalem annexed by Israel is occupied territory.
1997 Calls on Israel to cease building settlements in East Jerusalem and other occupied territories. 2 resolutions.
1999 Calls on the USA to end its trade embargo on Cuba. 8 resolutions (1992 to 1999).
2001 To send unarmed monitors to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
2001 To set up the International Criminal Court.
2002 To renew the peace keeping mission in Bosnia.

Like I said, spare me the liberation rotuine.

Listen..I'm sure we'd love to help every little 3rd world nation in trouble but the fact is we can't ..so we have to pick and choose based on our national interests and our capabilities..

So, what you're saying is, we export liberty, but only if you can tell us what's in it for us? How much is a human life worth?

We're picking and choosing based on the grudges held by those in power and in order to make those who are already wealthier even more wealthy. Neither of those are good reasons to get involved in an open-ended, fiscally irresponsible conflict that is unpopular with the entire world and not only kills both our boys and innocent Iraqis, but then dehumanizes everyone in the region so much that our "liberation" looks no different from Saddam's "occupation."
You tell'em Berkylvania!!


I like to read from the Bible quotations..."He who is without sin cast the first stone"...and "Remove the plank from your own eye before you look to mine"....There isn't a nation on this planet that doesn't conduct it's foreign policy in a totally altruistic manner..there isn't a nation on this planet that hasn't conducted themselves in a totally appropriate manner during war. We're far from perfect..but like I said..at least we DID something.

Yes. But why here? Why now? And why have we done it so badly and botched it so completely? Why are we not willing to admit it was a mistake and try to make repairs? Of course no nation on the planet is perfect. Everyone's got blood on their hands. That doesn't make our actions any more justified. The Bible also says "Thou shalt not kill," but it's amazing how people forget that commandment when it doesn't suit their purposes.
AMEN!!


...and Steph....whatever was done to Iraq and previous Administrations has nothing to do with THIS administration.

It absolutely does if we are making the same damn mistakes this time as we've made in the past. Perhaps an argument for the invasion is that we put Saddam in power and now that we think he's a threat, it's our right and responsibility to take him out. But that's not the argument that's being made. From the get go, pro-war lobbies have said "Well, there's WMD and he's gonna use them any second." When that didn't pan out, suddenly it was, "Well, he was a cruel dictator and we did it to 'liberate' the Iraqis." Now that we're seeing how untrue that whole lie was, I wonder what the next ruse will be? What will the next justification be?
The next ruse? Thats easy........George W. will say that his pappy told him to go get'em. Either that or he wants to show pappy up?


.also..while previous administrations may have done business with Iraq..we hardly expected Saddam to kill his own people with anything we might have sold him.

What did we think he was going to do with those chemical weapons we sold him, weed his garden? C'mon, that is a terrible justification. We knew exactly who and what Saddam was and, because it suited our interests at the time and we couldn't be bothered to care about either the Kurds or the Shias, we sold him weapons anyway. To say we didn't know that it was at least a possiblity that he would use them on his own people is pure hogwash.
Ohhhh look......Saddam is using those nasty chemicals on our very good Iranian friends..........bad boy Saddam.


.after all he was in a war with Iran...and we would rather have had a destabilized Iran at the time of the Iran-Iraq War..we were not going to allow the sizeable reserves in Iraq to become Iranian property. certainly not so soon after Iran had held hostage our people for over a year.

So gassing Iranians would have been okay then? You have got one interesting moral structure.
It is truly interesting when the TRUTH emerges?

Thanks Steph for the humongous list.


From 1972-2002


The following is a list of resolutions vetoed by the USA during the period:

1979 Concerns negotiations on disarmament and cessation of the nuclear arms race.

1980 Calls for the cessation of all nuclear test explosions.

1980 Declaration of non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.

1981 Urges negotiations on prohibition of chemical and biological weapons.

1981 Calls for the cessation of all test explosions of nuclear weapons.

1982 Nuclear test bans and negotiations and nuclear free outer space. 3 resolutions.

1985 Measures to be taken against Nazi, Fascist and neo-Fascist activities .

1986 Calls on all governments (including the USA) to observe international law.

1987 Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States.

1987 Measures to prevent international terrorism, study the underlying political and economic causes of terrorism, and to differentiate it from the struggle of people from national liberation.

1987 Opposition to the development of new weapons of mass destruction.

1987 Opposition to nuclear testing. 2 resolutions.

1989 Opposing the acquisition of territory by force.

2001 To set up the International Criminal Court.

Just some of the many that I found extremely interesting, aside from the carte blanche backing of Israel to pretty much do whatever she wants to do.

HMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

Oh, just another interesting piece of triva.. in that same time period.. 1972-2002.. The USSR, then the Russians used their VETO twice! That's it.

You know, all these people saying the UN is useless, has any one ever stopped to think it's useless because of the Americans?

[quote=New Auburnland]
Don't forget to mention where this money come from. It's from the iraqi's oil. Let's see... The US exploits the oil, paying Halliburton to do the job and paying at least $50 per hour the people of Halliburton. They sell the oil, and with the benefits, they give back $1200 for ten iraqis for one month or so to repair what they have destroyed... I say it again, the US is getting a good deal there.

Quck comment on this subject of oil...if we're exploiting theit oil, why am I paying $2.02 at the pump? I know refining costs and all that crap...but if you get down to if we took oil from Iraq, the cost of oil would be approximately 1.06 per gallon figuring in transportation, and knocking out the crude oil purchase price of almost 50 cents on the dollar...going to oil exporters like IRAQ

You know, all these people saying the UN is useless, has any one ever stopped to think it's useless because of the Americans?

If one nation can cause so much trouble (a la U.S. in Iraq), just imagine what a world wide organization of nations is capable of doing. Then imagine that huge bureaucratic organization trying to fix it...

*shudders*

A useless U.N. is a good U.N.

You know, all these people saying the UN is useless, has any one ever stopped to think it's useless because of the Americans?

If one nation can cause so much trouble (a la U.S. in Iraq), just imagine what a world wide organization of nations is capable of doing. Then imagine that huge bureaucratic organization trying to fix it...

*shudders*

A useless U.N. is a good U.N.

Well, looking at the current situation in Iraq, I seriously doubt any one could of messed it up worse then the Americans already have.

*Americans = American Government

U.S. Diplomatic and Commercial Relationships with Iraq, 1980 - 2 August 1990:

In late 1979 the State Department (SD) put Iraq on its list of States sponsoring groups categorized by the SD as "terrorist."[1]

1980

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) asserted in a report that Iraq has been ‘actively acquiring’ Chemical Weapons [CW] capacities since the mid-1970s.[2]

1982

Despite intelligence reports that Iraq still sponsored groups on the SD's terrorist list, and "apparently without consulting Congress", the Reagan Administration removed Iraq from the State terrorism sponsorship list in 1982.[3] The removal made Iraq eligible for U.S. dual-use and military technology.[4]

1983

A SD report concluded that Iraq continued to support groups on the SD’s terrorist list.[5]

Iraq reportedly began using chemical weapons (CW) against Iranian troops in 1982, and significantly increased CW use in 1983. Reagan’s Secretary of State, George Shultz, said that reports of Iraq using CWs on Iranian military personnel "drifted in" at the year’s end.[6]

A declassified CIA report, probably written in late 1987, notes Iraq's use of mustard gas in August 1983, giving further credence to the suggestion that the SD and/or National Security Council (NSC) was well aware of Iraq's use of CW at this time.[7]

Analysts recognized that "civilian" helicopters can be weaponized in a matter of hours and selling a civilian kit can be a way of giving military aid under the guise of civilian assistance.[8] Shortly after removing Iraq from the terrorism sponsorship list, the Reagan administration approved the sale of 60 Hughes helicopters.[9]

Later, and despite some objections from the National Security Council (NSC), the Secretaries of Commerce and State (George Baldridge and George Shultz) lobbied the NSC advisor into agreeing to the sale to Iraq of 10 Bell helicopters,[10] officially for crop spraying. See "1988" for note on Iraq using U.S. Helicopters to spray Kurds with chemical weapons.

Later in the year the Reagan Administration secretly began to allow Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt to transfer to Iraq U.S. howitzers, helicopters, bombs and other weapons.[11] Reagan personally asked Italy’s Prime Minister Guilio Andreotti to channel arms to Iraq.[12]

1984

The SD announced on 6 March that, based on "available evidence," it "concluded" that Iraq used "lethal chemical weapons" (specifically mustard gas) in fresh fighting with Iran.[13]

On 20 March, U.S. intelligence officials said that they had "what they believe to be incontrovertible evidence that Iraq has used nerve gas in its war with Iran and has almost finished extensive sites for mass-producing the lethal chemical warfare agent".[14]

European-based doctors examined Iranian troops in March 1984 and confirmed exposure to mustard gas.[15] The UN sent expert missions to the battle region in March 1984, February/March 1986, April/May 1987, March/April 1988, July 1988 (twice), and mid-August 1988. These missions detailed and documented Iraq’s CW use.[16]

According to the Washington Post, the CIA began in 1984 secretly to give Iraq intelligence that Iraq uses to "calibrate" its mustard gas attacks on Iranian troops. In August, the CIA establishes a direct Washington-Baghdad intelligence link, and for 18 months, starting in early 1985, the CIA provided Iraq with "data from sensitive U.S. satellite reconnaissance photography...to assist Iraqi bombing raids." The Post’s source said that this data was essential to Iraq’s war effort.[17]

The United States re-established full diplomatic ties with Iraq on 26 November,[18] just over a year after Iraq’s first well-publicized CW use and only 8 months after the UN and U.S. reported that Iraq used CWs on Iranian troops.

AND much, much more.........................

http://www.casi.org.uk/info/usdocs/usiraq80s90s.html

Learning is a dangerous thing?

[quote=New Auburnland]
Don't forget to mention where this money come from. It's from the iraqi's oil. Let's see... The US exploits the oil, paying Halliburton to do the job and paying at least $50 per hour the people of Halliburton. They sell the oil, and with the benefits, they give back $1200 for ten iraqis for one month or so to repair what they have destroyed... I say it again, the US is getting a good deal there.

Quck comment on this subject of oil...if we're exploiting theit oil, why am I paying $2.02 at the pump? I know refining costs and all that crap...but if you get down to if we took oil from Iraq, the cost of oil would be approximately 1.06 per gallon figuring in transportation, and knocking out the crude oil purchase price of almost 50 cents on the dollar...going to oil exporters like IRAQ

Well, to be fair - IRaq oil exports are still not at very high levels. As a percent of OPEC outputs they are a still a very small part of the puzzle. Plus you are paying premium rates to truck drivers who have to be willing to face bombs and kidnaps to truck the stuff around.

Or maybe Haliburton likes the high prices to offset all of those fines for defrauding government contracts....

-Z-

You know, all these people saying the UN is useless, has any one ever stopped to think it's useless because of the Americans?

If one nation can cause so much trouble (a la U.S. in Iraq), just imagine what a world wide organization of nations is capable of doing. Then imagine that huge bureaucratic organization trying to fix it...

*shudders*

A useless U.N. is a good U.N.

Well, looking at the current situation in Iraq, I seriously doubt any one could of messed it up worse then the Americans already have.

*Americans = American Government

I'd agree, except for the fact that other nations like France and Russia have done plenty of dealing with Saddam themselves, just like the U.S., and were/are circling like vultures over the spoils (redevelopment contracting) just like the U.S.

Wanting a unified U.N. effort reguarding Iraq wasn't meant to prevent war, it was meant to ensure that said countries could get their share of the spoils. The whole "U.N. Resolution" vs. "American Unilateralism" issue isn't about trying to prevent the out of control U.S. war machine. It's about trying to make sure that <insert anti-U.S. nation here> gets some too.

I'm not (EDIT: a fan of the war in Iraq), but I'm not about to believe that the U.N. is innocent. If anything, the U.N. just provides a better forum for like minded nations to organize their "resolutions" in order to strong-arm the little people.

I just lost my last post so I will quickly retype.

The war in Iraq is not about oil or liberation or anything like that. It is about securing America's geopolitical interests in the region. During the 1980's, this was accomplished by befriending Saddam and allowing his regime to use whatever means available to keep Iran off balance. In the 1990's, the US realized that Iran was no longer able to face off against the US and Iraq became the primary threat.

They were defeated and a message was sent across the world that America would defend its interests with military force despite the end of the Cold War. Somalia, Sierre Leone, Rwanda and Bosnia muddled this message and inactivity against Al Qaeda after the embassy bombings, the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers, etc...

Now America is reaserting its geopolitical strength in the area and Iraq is the pivot point. This has always been the reason for America's invasion as lobbied for by the Heritage Foundation and Haushoffer supporters within the administration.

On another note.

Why do people here have such hatred for the UN? I doubt many of you have ever come into contact with them or even researched their documents. Everytime they are mentioned, people write about their lack of action and then in another thread get angry when they try to implement their mandate and resolve conflict?

Unless I missed some documents or stories but I though that organs such as UNICEF, UNESCO and UNHCHR as well as the international tribunals were good things. They certainly have done more for world development then anybody else.

The war in Iraq is not about oil or liberation or anything like that. It is about securing America's geopolitical interests in the region. During the 1980's, this was accomplished by befriending Saddam and allowing his regime to use whatever means available to keep Iran off balance. In the 1990's, the US realized that Iran was no longer able to face off against the US and Iraq became the primary threat.

They were defeated and a message was sent across the world that America would defend its interests with military force despite the end of the Cold War. Somalia, Sierre Leone, Rwanda and Bosnia muddled this message and inactivity against Al Qaeda after the embassy bombings, the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers, etc...

Now America is reaserting its geopolitical strength in the area and Iraq is the pivot point. This has always been the reason for America's invasion as lobbied for by the Heritage Foundation and Haushoffer supporters within the administration.

Sounds an whole bunch like the PNAC doctrine to me GEC .. ;)

The war in Iraq is not about oil or liberation or anything like that. It is about securing America's geopolitical interests in the region. During the 1980's, this was accomplished by befriending Saddam and allowing his regime to use whatever means available to keep Iran off balance. In the 1990's, the US realized that Iran was no longer able to face off against the US and Iraq became the primary threat.

They were defeated and a message was sent across the world that America would defend its interests with military force despite the end of the Cold War. Somalia, Sierre Leone, Rwanda and Bosnia muddled this message and inactivity against Al Qaeda after the embassy bombings, the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers, etc...

Now America is reaserting its geopolitical strength in the area and Iraq is the pivot point. This has always been the reason for America's invasion as lobbied for by the Heritage Foundation and Haushoffer supporters within the administration.

Sounds an whole bunch like the PNAC doctrine to me GEC .. ;)

Funny...I was thinking the same thing.

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.

I personally support the troops, I think that most people here, other then RTA and some other extreme individuals, do as well.

It's because of this support that we are so critical of the administration. A soldier is not only a body to be thrown into harm for the continuation of policy but a representative of a soveriegn state that exemplifies the mores and ethos of his/her society.

When used to liberate a continent under the thumb of monsters, they are angels of freedom. When they are used to further the plans of a select group within the government, their reputation and ideals are compromised. This is why we critique and why we will continue to do so.

Support the soldiers, never the cabal.

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.

I personally support the troops, I think that most people here, other then RTA and some other extreme individuals, do as well.

It's because of this support that we are so critical of the administration. A soldier is not only a body to be thrown into harm for the continuation of policy but a representative of a soveriegn state that exemplifies the mores and ethos of his/her society.

When used to liberate a continent under the thumb of monsters, they are angels of freedom. When they are used to further the plans of a select group within the government, their reputation and ideals are compromised. This is why we critique and why we will continue to do so.

Support the soldiers, never the cabal.

We agree but once again GEC. I don't blame the average American person and certainly not the troops. Damn, the troops are just a bunch of kids really, fighting for what they are told to fight. I seriously doubt 2/3 of those troops have any idea of all the political ramifications. Combat troops do what they're told. Brave young men and women. Heck, most of them probably joined the army to get an education. I support the American troops. (well except for the sleaze balls that have committed war crimes, but I realize that is not the majority of the American army) I also believe that most Americans who support the war do believe what they're being sold and have good intentions.

My beef is with the people who know better. The administration who thinks they're fooling any one who's know a little on the subject. They count on people not knowing the history, they count on a little catch phrases to make you go "oh yeah" They tell you what they want you to know and hope you don't go look for yourself. They hope that you get your information from the 6 o'clock news. They count on it. In large that is what happens.. I don't think the American people are the bad guys here. I believe they believe.. I and other people who have taken the time and effort.. (or perhaps that is what some of us have studied) know better. So, yeah, we get pissed because we know bullsh*t when we see it.. and trust me folks.. this smells quite foul.

I understand the want to help the Iraqi people.. and I'm sure to many that is what they believe they are doing..I don't doubt their sincerity. I just doubt their understanding of all that is going on. My beef is totally with the American administration, not the people. A lot of good people trying to do good things for the Iraqi people.. Americans in fact. Just don't be fooled by the double speak of your politicians.. their goals are not the same as you believe yours are.

Liberation is a nice pipe dream.. and it would be nice if that was what this really was about... but it's not. Sadly, it's not.

Even if the topic wavered somewhat i a would like to give what i see as a good spin on it.
Congratulations to the candor and integrity of people on this thread specifically for doing their homework on this one.
As per the Halliburton unintentional employment debate mentioned sporadically ....
$194 million .... for starters?

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.What about a thread about how Saddam helped palestinians family by granting them $25 000 and consequently helped their economy?
Can we be positive and agree to acknowledge Saddam's efforts at helping others?

MOSQUES, POLICE, SCHOOLS BENEFIT FROM MARINE-RUN RENOVATIONS

AR RAMADI, Iraq - As part of the Coalition's focus on empowering Iraqis to effectively govern and police themselves, Marines delivered 10 newly painted police cars to the police chief in the town of Hit Saturday.

Soldiers with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, oversaw progress being made toward the building of a medical clinic in Ramadi, a project that began three days ago. Soldiers also discussed the possibility of building a marketplace with a local Imam. This marketplace will allow the citizens of Ramadi greater access to shop for goods.

Marines also oversaw the delivery of a truckload of boxed supplies to a school in Ramadi Saturday. The items included eight air conditioners, eight ceiling fans, three refrigerators and 17 school desks. The appliances were delivered to help alleviate conditions in the school as the temperatures climb during the summer months. A local contractor will install the appliances.

Additional renovation projects were identified at the school while Marines visited. These projects include repairs to a perimeter wall and gates, as well as debris removal.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040505.txt

Another story of the great things going on in Iraq that you will not see in the news.

I like to watch the International news. Not one Great big glorified "human interest" story after another.

Another story of the great things going on in Iraq that you will not see in the news.

Well, it's laudable, certainly, but -- when you think "130,000 troops", "$87bn+", "5,000-10,000 civilians killed" -- 10 "newly painted" police cars, a possible marketplace and some air conditioners, fans, fridges and desks hardly add up to "great things".

But let's not be ungracious. Well done, America. Now stop killing civilians, stop imprisoning people without trial, and stop carving up Iraq and selling it cheap to Halliburton. And don't launch any more illegal wars.

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.

I agree with you, Grau, and I made this point earlier in the thread. However, at the same time, when outright lies are being told in order to find some justification, people must speak up, even if it means changing the tenor of the thread.

I think someone who shall remain nameless because they have the power to delete me posted what might be taken, on some level, as a slightly flamebaiting number of lives lost in this operation. Even though this was perhaps inappropriate, it still raised a good point that, regardless of the bright spots, there is a much larger human question here that can not be forgotten, no matter how much money we give to rebuild mosques or how many apples soldiers give to Iraqi children.

This is the problem with this whole war and the current administration. It what it's turning people into, rabid fanatics on either side. People who believe the war is justified are not evil people, just as people who feel the war is incorrect are not evil. But this administration has managed to make it such a hideous transgression against United States core values to even question an action of the President that it has split the country asunder and forced anyone who is willing to share an opinion to have to become a fanatic. This is the legacy of this administration, division, not only between the US and the rest of the world but within the US itself.

