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Iraq

Roadside bombs decline in Iraq

2008-06-23

WASHINGTON — Roadside bomb attacks and fatalities in Iraq are down by almost 90% over the last year, according to Pentagon records and interviews with military leaders. In May, 11 U.S. troops were killed by blasts from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) compared with 92 in May 2007, records show. That's an 88% decrease. Military leaders cite several factors for the drop in attacks and deaths. They include: • New vehicles. Almost 7,000 heavily armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles have been rushed to Iraq in the last year. 'They've taken hits, many, many hits that would have killed soldiers and marines in uparmored Humvees,' Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a recent interview. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made obtaining at least 15,000 MRAPs his top priority last year. • Iraqi assistance. Ad hoc local security forces, known as the Sons of Iraq, have provided on-the-ground intelligence to U.S. forces looking for IEDs, said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who commanded a division in Baghdad from February 2007 until May. Each member of the security forces earns about $8 per day. Lynch has hired about 36,000 of them to man checkpoints and provide intelligence on the insurgency. He said about 60% had been insurgents. • Improved surveillance. Lynch said his troops used new security cameras that could see bomb builders up to 5 miles away. 'If they're out there planting an IED, we can go whack them before they finish,' he said. Also, Lynch said, the 14-ton MRAPs have forced insurgents to build bigger bombs to knock out the vehicles. Those bombs take more time to build and hide, which gives U.S. forces a better chance of catching the insurgents in the act and then attacking them. Among the new U.S. tactics, paying the Sons of Iraq is a particularly good investment, said Dakota Wood, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Whether the money is viewed as 'buying off' insurgents is less important than the lull in violence it creates, Wood said. It's almost impossible to rebuild infrastructure, foster commerce and set up elections when streets are unsafe, he said. 'Any effort that creates a window of opportunity in which other stabilization actions can take root is a good thing.' Iraqi insurgents, however, are changing their tactics. During a visit to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., Marines showed Mullen the latest trend in IEDs: Fake curbs fashioned from metal, filled with ball bearings and explosives. Virtually indistinguishable from concrete rubble, the new bombs require a trained eye to spot. Insurgents are also using pressure-detonated IEDs, including those with 15 pounds of explosives that blow the tires off an MRAP and allow insurgents to attack it, Mullen said. 'The whole issue of IEDs — vehicle borne, suicide, you name it — is going to be the weapon of choice and I think it's going to be around a long, long time,' he said.

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Iraq

US makes progress in Iraq's `triangle of death'

