Good day in Iraq (in least so far)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2005 – Iraqi citizens tipped off U.S. soldiers patrolling the northwest part of Baghdad about the whereabouts of two roadside bombs Aug. 10.
The Iraqis told a Task Force Baghdad patrol at 9:15 a.m. the bombs were placed near a major highway in the area.

The Americans found two landmines and two mortar rounds wrapped in detonation cord. The soldiers secured the site and called in an explosive ordnance disposal team to safely detonate the munitions.

A suicide car bomber attacked another American unit patrolling west Baghdad four hours later. The bomb detonated prematurely, 10 feet from the soldiers' vehicles. The car's driver was killed in the attack, but no one else was killed or injured.

The soldiers also stopped a suspicious vehicle following directly behind the car bomb. When they searched the vehicle and the two occupants inside they found a loaded AK-47 assault rifle. One occupant also had a cellular phone that could have been used to communicate with the suicide bomber or videotape the attack. Both men where taken into custody for questioning.

At 4:45 p.m., a third task force unit found two 100-pound bombs hidden under some grass laid on a major highway in northwest Baghdad. The soldiers secured the site and called in an EOD team.
source



Is that good or what? Wow we're really getting support from the local Iraqi's. I think we're also learning their explosive tactics, kinda like in Vietnam. By that I mean they booby trapped their own soldiers' guns when they were dead. And we eventually learned how to counter that trick. Either way good news! Keep on rockin guys!

[edit on 12-8-2005 by blue cell]

Its wonderfull news. Iraqis really dont want violence, its the small foriegn elements from Iran, Syria, Pakistan, etc that are inciting everything and causes dissolusioned Iraqis into violence.

Great news! Too bad the big news agnecies wont report it because it wont sell papers or ads

Originally posted by blue cell

Thats some pretty good news, hope stuff like this keeps up over there.





Now watch all the haters come in and attempt to turn good news into something negative, Trust me they will come, It never fails.

[edit on 12-8-2005 by C0le]

Awesome! Support from the locals is like the first step in victory. I hope the locals keep up this. If the locals keep it up the Americans could avoid way more lives lost because of those bastard IEDs and the like. IEDs are the source of evil.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2005 – More than 110 Iraqi battalions are involved in the fight against terrorists, officials in Baghdad said this week.
The contributions of the units vary, but all are participating in operations.

The Iraqi ministries of Defense and Interior have developed readiness assessment criteria for units. Much like the readiness assessments for the U.S. Army, the criteria measure capabilities in six different areas: personnel, command and control, training and mission-essential tasks, sustainment, equipment, and leadership.

Different readiness levels indicate different capabilities. Level 1 is the highest rating, where units are fully independent in all aspects. This includes being able to plan and conduct operations without coalition support. It also means the units sustain themselves through their own systems, handle all maintenance and have every piece of equipment needed to perform any mission.

Level 2 means units that are "in the lead" in the counterinsurgency effort. The units plan and execute their own operations, but they do require coalition support. This support is typically logistics, close-air support, indirect fire, medical evacuation and so on.

Level 3 indicates units fighting alongside coalition units. An Iraqi company will be embedded with a coalition battalion. The company gets support from the coalition and operates with the battalion.


Level 4 indicates units just forming.


source

Just a note, not that many units are level I status. Either way its still good, it shows progress. I also think these units help with rebuilding Iraq. Good news!

The creation of the Iraqi army is key to the stability of the country. I can't stress just how important this force is going to be if the Americans are to work things in Iraq.

It seems that the Americans have had a few sucesses. What they have tended to find is that once they get Iraqi units into action and back themup in an area, the bombings start to decrease. This suggests two things to me:

It suggests the resitance is indeed is indeed Iraqi. The hardcore "foreign" elements don't care who they kill simply that they kill and to see bombings decrease when Iraqi troops take over an area means something to me.

It also more hopefully means that the Americans can in fact win in Iraq. No-one ever said this was going to be easy. In a way Im gald Bush got re-elected because he has the balls to stay the course in Iraq which is what needs to be done. Kerry would probably have woosed out at the first opertunity. It is vital for the Western world that Iraq become a good place to live, otherwise it will become a super taliban country and will bring the western/muslim world closer to all out war.