I support the troops and want them back home ASAP! They are only following orders. Many actually feel the war is unjust but can't do anything about it.

I'm glad to hear that there are a few good things happening in Iraq. The negative thing I recently heard is that they plan on keeping 100,000 troops there until the end of 2006 or something like that.

I don't blame Powell for wanting to get away from the current U.S. administration.

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.

I personally support the troops, I think that most people here, other then RTA and some other extreme individuals, do as well.

It's because of this support that we are so critical of the administration. A soldier is not only a body to be thrown into harm for the continuation of policy but a representative of a soveriegn state that exemplifies the mores and ethos of his/her society.

When used to liberate a continent under the thumb of monsters, they are angels of freedom. When they are used to further the plans of a select group within the government, their reputation and ideals are compromised. This is why we critique and why we will continue to do so.

Support the soldiers, never the cabal.

We agree but once again GEC. I don't blame the average American person and certainly not the troops. Damn, the troops are just a bunch of kids really, fighting for what they are told to fight. I seriously doubt 2/3 of those troops have any idea of all the political ramifications. Combat troops do what they're told. Brave young men and women. Heck, most of them probably joined the army to get an education. I support the American troops. (well except for the sleaze balls that have committed war crimes, but I realize that is not the majority of the American army) I also believe that most Americans who support the war do believe what they're being sold and have good intentions.

My beef is with the people who know better. The administration who thinks they're fooling any one who's know a little on the subject. They count on people not knowing the history, they count on a little catch phrases to make you go "oh yeah" They tell you what they want you to know and hope you don't go look for yourself. They hope that you get your information from the 6 o'clock news. They count on it. In large that is what happens.. I don't think the American people are the bad guys here. I believe they believe.. I and other people who have taken the time and effort.. (or perhaps that is what some of us have studied) know better. So, yeah, we get pissed because we know bullsh*t when we see it.. and trust me folks.. this smells quite foul.

I understand the want to help the Iraqi people.. and I'm sure to many that is what they believe they are doing..I don't doubt their sincerity. I just doubt their understanding of all that is going on. My beef is totally with the American administration, not the people. A lot of good people trying to do good things for the Iraqi people.. Americans in fact. Just don't be fooled by the double speak of your politicians.. their goals are not the same as you believe yours are.

Liberation is a nice pipe dream.. and it would be nice if that was what this really was about... but it's not. Sadly, it's not.

They're all a bunch of kids, eh?
So them torturing Iraqis is equivalent of a kid pulling the wings off flies?

Once again...What happened to the original topic of this thread???

Has it changed to yet another... "Why I hate America and its policies / administration / etc." ??

I do believe this started out trying to point out that regardless of why American troops are in Iraq, as people they are compassionate, good people. They do their duty when called upon but also take time to try and help the locals instead of getting a little extra sack time or other forms of kicking back for mental rest. (and well deserved at that).

Does it really hurt so much to agree that these efforts are not staged for the press, ordered by the military command chain, or for political reasons?? How about a little credit to these folks who are trying to put a little positive in a big negative.

If you want to blast away at the U.S. and its activities feel free to do so but do it elsewhere. Let this thread die with the 6 or so comments that are related to the topic. That is a better indication of how people here do not want to hear anything positive about the U.S.

I personally support the troops, I think that most people here, other then RTA and some other extreme individuals, do as well.

It's because of this support that we are so critical of the administration. A soldier is not only a body to be thrown into harm for the continuation of policy but a representative of a soveriegn state that exemplifies the mores and ethos of his/her society.

When used to liberate a continent under the thumb of monsters, they are angels of freedom. When they are used to further the plans of a select group within the government, their reputation and ideals are compromised. This is why we critique and why we will continue to do so.

Support the soldiers, never the cabal.

We agree but once again GEC. I don't blame the average American person and certainly not the troops. Damn, the troops are just a bunch of kids really, fighting for what they are told to fight. I seriously doubt 2/3 of those troops have any idea of all the political ramifications. Combat troops do what they're told. Brave young men and women. Heck, most of them probably joined the army to get an education. I support the American troops. (well except for the sleaze balls that have committed war crimes, but I realize that is not the majority of the American army) I also believe that most Americans who support the war do believe what they're being sold and have good intentions.

My beef is with the people who know better. The administration who thinks they're fooling any one who's know a little on the subject. They count on people not knowing the history, they count on a little catch phrases to make you go "oh yeah" They tell you what they want you to know and hope you don't go look for yourself. They hope that you get your information from the 6 o'clock news. They count on it. In large that is what happens.. I don't think the American people are the bad guys here. I believe they believe.. I and other people who have taken the time and effort.. (or perhaps that is what some of us have studied) know better. So, yeah, we get pissed because we know bullsh*t when we see it.. and trust me folks.. this smells quite foul.

I understand the want to help the Iraqi people.. and I'm sure to many that is what they believe they are doing..I don't doubt their sincerity. I just doubt their understanding of all that is going on. My beef is totally with the American administration, not the people. A lot of good people trying to do good things for the Iraqi people.. Americans in fact. Just don't be fooled by the double speak of your politicians.. their goals are not the same as you believe yours are.

Liberation is a nice pipe dream.. and it would be nice if that was what this really was about... but it's not. Sadly, it's not.

They're all a bunch of kids, eh?
So them torturing Iraqis is equivalent of a kid pulling the wings off flies?

They're all a bunch of kids, eh?
So them torturing Iraqis is equivalent of a kid pulling the wings off flies?

Perhaps, but to extend the metaphor, where's their parental supervision? Last time I heard, he was flipping pancakes in Ohio and setting up a reelection photo op.

They're all a bunch of kids, eh?
So them torturing Iraqis is equivalent of a kid pulling the wings off flies?

Perhaps, but to extend the metaphor, where's their parental supervision? Last time I heard, he was flipping pancakes in Ohio and setting up a reelection photo op.

So you believe that crap about them not getting any training? I thought noone bought this "I didn't get any training so I thought it was ok to rape a prisoner, write slogans on him (and those were misspelled) and then electrocute him" story.

They're all a bunch of kids, eh?
So them torturing Iraqis is equivalent of a kid pulling the wings off flies?

Perhaps, but to extend the metaphor, where's their parental supervision? Last time I heard, he was flipping pancakes in Ohio and setting up a reelection photo op.

So you believe that crap about them not getting any training? I thought noone bought this "I didn't get any training so I thought it was ok to rape a prisoner, write slogans on him (and those were misspelled) and then electrocute him" story.

First of all, I didn't say what I believed or didn't believe so don't assume you know. Second of all, regardless of what "training" they did or didn't receive, the question of the moment is why were these abuses allowed to be carried out by their superiors? If the superiors didn't know they were happening, then WHY didn't they know they were happening? Is this a breakdown in command structure over there or a cover up? Either way, it's a huge problem. Third, obviously the Pentagon knew about this at some point prior to disclosure because it convinced CBS to hold off on breaking the story for over a month (possibly longer). Given that they knew about it, why didn't they break the story themselves and immediately work to rectify the situation?

They're all a bunch of kids, eh?
So them torturing Iraqis is equivalent of a kid pulling the wings off flies?

Perhaps, but to extend the metaphor, where's their parental supervision? Last time I heard, he was flipping pancakes in Ohio and setting up a reelection photo op.

So you believe that crap about them not getting any training? I thought noone bought this "I didn't get any training so I thought it was ok to rape a prisoner, write slogans on him (and those were misspelled) and then electrocute him" story.

I have little doubt that the problem is systemic, the buck stops with the chain of command. There is some thing seriously wrong if troops being trained to go into battle are not being taught the Geneva Conventions. That is a systemic problem. The fact that these troops didn't even know the Geneva Conventions means heads should roll at the defense department. However, Geneva Conventions or not, there is no way in hell these troops didn't know what they were doing was wrong and against basic human rights. I for one am not buying their story. Even if they were told to do it.. that's no excuse, under rules of war you can refuse an illegal order. Lets not forget the Nazi's.. when many of them went on trial after WWII, they tried to claim they were "just following orders" and was ruled that wasn't good enough. If you know the order you're given is illegal it's your responsibility to refuse that order. Said Nazi's were still tried and convicted. There is no excuse for what these troops did.. and like I said.. right up the chain up command heads should roll for this.

Very Intresting.

Explain this my Candian friends though from the claim of Shultz. Should a human rights agency police chemical weapons? It may have been an excuse but it does sound logical

Comments to Canucks. Mind you I don't have time to read all that stuff at the moment so I am only working of the titles:

1979 Concerns negotiations on disarmament and cessation of the nuclear arms race.

Ok how does one police it? Did the USSR put up a stink over the veto? Did any of the other Nuclear nations?

1980 Calls for the cessation of all nuclear test explosions.
1981 Calls for the cessation of all test explosions of nuclear weapons.
1987 Opposition to nuclear testing. 2 resolutions.

To proper run an arsonel, you do have to test them from time to time.

1980 Declaration of non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states.

Well that almost seems to be a waste of time. Nobody; not even the "evil" empire of the USSR takes to using a nuke so easily. Chem and Bio weapons are all over the place. How do you respond to a bio attack?

1981 Urges negotiations on prohibition of chemical and biological weapons.
Well that would mean having to admit they exist. And last I checked the US "offically" doesn't have any.

1982 Nuclear test bans and negotiations and nuclear free outer space. 3 resolutions.
Well that would come into conflict with the platforms that are up there. Who would take them down?

1985 Measures to be taken against Nazi, Fascist and neo-Fascist activities.

Depends on what the activities are. To simply say no Nazis would violate the Consititution. Americans as a whole are not likly going to allow the goverment to open up the Consititution for change. Onces its open; everything in it is modifiable.

Hate groups can exist as long as they don't violate the law.

1987 Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States.

Ok looking past the Israel aspects. Why do you need a resolution for that?

1987 Measures to prevent international terrorism, study the underlying political and economic causes of terrorism, and to differentiate it from the struggle of people from national liberation.

Weren't countries already doing that? What would be acomplished?

1987 Opposition to the development of new weapons of mass destruction.
Duh Why would we give away our edge? Everybody else is going to go "ok we don't want to make nukes anymore"
Also how would you police it?

1989 Opposing the acquisition of territory by force.
How would this be enforced? China wants a country is Europe or even Canada willing to go to war?

2001 To set up the International Criminal Court.
Well I admit to not looking at this; assuming you mean the Hauge. However, some of the comments I heard is that this court would be used to go after soldiers in an illegal war. Did China, the ME, and the former USSR countries go for it?

What exactly are the guidlines for it?

Also, our legal system handles many aspects of it already. Well lets just say before Gitmo and 9/11 :roll:

MARINES DELIVER SUPPLIES, BEGIN WORK PROJECTS

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines delivered supplies to the 1st Battalion of the Fallujah Brigade Saturday, which is currently being integrated into the mission of providing security and stability in Fallujah. These supplies will enhance the service's ability to function and identify them more readily as a respected and lawful authority.

Marines also negotiated a contract for workers to begin assembling equipment to clean up Fallujah. The clean-up project will ensure a safer environment for Fallujans by clearing debris from the streets and restoring damaged or dilapidated infrastructure.

Soldiers with the 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Ramadi, met with a group of 12 sheiks and other leaders of the Al Jazirah region. The soldiers initiated $21,000 for a project to repair roads in Khalidiyah. Soldiers also initiated a project to employ municipal maintenance workers. The cost of this project is estimated at $13,800, employing more than 200 custodial workers. This will result in well-maintained municipal and school buildings.

Additionally, Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers who recently began guarding key sites in Khalidiyah discovered one improvised explosive device. They are expected to increase patrols in the Al Jazirah region.

Coalition forces will gradually turn over more security responsibilities in the Al Anbar province to Iraqi Security Forces so that Iraqis may police and govern themselves.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040503.txt

MARINES DELIVER SUPPLIES, BEGIN WORK PROJECTS

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines delivered supplies to the 1st Battalion of the Fallujah Brigade Saturday, which is currently being integrated into the mission of providing security and stability in Fallujah. These supplies will enhance the service's ability to function and identify them more readily as a respected and lawful authority.

Marines also negotiated a contract for workers to begin assembling equipment to clean up Fallujah. The clean-up project will ensure a safer environment for Fallujans by clearing debris from the streets and restoring damaged or dilapidated infrastructure.

Soldiers with the 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Ramadi, met with a group of 12 sheiks and other leaders of the Al Jazirah region. The soldiers initiated $21,000 for a project to repair roads in Khalidiyah. Soldiers also initiated a project to employ municipal maintenance workers. The cost of this project is estimated at $13,800, employing more than 200 custodial workers. This will result in well-maintained municipal and school buildings.

Additionally, Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers who recently began guarding key sites in Khalidiyah discovered one improvised explosive device. They are expected to increase patrols in the Al Jazirah region.

Coalition forces will gradually turn over more security responsibilities in the Al Anbar province to Iraqi Security Forces so that Iraqis may police and govern themselves.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040503.txt

Keep this up NA...it's important for the naysayers to realize that Iraq is one big country and that there are other things happening that are occuring daily to improve the lifes of Iraqis all over the country, and I need not remind you that the Kurds are virtually mushrooming in terms of economic viability and a stable security arrangement....that's at least a 3rd of the country that is just fine with American involvment...I keep hearing the naysayers pretty much diminishing the work of the coalition elsewhere and virtually ignore the advancements the Kurds are making

Keep this up NA...it's important for the naysayers to realize that Iraq is one big country and that there are other things happening that are occuring daily to improve the lifes of Iraqis all over the country, and I need not remind you that the Kurds are virtually mushrooming in terms of economic viability and a stable security arrangement....that's at least a 3rd of the country that is just fine with American involvment...I keep hearing the naysayers pretty much diminishing the work of the coalition elsewhere and virtually ignore the advancements the Kurds are making
I am glab to see people like New Auburnland are not letting the entire focus of the public to be on the few bad things that are going on in Iraq. There are many great things going on in Iraq by US/UK/Aussie troops and they should not be overlooked.

I am glab to see people like New Auburnland are not letting the entire focus of the public to be on the few bad things that are going on in Iraq. There are many great things going on in Iraq by US/UK/Aussie troops and they should not be overlooked.

No, they shouldn't, but when you have systemic and, apparently, gleeful military abuse of prisoners when one of the reasons we are supposedly over there in the first place is to stop that exact thing, then one must also question the entire purpose of our being there. Of course good things are happening. They're not "sexy" so they don't sell papers or increase ratings so they often get short shrift. Good things should be pointed out, I absolutely agree, but the bad things and abuses should never be forgotten.

I never said the abuse of prisioners should be overlooked. All aspects of our soldiers actions -mostly good actions, some bad actions- should be reported. I believe this thread is a good way to make sure poeple know that it is not all chaos, torture, and killing in Iraq.

I never said the abuse of prisioners should be overlooked. All aspects of our soldiers actions -mostly good actions, some bad actions- should be reported. I believe this thread is a good way to make sure poeple know that it is not all chaos, torture, and killing in Iraq.

sorry for the double post

bump

$300K TARGETED FOR EAST BAGHDAD NEIGHBORHOODS

AL THAWRA DISTRICT, Baghdad, Iraq - More than $300,000 will be pumped into eastern Baghdad neighborhoods, as a variety of coalition civil affairs projects get under way.

"This past week, the Coalition committed more than $300,000 to projects ranging from trash and debris [removal] to [the] publication of [an] English/Arabic newspaper, and renovations of an Iraqi middle school," said Capt. Brian Donnelly, a civil affairs advisor for units in Eastern Baghdad.

These projects will continue, he said, and as more money begins to stabilize the economy, more projects will be turned over to the Iraqi people. Improvements to marketplaces and other business areas are planned. Modernization of Iraqi municipal systems, such as sewage and roadways, is also a priority for civil affairs.

"We continually assess the needs of the Iraqi people through the Neighborhood Advisory Councils and work to match their needs with available local resources," Donnelly said. "There is an abundant supply of quality labor. The majority of our projects are designed to employ that work force. It allows Iraqis to make Iraq better for themselves, and gives them pride in their accomplishments."

Coalition forces will continue to provide for a safe and secure Iraq, to ensure these projects aren't slowed by criminal or terrorists' acts, Donnelly said.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20040425.txt

MARINES, SOLDIERS PROPOSE INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES TO SHEIKS

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines and Soldiers with the 1st Marine Division met with Iraqi sheiks May 4 to propose several projects to improve water distribution, roads, and school and building repairs.

A team of Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division met with a sheik to discuss a proposal to build a bridge over an irrigation canal near Ramadi. The Soldiers viewed the proposed site to understand how the bridge could best serve the needs of the Iraqi citizens. The proposal would draw labor from local communities, improving employment opportunities.

Civil Affairs teams awarded two contracts for renovations at primary schools near Ramadi - at the Al Irtiqaa Primary School and the Hassan Bin Thabit Primary School. Renovations will be completed in two phases; the first phase should last two weeks.

Meeting with another sheik, Civil Affairs teams also discussed a proposal for adding streetlights and fixing potholes in certain sections of Ramadi. The sheik agreed that cleaning up the area would make it harder for insurgents to plant improvised explosive devices, making the area safer for Iraqi citizens.

Civil Affairs teams are also addressing Ramadi's water needs. Some residents rely on the city's glass factory for water, but supplies are inadequate. Initial assessments showed some houses received water, while others did not. Plant officials said plans call for new water pipes in the area.

The 1st Marine Division is focused on destroying anti-Coalition forces in the Al Anbar province while simultaneously establishing a patient, persistent presence in key areas throughout the province. The division will also support the development of competent, trustworthy, Iraqi security forces and conduct civil military operations.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040508.txt

bump that!

Look..we can bat this around forever..the bottom line is this regarding a cruel dictator..this CURRENT administration for various reasons, some moral, some based on faulty intel saw fit to actually DO something bout that madman, while France, Russian, and other entities in the UN were getting rich off the corrupt Food for Oil program.. and while they looked the other way while Saddam murdered his own people.

So it's ok for China to execute and torture thousands of innocent people? Of course, because the US benefits from China allowing its population to become slave-labourers in sweatshops.
It's ok for Pakistan to sell components that can be used in nuclear bombs to anyone who stumps up the cash? Of course, because in return for the US ignoring nuclear proliferation, Pakistan stops harbouring Bin Laden.
And of course, let's not forget who put Saddam in power: The CIA.
If anything, the US should be paying Saddam a big pension. He's the CIA's longest serving operative.
:roll:

Hey Ive been hearing so much bitching on these sites i think the US should just give the world what they want and take out china and saudi arabia and iran and syria. But even though they said ' if you do it in iraq why not do it everywhere else' they will complain.

MARINES DELIVER SUPPLIES, EMPLOY IRAQIS

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - Marines continued their support of communities throughout the Al Anbar province with recent deliveries of supplies and the employment of Iraqis.

Marines recently visited the Al Tash refugee camp south of Ramadi and delivered medications and medical supplies to the camp clinic. Marines also delivered two 30,000-gallon water bladders to alleviate water shortages there.

They also delivered 600 uniforms and boots to the Fallujah Brigade and medicine to the Nassir Wa Al Salaam Clinic near the city.

Employment for the people of Fallujah with Marine-led projects continues to climb. Two more contractors were recently brought in for the Fallujah Cleanup and Restoration initiative, making a total of 1,960 citizens employed in Coalition Forces projects, including the 1,700 members of the Fallujah Brigade.

Marines also went to Al Kharma to visit with city directors and initiate several contracts. The contracts will correct water and sanitation problems in the city.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040532.txt

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.
You just don't know where to look.

COALITION EFFORTS IMPROVE LIFE FOR AL ANBAR RESIDENTS

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - A variety of Coalition initiatives designed to improve the quality of life for residents of the Al Anbar province are currently underway.

A Fallujah Liaison Team is evaluating contractors to manage a 1,200-man cleanup and restoration contract. Coalition leaders expect that workforce to increase as contractors get settled and increase their hiring capacity. Currently, the total workforce employed by Coalition-led projects in Fallujah is 2,880.