2008-05-28

When the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division arrived in Iraq's once infamous "Triangle of Death," violence there and in neighboring Baghdad was so intense that hundreds were dying every day and the country was virtually in a state of civil war. You mean the Triangle of Jihadis who Bravely Ran Away? Now as the division heads home at the end of May, the region stretching south from Baghdad and across central Iraq has become a showcase for what the U.S. military hoped to achieve in Iraq. "When we first arrived here 15 months ago there was nothing but sectarian violence, al-Qaida, Shiite extremists," the division commander Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said as he wrapped up a tour of an industrial complex. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. officials are likely to tout successes like that here during a U.N. conference that begins Thursday in Sweden, aimed at reviewing political and security progress in Iraq. The gathering will also see pressure on Iraqi leaders to make similar movement on political goals, such as reconciliation between the country's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. The U.S. military says violence across Iraq has reached its lowest level in more than four years after successes this year in breaking al-Qaida's and other Sunni insurgents' hold in western Iraq and — more recently — government crackdowns in the southern city of Basra and northern city of Mosul. But the success in the Triangle of Death, centered on the town of Iskandariyah, is perhaps the most dramatic. The area's population is mixed between Sunnis and Shiites to a far greater degree than many others, and in 2006 and 2007 militants from each community were killing each other, as well as attacking U.S. and Iraqi forces. The area has boomeranged to become a bastion of relative peace on the edge of a violent capital, while Sunni militants remain elusive in the north. One likely reason for the greater success is the logistical support from being close to Baghdad. Mosul, where a major Iraqi military campaign is under way against al-Qaida, is 225 miles northwest of the capital — compared to the 30 miles between Baghdad and Iskandariyah. Another is the division's success recruiting members of the so-called Awakening Councils, Sunni groups who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq after the terror group began imposing draconian measures to enforce religious discipline in neighborhoods they controlled throughout the Triangle of Death. There are about 36,000 Awakening Council members on the payroll. A third is a cease-fire ordered last August by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia is present in the region far more than areas north of Baghdad. Battalion commanders in the field also point to new counterinsurgency strategies, where units clear an area of fighters and stay to hold it from slipping back into insurgent hands. Sunni fighters who swarmed the area are also nearly gone. They have either been killed, or co-opted into Awakening Councils, said Lt. Col. William Zemp, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment based in nearby Mahmoudiya. "It was a place where they could consolidate, make plans and be put into action," Zemp said. "We have effectively shut that down." The result is predominantly Shiite areas along the main corridors north into Baghdad. Most recently, the farmlands south of Baghdad were flooded with U.S. soldiers, and areas once controlled by a single battalion of under 1,000 soldiers are now the responsibility of a brigade of 3,500. The cigar-smoking Lynch has become a recognizable figure in Iskandariyah. The general often walks the narrow streets of its marketplace, which shows new signs of prosperity amid the greater calm. Shortly after the 3rd ID arrived, its 20,000 soldiers launched large military operations to quash al-Qaida cells and Shiite militias. "We focused on establishing security in this area of Iskandariyah, and now that we have the security right, we had to worry about the most pressing need of the people, and that was employment," Lynch said. Violence in the area, where U.S. troops once traveled only in large numbers, has plunged by 89 percent since last year, according to the military. Mortar and rocket attacks are largely a thing of the past, though some suicide bombings continue, it said. "I just don't see sectarian violence anymore," Lynch said. "In our area, people kept talking about Sunni versus Shiite. I don't see that now. Everywhere I go, people identify themselves as Iraqi. That is their identification — I am not Shiite, I'm not Sunni, I'm Iraqi." Lynch and his officers knew they did not have the resources to jump-start the region's economy, so instead they focused on a variety of ventures — a vocational school, the industrial plant and smaller projects such as fish farming. "Do you remember what this place used to look like 15 months ago?" Sabbah al-Khaffaji, who runs the industrial plant and sits on the city council, asked Lynch. "We hope that the next time, you can come without guns." Al-Khaffaji's plant, which last year employed a couple hundred people on an intermittent basis, now has nearly 3,000 workers. It has contracts worth more than $6 million. The vocational school had fewer than 500 students just six months ago; it now has about 1,500, learning generator maintenance, metal work, sewing and other skills needed by the local economy. But Lynch warns that the fight has not been fully won. "This is a tenuous security situation," Lynch said. "The enemy could indeed come back, the people could become dissatisfied with their government and as a result could revert back to old ways of doing business."

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Iraq

Bill Roggio's take on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly at Basra