In addition, Marines delivered 36 wheelbarrows, picks and shovels for distribution to farmers in Al Kharma and Civil Affairs teams in Ramadi paid out a contract for 503 soccer balls, five ball pumps and 20 soccer nets.

In the western Al Anbar province, Marines paid $16,000 for damages caused during recent fighting with terrorist forces. Marines also provided toys and school supplies to local Iraqi children.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040540.txt

MARINES CONTINUE COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE DESPITE TERRORIST ATTACKS

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - In spite of recent insurgent attacks, U.S. Marines are continuing their support of communities here.

An area of highway settlements near Al Kharma was attacked with rockets after U.S. Marines met with local residents. The Marines had passed out copies of Freedom Magazine, a Coalition-published Arabic-language magazine, and coloring books for children.

The Marines plan to return to the villages to offer money to help residents repair the damage.

In Ar Ramadi, Marine Civil Affairs checked on the progress of renovations at the Amel Shaabi and Ahzem schools.

Civil Affairs teams also met with Ar Ramadi city government officials to discuss a proposal for Marine help in establishing five garbage companies.

Individuals from five separate city districts were identified as possible new managers. Each company would employ roughly 60 Iraqis in jobs ranging from workers and foremen, to accountants - affecting nearly 300 families in all.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040538.txt

Without the US helping the Mosque, $0 USD going to the Iraqi people
With the US helping the Mosque, $1200 USD going to the Iraqi people, I think the choice is clear which is better for the people of Iraq.Don't forget to mention where this money come from. It's from the iraqi's oil. Let's see... The US exploits the oil, paying Halliburton to do the job and paying at least $50 per hour the people of Halliburton. They sell the oil, and with the benefits, they give back $1200 for ten iraqis for one month or so to repair what they have destroyed... I say it again, the US is getting a good deal there.

how much oil have we taken?

how much oil have we taken?

none!

you idiot!

this is OUR tax money, not some oil slush fund, if things worked that way we'd just buy off the insurgents

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.
only 5,500 lives. quit exagerating

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040524/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_violent_deaths&cid=540&ncid=716

You can't buy back 9,000 civilian lives.
only 5,500 lives. quit exagerating

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040524/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_violent_deaths&cid=540&ncid=716(from your site)

"More than 5,500 Iraqis died violently in just Baghdad and three provinces in the first 12 months of the occupation, an Associated Press survey found"
(note that's just the occupation, not the war)

"In Fallujah, where U.S. Marines launched an offensive against Sunni militants on April 4, the city's hospital director, Rafie al-Issawi, reported 731 people killed during the month"

"The human rights organization Amnesty International, based in London, estimated in March that more than 10,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed "as a direct result of military intervention in Iraq, either during the war or during the subsequent occupation.""

Add the iraqis fighters as well as the foreigners and the people who died from water and food shortage and you got something like 50 000 people killed.

MARINES CONTINUE COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE DESPITE TERRORIST ATTACKS

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - In spite of recent insurgent attacks, U.S. Marines are continuing their support of communities here.

An area of highway settlements near Al Kharma was attacked with rockets after U.S. Marines met with local residents.

I admire your efforts to put a positive spin on what is happening in Iraq to counter all the negative news coming out of that region, however I see some of these issues as US propaganda, no more and no less.

Since the press release comes from HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND, I challenge the way this "positive" news is being presented, and it begs the following questions:

1. If your country was invaded and occupied by a foreign power and your leader was being held prisoner does that mean that the war is over?

2. If you continue to fight against the occupiers, does that give them the right to call you (a) Terrorists, or (b) insurgents?

3. Wouldn't you expect the occupiers to be responsible for repairing the damages that they inflicted upon your country?

4. Are the defenders NOT trying to support their community, and somehow the Marines are?

To me, the headlines are propaganda aimed at painting the Iraqi resistance as a bunch of terrorists, when in reality, they are trying to protect THEIR homeland with every fibre of their being.

IF the headline had been written in the following way, I would find it much more sincere:

MARINES CONTINUE COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - In spite of ongoing skirmishes, U.S. Marines are continuing their efforts to repair damages to the community here.

************************************************************

Labelling Iraqi defenders as terrorists, insurgents, or thugs is irresponsible, inflammatory, and unwarranted.

OPERATION DISARM TAKES WEAPONS OFF BAGHDAD STREETS

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Baghdad residents turned in more than 100 armaments to Iraqi police at the Al Duara police station as part of the 1st Cavalry Division’s Operation Disarm program May 19.

The program uses funds earmarked for tips leading to the capture of insurgents or illegal weapons and offers up to $500 per weapon, depending on type. Included in the final tally were more than 80 AK-47 rifles, mortars, mines and grenades.

This has already been published.

This has already been published.
not in this thread, the release from CENTCOM is less than 48 Hrs old.
http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040550.txt

MARINES EMBARK ON CLEAN WATER PROJECT FOR RAMADI

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Civil Affairs representatives from the 1st Marine Division and Navy Seabees signed a $3.2 million contract for the Al Jazeera Water Project in Ramadi.

The project will provide clean drinking water to 51,000 people. It will include chemical treatment facilities and new piping, and its construction will employ at least 200 Iraqis.

In Fallujah, Navy Seabees, working with Marines from the 1st Marine Division, began constructing two huts for Iraqi Civil Defense Corps at the Civil Military Operations Center. Additionally, a $30,000 paving project began after an Iraqi contractor was awarded the project.

Marines in Fallujah received 23 bids for the Al Sakaniya apartment improvements. The estimated cost for construction on the apartments is more than $500,000. Additionally, 22 bids were received for school and mosque repair projects.

yeah, they are repairing what they previously destroyed.

yeah, they are repairing what they previously destroyed.
Yep, very true. It is a habit that the U.S. has. We go to war against a regime and defeat it, then we pitch in and help the people of that country rebuild and improve. Perhaps you would like to look at Germany and Japan. Quite a concept helping a defeated enemy to rebuild, not a common practice among other nations. Guess it is very hard to grasp.....

AGREE! WE SHOULD HEAR MORE OF THE POSITIVE NEWS AS WELL! DAMN THE MEDIA! :x

SOLDIERS RAKE IN CACHE

TIKRIT, Iraq - 1st Infantry Division battalions seized more than 1,000 munitions found in several caches near Tikrit May 25 and 26.

In two instances, Iraqi citizens provided information to Task Force Danger Soldiers. In the first instance, an Iraqi's information led Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 252nd Armor Regiment to a cache near Jalula. The cache consisted of a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with two grenades, a box of .50-caliber ammunition, and three boxes of fuses. The Soldiers also confiscated two AK-47's during their search May 25.

Another citizen's help led Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment to more than 358 rockets which were destroyed by the battalion May 26.

1st Infantry Division aviators also discovered two caches near Tikrit May 26. The caches consisted of about 200 artillery rounds and 50 rounds of an undetermined ordnance.

My question is this....

Who are the contractors that are going to profit from the construction...

and secondly...

why would you destroy a water system in what are supposed to be smart bomb technology?

My question is this....

Who are the contractors that are going to profit from the construction...

and secondly...

why would you destroy a water system in what are supposed to be smart bomb technology?
Who are the contactors? Who cares? the Iraqis water will be running

Who would destroy a water system? How about the same guy who would kill 3,000,000 of his own citizens. Just because it was destroyed doesn't mean we did it.

My question is this....

Who are the contractors that are going to profit from the construction...

and secondly...

why would you destroy a water system in what are supposed to be smart bomb technology?
Who are the contactors? Who cares? the Iraqis water will be running

Who would destroy a water system? How about the same guy who would kill 3,000,000 of his own citizens. Just because it was destroyed doesn't mean we did it.


It matters a great deal if the people benefiting from the profits are American contractors like Haliburton....
You cant use this as an example of "doing some good" in Iraq, if the Iraqi contractors are not the ones building this water system.

Other wise its just exploiting them for profit.

It matters a great deal if the people benefiting from the profits are American contractors like Haliburton....
You cant use this as an example of "doing some good" in Iraq, if the Iraqi contractors are not the ones building this water system.

Other wise its just exploiting them for profit.

I know who is building the water system, the lowest bidder. thats the US Govt in action. who gives a shit if its an Iraqi or an American as long as they are the lowest bidder.

It matters a great deal if the people benefiting from the profits are American contractors like Haliburton....
You cant use this as an example of "doing some good" in Iraq, if the Iraqi contractors are not the ones building this water system.

Other wise its just exploiting them for profit.

I know who is building the water system, the lowest bidder. thats the US Govt in action. who gives a shit if its an Iraqi or an American as long as they are the lowest bidder.

Your missing the point entirely.....

If the contracts are given to American companies...
Then the Iraqi people are only benefiting by getting back what we destroyed..and profiting from it at the same time.

This isnt "good news" ....

This is why they hate us.

The contract should be gievn to Iraqi based companies..then its win-win...

Why dont you see that?

If the contracts are given to American companies...
Then the Iraqi people are only benefiting by getting back what we destroyed..and profiting from it at the same time.
As I believe, only French companies are banned from bidding on contracts, so Iraqi companies have just as much chance of recieving a contract as every other company.

Even if it is an American company doing the work, the bottom line is the same, shit gets fixed, US tax dollars paying for the job.

Psylos...slaves of the US?....really..I must have missed the auction blocks going up in each Iraqi market area...hmmm...just what does a healthy young buck go for these days..I need some gardening done..and will the cost of transporting them overseas to my house come out of my initial cost or are they subsidized by the Bremer administration?...ooo..oo..I know..I need a maid...does it cost extra if they are pretty....I don't want to have to watch some 50 yr old with bad teeth clean my house?Sorry, when I said slave of the US, I was not precise enough. I meant slave of Halliburton. BTW you too are.
Sure. After all, Halliburton is only the 50th largest company in the US.

Yes. How come you only report on things the Military is doing and not what contractors are doing. They are the ones doing all the work.

MARINES BOLSTER ELECTRICITY, CITY CLEAN-UP AND YOUTH SPORTS

AR RAMADI, Iraq -- Marines paid Al Kharma city officials $19,000 in initial payments for projects to improve the city's infrastructure and other programs.

Projects include:

- A $21,500 project to improve electrical power distribution

- A $23,500 project to install billboards and flagpoles

- $2,500 to fund clean-up initiatives

Additionally, a $7,000 payment was made for progress of an ongoing $32,000 project to benefit the city's youth.

Marines also provided $7,000 in start-up funds for a soccer and handball league to be started by a local sheik near Fallujah.

DP

Yes. How come you only report on things the Military is doing and not what contractors are doing. They are the ones doing all the work.
AND making all the money.......

http://www.robertreich.org/reich/20030402.asp

The White House insists that American taxpayers won’t be paying to rebuild Iraq. Mitchell Daniels, Jr., the President’s budget director, says Iraq will be paying for these repairs itself, out of future oil revenues.

Okay, so if Iraq is going to foot the bill, who exactly is going to make money doing all this repair work?

You’d expect the Administration would want a lot of nations to be involved. After being criticized for going to war with only the British at our side, the White House would surely want to make the reconstruction of Iraq a global effort. Under no circumstances would it want to create the impression that only a handful of big American corporations were going to profit from this. That would confirm some of the worst suspicions around the world about the role big American corporations play in setting Administration policy.

It turns out the White House has decided that the entire job of rebuilding Iraq will be done by ... big American corporations. Not even British companies will be allowed in on the bidding. The British are reliable enough to help us topple Saddam Hussein and destroy a lot of Iraq’s infrastructure in the process, but apparently not reliable enough to earn money rebuilding Iraq. You can imagine how Tony Blair is taking this news.

Is it any surprise?

Great! Its nice to see someone finally commending our troops for making nominal gestures aimed at evading real compensation for the damage they've done.

Your missing the point entirely.....

If the contracts are given to American companies...
Then the Iraqi people are only benefiting by getting back what we destroyed..and profiting from it at the same time.
This isnt "good news" ....
This is why they hate us.
The contract should be gievn to Iraqi based companies..then its win-win...
Why dont you see that?Iraqi based companies don't have the money to rebuild their country - America does. Many American companies are now going into Iraq and hiring Iraqi personnel as contractors. I know some people in that region who have said that the American contractors are hiring Iraqi subcontractors - and this is a lot of the increases seen in employment in the certain areas of the country. This is the true 'win-win' scenario.

Seabees, Marines work to improve Iraqis' lives

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq -- Navy Seabees recently began training young Iraqis through an innovative program called Iraqi Construction Apprentice Program.

The program teaches construction skills the Iraqis can take back to their communities to foster self-sufficiency and a more prosperous future.

Officials say the program, along with more than $100 million in contracts the Marines have awarded or are managing throughout western Iraq, will go a long way in helping to rebuild the country.

Much of the money is going toward improving water treatment plants, city infrastructure, roads and various other structures, including soccer stadiums, schools, and hospitals to improve stability and quality of life for the Iraqi people.

Officials said these contracts provide employment for hundreds of Iraqis.

Seabee operations in Iraq have helped clear rubble and rebuild infrastructure. More than 450 reservist Seabees - about 40 percent of the Seabees deployed in this area - are helping to carry out these operations.

SOLDIERS INSPECT WORK ON CLINIC IN ALI JASSIM AREA

AR RAMADI, Iraq -- Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, assigned in support of 1st Marine Division, visited the Ali Jassim tribal area clinic to inspect improvement work there.

Officials said the clinic appeared to be in good condition and the staff reported that Coalition forces restocked them with donated medical supplies every two months.

Civil affairs teams also inspected progress on renovations to a soccer stadium in Ar Ramadi. They found work was already in progress and estimated the project could be completed by Aug. 23, one month early if the current schedule holds.

CIVIL AFFAIRS TEAMS WORK TO IMPROVE IRAQI LIVES

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - Marine civil affairs teams recently visited towns here to continue progress on several quality of life initiatives for residents of the Al Anbar province.

In Kharma, Marines paid $7,000 on a $32,000 contract to build a youth center. The total amount paid on the contract so far is $27,000.

Civil affairs teams in Khalidiyah discussed construction of a new health clinic with city officials. An Iraqi doctor has already stepped forward to volunteer at the clinic.

SOLDIERS BRING MEDICAL RELIEF TO AL-TARMIA

AL-TARMIA, Iraq - Working with Soldiers of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment provided free medical care to villagers here June 9.

Applying lotion to chicken pox, removing decayed teeth, and treating minor skin irritations, the medical personnel also provided patients with medicine to take with them. Villagers with more major medical needs were referred to free clinics or other medical facilities in the surrounding area.

"We haven't seen American Soldiers very much in Al-Tarmia," said one Al-Tarmia resident, speaking through a translator. "To see them here today, doing what they are doing is a good thing. We are a poor village without much access to medical treatment. This ... here today is a good thing."

MARINES, SOLDIERS BREAK GROUND ON CLINIC

CAMP FULLUJAH, Iraq - Marines and Soldiers broke ground June 16 on a new medical clinic in the Abu Fleis district of Khalidiyah.

The $40,000 clinic will be a cooperative effort between local Iraqi leaders and Coalition forces. Another $7,500 will go toward furnishings. It should be complete Aug. 24, and will serve nearly 4,000 Iraqis.

Also June 16 in the Al Anbar Province:

Marines and Soldiers delivered medical supplies to other clinics in Khalidiyah.

Soldiers in Ar Ramadi opened a clinic in the 5K region of the city. The new, carpeted clinic replaces an old, tin-roofed structure that lacked electricity. The new clinic has modern plumbing and a refrigerator to keep medicines cool. Examining tables and new furniture for the waiting area were purchased as well. The Imam from a nearby mosque donated the land for the clinic.

Where are you pulling these news items from? I'm not doubting them, I'm just interested to know whose running them because you're right, most news items focus on the negative. That's not just in Iraq though.

Its the negatives a country needs to endure and justify (which is really impossible wit hthe US atrocities), not the positives, which a country often prides itself with, while these deeds should be common sense, considering that it was the US who destroyed the Iraq in the first place (or the little of Iraq that was actually there to begin with) and do not pay for it all on their own, but rather require the support of the entire international community. Of course you get more support for positive humanitarian actions like these, since everyone can relate with the Iraqis and feelthe pain they went through, both under Hussein and as oppressed people under the occupation of the US; which is still on going and most likely will be ongoing even after the "official" hand over of the reigns. I am more interested in the negative news because that is what the USA wanted to remove from Iraq and are now committing themselves, so we can all see that the US are not the angelic saviours they've made themselves appear to be since the birth of Jesus Christ (when the US actually didnt exist yet but nm).

Marines, Soldiers Fund Civil Affairs Projects, Donate Supplies

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - Marines and Soldiers recently contributed nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of civil affairs projects and supplies to cities here, including Habbiniyah, Khalidiyah and Ar Ramadi.

More than $248,000 went to pay for everything from supplies and labor for water projects and school improvements to medical furniture and generators for health clinics.

An additional $50,000 worth of medical supplies, books and training aids were donated to the Ar Ramadi General Hospital.

Where are you pulling these news items from? I'm not doubting them, I'm just interested to know whose running them because you're right, most news items focus on the negative. That's not just in Iraq though.
I am pulling them off of the press release section of the CENTCOM homepage. No one is running these stories that I have seen.

Oh, they fixed up some Mosques.

Maybe they wouldn't have had to if they didn't blow them up first. :roll:

Oh, they fixed up some Mosques.

Maybe they wouldn't have had to if they didn't blow them up first. :roll:
You mean "if the insurgants and terrorists didn't hide their asses in them" :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

COALITION CONCLUDES IRAQI ARMY OFFICER TRAINING

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eight-hundred forty-three Iraqi army officers graduated June 17 from the Jordan Armed Forces Military Academy in Zarqa, Jordan, as part of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team's ongoing effort to train and equip Iraq's armed forces.

Graduation from the Jordanian academy marks the second class of Iraqi army officers to complete instruction at the school and the completion of officers training for the Iraqi army's three programmed divisions.

The graduation marks the culmination of three six-to-eight week courses at the school including a company and platoon leader's course, a brigade and battalion staff course, and a brigade and battalion commander's course, that trained junior officers to field grade lieutenant colonels.

Iraqi officer and enlisted initial entry training will now almost entirely be conducted by Iraqi army trainers.

"This marks the completion of training the Iraqi army officer leadership for three divisions," said Coalition Military Assistance Training Team Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Col. James R. Mulvenna.

"Graduates will form the last four full brigades from the brigade commander and staff down to platoon commanders," Mulvenna said.

In addition to teaching officers the leadership principles and traits in a volunteer force, the school runs leaders through the military's role in a democratic society, international law, the law of armed conflict, unit training development, training strategies, roles and development of noncommissioned officers, problem solving, staffing principles, physical fitness and weapons training.

Early on, Jordan, as a member of the Coalition, had offered to conduct the training in-country to ease logistical, cultural, and language concerns.

"Rebuilding the Iraqi army required a modular approach to training given the quantity of personnel who needed to be cycled through," said British Army Col. Kim Smith, a liaison officer with the Office of Security Transition in Amman.

"The initial focus was on the leadership," Smith said. "And the technical and tactical training of junior personnel was centered on Kurkush and other bases in Iraq, but Jordan was seen as having the optimum location."

"The key difference for the Iraqis ... was the more democratic approach of the Jordanians," Smith said.

"The Jordanians put massive effort and many of their own resources behind the project and were a major factor in its tremendous success," Smith said. "The successful graduation of female officers has been a particular triumph."

Following graduation, officers will take a brief period of leave before linking up with Iraqi army NCOs to begin preparations for recruit reception at the various training base locations scattered throughout Iraq as the country completes the Iraqi army's initial 27-battalion force generation plan in the coming months.

"The training is designed to produce officers to lead men in a free country," Mulvenna said.

Other officers will also be assigned to the Iraqi armed force's joint headquarters, Iraqi Military Academy, and Iraqi Training Battalion.

CMATT, the military arm of the Office of Security Transition, will oversee training and equipping the Iraqi armed forces.

"From here in," said Mulvenna, "the Iraqi military will train their own officers."

IRAQI SECURITY FORCES OPEN JOINT COORDINATION CENTER

MOSUL, Iraq - The Iraqi Security Forces in the Ninevah Province opened a joint coordination center here June 23.

The Mosul center serves as a coordination hub for all security operations in northern Iraq. Representatives from the Iraqi National Guard, Iraqi Police, Facility Protection Services and Iraqi armed forces are stationed at the center to help fight crime and terrorism.

"This state-of-the-art facility will change how we communicate and handle security problems," said Ninevah Gov. Osama Kashmoula.

The JCC's operations center has three plasma televisions, 20 laptop computers and telephones along with a 5-foot by 5-foot map of the Ninevah province, which helps the JCC officials track the situations in the province and communicate to the units in the field.

The security officials meet daily to coordinate what forces are working where and determine specific responsibilities, according to Lt. Col. Jassim Habib, the JCC operations officer.

"This is the first time in the history of Iraq that we have had a facility where all of the security forces are in one building working together to provide security," said Habib. "If something happens, we can all work together to take the appropriate actions. The JCC will allow us to find a solution to a problem immediately and increase our chances of stopping the enemy."

Soldiers from the Stryker Brigade Combat Team helped create the JCC, but Iraqis provide the center's command and control.

Iraqi security forces, with the assistance of Coalition forces, assume responsibility for the safety and security of Mosul on June 30.

Iraqi officials said they plan to build similar facilities in every district in Iraq. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of Coalition forces in Iraq, said the center is a good example of how other JCCs should be set up.

For more information contact LTC Piek at joseph.piek@us.army.mil

Oh, they fixed up some Mosques.

Maybe they wouldn't have had to if they didn't blow them up first. :roll:

Oh..the mosques that weren't used to be used as places of combat by insurgents huh?...you mean the mosques that aren't supposed to be used as places of ammo storage, sniper posts or command centers..those mosques? The Geneva Conventions even state that their protection is moot once the enemy uses a facility for such purposes.

ANTI-IRAQ FORCES FIRE FROM MOSQUE IN MOSUL

MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi Security Forces secured the Sheikh Fatih police station in southwestern Mosul after terrorists attempted to take it over at about 11:20 a.m., June 24.

Anti-Iraqi forces were shooting from the Mohammed Nuri Mosque across the street from the police station. Coalition forces moved to the site to support the Iraqi Security Forces and were fired upon from the mosque as well. Iraqi Security and Coalition forces returned fire on the terrorists in the mosque.

At about 1 p.m., Coalition forces reported that Iraqi Security Forces and Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment took back the Sheikh Fatih police station from the anti-Iraqi forces.

Iraqi National Guard soldiers secured the mosque as well. There was no word on casualties at the time.

I have to commend you New Auburnland, You are doing a fine job in reporting the good that we are doing.

On Fox News on the Show Dayside with Linda Vester, they too are showing some of the good we are doing. Its actually a segment on the show. Granted they don't cover all the good but each day they focus on one thing that we are doing over there that benefits Iraqi Society.

Keep up the good!

Outstanding work there New Auburnland....I'm tired of the daily liberal press harping on every single solitary bad thing that occurs, and blowing it up as a reason on why the US should not be there...now I'm not saying the press should be a mouthpiece of the government..but occasionally it would be a breath of fresh air to hear bout things that don't caste dispersion on our armed forces, talk bout the illegality of the war, prison guards, ad nauseum.

Outstanding work there New Auburnland....I'm tired of the daily liberal press harping on every single solitary bad thing that occurs, and blowing it up as a reason on why the US should not be there...now I'm not saying the press should be a mouthpiece of the government..but occasionally it would be a breath of fresh air to hear bout things that don't caste dispersion on our armed forces, talk bout the illegality of the war, prison guards, ad nauseum.

dp

POLICE ADVISORS, DONATED GEAR ARRIVE FOR IRAQI POLICE

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Three International Police Advisors recently arrived at Camp Mahmudiyah to assist Marines in advising, training and supporting the Iraqi Police. The IPA will help build a credible, ethical and competent Iraqi Police force capable of protecting and serving citizens of Mahmudiyah.

Marines delivered police gear to the Eskan/Iskandariyah Iraqi Police station, donated by the Beverly Hills Police Department in California.

Marines met with Iraqi police chiefs from Eskan, Iskandariyah and Haswa police stations before making the delivery. More gear and police cars are ready for delivery in Ar Ramadi to be handed over to police in this region.

Marines also made three $10,000 payments on projects, including the Abu Fleiss medical clinic, the Sin Ahn Dhiban Water Treatment Plant and the Sin Ahn Dhiban Water Facility. Another $20,000 was paid toward the Al Anbar Jobs Program, an effort to boost employment throughout the province.

IRAQI ARMED FORCES BASE OPENS IN NORTHERN IRAQ

July 23, 2004

MOSUL, Iraq - The opening of the Al Kasik Military Training Base, which will eventually house the 3rd Division of the Iraqi Armed Forces, was celebrated by local leaders and government officials who gathered there Wednesday.

Over 12,000 Iraqi soldiers will eventually be stationed at Al Kasik, comprising four new brigades.

"Mosul is the center of northern Iraq, so it makes sense to have the base here," said Maj. Gen. Khorshed Saleem Al-Dosaky, commander of the 3rd Division. "We are also located close to the Syrian and Turkish borders to provide assistance there."

Located approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Mosul, the soldiers will be centrally located to provide assistance to all of northern Iraq. These soldiers will, together with the Iraqi National Guard and the Iraqi Police, contribute to the safety and security of northern Iraq.

"In the next year we will reach stability," said Al Dosaky. "With these new facilities I will be able to produce many well-trained troops."

Contractors worked for the last six months to rebuild the base, which Saddam Hussein began to build in the 1980s. Over 4,000 local Iraqis were employed to refurbish soldier barracks, build a dining facility, install sewer and water pipes and generate electricity for the base. A water treatment plant is also being built to ensure the quality of the water for the facility.

"We maximized utilization of local resources and the local community for this project," said Faisal Kedairy, Chief Executive Officer for Kedairy Construction, based in Baghdad, the lead construction company for the project. "Everything we did was handled locally and the work was all done by the local people."

I like to hear things like this. Even some great progress has been made under the public radar. For example, the judiciary has been built entirely from scratch in the past year, and compared to other third world nations, the courts are extremely effective. However, no one knows about this.

... that vast stretches of land are pacified and even prospering under the current Administration and will continue to prosper under Iraqi sovereignity
YEAH...look at Afghanistan...they are so Prosperous they are the envy of the region. Just as promised.

YEAH...look at Afghanistan...they are so Prosperous they are the envy of the region. Just as promised.
That's because it is far too hard to put under control. More troops wouldn't help. For evidence, look at the British and Soviet misadventures there. In fact, I can't think of an army (except the Persians and Chandragupta Maurya's) that has ever been able to conquer Afghanistan.

That's because it is far too hard to put under control. More troops wouldn't help. For evidence, look at the British and Soviet misadventures there. In fact, I can't think of an army (except the Persians and Chandragupta Maurya's) that has ever been able to conquer Afghanistan.
So...In order to be Prosperous...Countries need to be "conquered" by either Russia or Britain? :rolleyes:

IRAQI INTERVENTION FORCE ASSUMES MISSION

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Intervention Force formally took responsibility for part of the 1st Cavalry Division's area of operation of Abu Dashir of the Al Rashid district in Baghdad July 31.

This is the first time that an IIF unit has taken control of a sector.

The IIF will take on missions that are beyond the capabilities of the Iraqi National Guard, including arresting high profile terrorist, or large cordon-and-search operations.

IRAQI INTERVENTION FORCE ASSUMES MISSION

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Intervention Force formally took responsibility for part of the 1st Cavalry Division's area of operation of Abu Dashir of the Al Rashid district in Baghdad July 31.

This is the first time that an IIF unit has taken control of a sector.

The IIF will take on missions that are beyond the capabilities of the Iraqi National Guard, including arresting high profile terrorist, or large cordon-and-search operations.
The question is if they're ready yet. And I assume that this means the First Calvary won't actually leave yet.

The question is if they're ready yet. And I assume that this means the First Calvary won't actually leave yet.

what i read did not say that the 1st Cav is leaving, they are still due to be in the CENTCOM AO until 2005.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/images/oif2-rot.gif

Bump!!

I know with the media reporting the alleged prison abuse, soldiers being killed, and the percieved chaos that most Americans do not see all the great things we are doing for the Iraqi people. I will try to add a story like this once or twice a day.


http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/02/iraq.main/

Hey, I think I found the next big scoop: It seems one of the bombs in yesterdays massacre was defused!

The U.S. military said another improvised explosive device, containing 15 mortar rounds, was "found and cleared."

See, it's not all bad over there in Iraq...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/08/02/iraq.main/

Hey, I think I found the next big scoop: It seems one of the bombs in yesterdays massacre was defused!

The U.S. military said another improvised explosive device, containing 15 mortar rounds, was "found and cleared."

See, it's not all bad over there in Iraq...

You're right...and in a country of millions..of which at best a few thousands are insurgents..of which we had at best 2 IED's...yeah..I'd say that's not bad, oh...and the Kurds in the North are flourishing thank you for noticing.

You're right...and in a country of millions..of which at best a few thousands are insurgents..of which we had at best 2 IED's...yeah..I'd say that's not bad, oh... and the Kurds in the North are flourishing thank you for noticing.

Didn't they host that much touted terrorist training camp under the protection of the US no-fly-zone during the reighn of Saddam?

Oh, and why won't they be given independece if they're so beloved by the US?

Didn't they host that much touted terrorist training camp under the protection of the US no-fly-zone during the reighn of Saddam?

Oh, and why won't they be given independece if they're so beloved by the US?

I'm not aware they hosted an Al-Queda training camp?...Do you have info I don't?...I'm aware that a camp may have been in their area of influence, which I just don't equate as "hosting"..perhaps you do.

As for independence....stability first..wouldn't you agree?...and that is off-topic...things are going good..much better then most would want to accept, apparently that includes you.

I'm not aware they hosted an Al-Queda training camp?...Do you have info I don't?...

I say "terrorist" you hear "al Qaeda" -- you've been trained well.

I'm aware that a camp may have been in their area of influence, which I just don't equate as "hosting"..perhaps you do.

No, I guess it's only "hosting" when it is assumed that Saddam controlled the region.

As for independence....stability first..wouldn't you agree?...

Yes, it's a good thing the British created stability in the colonies before granting them their independence.

...things are going good..much better then most would want to accept, apparently that includes you.

I don't suffer from light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel syndrome...

I say "terrorist" you hear "al Qaeda" -- you've been trained well.



No, I guess it's only "hosting" when it is assumed that Saddam controlled the region.



Yes, it's a good thing the British created stability in the colonies before granting them their independence.



I don't suffer from light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel syndrome...

Way to go..didn't respond to any of my questions..you've been trained well it seems...how is that aluminum triangle hat thing workin for ya?

Way to go..

Thank you.

didn't respond to any of my questions..

Okay, let's examine your questions:

1) There is a question mark, but no question. I'm not aware they hosted an Al-Queda training camp?
Still, I did "respond" (I couldn't very well "answer" it as it isn't a question) to this by pointing out that I never mentioned al Qaeda.

2) Do you have info I don't?
I thought the answer to this question was apparent. I guess not, so "YES" I do have information that you do not. I hope that clears things up a bit.

3) wouldn't you agree?...
to which I said "NO" in the form of a sarcastic and ironic anecdote.


you've been trained well it seems...

I suppose so. I am a rational, logical and independent thinker.


how is that aluminum triangle hat thing workin for ya?

Ah yes, I must be delusional for questioning the government and status-quo. Please call the thought-police, I haven't taken my soma.

Thank you.



Okay, let's examine your questions:

1) There is a question mark, but no question.
Still, I did "respond" (I couldn't very well "answer" it as it isn't a question) to this by pointing out that I never mentioned al Qaeda.oh I see, win a discussion based no nitpicking, love it but to make it easier for you to digest, to which terrorist group are you referring to

2)
I thought the answer to this question was apparent. I guess not, so "YES" I do have information that you do not. I hope that clears things up a bit.ok now this was the part where you as the person making the statement must then back it up with pertinent and unbiased facts..again..just so we don't misunderstand one another, you didn't provide any

3)
to which I said "NO" in the form of a sarcastic and ironic anticdote.which is about what I expect from a person who can't back up their statements




I suppose so. I am a rational, logical and independent thinker.who only looks for the black helicopters and UN troops in, and who I can only assume is an avid Oliver Stone fan




Ah yes, I must be dillisional for questioning the government and status-quo. Please call the thought-police, I haven't taken my soma.

Dillusional..yep..that bout sums it up..but don't take my diagnosis, feel free to seek a professional.

Dillusional..yep..that bout sums it up..but don't take my diagnosis, feel free to seek a professional.

please do not add words to my posts.

Didn't they host that much touted terrorist training camp under the protection of the US no-fly-zone during the reighn of Saddam?


okay, this seems to be what you are calling into question.

1) Do you remember reports that there was a terrorist training camp inside of Iraq?

2) If yes, did you know that camp was in Northern Iraq?

3) If yes, are you aware that the US imposed no-fly-zone allowed the Kurds to controll Northern Iraq?

4) If yes, why are debating this point?

okay, this seems to be what you are calling into question.

1) Do you remember reports that there was a terrorist training camp inside of Iraq?

2) If yes, did you know that camp was in Northern Iraq?

3) If yes, are you aware that the US imposed no-fly-zone allowed the Kurds to controll Northern Iraq?

4) If yes, why are debating this point?

(1) The reports were of an Al-Queda training camp

(2) Yes it was in Northern Iraq, but not hosted by the Kurds

(3) Yes the no-fly zone was established but it wasn't installed to allow them to control Iraq as to prevent Saddam from slaughtering any more of them.

(4) And I'm debating this point because you've managed to twist it into something else and I must therefore refute your assertions.

IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER FOILS CAR BOMB ATTACK IN MOSUL

MOSUL, Iraq - An off-duty Iraqi National Guard soldier identified an unexploded car bomb outside of a church in northeastern Mosul around 10 p.m. Aug 1.

The soldier notified the Iraqi Police and his chain of command. ING soldiers were sent to secure the scene.

Iraqi explosive ordnance teams located the taxi that was loaded with munitions and wired to explode. They reduced the bomb without injury and removed the vehicle.

The immediate response of the Iraqi Security Forces prevented what could have been a third car bomb explosion in less than 24 hours in the Mosul area.

Forgotten News?

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=558743&section=news

U.S. troops who abused Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison did it "just for fun", a military investigator has testified in a hearing for a female soldier photographed holding a naked Iraqi on a leash...........


.......Defence lawyer Richard Hernandez told a news conference that Tuesday's testimony bolstered his belief that the Abu Ghraib abuse was part of a wider pattern of U.S. military behaviour.

"All of the information out there points to a systemic problem," he said. "These tactics are being used at places my client has never been."

(1) The reports were of an Al-Queda training camp

(2) Yes it was in Northern Iraq, but not hosted by the Kurds

(3) Yes the no-fly zone was established but it wasn't installed to allow them to control Iraq as to prevent Saddam from slaughtering any more of them.

(4) And I'm debating this point because you've managed to twist it into something else and I must therefore refute your assertions.

Actually, it was an Anwar al islam camp, and indeed much intelligence has also indicated that Zarqawi was in fact an Osama rival rather than a member of al qaeda. Which isn't saying much, he is still a vehemently anti-western Islamic extremist - just trying to keep to the facts here.

And while it was neither "hosted" by the Kurds, it WAS outside of the sphere in which Saddam was able to project power. GW was also given a plan by the military on how he could eradicate the camp months prior to the war. He refused as it losing the camp would lose his main link to terrorist connections that was part of his war reasoning.

-Z-

And don't forget, Zeppistan--the head of Ansar al Islam is Zarqawi, the man who allegedly beheaded Daniel Berg, the action all the wingnuts were frothing at the mouth over. Funny how they forgot that Bush apparently had 3 chances to take him out when they were screaming about Berg.

Actually, it was an Anwar al islam camp, and indeed much intelligence has also indicated that Zarqawi was in fact an Osama rival rather than a member of al qaeda. Which isn't saying much, he is still a vehemently anti-western Islamic extremist - just trying to keep to the facts here.

And while it was neither "hosted" by the Kurds, it WAS outside of the sphere in which Saddam was able to project power. GW was also given a plan by the military on how he could eradicate the camp months prior to the war. He refused as it losing the camp would lose his main link to terrorist connections that was part of his war reasoning.

-Z-

Ah, finally -- someone else concerned with the truth!

Just to clear things up, I was used the term "hosted" ironically. I had to suffer through the bulid-up to the war (the great misinfomation extravaganza) by listening to the talking-heads on cable-news telling me that Saddam had "hosted a terrorist training camp in Iraq."

Now I have to suffer through the ramblings of ostridge-theorem-visionaries (if I keep my head in the sand, I can believe anything I want) telling me how "great things are going in Iraq, especially for the Kurds."

So, they are essentially telling me that the "terrorist trianing camp that 'proved' a link between Saddam and terrorism" was in fact protected by the US no-fly-zone and in a region controlled by "the Kurds, who are doing really well now."

And don't forget, Zeppistan--the head of Ansar al Islam is Zarqawi, the man who allegedly beheaded Daniel Berg, the action all the wingnuts were frothing at the mouth over. Funny how they forgot that Bush apparently had 3 chances to take him out when they were screaming about Berg.

Actually, the name was Nick Berg and the guy in the video who "beheaded" him didn't have a wooden-leg. Zarqawi does. Not to mention that for a group of renegade middle-easterners, they sure did have lilly white hands, look well feed and built like oxen. Nice orange jump-suit they put on him, I guess Nick never had a chance to take it off after he was "released" from US custody when they took him prisoner. It's also interesting to note that Nick Berg had contacts with Moussaoui while at the University of Oklahoma. Then there is the question of how a college drop-out with a record of homelessness was able to find the money to start a cell-phone tower company in Iraq. Still another intersting factor is his business partner, a shady Iraqi with a history in the CIA and drug dealing.

IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER FOILS CAR BOMB ATTACK IN MOSUL
MOSUL, Iraq - An off-duty Iraqi National Guard soldier identified an unexploded car bomb outside of a church in northeastern Mosul around 10 p.m. Aug 1.


Hey, I already posted this story: see post number 153.

Hey, I already posted this story: see post number 153.


Oh I see it now.

You used the Communist News Network link though, I used the official press release.

Marine-funded, Iraqi-built Water Plant Quenches Long Parched Village

AL KABANI, Iraq - For the first time in almost 10 years, the citizens here have clean water and constant electricity flowing into their homes, thanks to their local government, the Marines and their own hard work.

Muktar Ismael Hamaad, the village leader, and Thayer Hamdallah, the Iraqi government representative for the area, met July 25, 2004, with Lt. Col. Rod T. Arrington, the commander of 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, to cut the ribbon on a water purification complex now serving three separate villages with a population totaling almost 3,000.

The reserve infantry battalion, based at nearby Camp Taqaddum, funded the $175,000 project through a program established by the now defunct Coalition Provisional Authority.

Thirty-five local Iraqis worked 10-hour days for more than a month to complete the 30,000 gallon-per-hour purifier, said Ahmed Abass Kassar, the project supervisor, through a translator.

Though it would have been quicker and cheaper for the Marines to install the equipment themselves, they wanted to let the Iraqis take the lead so they would come away with the experience needed to do such jobs.

"It isn't about just getting them the water in the best manner possible. It's about letting them do it themselves and giving them a stake in their own future," said Maj. Luke W. Kratky, the battalion's information operations officer.

The villagers have been without fresh water for a long time, said Kassar, who is also the water manager for the area.

"For the last eight or nine years they had no good water to drink," said 46-year-old Kassar.