2008-04-05

A look at Operation Knights' Assault By Bill Roggio April 4, 2008 4:09 PM Eleven days after Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched Operation Knights' Assault in Basrah, the picture of the fighting in the city has become clearer. Maliki launched the operation after giving limited notice to Multinational Forces Iraq, and an inexperienced Iraqi Army brigade from the newly formed 14th Division cracked doing the opening days of the fighting. Basrah Operational Command rushed in forces into Basrah, including Army and elite police units, to stabilize the fighting, and six days after the operation began, Muqtada al Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stand down in Basrah, Baghdad, and the South. The start of the operation While the government of Iraq has been planning to conduct an operation to clear the militias from Basrah for some time, Maliki pushed up the time schedule for the operation by months, The New York Times reported on April 3. Maliki also failed to give proper advanced notice to the US military and almost no notice to the British forces in the south. This insured the Coalition forces were unable to properly back up the Iraqi Army with needed combat and logistical support from the start of the operation. The US military was given notice of the operation on March 21, just four days before the Iraqi security forces began the advance into Basrah, The Times reported. General David Petraeus reportedly tried to dissuade Maliki from conducting the offensive, but the Iraqi prime minister pushed forward. Additional Iraqi Army, police, and special forces units began arriving in Basrah on March 24, and Maliki started the operation the next day. The Basrah operation was initially planned to be executed in July 2008, when sufficient forces were available. The Iraqi Army and police have been massing forces in the South since August 2007, when the Basrah Operational Command was established to coordinate efforts in the region. As of December, the Iraqi Army deployed four brigades and an Iraqi Special Operations Forces battalion in Basrah province. The Iraqi National Police deployed two additional battalions to the province. A green unit falters, reinforcements arrive Maliki’s gambit to advance the Basrah clearing operation took a major setback once Iraqi security force met stiff resistance from the Mahdi Army. The decision to rush the operation forced a newly formed brigade into the fight just one month after the unit graduated from basic training. While the brigade has not been named, it was likely the 52nd Brigade from the 14th Iraqi Army Division, the most inexperienced units in the Iraqi Army. The 52nd Brigade is far from “one of [the Iraqi Army’s] best — and also one of the most loyal to Prime Minister Maliki,” as reported at CBS News. The formation of the 14th was rushed, as it was not due to be stood up until June 2008. The first brigade was transferred from Wasit province, the second brigade was created in May 2007, and its third brigade (the 52nd brigade) graduated the Besmaya Unit Set Fielding Program on Feb. 18, just five weeks before the Basrah operation began. The officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers have not had time to work together, nor have they been tested under fire. The 14th Division still does not have its fourth brigade, nor does it have the requisite logistical and support units. The fighting caused the 52nd Brigade to crack under the strain of the fighting, according to US and Iraqi military officials. An estimated 500 Iraqi Army soldiers and 400 policemen deserted during the Basrah fighting, Iraqi military officials told The Associated Press. The 500 soldiers were reported to be from a single Iraqi Army battalion. Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al Askari told Reuters an estimated 1,000 members of the security forces deserted. Some turned their weapons and vehicles over the Mahdi Army. A brigade commander and the executive officer of a police unit in Basrah also deserted their posts, the Times reported. Several dozen officers are believed to have failed to carry out their duties. Most of those who deserted were green troops from the newly formed brigade. “From what we understand, the bulk of these were from fairly fresh troops who had only just gotten out of basic training and were probably pushed into the fight too soon,” an unnamed US military officer told the Times. Overall, "1,000 to 1,500 Iraqi forces had deserted or underperformed,” according to the Times, a number “that represent a little over 4 percent of the total” forces in Basrah. The Iraqi security forces in the Basrah region have long been suspected to be infiltrated with militias. The operation in Basrah has exposed the level of infiltration, which at first glance, to not appear to be as severe as thought. There are over 16,000 police and 14,000 soldiers deployed in Basrah. The Iraqi government has vowed to prosecute those who failed in their duty. “Everyone who was not on the side of the security forces will go into the military courts,” Maliki said. “Joining the army or police is not a trip or a picnic, there is something that they have to pay back to commit to the interests of the state and not the party or the sect.” The Iraqi Army reinforces Basrah As it became clear the operation in Basrah would be a tougher fight than expected, the Iraqi military and Multinational Forces Iraq began to augment its forces. At least one Iraqi Army brigade, the Iraqi National Police Emergency Response Unit, and the Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics unit were rushed to Basrah. An unconfirmed report received by The Long War Journal indicates the Iraqi Army brigade may have been the 14th Brigade from the 4th Iraqi Army Division, one of the Army’s best units. The US military hastily cobbled together advisers for the Iraqi formations sent into Basrah. A company from the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division assigned to provide route security was rushed into Basrah to fill this role. Meanwhile, the nascent Iraqi Air Force conducted resupply missions in conjunction with the US Air Force. Equipment and soldiers were ferried into Basrah via air. US and British warplanes began to strike at Mahdi Army positions in Basrah, with the help of US forward air controllers embedded with Iraqi forces. The Iraqi security forces fared better in the greater South While the focus of the reporting centered on Basrah, the Iraqi security forces also combated the Mahdi Army in the Shia cities between Basrah and Baghdad. The Iraqi Army was able to secure Hillah, Kut, Karbala, Najaf, Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah, and Amarah in a matter of days after the fighting started. By March 29, the fighting in these cities largely stopped. The Iraqi security forces quickly silenced the Mahdi Army in Najaf, the scene of Sadr’s uprisings in March and August 2004. Pro-government protests were staged in Diwaniyah, Karbala, and Hillah just days after the Basrah operation began. Security was deemed good enough in Hillah that the police SWAT team was deployed to Basrah. Scores of Mahdi Army fighters were killed and hundreds captured in the southern region between Baghdad and Basrah. Major General Rick Lynch, the commander of Multinational Division Central, which controls Karbala, Najaf, Babil, and Wasit provinces, said 69 Shia terrorists were killed and 537 suspects were captured. Of those captured, about 230 remain in custody. Lynch estimated about 600 Shia terrorists were divided among 10 different cells in the provinces in Multinational Division Central's area of operations. Sadr orders cease-fire Just as the Iraqi security forces began to address the shortcoming in the operation and the situation in the center-south began to stabilize, Sadr decided to pull his fighters off the streets. Members of Maliki’s Dawa political party approached the leader of Iran's Qods Force asking him to get Sadr to stop the fighting. Shortly afterward, Sadr ordered his troops to withdraw from fighting and issued a nine-point statement of demands for the Iraqi government. By this time, the Mahdi Army took significant casualties in Basrah, Baghdad, and the greater South. "Security forces killed more than 200 gunmen, wounded 700, and arrested 300 others, since the beginning of the military operations in Basrah," said Major General Abdul Kareem Khalaf, the director of operations for the Ministry of the Interior. The Mahdi Army suffered 173 killed in Baghdad during the six days of fighting. Spokesmen from the Mahdi Army claimed the Maliki government agreed to Sadr’s terms, which included ending operations against the Mahdi Army, but the Iraqi government denies this. "I refuse to negotiate with the outlaws,” Maliki said on April 3. “I did not sign any deal." Operations Continue The Iraqi military and police continue to carry out raids against Shia terror groups in Baghdad, Basrah and the South. Maliki has changed his rhetoric, however, and indicated that “criminals” are now the target of operations. He also stated that security operations would be undertaken in Shula and Sadr City in Baghdad, two strongholds of the Mahdi Army. "I expect more crackdowns like this,” Maliki said. Both US and Iraqi troops have conducted several raids against Shia terrorists in Baghdad and the South over the past several days. Iraqi security forces killed seven “criminal members” and captured 16 during three separate operations in Basrah today. US troops have advanced into Sadr City to deny the Mahdi Army launch locations for rockets and mortars fired at the International Zone. US Special Forces captured an “Iranian-backed Special Groups criminal” and two associates in Hillah on April 3. Coalition aircraft killed two Shia fighters after they fired on a patrol in Basrah on April 2. Iraqi police killed six members of the “criminal gangs” in Basrah and captured six that same day. Iraqi troops occupied the ports of Khour al Zubair and Umm Qasr in Basrah province on April 1. Sadr has called for a million-man demonstration in Baghdad on April 9 to oppose the US presence in Iraq. “The time has come to express your rejections and raise your voices loud against the unjust occupier and enemy of nations and humanity, and against the horrible massacres committed by the occupier against our honourable people," Sadr said in a statement. But Sadr suddenly changed the venue of the protest to Najaf. Sadr’s followers held a protest today, but an estimated 1,500 marched in Baghdad.