Instead, they had to pump water directly from the nearby lake and boil it to try to make it clean enough to drink, said Hamaad, also speaking through a translator. This still left bacteria in the water and caused numerous health problems for the villagers.

"This project is the most important thing," said 28-year-old Hamdallah, who had sought funding for the project since he became the district manager for the area almost two years ago. "We are too thankful to U.S. forces for their help."

Under the government of Saddam Hussein, the villagers were afraid to seek help. The area the 500-person community occupies was once officer housing for an Iraqi military base. Though the Iraqi military had not used it for years, the residents were concerned that the government might throw them out of their homes if they asked for anything, said 36-year-old Hamaad.

After the ribbon cutting, Hamaad took the Marines on a tour of the village, to show them the recently installed plumbing that carries water to each of the houses, as well as a $22,000 Marine-funded generator that gives the residents reliable electricity 24 hours a day.

Before Iraqi contractors installed the generator, the village only had power for a few hours each day.

Word of the water project has already reached other communities in the area. They want the Marines to get contractors to run water pipes to them as well.

"The other towns feel jealous," said Hamaad.

The battalion, elements of which provide security for the 1st Force Service Support Group at nearby Camp Taqaddum, is waiting for Hamdallah to take bids from contractors able to perform the proposed work, so the Marines can attempt to meet the other villages' needs as they did for Al Kabani, said Kratky, a 33-year-old native of Fenton, Mo.

"We want to build on what we did there," said Kratky. "These are tangible things that the Iraqi people can see."

MNF-Iraq: CERP projects improve the quality of life in northern Iraq

MOSUL, IRAQ (August 7, 2004) – Over the course of the last nine months, multinational forces have worked with community leaders throughout the Ninevah region to provide more than $15 million in education, health care, construction and infrastructure improvements for the people of northern Iraq.

The Commander’s Emergency Relief Program funds are available to multinational forces units and leaders to assist local communities in creating the infrastructure, necessary to sustain a democratic society.

Almost one third of the CERP funding, $5 million, was spent to improve security in the region and to equip security forces, including police, and National Guard. Money was spent to purchase medical supplies for the Iraqi National Guard, firefighting equipment for the Mosul Civil Defense Corps firefighters, safety equipment for correctional officers at the Mosul Regional Correctional Facility and equipment for the Mosul Police Department.

Education projects made up another large part of the total funding. Multinational forces helped rebuild and repair schools and colleges in the Ninevah region. Some of these projects included repairs and renovations to the Tal Keif School, Al Kafaat School, Al Zuhor Secondary School, Al Hadba University College, Mosul Technical College and Mosul Jadeda Vocational School. Soldiers from the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion began a $1.4 million project to replace 20 mudhut schools in rural villages with concrete buildings that will be complete prior to the start of the school year in September. They have also purchased supplies for school custodial workers in Mosul.

Three hospitals were renovated to improve the quality of healthcare in Ninevah. The Al Gogjaly Medical Clinic received $13,000 for repairs to the plumbing, doors and windows and for a new generator. The Ibn Alathyr maternity and pediatric hospital received renovations to its existing facilities as well as the addition of a teaching facility. The Ibn Sinna Hospital received repairs to its 25-person patient elevator.

Ninevah’s agricultural sector received funding for a soil analysis laboratory, the first to be built in Iraq. The country’s first artificial insemination lab for cattle and sheep will also be built in Ninevah. The Fayda grain elevator is being remodeled to serve farmers in northern Iraq, eventually storing approximately 30,000 metric tons of grain. CERP funding was also used to purchase Foot and Mouth Disease vaccines, provided to local farmers at no cost, for the region’s sheep and cattle.

A Ninevah business center and small business loan program were created to stimulate economic growth in northern Iraq by supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses.

Approximately $3 million was spent to improve the water and sewer conditions in the northern region. New wells and water lines were built in 55 sites throughout the region and new sewage pipes were placed throughout Mosul to improve sanitary conditions for city residents.

Extensive renovations are in progress at the Qayyarah oil refinery in northern Iraq. The refinery has sat in disrepair since the Iran/Iraq war. Approximately $300,000 has been spent to make the refinery a productive industry in the Qayyarah area. It will eventually employ 450 workers, stimulating the local economy, and produce 400 tons of asphalt daily, providing asphalt to repair miles of roads in the region. It will be the largest asphalt producing plant in the Middle East.

Soldiers from the 133rd Engineer Battalion are working in the Dianyah region of northern Iraq, repairing roads, schools, municipal facilities and Iraqi Border Patrol forts. This project is ongoing and will cost approximately $200,000.

MNF-Iraq: 29th Signal Battalion cuts ribbon for new school in Balad

BALAD, Iraq - 13th Corps Support Command Soldiers joined local sheiks and community leaders to open a new primary school in Al Bu-Hassan near Balad today.

The 29th Signal Battalion from Fort Lewis, Wash., sponsored the construction of the Al-Salam school, which was built from the ground up in about six months by members of the community and local contractors.

The Al-Salam School is one of more than 30 local infrastructure and water projects being managed by the 13th COSCOM civil affairs staff.

The Army provided the approximately $80K for construction. Since January, the COSCOM has spent over $2.7 million to improve local schools, clinics and irrigation systems.

MNF-Iraq: Marines find weapons in An Najaf cemetery

FOWARD OPERATING BASE DUKE - Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit uncovered numerous weapons caches in a cemetery, during a mission Thursday.

Marines uncovered IED-making material, rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and machine gun ammunition.

Members of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Muqtada Militia had set up an operating base at the cemetery, storing large weapon caches and hiding in its sanctuary.

Marines entered the cemetery Thursday, supported by Marine and Army helicopters and Air Force jets, and immediately engaged in heavy fighting with the militia members that lasted two days.

The assault by the Marines was a result of the Muqtada Militia launching numerous attacks from the sacred site, violating international laws of war and the cease-fire agreement between Sadr and coalition forces. The agreement, negotiated in June by the Governor of Najaf and other local civic and religious leaders, included the creation of an exclusion zone for coalition forces around the Imam Ali Shrine and its neighboring cemetery.

Activity increased from the cemetery over time, to include sporadic offensive operations against Iraqi Security Forces and several kidnappings of Iraqi police, whose bodies were branded before being released by militiamen. The Muqtada Militia kidnapped their enemies, including innocent civilians, bringing them to the cemetery for torture, execution and burial.

Thursday morning, attacks on the main police station in Najaf originated from, and were reinforced from, the cemetery. Soon mortar fire, originating from the cemetery, targeted and rained down close to Iraqi Security Forces and Marines until the enemy firing position was destroyed by an F-15 fighter jet. Militia fighters were continually observed in the holy site replenishing themselves with weapons and ammunition staged there.

While the international laws of armed conflict normally identify sites like this as protected places, such status is forfeited if the site is used for military purposes. The actions of the Muqtada Militia make the cemetery a legitimate military objective, which was only assaulted due to necessity and self-defense. During the fighting, the Marines made every effort to minimize collateral damage and preserve the cemetery.

Ah, finally -- someone else concerned with the truth!

Just to clear things up, I was used the term "hosted" ironically. I had to suffer through the bulid-up to the war (the great misinfomation extravaganza) by listening to the talking-heads on cable-news telling me that Saddam had "hosted a terrorist training camp in Iraq."

July 22, 2004

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS

FROM: DANIEL McKIVERGAN, Deputy Director

SUBJECT: 9-11 Commission Confirms Iraq-al Qaeda Ties

With the release of the September 11 Commission report, some media outlets may ignore or mischaracterize the fact that the report offers more confirmation of Iraq-al Qaeda ties. It is especially noteworthy, however, that the previous staff report’s finding of no “collaborative relationship” between Iraq and al Qaeda has been significantly modified. While the commission found no evidence of a “collaborative operational relationship” for “carrying out attacks against the United States,” they did find that the connection between Iraq and al Qaeda to be more extensive than many critics of the administration have been willing to admit. And, as the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center previously remarked: “any indication of a relationship between these two hostile elements could carry great dangers to the United States.”


According to the September 11 report:

With the Sudanese regime acting as intermediary, Bin Ladin himself met with senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995. Bin Ladin is said to have asked for space to establish training camps, as well as assistance in procuring weapons, but there is no evidence that Iraq responded to this request ... [but] the ensuing years saw additional efforts to establish connections. (p.61)

In March 1998, after Bin Ladin’s public fatwa against the United States, two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin. Sources reported that one, or perhaps both, of these meetings was apparently arranged through Bin Ladin’s Egyptian deputy, Zawahiri, who had ties of his own to the Iraqis. (p.66)

Similar meetings between Iraqi officials and Bin Ladin or his aides may have occurred in 1999 during a period of some reported strains with the Taliban. According to the reporting, Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven in Iraq. Bin Ladin declined, apparently judging that his circumstances in Afghanistan remained more favorable than the Iraqi alternative. The reports describe friendly contacts and indicate some common themes in both sides’ hatred of the United States. But to date we have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States. (p.66)


In addition, two other recent accounts have shed more light on the Iraq-al Qaeda connection. A June 25, 2004 New York Times article, “Iraqis, Seeking Foes of Saudis, Contacted bin Laden, File Says,” reported on the contents of a mid-1990s Iraqi intelligence document believed to be authentic. According to the article,


bin Laden “had some reservations about being labeled an Iraqi operative.”
the Iraqi regime agreed to bin Laden’s request to rebroadcast anti-Saudi propaganda.
bin Laden “requested joint operations against foreign forces” in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. had a strong troop presence in Saudi Arabia at the time.
following bin Laden’s departure from Sudan, Iraq intelligence began “seeking other channels through which to handle the relationship.”
the Iraqi Intelligence service believed “cooperation between the two organizations should be allowed to develop freely through discussion and agreement.”
a Sudanese official in 1994 told Uday Hussein and the director of Iraqi Intelligence that bin Laden was willing to meet in Sudan.

And, on July 7, 2004, the Senate Intelligence Committee reported:


That George Tenet provided the Senate Intelligence Committee this assessment in a closed session on September 17, 2002: “There is evidence that Iraq provided al Qaeda with various kinds of training--combat, bomb-making, [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear] CBRN. Although Saddam did not endorse al Qaeda’s overall agenda and was suspicious of Islamist movements in general, he was apparently not averse, under certain circumstances, to enhancing bin Laden’s operational capabilities. As with much of the information on the overall relationship, details on training are [redacted] from sources of varying reliability.”
That according to a CIA report called Iraqi Support for Terrorism, “the general pattern that emerges is one of al Qaeda’s enduring interest in acquiring chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) expertise from Iraq.”
That the Iraqi regime ‘certainly’ had knowledge that Abu Musab al Zarqawi – described in Iraqi Support for Terrorism as “a senior al Qaeda terrorist planner” – was operating in Baghdad and northern Iraq.

Custodes Rana, I have posted that before, and the Bush-haters will not listen. Also, you may want to post your link to the memo (you can find it off of PNAC's website).

Custodes Rana, I have posted that before, and the Bush-haters will not listen. Also, you may want to post your link to the memo (you can find it off of PNAC's website).


I already have posted it elsewhere as well. As you said, "the bush-haters will not listen".

Does the military/government making partial reparations for damage that they inflicted really make them great humanitarians? That's like me setting fire to your house, then buying you a new lounge suite, and claiming to be a swell guy. ;)

The one sidedness of the news is hardly an exclusively USA/coalition/Bush phenomena - the only time we hear about Iraqi's or Middle-Easterners/Musilims in general is when they attacking someone or blowing something up.

Anyway, as has been pointed out before - blood and death sells. Networks know that footage of dead bodies and explosions get higher ratings than someone fixing a building.

IRAQI SECURITY FORCES RECEIVE MATERIALS, WEAPONS

BAGHDAD - Multi-National Force partners shipped huge quantities of weapons and materials to Iraqi Security Forces throughout the country from July 27 to Aug. 3, as the security effort to assist the Iraqi government in equipping its armed forces continues.

Multi-National Forces shipped weapons and materials to Iraqi Army bases, The Iraqi Police Service and Department of Border Enforcement and the Iraqi National Guard.

The Iraqi Army received 275 Nissan four-door pick up trucks, 59 2 ½ ton AMC reconditioned trucks, 13,100 uniforms and hats, 1,600 AK-47 rifles, and 500,000 rounds of AK-47 ammunition.

The Iraqi Army will deploy a fully trained and operational force of more than 29,000 soldiers and 27 battalions by early 2005.

The Iraqi Police Service received some 313 new sport utility vehicles of various makes, 110 various sedan-style vehicles, 31 Dodge trucks, 9,792 AK-47s, 10,439 9mm pistols, and 1.4 million rounds of 9mm ammunition. The vehicle count included 80 vehicles donated by the Japanese government.

An additional 1,500 sets of body armor were issued specifically to the Iraqi Police Service.

The Iraqi Police Service, Facilities Protection Service, and Department of Border Enforcement currently stand at some 183,781 working officers.

The Iraqi National Guard received 174 GAZ Russian-made 2-ton troop transport trucks, 11,200 boots, 510 uniforms, 5,000 uniform hats, some 17,100 various uniform accessories, 8,160 body-armor small arms protective inserts plates, and 4,320 protective vests.

The Iraqi National Guard is currently comprised of 38,250 trained soldiers - 93 percent strength of the overall manning goal. Another 3,000-plus troops are currently in training and will soon bring the force to a full strength of 41,254 personnel.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040822.txt

Although Al-Jazeera has been banned for a month from Iraq, doesn't mean that news doesn't exist. So ya....here is some news that You Don't Hear From Iraq:

http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=6112

'Can't Blair See that this Country is About to Explode? Can't Bush?'

The war is a fraud. I'm not talking about the weapons of mass destruction that didn't exist. Nor the links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida which didn't exist. Nor all the other lies upon which we went to war. I'm talking about the new lies.

For just as, before the war, our governments warned us of threats that did not exist, now they hide from us the threats that do exist. Much of Iraq has fallen outside the control of America's puppet government in Baghdad but we are not told. Hundreds of attacks are made against US troops every month. But unless an American dies, we are not told. This month's death toll of Iraqis in Baghdad alone has now reached 700 - the worst month since the invasion ended. But we are not told.

The stage management of this catastrophe in Iraq was all too evident at Saddam Hussein's "trial". Not only did the US military censor the tapes of the event. Not only did they effectively delete all sound of the 11 other defendants. But the Americans led Saddam Hussein to believe - until he reached the courtroom - that he was on his way to his execution. Indeed, when he entered the room he believed that the judge was there to condemn him to death. This, after all, was the way Saddam ran his own state security courts. No wonder he initially looked "disorientated" - CNN's helpful description - because, of course, he was meant to look that way. We had made sure of that. Which is why Saddam asked Judge Juhi: "Are you a lawyer? ... Is this a trial?" And swiftly, as he realised that this really was an initial court hearing - not a preliminary to his own hanging - he quickly adopted an attitude of belligerence.

But don't think we're going to learn much more about Saddam's future court appearances. Salem Chalabi, the brother of convicted fraudster Ahmad and the man entrusted by the Americans with the tribunal, told the Iraqi press two weeks ago that all media would be excluded from future court hearings. And I can see why. Because if Saddam does a Milosevic, he'll want to talk about the real intelligence and military connections of his regime - which were primarily with the United States.

Living in Iraq these past few weeks is a weird as well as dangerous experience. I drive down to Najaf. Highway 8 is one of the worst in Iraq. Westerners are murdered there. It is littered with burnt-out police vehicles and American trucks. Every police post for 70 miles has been abandoned. Yet a few hours later, I am sitting in my room in Baghdad watching Tony Blair, grinning in the House of Commons as if he is the hero of a school debating competition; so much for the Butler report.

Indeed, watching any Western television station in Baghdad these days is like tuning in to Planet Mars. Doesn't Blair realise that Iraq is about to implode? Doesn't Bush realise this? The American-appointed "government" controls only parts of Baghdad - and even there its ministers and civil servants are car-bombed and assassinated. Baquba, Samara, Kut, Mahmoudiya, Hilla, Fallujah, Ramadi, all are outside government authority. Iyad Allawi, the "Prime Minister", is little more than mayor of Baghdad. "Some journalists," Blair announces, "almost want there to be a disaster in Iraq." He doesn't get it. The disaster exists now.

When suicide bombers ram their cars into hundreds of recruits outside police stations, how on earth can anyone hold an election next January? Even the National Conference to appoint those who will arrange elections has been twice postponed. And looking back through my notebooks over the past five weeks, I find that not a single Iraqi, not a single American soldier I have spoken to, not a single mercenary - be he American, British or South African - believes that there will be elections in January. All said that Iraq is deteriorating by the day. And most asked why we journalists weren't saying so.

But in Baghdad, I turn on my television and watch Bush telling his Republican supporters that Iraq is improving, that Iraqis support the "coalition", that they support their new US-manufactured government, that the "war on terror" is being won, that Americans are safer. Then I go to an internet site and watch two hooded men hacking off the head of an American in Riyadh, tearing at the vertebrae of an American in Iraq with a knife. Each day, the papers here list another construction company pulling out of the country. And I go down to visit the friendly, tragically sad staff of the Baghdad mortuary and there, each day, are dozens of those Iraqis we supposedly came to liberate, screaming and weeping and cursing as they carry their loved ones on their shoulders in cheap coffins.

I keep re-reading Tony Blair's statement. "I remain convinced it was right to go to war. It was the most difficult decision of my life." And I cannot understand it. It may be a terrible decision to go to war. Even Chamberlain thought that; but he didn't find it a difficult decision - because, after the Nazi invasion of Poland, it was the right thing to do. And driving the streets of Baghdad now, watching the terrified American patrols, hearing yet another thunderous explosion shaking my windows and doors after dawn, I realise what all this means. Going to war in Iraq, invading Iraq last year, was the most difficult decision Blair had to take because he thought - correctly - that it might be the wrong decision. I will always remember his remark to British troops in Basra, that the sacrifice of British soldiers was not Hollywood but "real flesh and blood". Yes, it was real flesh and blood that was shed - but for weapons of mass destruction that weren't real at all.

"Deadly force is authorised," it says on checkpoints all over Baghdad. Authorised by whom? There is no accountability. Repeatedly, on the great highways out of the city US soldiers shriek at motorists and open fire at the least suspicion. "We had some Navy Seals down at our checkpoint the other day," a 1st Cavalry sergeant says to me. "They asked if we were having any trouble. I said, yes, they've been shooting at us from a house over there. One of them asked: 'That house?' We said yes. So they have these three SUVs and a lot of weapons made of titanium and they drive off towards the house. And later they come back and say 'We've taken care of that'. And we didn't get shot at any more."

What does this mean? The Americans are now bragging about their siege of Najaf. Lieutenant Colonel Garry Bishop of the 37th Armoured Division's 1st Battalion believes it was an "ideal" battle (even though he failed to kill or capture Muqtada Sadr whose "Mehdi army" were fighting the US forces). It was "ideal", Bishop explained, because the Americans avoided damaging the holy shrines of the Imams Ali and Hussein. What are Iraqis to make of this? What if a Muslim army occupied Kent and bombarded Canterbury and then bragged that they hadn't damaged Canterbury Cathedral? Would we be grateful?

What, indeed, are we to make of a war which is turned into a fantasy by those who started it? As foreign workers pour out of Iraq for fear of their lives, US Secretary of State Colin Powell tells a press conference that hostage-taking is having an "effect" on reconstruction. Effect! Oil pipeline explosions are now as regular as power cuts. In parts of Baghdad now, they have only four hours of electricity a day; the streets swarm with foreign mercenaries, guns poking from windows, shouting abusively at Iraqis who don't clear the way for them. This is the "safer" Iraq which Mr Blair was boasting of the other day. What world does the British Government exist in?

Take the Saddam trial. The entire Arab press - including the Baghdad papers - prints the judge's name. Indeed, the same judge has given interviews about his charges of murder against Muqtada Sadr. He has posed for newspaper pictures. But when I mention his name in The Independent, I was solemnly censured by the British Government's spokesman. Salem Chalabi threatened to prosecute me. So let me get this right. We illegally invade Iraq. We kill up to 11,000 Iraqis. And Mr Chalabi, appointed by the Americans, says I'm guilty of "incitement to murder". That just about says it all.

damn CanuckHeaven, i thought my sources were biased...

damn CanuckHeaven, i thought my sources were biased...
Well I guess there are always two sides to a story?

http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=26

Quite a lengthy Board of directors for sure.

I started two new threads on news nobody's talking about from Iraq--one on the issuing of arrest warrants for Ahmad Chalabi (counterfeiting) and Salem Chalabi (murder) and another on, well, how Allawi's people are no better than Hussein's were. The second one is named "Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss."

MULTINATIONAL FORCES ENGINEERS TRAIN IRAQIS TO BUILD CONCRETE STRUCTURES

MOSUL, IRAQ (August 9, 2004) – Approximately 20 Iraqi residents from Dahuk Province received instruction from Soldiers with the 133rd Engineer Battalion on how to build concrete structures.

Soldiers from Company B of the 133rd gave classroom instruction on laying concrete blocks to build solid structures near Habur Gate. After the classroom instruction, the Soldiers and the Iraqis participated in building a structure together.

The class gave the military engineers a chance to teach their skills to a group of Iraqis who will now be able to help in the rebuilding of their country.

For the engineers, it’s like the old proverb: give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. “We could build the structures for them, but by teaching them to do it themselves, we will enable them to take a role in the rebuilding process,” said 1st Lt. Elgee, from the 133rd.

The Soldiers and the Iraqis celebrated the completion of the class and the project with a small graduation ceremony August 9. This class is the first of many the engineers hope to conduct to prepare Iraqis to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq.

Quck comment on this subject of oil...if we're exploiting theit oil, why am I paying $2.02 at the pump? I know refining costs and all that crap...but if you get down to if we took oil from Iraq, the cost of oil would be approximately 1.06 per gallon figuring in transportation, and knocking out the crude oil purchase price of almost 50 cents on the dollar...going to oil exporters like IRAQ

the situation of oil, did you know that american oil companies released record numbers in the profit are about two weeks ago. We pay about 2.40 a gallon for the cheap stuff in California. Make no mistake people, it is about the oil but not for the benefit of the american people. For the benefit of American rich people who have financial gains in the oil industry. If I remember quickly, chevron posted a 51 billion dollar gain over last years profits. BILLION. People don't forget were Bush is from, Texas and were their money comes from, the oil industry. Sounds more like oily, bloody hands to me.

MULTINATIONAL FORCES ENGINEERS TRAIN IRAQIS TO BUILD CONCRETE STRUCTURES

MOSUL, IRAQ (August 9, 2004) – Approximately 20 Iraqi residents from Dahuk Province received instruction from Soldiers with the 133rd Engineer Battalion on how to build concrete structures.

Soldiers from Company B of the 133rd gave classroom instruction on laying concrete blocks to build solid structures near Habur Gate. After the classroom instruction, the Soldiers and the Iraqis participated in building a structure together.

The class gave the military engineers a chance to teach their skills to a group of Iraqis who will now be able to help in the rebuilding of their country.

For the engineers, it’s like the old proverb: give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. “We could build the structures for them, but by teaching them to do it themselves, we will enable them to take a role in the rebuilding process,” said 1st Lt. Elgee, from the 133rd.

The Soldiers and the Iraqis celebrated the completion of the class and the project with a small graduation ceremony August 9. This class is the first of many the engineers hope to conduct to prepare Iraqis to participate in the rebuilding of Iraq.

Please don't forget that these are the good deeds of American soldiers and not the good deeds of the American politicians. I will be glad to see Iraqi's prosper but I do want to see those who lied and killed american soldiers as well as iraqi civilians to pay. If I was to build a building on swamp land and then that building was to collapse killing hundreds. If I came out and said well, I guess the information that it would hold up was wrong. Sorry people died but the good news is we get a new building. Wouldn't I still go to jail for murder?

damn CanuckHeaven, i thought my sources were biased...


The truth is, that all our sources are biased. I am not a bush hater, I would have loved to have seen our government come out and tell the truth. I would love to see someone go into Iraq and liberate the women and children. What I don't like is that our leaders have come out and said oops, have said well, we were wrong. That to me should not go unpunished. As far as all the bad or good things that are going on out there. We don't know anything. We are not major players in this game. The rich are, politicians of many countries are. Here is the fun part though, they can get us all fighting with eachother in places such as theese about intent and what really happened while they do whatever they want. We can argue here about war and wander into another and give reasons why we should amend the constitution to keep gay people from marrying. The bottom line though is that we end up doing nothing but arguing and the rich or powerful do whatever they want. Isn't that called divide and conquer? I have a right to be suspicous about a president who has multiple ties to the oil industry and I might wish people would at least look at this as in incredible conflict of interest. The problem is, it isn't doing anything for Iraq and it isn't doing anything for this country. All we are doing is talking, talking, talking about stuff we have no control over or that we have a complete lack of unbiased information. We like to think we have power by being right in this county. What we should be empowered by is doing right in this country.

the situation of oil, did you know that american oil companies released record numbers in the profit are about two weeks ago. We pay about 2.40 a gallon for the cheap stuff in California. Make no mistake people, it is about the oil but not for the benefit of the american people. For the benefit of American rich people who have financial gains in the oil industry. If I remember quickly, chevron posted a 51 billion dollar gain over last years profits. BILLION. People don't forget were Bush is from, Texas and were their money comes from, the oil industry. Sounds more like oily, bloody hands to me.
I tend to agree with you Kissingly:

''U.S. Government Objectives in Iraq'' (http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=28&language_id=1)

Please don't forget that these are the good deeds of American soldiers and not the good deeds of the American politicians. I will be glad to see Iraqi's prosper but I do want to see those who lied and killed american soldiers as well as iraqi civilians to pay. If I was to build a building on swamp land and then that building was to collapse killing hundreds. If I came out and said well, I guess the information that it would hold up was wrong. Sorry people died but the good news is we get a new building. Wouldn't I still go to jail for murder?

I know about the good deeds of the American GIs over in Iraq. I leave in five hours to begin training to get shipped over there. This thread was not started with the intent to make Bush out to be the savior of Iraq or something. I started it to let everyone on this forum know that there is alot of good deeds being done by US/UK and other soldiers that you will not see on the news.

To win the peace in Iraq we must win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. The only way to accomplish our mission is to rebuild their country (destroyed by us, Saddam, and Iran) and to show them, regardless of what politicians do, that the American people and international community want Iraq to become a model of democracy for the middle east.

this may have already been posted but i am too lazy to look through 12 pages so here goes.

The national guardsman peering through the long-range scope of his rifle was startled by what he saw unfolding in the walled compound below.
From his post several stories above ground level, he watched as men in plainclothes beat blindfolded and bound prisoners in the enclosed grounds of the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

He immediately radioed for help. Soon after, a team of Oregon Army National Guard soldiers swept into the yard and found dozens of Iraqi detainees who said they had been beaten, starved and deprived of water for three days.

In a nearby building, the soldiers counted dozens more prisoners and what appeared to be torture devices -- metal rods, rubber hoses, electrical wires and bottles of chemicals. Many of the Iraqis, including one identified as a 14-year-old boy, had fresh welts and bruises across their back and legs.

The soldiers disarmed the Iraqi jailers, moved the prisoners into the shade, released their handcuffs and administered first aid. Lt. Col. Daniel Hendrickson of Albany, Ore., the highest ranking American at the scene, radioed for instructions.

But in a move that frustrated and infuriated the guardsmen, Hendrickson's superior officers told him to return the prisoners to their abusers and immediately withdraw. It was June 29 -- Iraq's first official day as a sovereign country since the U.S.-led invasion.

from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/8/142049/4690

I know about the good deeds of the American GIs over in Iraq. I leave in five hours to begin training to get shipped over there. This thread was not started with the intent to make Bush out to be the savior of Iraq or something. I started it to let everyone on this forum know that there is alot of good deeds being done by US/UK and other soldiers that you will not see on the news.

To win the peace in Iraq we must win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. The only way to accomplish our mission is to rebuild their country (destroyed by us, Saddam, and Iran) and to show them, regardless of what politicians do, that the American people and international community want Iraq to become a model of democracy for the middle east.
All I can wish for you, is that you don't have to shoot anyone and that no one has to shoot you.

Spread goodwill by all means!!

Peace.

Without the US helping the Mosque, $0 USD going to the Iraqi people
With the US helping the Mosque, $1200 USD going to the Iraqi people, I think the choice is clear which is better for the people of Iraq.

Money needed to repair the mosques if the US hadn't invaded = $0

Now..you can say all you want that we've caused deaths sure..but when you're trying to defeat a regime, it was unavoidable of some civilian deaths..but we have no idea how many of those 9,000 were Saddam's cronies, or insurgents now do we?...and coldly I'll stack up my 9,000 over his 300,000 anyday of the week.

And how many of those 300,000 deaths are attributable to the US supplying him biological and chemical weaponry during the Reagan and Bush, Sr. regimes- oops, I mean administrations?

U.S. policy is NOT continuous because its a democracy, get used to it. All democracies flip flop on issues until things become either unmanageable or a pain in the political arse.

When one raises a hue and cry over the use of biological and chemical warfare only after it is convenient to do so, this isn't flipflopping, it is hypocrisy.

This is not news. 80 People Dying in a Bomb blast is news. Petty cash is not.


I agree. Money is not the real issue, so why bother posting news like these? I already get more than enough crappy emails with pictures of the "wholesome" American soldier petting some Iraqi cow..blah. :rolleyes:

Money cant cover up the lives that has been lost in the bombings American has made in Iraq.

That is all.

http://gatekeeper/publicaffairs/Front%20Page%20Articles/Rebuilding%20Iraq.htm

Reprinted from an article by Ryan Clark, The Clarion-Ledger, January 12, 2004.

Col. Ken Rigby stepped off the transport and became enveloped by the dry, dusty Kuwaiti weather.
The temperature hovered around 120 degrees. The air made breathing difficult and it felt like it could burn skin.
As Rigby and other members of the National Guard's 168th Engineer Battalion walked to the holding area, they became engulfed in a sandstorm.
It was then, just months after the start of the war in Iraq, that Rigby wished he were on his farm outside Wiggins.
Three months later, Rigby and 2,500 troops moved to Iraq, where they began rebuilding dilapidated cities, repairing irrigation lines and bridges, and eventually refurbishing schools.
"So many times we here the bad things that happen from this war," Rigby said in a phone interview. "But we do a number of good things here. We're trying to win hearts and minds, trying to rebuild schools and towns. However, there are elements all around us that are adamant about us leaving."
Across the desert, Mississippi forces are helping rebuild a nation while defending themselves in the process. They report children being used as shields or for delivering bombs, and militant Iraqis hunting down allied troops.
Since June, the forces under Rigby's command, which he likens to "mini-construction companies," have undertaken more than 75 projects to rebuild various Iraqi communities.
Forty-five miles north of Baghdad lies the city of Ye-Thribe, where more than 35,000 Iraqis are trying to establish normal lives after the war.
Rigby and two National Guard units, including Gulfport's 890th Engineer Battalion, arrived in Ye-Thribe in August, amid cheers from local children, who ran to greet the Humvees.
The adults, more cautious, watched from afar.
"The kids are wonderful, and that's the part I enjoy," Rigby said. "I know that whatever we do will be used by children. These kids will reap the benefits, and if we can do our part to help their hearts and minds, the future will be easier for everyone."
Located a mile southwest of the Tigris River, Ye-Thribe is a farming town, but many of the irrigation lines had to be repaired. Rigby said he was surprised at just how poor the community had become. There was little food or medicine. The shelves of local clinics were bare.
The soldiers, many from Mississippi, helped in that effort, as well as many others.
Three schools were built or refurbished. A recreation center was built so children could play sports. A two-room hospital was erected.
And slowly, a town began to appreciate the troops.
"Our soldiers from Mississippi are proud to be part of the solution within Iraq," Lt. Col. Johnny Sellers, commander of the 890th Engineer Battalion, and a Purvis native, said by e-mail. "The battalion has accomplished hundreds of missions in support of the people of Iraq and their country. The 890th Engineer Battalion will be here until we are ordered home."
Sgt. First Class Bruce Massey of Wiggins agreed.
"Hopefully, the Iraqi people will now have a chance at modern civilization," he said in an e-mail.
Now that the unit has made progress in its mission, Rigby, with the help of other soldiers, has started Operation Open Me, an initiative to encourage Americans to donate school supplies and other goods to the Iraqi people.
"It started with us asking our relatives and friends to send items," Rigby said. "We were asking for school supplies, over-the-counter medicines, things like that. Now we're asking for athletic equipment for the kids. We want our communities to mail things over to us, so we can give it to the children, and say, "Here, this is on behalf of the American people."
But there is always danger.
At night, soldiers patrol the area, looking for trouble. Militants lurk with small arms--rifles, mortars and rocket launchers--waiting for a challenge.
"You've got to be very cautious," Rigby said. "You have t think about where you go and what you're doing. The good news is that these (insurgents) aren't very accurate. It's hit and miss when they fire."
Across the desert in the town of Tal'Afar, 240 miles northwest of Baghdad, Army Sgt. John Michael Bonner of Florence and other members of the 101st Airborne Air Assault Division are helping regain stability in the city.
Bonner arrived in Iraq last February, before the war began. The unit had been home from Afghanistan only six months before leaving again. As his one-year deployment anniversary nears, Bonner can tell many stories of fear, like when his unit first drove into Iraq.
"The closer we got to the Iraqi border, the more my stomach knotted," Bonner said in an e-mail. "We had no idea what or who was across the border waiting on us."
When they arrived, the troops drove through crumbling towns. Vehicles lay burned and broken in the street. People swarmed the streets begging for food and water.
"It saddens me to know these people have to actually live like this all their lives," Bonner said.
The unit then drove north to Tal'Afar, but not before killing Saddam Hussein's tow sons, Odai and Qusai, in the town of Mosul during an attack.
Spc. Sylvester Harris Jr. of Jackson will arrive home Thursday (Jan. 15, 2004) after a year overseas.
"All I want to do is hold my son again," said Harris, of the National Guard's 549th Area Support Medical Company, based in Fort Hood, Texas. He recalls tragic experiences while en route to Baghdad.
"We went though a nearby town where were were greeted by some of the town's people," he said in an e-mail. "There was this one little girl, about 6 or 7 years old, so beautiful, like an angel. Al the soldiers adored her. Our sister unit contacted us and told us the day after we left, the little girl we befriended was found hanging from a street pole. This changed our view of Iraq. All we wanted was the head of Saddam."
Harris remained near Baghdad until after the war ended. Merchants and violence filled the streets. Cartons of cigarettes and DVDs could be bought for $5 apiece. And the food was a surprise.
"This country has pastries like no other," Harris said.
But he said he's watched hundreds of people die--innocent and enemies.
"A little girl was given a bomb by an Iraqi and told to walk into a tent of U.S. soldiers," he said. "Two Navy soldiers were on street patrol when someone walks up to the passenger side of the vehicle and fires a shot at point-blank range, killing one of the soldiers. Another day a man fired shots at the convoy and hid in a crowd of children, using them as shields.
"I think to myself it is definitely time to go home."
Rigby said his crews will keep rebuilding the country.
"I know that we as Americans can have a piece of this change in Iraq," he said. "We all can help make it happen."

HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS IN IRAQ CONTINUE WITH NEW FUNDING

MOSUL, Iraq - Since beginning of July, $3.1 million has been allocated for humanitarian projects through the Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic Aid account.

Projects identified by local Iraqi officials are approved by Multi-National Forces, in order of importance, and will receive OHDACA money as project approval is awarded. Local contractors handle each project's labor and management. The contracts are awarded through a bidding process that involves at least two other competitors for each project.

Among the projects currently under construction, 50 percent are schools, 35 percent are water and sanitation systems and 15 percent are health care facilities.

School projects include new schools for rural villages and renovations and additions to existing schools across northern Iraq.

"Through projects that help the community, we are trying to help rebuild the infrastructure for Iraq," said Maj. Terrence Evans, Multinational Brigade-Northwest OHDACA Program director.

Well construction, water distribution and irrigation projects will ensure that the villages and agricultural communities throughout the area have enough water for all of their daily needs. Another major project is focused on rebuilding the existing water and sewer system in Mosul.

Health care projects throughout the area are designed to make quality health care available to every village in northern Iraq, including building new clinics in rural areas and expanding and re-supplying existing hospitals.

New funds are being added to the account almost weekly, and the list of projects waiting to be approved is long, Evans said.

"It is an ongoing process that has unlimited possibilities when you start talking about end states," Evans said. "Hopefully there won't be an end, just a hand over. With new quality of life improvement projects starting and finishing weekly, Iraq is on its way to being a successful independent nation."

Don't forget to mention where this money come from. It's from the iraqi's oil. Let's see... The US exploits the oil, paying Halliburton to do the job and paying at least $50 per hour the people of Halliburton. They sell the oil, and with the benefits, they give back $1200 for ten iraqis for one month or so to repair what they have destroyed... I say it again, the US is getting a good deal there.
The US is losing money on the Iraq war. That's one of the reasons I was against the war in the first place.

Yeah, I love those numbers.. what you don't hear about those numbers is the time frame. You hear about how Saddam gassed his own people, they forget to tell you it was in the 80's when America was still Iraq's ally.. They tell you about Saddam gassing the people of Iran, what they don't tell you is it was the Americans who gave Iraq those WMD, what they don't tell you is that when the UN tried to pass a resolution to hold Saddam accountable for gassing Iran that the Americans VETO'd it. They tell you about how Saddam brutally went after the Shia after Gulf War I, what they don't tell you is that the Shia was rising up against the government on the encouragement of the Americans who left them high and dry.

I'm curious what country you are from that has a government that hasn't had a bad hand in the middle east? Didn't support Saddam though oil money? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. At least we are in there, on the ground, expending American lives and money trying to do something about the problem.

Source: 18 August 2004 Azzaman Newspaper (Arabic)

Last minute attempt to destroy Imam Ali Mosque

Summary: Sources in the Iraqi Police said intelligence that they gathered during the last five days revealed that Muqtada Al Sadr and some of his top aides have devised a plan to defend themselves in the Imam Ali Mosque. His plan is to rig the Imam Ali Mosque with explosives and detonate them if US and ING Forces enter the mosque.
Author: Ahmed Al Samari

Source: 19 August 2004 Al Mada newspaper (Arabic)

Highway Patrol formed for al Diwaniyah

Comments: The Government of Iraq has formed a special force for the highways of Diwaniyah.
Abdul Wahabi al Salihi, the Chief of Police in Diwaniyah, has announced that the Special Force has been armed with modern weapons and equipment to aid in the protection of the highways. Many checkpoints have already in process to protect Diwaniyah from crimes such as terrorist acts and highway robberies.
The Police Chief added that the present security situation has already seen improvement.

I'm sure the irony isnt lost on you regarding the fact that The U.S is bringing democracy to the people of iraq, but refuses to listen to the will of the people.

At least 25 bodies at Sadr's religious court

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - At least 25 charred and bloated bodies were discovered in the basement of a religious court set up by rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr in Najaf's Old City, police said.

The bodies were brought up to ground level by police and Iraqi national guardsmen and could be seen lying in the courtyard, an AFP correspondent said.

"We entered the building which was being used as Moqtada Sadr's court and we discovered in the basement a large number of bodies of police and ordinary civilians," said the deputy head of the Najaf police, General Amer Hamza al-Daami.

"Some were executed, others were mutilated and others were burned."

A pungent odour of death hung over the courtyard where the bodies lay, their clothes soiled and muddy, the AFP correspondent said.

An array of beer cans littered the ground and a national guardsman said: "Look with your own eyes -- they drank beer and then they killed."

The consumption of alcoholic drinks is strictly forbidden under Islam.