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Iraq

We experienced an opportunity to take the fight to the Shiia extremist

2008-04-04

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2008 – The recent increase in attacks by Shiia extremists in Iraq gave coalition forces in the center of the country opportunities to target extremist cells and degrade their capabilities, the U.S. general in charge of operations in the area said today. Video From March 25 to 30, Shiia extremists in the Multinational Division Center area of operations stepped up attacks in conjunction with a spike in violence in Basra and southern Baghdad, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the division’s commander, told reporters in Baghdad. That violence flared after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered Iraqi forces to clamp down on illegal militias, criminals and thugs in Basra. Shiia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Jaysh al-Mahdi organization contested the Iraqi security forces, and fighting spread north to Baghdad and other Shiia cities in the south. In the Multinational Division Center area, there were some 78 attacks by Shiia extremists during the six-day period, Lynch said. These attacks targeted coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians, and included the use of improvised explosive devices, armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, he said. One U.S. soldier, 17 Iraqi security forces members and five civilians were killed in the attacks, and many more were wounded. While these attacks did cause casualties, they also brought a lot of the Shiia extremists out of hiding and gave the coalition and Iraqi forces an opportunity to target them, Lynch said. Division leaders previously had estimated that about 600 Shiia extremists were in their area, making up about 10 so-called “special groups.” The increased attacks allowed the coalition to more easily target them, and during the six-day period, coalition and Iraqi forces captured four high-value individuals, killed 69 extremists, wounded five, and detained 537 suspects, he said. The suspects were questioned, and 230 are still in detention. “The enemy needed his leaders to conduct operations; we took some of those away,” Lynch said. “The enemy needed his ‘led,’ his soldiers if you will, and many of those are now currently detained.” The combined forces also found 18 weapons caches that contained various types of ammunition, bombs and other weapons, Lynch said. “We experienced a tactical and an operational opportunity to take the fight to the Shiia extremists,” Lynch said of the six-day period of increased violence. Since March 30, attacks in the Multinational Division Center area have gone back to their normal levels, with just one attack occurring yesterday and none the day before, Lynch said. Since taking command of forces in the area 13 months ago, Lynch said, he’s seen a significant decrease in violence and an increased focus on rebuilding Iraqi society. Lynch’s soldiers occupy 57 different patrol bases throughout the area with Iraqi security forces, and that presence has helped build trust with the locals, the general said. “What we have found is the local population, as a result of seeing the patrol base, they come forward and ask two questions,” he said. “The first question is, ‘Are you staying?’ and when the local population is convinced we’re going to stay, the next question is, ‘How can we help?’” About 36,000 concerned local citizens are helping to secure their neighborhoods in “Sons of Iraq” security groups in the division’s area, Lynch said. And as the violence has decreased, the people have focused more on improving their quality of life, he added. “Now, when I go to patrol bases I immediately leave the patrol base and go visit with the population, talk to the people,” he said. “The conversation now has changed. It’s no longer about security; it’s about jobs. It’s about capacity; it’s about the economy; it’s about local governments.”