One witness, Rahri Hussein, said he was close to the mausoleum when "a young man asked everyone to come to the court building because he said he was tortured there and he was convinced that there were prisoners still being held in there.

"When we got down there we found only two people alive, the uncle of the police chief and a boy. The rest were just dead bodies."

Adel al-Jazairi, the uncle and driver of Najaf police chief Ghaleb al-Jazairi, was kidnapped by militiamen on August 8.

POLISH ARCHAEOLOGISTS TURN HIGH TECH EQUIPMENT OVER TO ANTIQUITY OFFICE

CAMP BABYLON, Iraq – Polish archeologists turned over $13,500 worth of archeological research tools to the Iraqi Antiquity Office in the Babil Province Aug. 25.

The high tech equipment includes multi-media and technical research and collection items which supports the Babylon museum works as well as country-wide archeological efforts.

The Polish archeologists are members of Multi-National Division Central South’s Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC), an integrated part of the Division usually supported with resources by the countries that make up the division. CIMIC has provided many projects in Iraq, but with this effort, support was directed to Iraqi archeologists.

Polish archeologists have been working in Babylon since the establishment of Polish troops in Iraq. Multi-National Forces provide security in the area of ancient Babylon, which is located in the core of the military camp.

Shortly after the liberation of Iraq, Multi-National Forces established security at the Babylon ruins to protect them from looting and vandalism.

I'm curious what country you are from that has a government that hasn't had a bad hand in the middle east? Didn't support Saddam though oil money? Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. At least we are in there, on the ground, expending American lives and money trying to do something about the problem.
Bush created a bigger problem by invading Iraq. It is a shame that American lives have to be "expended" as you claim, when it was totally unnecessary in the first place.

At least 25 bodies at Sadr's religious court

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - At least 25 charred and bloated bodies were discovered in the basement of a religious court set up by rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr in Najaf's Old City, police said.

The bodies were brought up to ground level by police and Iraqi national guardsmen and could be seen lying in the courtyard, an AFP correspondent said.

"We entered the building which was being used as Moqtada Sadr's court and we discovered in the basement a large number of bodies of police and ordinary civilians," said the deputy head of the Najaf police, General Amer Hamza al-Daami.

"Some were executed, others were mutilated and others were burned."

A pungent odour of death hung over the courtyard where the bodies lay, their clothes soiled and muddy, the AFP correspondent said.

An array of beer cans littered the ground and a national guardsman said: "Look with your own eyes -- they drank beer and then they killed."

The consumption of alcoholic drinks is strictly forbidden under Islam.

One witness, Rahri Hussein, said he was close to the mausoleum when "a young man asked everyone to come to the court building because he said he was tortured there and he was convinced that there were prisoners still being held in there.

"When we got down there we found only two people alive, the uncle of the police chief and a boy. The rest were just dead bodies."

Adel al-Jazairi, the uncle and driver of Najaf police chief Ghaleb al-Jazairi, was kidnapped by militiamen on August 8.

It HAD to be Americans!:rolleyes:

CIVIL AFFAIRS EFFORTS IN NAJAF CONTINUED DURING FIGHTING

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq –– During combat operations in Najaf, I Marine Expeditionary Force’s 3rd Civil Affairs Group continued work on several projects that had been underway well before militia forces triggered three weeks of fighting there.

Marines and Army civil affairs personnel are at various stages of completion on projects that range from improving basic services to those designed to provide residents with employment opportunities and other options.

Construction of the Sadeer Canal in An Najaf and a new bridge in Qadisiyah are almost complete. Repairs and reconstruction on the An Najaf Teaching Hospital are ongoing. A recent flooding problem has been stabilized and pipes and pumps are being brought in from Baghdad to fix the problem.

Civil Affairs will help in the reconstruction of government buildings damaged in the fighting. New construction includes plans for a building that will house the Provincial Council, which is currently collocated with the Governor’s office.

Schools and mosques in both Najaf and Kufa will be refurbished, repaired and where necessary, rebuilt. A women’s center for Internet and newspaper access is under construction in Qadisiyah in order to improve the flow of information to residents in the area.

Other projects include reconstruction of Misain and the Taha Hussein School, Al Sahla Mosque in Kufa repairs, clean-up of the Al Faris Al Arabi, Maarifa Nahil and Nabu Khuth Nasir Schools in Najaf, and Qadisiyah Teachers Union construction.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040903.txt

MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE HELPED DURING HEALTH SCREENING IN AL KUSH

AL KUSH, Iraq -- A health screening was conducted in the city of Al Kush Sept. 6 to assess the needs of citizens in the city and its surrounding areas. The health screening was performed by medical professionals from the Multi-National Forces.

The doctors examined more than 100 people. The patients were given advice on medical conditions and some received medicine or vitamins that were not previously available at local clinics.

The doctors were also able to determine what medicines are needed for the patients and what medical equipment will be needed for the local clinic. These supplies will be delivered during the next health screening.

Task Force Olympia continues to work with the citizens and leaders of Iraq to make it a safe, prosperous and democratic nation.

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines in Ramadi met with the governor of the Al Anbar I know with the media reporting the alleged prison abuse, soldiers being killed, and the percieved chaos that most Americans do not see all the great things we are doing for the Iraqi people. I will try to add a story like this once or twice a day.

How about some stories from Afghanistan, or have we all forgotten about that country? You know, the one that was actually involved in 9/11

How about some stories from Afghanistan, or have we all forgotten about that country? You know, the one that was actually involved in 9/11
The only real stories you will here about from Afghanistan is that the opium trade is perhaps the only thing that keeps many of the people from starvation, that the country is still in ruins and the economy is a joke.

Oh and that they still haven't found Bin Laden. Most of the troops are too busy in Iraq.

Bush created a bigger problem by invading Iraq. It is a shame that American lives have to be "expended" as you claim, when it was totally unnecessary in the first place.

Because the problems of Iraq were just gonna go away on there own. Just ignore Saddam and everything will be great, right? :rolleyes: Just like the problem of islamic extremists is just gonna go away too....ask those Russian children about that. You know at least Bush is trying to fix the problem. Everybody else wants to point fingers and lay blame, but at least the neo-cons have a plan...and I know, it's really awful, help create a democratic Iraq. One that is not a threat to it's neighbors or the world. Those F@#$% bastards, right? :rolleyes: And you know, nobody really denies that oil is a factor in all Middle Eastern decisions....but no western nations are any less guilty of acting with oil as a factor than the US is. At least we try to help in the process.

Opening Safe Doors for Iraqi Women
By MNF-I Public Affairs - Coalition Press Information Center

BAGHDAD - Good things can come out of the rubble of war and one thing is the first Safe House for battered and abused women in Baghdad, Iraq. This project is the brain-child of Capt Stacey Simms, United States Army, who worked for the 352nd Civil Affairs Command while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Capt Simms began this project under the guidance of the Coalition Provisional Authority and working in conjunction with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The project has been handed over to Major Martha Boyd, Senior Consultant, Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs-Iraq Reconstruction Management Office in February 2004. The Safe House opened its doors to care recipients in April.

Major Boyd is charged with ensuring funding for the Safe House and its employees. With the transfer of power to the Interim Iraqi Government, the women’s shelter has fallen under the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. The Safe House operates on a $75,000 annual budget which includes payroll. Several non-government organizations are assisting in providing financial support, management expertise and material resources to keep the house open until permanent funding can be established.

For the first time, Iraqi women now have a place to escape from physical or sexual abuse. Often, social services for Iraqi women are limited, especially for women over the age of 18. If a woman is younger than 18 years and in need of help, Iraqi orphanages generally take responsibility. On a case by case basis, orphanages have taken in women over the legal age, but this is only a temporary solution.

The Safe House opened at an undisclosed location within the city limits of Baghdad for the protection of the clients and staff. The home welcomes women in the most desperate of situations. The home also “provides hope in this country that domestic violence does not need to be tolerated” said Boyd. The home can host up to 16 women if need be, but the ideal capacity is no more than eight people in order to provide individual attention from the staff. The shelter is open and staffed seven days week 24 hours a day under tight security.

Culturally, Iraq is very different from the United States where battered women have the option to leave the abusive situation and create their own independent life. In Iraq, the battered woman and her children are returned to the family. “In Iraq, the family structure is so important that it cannot be ignored. Family is the focus,” said Boyd. The Safe House not only provides temporary protection but educates the family that abuse is not acceptable. If an Iraqi woman is raped, the shelter can also protect her from honor killings – an acceptable cultural practice in some parts of Iraq. To date, five women, including one client with five children, have taken advantage of the Safe House staying up to two weeks before returning home.

Boyd’s hope is that the Safe House and others like it, will continue to provide care and counseling to victims of domestic violence for years to come.

Will you stop cutting and pasting these news stories. Yes, we know that good is happening in Iraq. No, that does not totally justify the entire war. If you want to prove your case, come up with your own reasons, not some feeld-good news stories.

Poor guy. He's wanting American media to become socialist, state run or some such.

A true conservative would argue, the only news that should come out of Iraq is that which deserves to come out. And the only stuff that deserves to come out is the stuff that will get the ratings. It's called profit motive. Capitalism if you will.

So please stop posting your propagandist 'news' stories, or acknowledge ALL the news that goes on in the world that America never hears...like about what perhaps happens in LIBERIA these days? Troops went there too. Oh, and they were WANTED there.

MARINES OFFER MOSQUE REPAIRS, RADIOS TO Al ANBAR; MAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT VISIT

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines in Ramadi met with the governor of the Al Anbar Province and 51 Imams at the government center to present an offer for Marines to assist in repairs and improvements to mosques.

Lt. Col. Paul J. Kennedy, commanding officer for 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, told the Imams that it was important for elected leaders and peaceful Imams to work closely with Coalition forces for relations to improve. Kennedy reminded the Imams that Marines are trained to respect Islamic culture and mosques. He added that the repair initiative was a token of Coalition goodwill and gratitude.

The mosque repair proposal would fund $1,200 worth of projects for each mosque, employing about 10 people per project, and is slated to last about two weeks.

Marines also took delivery of 1,400 radios to be distributed to the Iraqi people throughout the province. The radio distribution will allow citizens of Al Anbar Province greater access to news, events and public services being offered to them that they might not otherwise know.

Marines also visited the Women's and Children's/Maternity Hospital April 30 to assess the medical needs there. The Marines compiled a list of necessities, some critical to offering safe and effective medical care to Iraqi women and children. Marines are coordinating with a Governorate Support Team health representative and Iraq's Director of Health.


no i think we get quite enough U.S. military propaganda on the news, maybe not usually this insipid and treacley, but still quite enough centcomm lies and half truths.

HOSTAGE RESCUED AND FIVE AIF DETAINED

BAGHDAD - On 7 September 2004, Iraqi Security forces conducted a hostage rescue operation east of Baghdad. Responding to several tips from concerned Iraqi citizens, the Iraqi Police conducted a successful operation to rescue a missing Iraqi man. The young man had been kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists since September 5th.

Following a swift operation at the location where the man was held, five Anti-Iraqi Force members were taken, and the young Iraqi was rescued from the site unharmed. The Iraqi man has been moved to a secure area pending a proper medical review by Iraqi doctors. The detainee was held by terrorists affecting the Iraqi people.

Thank you...and WAREAGLE!!! :-D

Thank you...and WAREAGLE!!! :-D


War Damn Eagle!

Engineers Put 202 Megawatts on Iraq Electrical Grid in August

By Mitch Frazier,U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division

BAGHDAD –Red, white and black Iraqi flags ripple in the desert wind atop the six new electricity generators at the Qudas Power Plant north of Baghdad as teams of Iraqi laborers work to bring the generators online.

The whine of the turbine in the third unit from the end is the sound of progress for Iraqi and U.S. engineers. It’s the first of the six to produce electricity at the site, a site that grew from the desert floor in the past eleven months.

“The flags are something (the Iraqis) put up to show pride in their work and for their country,” said Ron Bertram a project manager with the Army Corps of Engineers at the site. “What they are doing here is huge not only for themselves but for their country, and they know it.”

Nearly $150 million is being poured into the site by the Iraqi government to bring the six new generators online, an effort that when complete will produce 516 Megawatts and service 1.5 million Iraqi homes.

The site is one of seven that Iraqi and U.S. engineers have brought on line in August, adding 202 Megawatts to the national electrical grid – a total that will fuel 606,000 Iraqi homes and brings the total available electricity in the country to 5,300 Megawatts far exceeding the pre-war level of 4,400.

“This is the most electricity we have put on the grid in a single month,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Ogden, the Corps’ director of restoring Iraq’s electricity. “Working with the Iraqi engineers, contractors and the Ministry of Electricity, we continue to make great progress toward providing more electricity to the people of Iraq.

“This month alone, we have added enough to fuel more than half a million homes, and we are looking at more units coming on line next month,” he said.

While the waning of fighting in war-torn Najaf offers a glimmer of hope for the new Iraq, a religious leader in another of Iraq’s battleground cities said more electricity could be the answer to quelling violence across the country.

“The people of Iraq need electricity; it is the number one thing,” said a Sadr City sheik who asked to remain unnamed. “When Iraqis can come home, turn on the lights in an air-conditioned home and are able to watch television, they will set down their weapons and quit fighting.

“Who would want to go out and fight when you can sit in an air-conditioned house?” He said.

Linkage between a safe and secure Iraq and the availability of electricity prompted the multi-national effort that began in 2003 to restore the country’s electricity.

“The work began in 2003 paved the path for what we are doing today,” said Maj. Eric Stor, the Corps’ operations officer for restoring Iraqi electricity. “The plants coming on line now are a direct result of the hard work and commitment that began more than a year ago to deliver for the Iraqi people.”

Under the former regime, electricity was found in pockets across the country with most being directed toward Baghdad to power the opulent palaces and fortresses of the Saddam rule. The capital city was one of few in the country that had reliable electricity; leaving some areas of the country with no electrical service.

“We continue to work with the Iraqi government to help them establish a fair and equitable electricity distribution and generation system that would allow all of Iraq to enjoy the modern conveniences electricity brings,” Stor said. “This means giving power to some in the most remote areas of the country, while cutting back electricity in areas like Baghdad that was accustomed to uninterrupted service.”

While creation and maintenance of the generation and distribution system continues, Stor said the future for Iraq looks brighter every day as more electricity generators come on line to service the country.

“This is the most electricity on the national grid Iraq has seen for more than a decade,” he said. “As the Ministry and the multinational team continue to bring more generation sites on line, the people of Iraq will have more electricity.”

Despite the addition of power to the country’s national grid, the demand for electricity in Iraq continues to grow.

“With more than half a million new jobs created, new industries and new factories coming on line and with the sale of thousands of washing machines and air conditioners, Iraq has experienced a rapid increase in electricity demand,” according to a fact sheet published by the Iraq Ministry of Electricity. “The increase in demand is a good sign of a thriving economy emerging from three decades of isolation.”

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES - IRAQ RENOVATE BAGHDAD SCHOOL

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A $99,960 Multi-National Forces-Iraq school refurbishment project here will be complete by Oct. 20, as part of the MNF’s ongoing humanitarian and reconstruction effort in the country.

The Ibn Al-Athir School, an elementary school in the city attended by 972 Baghdad students, will consist of 48 rooms and 40,000 square feet upon completion. Construction, which began Aug. 20, includes work on interior and exterior projects, electricity, lighting, sewer, window work, water storage, pumps, debris removal, painting and stripping, floor work and carpeting, general damage refurbishment, and a water proof projector and bell system.

The construction project is made possible through the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, otherwise known as “CERP” funds, and is part of a larger effort aimed at giving commander’s on the ground the power to fix important infrastructure problems quickly.

To date some 70 other schools have been renovated in the Baghdad area under the program.

HUGE ILLEGAL WEAPONS CACHE FOUND IN AL-SADR'S NAJAF OFFICE

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Police and the Iraqi Intervention Force found hundreds of illegal weapons hidden in secret rooms in Muqtada al-Sadr’s Najaf office Thursday.

As part of their mission to clear the city of armed Mehdi Militia and remove weapons and ammunition caches, the Iraqi Security Forces conducted a search of al-Sadr’s office, close to the Imam Ali shrine. During the search, which took place with the Najaf governor’s approval, Iraqi troops noticed fresh plaster on a wall in al-Sadr’s office.

After breaking through the false wall, the soldiers found a secret hallway and rooms filled with mortars, rockets, machine guns, and other weapons illegally hidden from authorities when the militia vacated the city.

Included in the secret cache the Iraqi Police, IIF and Iraqi National Guard found more than 10 mortar tubes (including heavy mortars), more than 145 mortar rounds, a dozen rockets, numerous anti-tank weapons including RPG launchers, a heavy machine gun, an anti-aircraft gun, automatic rifles, mines, various other explosives and communications equipment.

CIVIL AFFAIRS SOLDIERS PROVIDE ADDED MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO TAL AFAR HOSPITAL

MOSUL, Iraq -- Multi-National Forces from the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion purchased additional medical supplies Sunday as part of an ongoing effort to provide essential equipment for the Tal Afar Hospital.

The Ninevah Directorate of Health analyzed the medical capabilities of the region and discovered Tal Afar to have the greatest need of medical equipment.

Equipment included stomach tubes, gauze, bandages, gloves, antiseptic, sutures and other surgical equipment. The Directorate of Health has successfully delivered three supply trucks to the Tal Afar Hospital thus far, totaling an estimated $14,000 worth of supplies and equipment.

Multi-National Forces will continue to work closely with the Directorate of Health to ascertain additional needs, such as other supplies and medications of area hospitals and clinics.

MARINES OFFER MOSQUE REPAIRS, RADIOS TO Al ANBAR; MAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT VISIT

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines in Ramadi met with the governor of the Al Anbar Province and 51 Imams at the government center to present an offer for Marines to assist in repairs and improvements to mosques.

Lt. Col. Paul J. Kennedy, commanding officer for 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, told the Imams that it was important for elected leaders and peaceful Imams to work closely with Coalition forces for relations to improve. Kennedy reminded the Imams that Marines are trained to respect Islamic culture and mosques. He added that the repair initiative was a token of Coalition goodwill and gratitude.

The mosque repair proposal would fund $1,200 worth of projects for each mosque, employing about 10 people per project, and is slated to last about two weeks.

Marines also took delivery of 1,400 radios to be distributed to the Iraqi people throughout the province. The radio distribution will allow citizens of Al Anbar Province greater access to news, events and public services being offered to them that they might not otherwise know.

Marines also visited the Women's and Children's/Maternity Hospital April 30 to assess the medical needs there. The Marines compiled a list of necessities, some critical to offering safe and effective medical care to Iraqi women and children. Marines are coordinating with a Governorate Support Team health representative and Iraq's Director of Health.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040501.txt

I know with the media reporting the alleged prison abuse, soldiers being killed, and the percieved chaos that most Americans do not see all the great things we are doing for the Iraqi people. I will try to add a story like this once or twice a day.

Not a particularly novel idea, or a bad start. It is essential though that it expand over time. Winning hearts and minds with reconstruction has been around since at least WWII. To some extent it works. Of course in 40 or 50 years it will all be forgotten and our great grandchildren will be saddled with the bill, but what the hell - they'll already have Bush's war of distraction on their tab.

Nevermind Iraq, what is happening in Afghanistan?

Afghan vote threatens Bush's credibility
Administration needs success to back claim of spreading democracy

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1092694222919&call_pageid=968332188854

KABUL—With evidence mounting of plans for widespread vote-rigging in Afghanistan's upcoming elections, U.S. experts say the controversy could emerge as a serious liability for U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election campaign.

After voter registration centres closed across Afghanistan on the weekend, election officials acknowledged the number of voting cards issued far exceeded the estimated number of eligible voters — and that the illegal practice of multiple registrations is widespread.

"An Afghan election marred by allegations of fraud would be bad for President Bush's overall claim of promoting democracy in the Muslim world," said Husain Haqqani, an Afghanistan expert at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "In the absence of good news from Iraq, the Bush administration needs Afghanistan as its success story."

For months, Bush has staked his claims on a successful democratic Afghanistan, saying it would serve as an example of how America can bring democracy, and free and fair elections to the developing world.

"The rise of democratic institutions in Afghanistan and Iraq is a great step toward a goal of lasting importance to the world," Bush said in a speech in Washington last March. "We have set out to encourage reform and democracy."

But with seven weeks to go before the Oct. 9 poll, the Star has found the practice of multiple registrations is rife.

Observers also claim the ground work necessary for a free and fair election — security, reconstruction and political stability — has not been established in Afghanistan and that the U.S. hurriedly pushed the country into elections to further its own agenda.

Ahhhhh Bush league democracy. :eek:

MOSUL, IRAQ – High school students in the Shekhan District may have put off the start of the school year by a couple of weeks but Sept. 18, Ain Sefny residents and Multi-National Forces alike celebrated the completion of renovations to the Ain Sefny High School.

Nearly 520 students will benefit from the three months of reconstruction efforts by local contractors. The $55,000 project included new doors, windows, paint, electrical work, furniture, computers, heating and cooling systems, water tanks and the repair of 930 square meters of walkway and 60 meters of the school’s exterior wall.

“Years of destruction under the Saddam regime left the school looking more like a prison,” said Dr. Basel Joky, the mayor of Shekhan district. “Now, it’s a place where students are motivated to learn and instructors are proud to teach without being affected by adverse weather, inadequate lighting or a lack of running water.”

Last winter, many classes were cancelled because the classrooms were too cold for the students.

Soldiers from the 44th Corps Support Battalion have worked closely with Joky and the local mahktars to assess the region’s needs and fund regional projects. Local leaders identified the reconstruction of the high school as the highest priority.

Mrad Gavan Ali, the school’s headmaster, said the improvements have gone a long way to alleviate many of the problems students and teachers have faced in the past.

“This is important to everyone in the community because the foundation of any successful community is to provide our children with the proper education,” he said.

“Even when local students didn’t have a school to attend, they held classes in someone’s house instead,” said Capt. Clint Hanna, the civil military affairs officer for the battalion. “The communities’ emphasis is always on education.”

To celebrate the opening of the school, Joky hosted a futball match between Soldiers of the 44th CSB and the high school’s futball team and held a luncheon where community leaders and students applauded the school’s win over the Multi-National Forces.

CAR BOMB ATTACK THWARTED NEAR BAGHDAD MOSQUE

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi Police and National Guard troops prevented a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device from inflicting civilian casualties Sept. 21 in western Baghdad.

At about 11:30 a.m. a suspicious vehicle approached a checkpoint manned by Iraqi National Guard troops near the Mula Hawaysh Mosque. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene when approached by security forces. Iraqi police called in Iraqi and U.S. explosive ordnance teams to investigate.

The area was quickly cordoned off and secured by EOD and the troops. The vehicle exploded at about 12:50 p.m. There were no injuries to military members or civilians near the blast. EOD experts on-site estimated the blast to be the work of more than 500 pounds of explosives. Windows were blown out of the mosque, and the northeastern wall of the structure was damaged by the car bomb.

“This incident could have been deadly, if it wasn’t for the watchful eyes of Iraqi Security Forces,” said Maj. Phil Smith, the deputy public affairs officer for the 1st Cavalry Division. “It is just another example of the utter disregard of terrorists for the lives and well-being of the Iraqi people.”

Kirkuk Police Officers Rescue Child

By Navy Chief Journalist Joe Kane, Multinational Security Transition Command – Iraq Public Affairs

Iraqi police announced the capture of five kidnappers Sept. 16 in the city of Magdad.

According to Tim Kerr, who works with the Kirkuk Province International Police Liaison Officer Unit, 10 Iraqi police officers were in a residential neighborhood to perform a foot patrol when one of the Magdad officers was contacted by radio.

“Officers at the local police academy had observed men entering a dwelling near the academy carrying what appeared to be rifles,” Kerr said. “They were requesting assistance to respond to the house. We were then advised Iraqi police had surrounded the house to contain the occupants.”

Kerr said that when they arrived at the residence to assist they were informed a gunfight had broken out between the occupants and Iraqi police.

“While on the scene there were repeated exchanges of gunfire between the occupants of the house and Iraqi police. We were informed that the gunmen had a small boy inside the house and he had been observed being held by a gunman with a knife to his throat.

“The Iraqi Police entered in force and were able to take four suspects into custody and remove the 6-year-old boy unharmed,” Kerr said.

According to reports the boy had been taken hostage by the men a few days earlier and was being held for ransom from his family. Kerr said a fifth suspect who had apparently fled the scene prior to his arrival was apprehended by the police academy police and returned to the scene after the incident.

“The Iraqi Police handled this incident and were able to control the situation,” Kerr said. “They took five suspects into custody and rescued the boy without anyone being injured.”

Hey again...I dunno if it means much of anything, but I did contribute my 5-star rating to your thread.

WAREAGLE!

Here's something else you don't hear--or see (http://globalresearch.ca/images/Massacre%20of%20Civilians.wmv)--from Iraq. Now there's no way of telling solely from the video clip whether or not the people on the ground posed any type of threat to the men in the helicopter. They don't look threatening, but they could have been carrying weapons. I don't know.

But how much do you want to bet that the people around the world who saw this--and make no mistake, they saw it--think that it's yet another example of the US arrogance and expression of power. And we wonder why they don't trust us.

MARINES OFFER MOSQUE REPAIRS, RADIOS TO Al ANBAR; MAKE MEDICAL ASSESSMENT VISIT

AR RAMADI, Iraq - Marines in Ramadi met with the governor of the Al Anbar Province and 51 Imams at the government center to present an offer for Marines to assist in repairs and improvements to mosques.

Lt. Col. Paul J. Kennedy, commanding officer for 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, told the Imams that it was important for elected leaders and peaceful Imams to work closely with Coalition forces for relations to improve. Kennedy reminded the Imams that Marines are trained to respect Islamic culture and mosques. He added that the repair initiative was a token of Coalition goodwill and gratitude.

The mosque repair proposal would fund $1,200 worth of projects for each mosque, employing about 10 people per project, and is slated to last about two weeks.

Marines also took delivery of 1,400 radios to be distributed to the Iraqi people throughout the province. The radio distribution will allow citizens of Al Anbar Province greater access to news, events and public services being offered to them that they might not otherwise know.

Marines also visited the Women's and Children's/Maternity Hospital April 30 to assess the medical needs there. The Marines compiled a list of necessities, some critical to offering safe and effective medical care to Iraqi women and children. Marines are coordinating with a Governorate Support Team health representative and Iraq's Director of Health.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20040501.txt

I know with the media reporting the alleged prison abuse, soldiers being killed, and the percieved chaos that most Americans do not see all the great things we are doing for the Iraqi people. I will try to add a story like this once or twice a day.

If US Forces had not destroyed large parts of Iraqi goods in the second and third Gulf War, there would not be any need of reparing a mosque or giving radios to the iraqi people.

If US Forces had not destroyed large parts of Iraqi goods in the second and third Gulf War, there would not be any need of reparing a mosque or giving radios to the iraqi people.

"Arn't you happy we fixed this place up? I mean, look how nice it is-nothing like that wreck it was before!"

"But...you guys were the ones that wrecked it o_O"

I cannot believe that we continue to see these unsourced propaganda stories submitted to this forum.

Do you ever read any of the reaction that they get?

The scariest part is that they are so reminiscent of the so-called "hearts and minds" campaign of a previous war that has absolutely no connection or relevance to this one at all, no really, none.

I cannot believe that we continue to see these unsourced propaganda stories submitted to this forum.

Do you ever read any of the reaction that they get?

The scariest part is that they are so reminiscent of the so-called "hearts and minds" campaign of a previous war that has absolutely no connection or relevance to this one at all, no really, none.

So would you like to ban New Auburnland's right to free speech just because you disagree with what he is saying? I do think it would help him to solidify his case if he'd provide links to go with his articles, or sources, and for that reason I do encourage him to do it. But just because you don't like his particular methods or his ideological slant, would you deprive him his right to speak? Consider that doing so would be a violation of the democratic principles I think you probably support.

Hey again...I dunno if it means much of anything, but I did contribute my 5-star rating to your thread.

WAREAGLE!
War Damn Eagle!
Beat UT!

Yeah i was wondering if people noticed that the original link was a .mil site. Meaning the Military released it, odds are they arent going to be releasing things that make the war look bad. Itd reflect poorly on the commander in chief.

Here's something else you don't hear--or see (http://globalresearch.ca/images/Massacre%20of%20Civilians.wmv)--from Iraq. Now there's no way of telling solely from the video clip whether or not the people on the ground posed any type of threat to the men in the helicopter. They don't look threatening, but they could have been carrying weapons. I don't know.
dude, that video was SWEET!!!!

thats about 3 dozen less AIF I have to worry about when I get over there.

First Women in Iraqi Army Honored at Conference

By Spc. Marie Whitney, 122nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

“We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding¸ the confidence and the courage which flow from conviction.”

-Franklin D. Roosevelt¸ Fourth Inaugural Address¸ Jan. 20¸ 1945

INTERNATIONAL ZONE¸ Baghdad—Twenty-five women sat on white plastic lawn chairs in a small park area next to the U.S. Embassy building, not far from a swimming pool. The women quietly chatted in the midday heat while drinking bottled water out of a large blue bucket filled to the top with chunks of ice.

But these were no ordinary women. These were 25 of the first 88 women to join the ranks of the New Iraqi Army.

They awaited the arrival of the congressmen¸ military officials¸ and other guests set to attend a Sept. 26 conference; a conference held in their honor.

Also taking part in the conference was a small group of women from the 1st Cavalry Division’s Headquarters Company. Every First Team Soldier volunteered to be a part of the event.

“I am very excited to get to go on this mission. We get to meet the females of the New Iraqi Army. It’s great because they are the first ones [to serve in the army]” said Sgt. Dawn Handley, one of the HHC Soldiers who attended the conference.

The conference started with some of the congressmen and military officials giving speeches, telling the Iraqi Soldiers how proud they are of the courage the women have displayed and the historical importance of what they are doing.

After the speeches, the whole group walked over to the Embassy building to watch a documentary called “Journey of Courage: Women in the New Iraqi Army,” displaying the sacrifices and the changes made by these women in their pursuit of serving their country.

This video, which was written, filmed and produced by Kristen Hickman¸ a film producer from the U.S. Department of State, was the Iraqi Soldiers’ answer to a documentary on the history of women in the U.S. military they were shown during a conference put on by the U.S. Army in June 2004.

This new video documented the time the women spent in Jordan taking part in an 8-week basic training program put on by the Jordanian army with the help of the U.S. Army. The film showed footage of the women going through all of the training along with their thoughts and feelings on serving in the military and what they learned from their time together.

Once the video was over, the group returned to the poolside park for lunch. Under the cover of an umbrella-shaped tree, American and Iraqi female Soldiers ate together from a large buffet of Iraqi food while conversing with each other with the help of translators.

The occasion was wrapped up with Hickman giving a speech to the group of women, thanking them for their dedication to their country and their people.

“Even though what you have begun is valiant, remember that it will not be an easy task,” Hickman said. “But I think that if anyone can do it, it would be you, because it takes a special type of person to be able to handle what you had undertaken.”

While individual courage of the Iraqi military women has seen them make history in their country, a common bond keeps their focus on the future.

“When we first came together, we had many differences,” said one. “But the one thing we have in common is the will and determination to work hand in hand as a team.”

(and since someone was bitching about me not posting links, i will restart posting my links to my news.)

http://www.centcom.mil/CentcomNews/Stories/09_04/30.htm

Soldier helps Iraqi children through individual effort

BAYJI, Iraq - When Spc. Michael Tingue arrived here with the 1st Infantry Division’s Task Force 1-7 in March, he saw the conditions that children in this war-torn country had to live in. More importantly, he saw that he had the opportunity to help.

With a self-inspired determination, he began a personal campaign to gather clothes, toys and school supplies for the impoverished people of Iraq. Tingue knew that there were plenty of people at home who were willing and able to help, but didn’t know how. He saw how he could create the opportunity for people to help and wrote to his hometown newspaper.

As a Supply Specialist, he was already skilled at managing the inventory, storage and distribution of large amounts of supplies, so the project fell into place for him naturally.

“As a Quartermaster, it’s my job to support the war fighter,” Tingue said. “I saw this as a chance to show Iraqis we’re here to help, and to possibly take away some of the hate towards Americans.”

Spc. Tingue started by writing a letter explaining how people could help by sending clothes, school supplies and toys to his hometown newspaper in Oregon, the Albany Democrat-Herald. The letter then made its way to The Oregonian, another newspaper, and then took off on its own, sent along by eager supporters, eventually making it as far as Chicago, Connecticut and Louisiana.

As word spread, the project gained momentum on its own, and its inertia continues as boxes still continue to pile in. At its peak, Tingue was receiving about 20 boxes every other day for almost two weeks. The rate has now slowed to about five boxes a week, but they still continue to come in months after that first letter.

So far he estimates that more than 200 boxes of donations for Iraqi children have come in. And though he never thought his singular effort to help would grow to such proportions, Tingue said he is pretty happy with how his project turned out.

Tingue’s efforts were recently recognized by the Task Force commander, Lt. Col. Kyle M. McClelland, with a Task Force Certificate of Achievement and a much sought-after Task Force coin, as well as recommending him for similar honors from the Brigade Combat Team commander.

“Specialist Tingue determined that he could make a difference and took a personal interest in establishing an ‘irreversible momentum’ of the humanitarian kind,” McClelland said. “I admire his personal drive and dedication to making a difference. That is why we are here -- to help the Iraqi people help themselves. This is a positive step in that direction. Every little bit counts towards bridging the gap building trust and confidence. Specialist Tingue is a Soldier with a mission and focus; he is making a difference every day.”

Tingue said he hopes that his project will outlive his time in Iraq and hopes to find someone to take on the project when the 1st Infantry Division leaves sometime early next year. However, he already has a new project. His latest undertaking is to try to get a young Iraqi girl with a severe cardiac ailment to the United States for surgery, without which she will die, and his latest letter-writing campaign has begun in earnest.

Further donations for Iraqi Children can be made under Operation I Can (Iraqi Children’s Assistance Network) from the 1st Infantry Division Web page at www.1id.army.mil.

from: http://www.centcom.mil/CentcomNews/Stories/10_04/42.htm

Hmm... there are now 200 political parties in Iraq. Most Iraqis want a moderate Islamist party (think Christian Democrats) in control. The media is obviously biased because they do not even go out on the streets because of "danger". Notice how CNN always has a blue mosque in its background and NBC or CBS uses a hotel lobby to report from.

Here's a great site.

www.thetruthaboutiraq.org

Good for Iraq. Thats democray in action. They now have the chance to elect a real president, thats something they couldn't do before the US/UK/AUS went in there and removed Saddam.

Six police stations open in Samarra

By Sgt. W. Wayne Marlow, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs Office

SAMARRA, Iraq – Police here are much safer now, following the construction of six new fortified police stations.

Engineers assigned and attached to the 1st Infantry Division built one station a day for six days beginning Oct. 11, and spread them evenly throughout the city.

The stations cost about $100,000 apiece, according to Sgt. 1st Class Armondo Cadena, a combat engineer and platoon sergeant with C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment. Much of that money went to ensuring security. “They will withstand rocket-propelled grenades, car bombs, and mortars,” Cadena said.

It took only five or six hours to finish each station, according to Sgt. Charles Miller, a heavy equipment operator with B Company, 216th Engineer Battalion.

“They were built from scratch,” he said. “They each have four conexes that were built at FOB Speicher by carpenters from our company, then hauled here with all the concrete.”

While it was important to give the police a place to work and Samarra residents a place to report problems, the overriding concern was for the officers’ well-being.

“It’ll be safer for the Iraqi police,” Miller said. “The buildings are strong with bunkers and barriers. You can’t just drive right up to them.”

But when the buildings went up, the police were supplied with more than concrete and a roof.

“Everything was put in – brooms, desks, chairs, paper. They had everything ready to go,” Miller said.

The construction was part of an ongoing 1st Infantry Division effort to rebuild Samarra. Work is underway on several other projects, including schools, hospitals and street repair.

from: http://www.centcom.mil/CentcomNews/Stories/10_04/43.htm

Yeah i was wondering if people noticed that the original link was a .mil site. Meaning the Military released it, odds are they arent going to be releasing things that make the war look bad. Itd reflect poorly on the commander in chief.

If the major news stations would air positive stories, it would it help, wouldn't it?

I find it interesting that from 2 October to now at CNN that there isn't ONE positive story about Iraq. Is *nothing* good happening in the whole country? Hmm.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/archive/

I mean, the BBC at least has a couple of stories:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/default.stm
Iraq 'set for 50% growth' in 2004
Legal rights boost in Guantanamo

Now, I'm not saying it's a land of milk and honey over there right now, but come ON people. Life isn't SoCom. The battlefield doesn't clean itself up when you quit and come back in!

Very Good New Auburnland!

We need to hear more good news from Iraq.

Kids Benefit from Civil Military Operation

By 2nd Lt. Peter George, 1-7 Cavalry Public Affairs

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- More than 700 backpacks filled with school supplies brought smiles to the faces of students at the Al Zubaida primary school for girls Oct. 19.

Soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division’s Apache Troop, 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 5th Brigade Combat Team made the delivery to children in the southern Baghdad Al Rashid District.

“We influence our zone one Iraqi citizen at a time,” said Apache Troop commander Capt. Aaron Welch. “The key to winning this fight is educating the younger generations, and I think this is an excellent way of doing that.”

The backpacks were filled with school supplies including stationary, pens, pencils and books that will be used by the students in the school year ahead. Teachers at the school lined up the students in their classes, where American Soldiers handed them their backpacks. Many of the girls approached the Soldiers timidly, but after prompting from their teachers, remembered their English lessons and responded with a youthful “Thank you.”

“It makes me feel good to do something nice for these children,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Woodcox. “It actually feels like I am making a difference here.”

The Al Zubaida primary school is the sixth school in the Al Rashid district to receive backpacks and school supplies. Capt. Welch said his unit will deliver supplies to twelve area schools before “Operation Backpack” is complete.

“I’m excited about the progress that has been made in the past seven months,” Welch said. Iraq has an extremely bright future that continues along the same traditions and achievements that fill its brilliant history.”

(from: http://www.centcom.mil/CentcomNews/Stories/10_04/49.htm )

Ok. Since you get to post innane crap so Do I. Everytime you post this, Which is essentially propaganda. I will post after it proclaiming that this is not news, Which I shall do presently.

This is Not News!

Ok. Since you get to post innane crap so Do I. Everytime you post this, Which is essentially propaganda. I will post after it proclaiming that this is not news, Which I shall do presently.

This is Not News!

and i will respond by posting another piece of news that you do not hear from Iraq...

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES DONATE 2,100 BODY ARMOR VESTS

MOSUL, Iraq -- Multi-National Forces donated about $500,000 worth of equipment to Iraqi National Guard soldiers Oct. 25. Soldiers from the 104th, 105th and 108 ING Battalions received 2,100 body armor vests with plates.

The three battalions, stationed in the Dahuk Province, will wear the vests during patrols, raids and other security operations throughout northern Iraq.

The vests come with iron plates that are inserted inside the vests and are comparable to what U.S. Army Soldiers wear. This large-scale donation is one of several shipments of equipment that has been ordered to outfit Iraqi soldiers.

Lame. Quit bumping this lameness. You lame.

No ever said Coalition forces deployed to Iraq were babykillers. Bumping this old thread is unnessecary, why do you see the need?


Also, Do Flak jackets have metal plates in 'em? How come the Iraqi troops get the second hand gear>?

Lame. Quit bumping this lameness. You lame.

No ever said Coalition forces deployed to Iraq were babykillers. Bumping this old thread is unnessecary, why do you see the need?

I quite enjoy this thread so please stop flaming in it.

BlEH!

Why do you need to read it when you can just go straight to centcom>?