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Iraq

Marne Rugged to Eliminate Remaining Extremists, Build Capacity

2008-03-15

CAMP VICTORY — On the heels of Operations Marne Thunderbolt and Grand Slam south of Baghdad, Multi-National Division – Center will push further south to squeeze extremists during Operation Marne Rugged, which kicks off March 15. The operation will cover a rural area southeast of Baghdad, south of the Tigris River in the area of operation of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and 3rd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army. One phase of the operation will be the establishment of Patrol Base Summers, a joint Iraqi Army and Coalition forces base. It is named for Staff Sgt. Vincent Summers, who paid the ultimate sacrifice with 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment during Operation Iraqi Freedom III. “We have found that when we put Iraqi Army and Coalition forces in a patrol base in an area like Summers, the population comes to us and gives us that refined intelligence, so that we can do precise operations against any al-Qaeda that may be in this area,” said Col. Tom James, commander of 4th BCT, during a pre-operation briefing at Forward Operating Base Zulu March 10. In addition to establishing the patrol base and eliminating al-Qaeda and any other extremists, Marne Rugged will focus on capacity building. In anticipation of the operation, the Coalition and IA have already identified approximately 2,500 Iraqi security volunteers who are eager to transition into Sons of Iraq in the short-term and into Iraqi Security Forces in the long-term. “We see two major tasks that we have to accomplish: One, we have to integrate the Iraqi security volunteers,” James said. “The other is to provide quick-impact, small projects to the local civilians.” Col. Ali Abdul Hussein, commander of 3/8 IA, also cited the importance of local projects, in particular repairing water pumps that he said were damaged by terrorists. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of MND-C, told Hussein that Coalition forces could help the IA fix the pumps in addition to facilitating other projects. “I believe we have a window of opportunity,” Lynch said. “You see, I’ve got this idea to transition from security to stability, and stability is about jobs, services, schools, and we can help with all that.”

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Iraq

Lynch: US 'surge' tipped scales in Iraq (lots of good strategic PR stuff, too!)

2008-02-02

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch has spent years thinking about the war in Iraq, both as a senior strategist in 2005 and now as a division commander. He has seen strategies, missions and buzzwords come and go, but he now believes U.S. commanders finally have a feel for the battlefield. Two years ago, U.S. forces thought the best way to help Iraq was to hand over the country as soon as possible, he said in an Associated Press interview. From 2005-2006 Lynch was in charge of communications and convincing Sunni leaders to support the new government. "When we were doing all of our planning back then, we were convinced we could have a gradual withdrawal of coalition forces and the Iraqi security forces would stand up," the general said at the headquarters of the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad on Friday. Then came the February 2006 destruction of the Golden Mosque, a site revered by Shiites, which set off weeks of horrific sectarian violence. Two suicide bombers killed 99 people in Baghdad on Friday, but there was no indication the attacks were connected to the anniversary of the mosque attack, observed on Friday. "Everything changed," Lynch said. "The mission changed from transition to securing the population." When Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, decided he needed more troops, Lynch's 3rd Infantry Division was the first to send soldiers in early 2007. "The surge gave us the combat power to take the fight to the enemy," Lynch said. He cited a Jan. 10 battle in Arab Jabour where U.S. bombers dropped 40,000 pounds of bombs in 10 minutes to clear an insurgent stronghold. U.S. troops have built 50 new bases south of Baghdad where they live full time instead of commuting from massive bases in western Baghdad as they had in the past, Lynch said. "Once you're there, the local citizens come forward and ask two questions: `Are you gonna stay?' If the answer is yes, they say: `How can we help?'" That is how U.S. forces began recruiting local men to help provide security and rebuild towns, Lynch said. Variously known as Awakening Councils, Concerned Local Citizens or the Sons of Iraq, Lynch said he now has 32,000 Iraqi civilians on his payroll manning 1,500 new checkpoints, in addition to the more than 20,000 Iraqi soldiers and police under his control. He rejected criticism that these groups reinforce sectarian division or tribal loyalties. He said the groups are based on where they live — not on their religion or clan — and payments are made directly to individuals, not tribal leaders. The military has also adopted a large, aggressive information campaign. "You can secure the population, but if they do not perceive they are secure, you have not accomplished your mission. That's where information operations become so important," Lynch said. The division produces a glossy, hard-backed coffee table book full of color photos showing smiling children, helpful U.S. soldiers and professional Iraqi forces. Lynch said he is also setting up radio stations and newspapers to complement a national campaign that includes television commercials showing brave Iraqi civilians overwhelming brutal insurgents through sheer numbers. Lynch said while there are still Iraqi political problems at the national level, at the grass roots there is a growing movement to end the fighting and get on with life. His division has recorded a 74 percent drop in monthly attacks, an 81 percent drop in civilian casualties and an 85 percent drop in coalition casualties since May 2007. Yeah, but it seems Sadr is back from vacation. Time to go stomp him flat now since he just can't play nice. He said that the recent progress could still be lost, but that U.S. commanders finally had a good feel for the battlefield and how to defeat the insurgency. "We've always said that the only way we are going to win this counterinsurgency fight in Iraq is through the people of Iraq," he said. "If they perceive security, they are going to continue to move in the right direction."

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Iraq

U.S. commander warns Iraqi armed groups must be legitimized

2007-12-26

The top U.S. commander in the area south of Baghdad warned that armed groups of Sunni fighters must be recognized as legitimate members of Iraqi society and be rewarded for their efforts at fighting al-Qaida in Iraq _ or the hard-fought security gains of the past six months could be lost. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who leads the 3rd Infantry Division, has credited the tribal groups known as Awakening Councils, Concerned Citizens and other names, for much of the security that has been brought to the region he commands, which stretches from Iran to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south. Lynch said that he had 26,000 members of the groups the area he controls and that they given U.S. and Iraqi forces a key advantage in seeking to clear extremist-held pockets. They number about 70,000men countrywide, and are expected to grow by another 45,000 incoming months. The groups, along with a surge of U.S. troops into Iraq and a decision by firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to stand down his Mahdi Army militia for six months, have contributed to a 60percent drop in violence around Iraq since June.

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Iraq

Victory in Iraq

2007-11-14

It has become obligatory for both pro- and antiwar commentators to never mention the possibility of victory in Iraq. The most that antiwar people will admit is that the surge has gained a temporary military advantage in a war that cannot be won militarily. The most pro-war commentators will claim is that they see the possibility of "success" perhaps, maybe, someday, somehow. But as of Veterans Day 2007, I think one can claim a very real expectation that next year the world may see a genuine, old-fashioned victory in the Iraq War. In five years we will have overturned Saddam's government, killed, captured or driven out of country almost all al Qaeda terrorists, suppressed the violent Shi'ite militias and induced the Sunni tribal leaders and their people to shun resistance and send their sons into the army and police and seek peaceful resolution of disputes. And we will have stood up a multisectarian, tribally inclusive army capable of maintaining the peace that our troops established. The reports coming out of Iraq in the last month suggest that we are not yet there — but almost. As The Washington Times summarized this week: "the Associated Press reported: 'Twilight brings traffic jams to the main shopping district of this once-affluent corner of Baghdad, and hundreds of people stroll past well-stocked vegetable stands, bakeries and butcher shops. To many in Amariyah, it seems little short of a miracle.' According to The Washington Post: 'The number of attacks against U.S. soldiers has fallen to levels not seen since before the February 2006 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra that touched off waves of sectarian killing ... The death toll for American troops in October fell to 39, the lowest level since March 2006.'" And on Thursday, the New York Times noted: "American forces have routed al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood in Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the 'surge' to depart as planned." Investor's Business Daily assessed: Many military analysts — including some who don't support the war — have concluded that the U.S. and its allies are on the verge of winning. Last weekend Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites has nearly disappeared from Baghdad, with terrorist bombing down 77 percent. This was confirmed by Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. forces south of the capital: "If we didn't have so many Iraqi people coming forward to help, I'd think this is a flash in the pan. But that is just not the case." All of this is the result of the most underreported successful military operation since the invention of the telegraph. (For a detailed account of Gen. David Petraeus's, and Gen. Raymond Odierno's counterinsurgency campaign see Kimberly Kagan's meticulous article in the Weekly Standard) Posted above. But the point to take away from the surge is that, though a brilliant military operation, it was never just a military operation. Rather it developed a political, economic and communications infrastructure that is permitting local-level reconciliation. We are creating representative governance from the bottom up — not from the Green Zone down. Despite a frail and inept national government, the people in the towns and provinces (under the tutelage of the U.S. military) seem to be forming order out of the chaos. The victory will not have come cheap. According to the Associated Press 3,861 American troops have been killed in Iraq. Last Sunday I attended a Veterans Day commemoration at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. My only role there was as husband of the keynote speaker. After the formal ceremonies, as we were chatting with people, I had a conversation with a former Marine. He was there with his eight-year-old son. He explained that his 21-year-old — the oldest of his four sons — had been killed in combat in Iraq just a couple of months ago. He showed us a picture of his fallen son. He was a good-looking, open-faced kid with a winning grin leaning out of his armored vehicle. He died leading his men to the sound of the guns. He is now buried there in that central Texas veteran's cemetery where last Sunday a hard wind blew, snapping the many Old Glories that stood sentry for our fallen warriors. And the eight-year-old — who idolized his fallen big brother — can hardly wait to be old enough to join up to finish his brother's job. (Of course, we know that in this world, that job of warrior will never be done — as the postwar period ever glides seamlessly into the new prewar period.) Standing there surrounded by thousands of veterans' grave stones, and looking into the faces of the bereaved, I think of these young heroes who today are making victory in Iraq possible what Ronald Reagan said of and to the men who climbed the cliffs at Normandy's Pointe de Hoc (quoting Stephen Spender): "You are men who in your lives fought for life — and left the vivid air signed with your honor." Tony Blankley is executive vice president for global public affairs at Edelman International. He is also a visiting senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

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Iraq

US will hand Iraqis control of Karbala

2007-10-28

U.S. forces will turn over security to Iraqi authorities in the southern Shiite province of Karbala on Monday, the American commander for the area said, despite fighting between rival militia factions that has killed dozens. Karbala will become only the eighth of Iraq's 18 provinces to revert to Iraqi control, despite President Bush's prediction in January that the Iraqi government would have responsibility for security in all of the provinces by November. But the target date has slipped repeatedly, highlighting the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of economic and political progress in areas still troubled by daily violence. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, who leads the 3rd Infantry Division, said the Iraqis were ready to assume full control of their own security in Karbala province, home to shrines of two major Shiite saints, Imam Abbas and Imam Hussein. U.S. troops would remain ready to step in if help were needed. Lynch dismissed concerns about Shiite rivalries in the region, two months after clashes between militiamen battling for power erupted during a major pilgrimage in the provincial capital, also called Karbala, left at least 52 people dead. "Of course there's violence in the area but not nearly of the magnitude that would cause me to be troubled by it," he told The Associated Press on Saturday. "This place is about a struggle for power and influence and there are indeed inter-Shia rivalries where different groups are trying to be in charge and sometimes they revert to violence, but it's not at the magnitude that's got me concerned," he said during a visit to a patrol base being constructed in Nahrawan, a Shiite city of 120,000 on the southeastern edge of Baghdad. Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, has faced several bombings that have killed dozens of people since the Sunni insurgency began in the late summer of 2003, just months after the U.S.-led invasion in March. It also was the site of one of the boldest and most sophisticated attacks on U.S. soldiers in the war in Iraq, when gunmen driving American SUVs, speaking English, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons abducted four U.S. soldiers at the provincial headquarters and later shot them to death. A fifth soldier was killed in the Jan. 20 attack. More recently, Karbala has been a focal point for rising tensions throughout the mainly Shiite south among rival groups maneuvering for power over the oil-rich area that also profits from religious tourism. But Lynch, who commands a volatile mix of Sunni and Shiite areas south of Baghdad, said the Iraqis were ready to take over. "They've established a Karbala operations command that works with the Iraqi prime minister, and when security problems arise it's the Iraqi solution to the problem, not the coalition solution to the problem," he said. The provincial police chief, Brig. Gen. Raed Shakir, said more than 10,000 Iraqi security forces were "fully prepared" to maintain order. "During the past days, our forces were able to confront and chase armed groups without the help of the multinational forces. We were able to restore security by our own. This shows that we can work independently from the multinational forces," he said.

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Iraq

Sharp Drop Seen in US Deaths in Iraq

2007-10-24

The news is so good even the AP can't ignore it. BAGHDAD (AP) — October is on course to record the second consecutive decline in U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths and Americans commanders say they know why: the U.S. troop increase and an Iraqi groundswell against al-Qaida and Shiite militia extremists. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch points to what the military calls "Concerned Citizens" — both Shiites and Sunnis who have joined the American fight. He says he's signed up 20,000 of them in the past four months. "I've never been more optimistic than I am right now with the progress we've made in Iraq. The only people who are going to win this counterinsurgency project are the people of Iraq. We've said that all along. And now they're coming forward in masses," Lynch said in a recent interview at a U.S. base deep in hostile territory south of Baghdad. Outgoing artillery thundered as he spoke. As of Tuesday, the Pentagon reported 28 U.S. military deaths in October. That's an average of about 1.2 deaths a day. The toll on U.S troops hasn't been this low since March 2006, when 31 soldiers died — an average of one death a day. In September, 65 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.

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Iraq

US buys 'concerned citizens' in Iraq, but at what price?

2007-10-18

CAMP ASSASSIN, Iraq (AFP) — "Tell me what you need and I'll get it for you." The US general is opening his proverbial chequebook to leaders of Iraq's concerned citizens groups. "Tell me how I can help you," asks Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US-led forces in central Iraq. US commanders are unashamedly buying the loyalty of Iraqi tribal leaders and junior officials, a strategy they trumpet as a major success but which critics fear will lead to hidden costs in terms of militia and sectarian strife. These low-level Iraqi leaders from the Madain area south of Baghdad are meeting top US military brass for the second time in four days. Their first gathering featured the overall commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus -- proof that concerned citizens are now right at the forefront of the US war effort. A Sunni sheikh who lost his son to an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber tells Lynch he needs more bodyguards as he has hardly left his house in three months for fear of attack. Others list money, drinkable water, more uniforms, more projects. One mentions weapons, but the general insists: "I can give you money to work in terms of improving the area. What I cannot do -- this is very important -- is give you weapons." The gravity of the war council in a tent at the US forward operating base at Camp Assasssin is suspended for a few moments as one of the local Iraqi leaders says jokingly but knowingly: "Don't worry! Weapons are cheap in Iraq." "That's right, that's exactly right," laughs Lynch in reply. But Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would not be laughing. While the US generals view the groups as a bulwark against extremism, Maliki and others steeped in the logic of sectarian conflict fear they are an armed Sunni opposition in the making. His concern is not surprising -- the bulk of US money and support for these groups is going to Sunnis, whose heartlands around the capital the military so desperately needs to turn around. "Right now I've got 34 concerned citizen groups under contract and that is costing me 7.5 million dollars every 60-90 days," Lynch tells AFP, adding that 25 groups are Sunni, nine Shiite. Maliki threatened earlier this month to rein in such activity and bring it under the control of the Iraqi army amid accusations one Sunni group was involved in kidnapping, killing and blackmailing in Baghdad. Lynch scoffs at the suggestion his groups will become the militias of the future. "Their concern is their citizens, their area. They're not trying to create vigilante groups that are going to go all round Iraq, they are trying to secure their area. "We watch 'em all the time so if it looks like their starting to do strange things we can stop them." But this hardly seems like a programme the US commanders could switch off overnight. What started in August as a low-key initiative on the back of the "awakening" by an alliance of Sunni sheikhs against Al-Qaeda in the restive Anbar province has mushroomed in two months into a major strategy in several regions. "I now have more concerned citizens than coalition troops," boasts Lynch, who reckons his present cast of more than 21,000 concerned citizens will "exponentially grow." Under the scheme, local people are allowed to arm themselves and are paid up to 300 dollars a month to handle their own security by manning checkpoints and patrolling, while the military receives tip offs on insurgents' activities. "They know that after you clear out the insurgents, infrastructure projects start coming," says Lieutenant-Colonel John Kolasheski. "People start to see the visible improvement then it becomes more difficult for extremists to get back in there because the people realise: 'right now the coalition is focused on us making things better'." Lynch puts it to them more succinctly: "We can clear, then you can hold." But the Iraqi local leaders are fearful that "holding" is hard if desperately needed infrastructure projects on non-existent streets and blocked sewers are too long in coming. "Projects we request are going very very slowly. People are using this against us saying we are not doing anything about it," says Shiite official Abdul Razzaq Haida. Concerned citizens groups were born out of the everyday hell created by Al-Qaeda and warring militias and the Americans cleverly offered a positive alternative to fill that vacuum. However, leaders of these fledgling groupings are mindful that the mood could quickly change. "We are concerned we will lose what we have accomplished. We need support to keep it in place," says Sunni tribal leader Mohamed Abas Kais.

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Iraq

Kurds flee homes as Iran shells villages in Iraq

2007-08-20

Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards. Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran. On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir. "If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty". The escalation of tensions in northern Iraq came as a senior US army officer renewed allegations of Iranian support for Shia militias in the south. Major-General Rick Lynch told reporters in the capital that up to 50 members of the elite Revolutionary Guard corps had crossed into Iraq and were training Shia militia members. Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran. On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."

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