Aug. 20, 2005 – The rebuilding effort continues in Iraq, and coalition military officials here today provided a summary of the past week's progress. Children in a village of Tamim province received school supplies, clothing and toys from the Nahrain Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that focuses on providing proper nutrition, decent clothing and medical supplies to Iraqi women and children. The foundation received its supplies as part of a joint effort between American donations an...

Progress Spreads in Iraq on Many Fronts, Official Says By Samantha L. Quigley American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2005 – Progress in Iraq continues, and this includes the work extension granted earlier this week to draft the country's new constitution, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said today. "They have made substantial progress," Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said about the Iraqis during a Baghdad briefing today, "but needed more time to put together a document tha...

MOSUL, Iraq — Security Forces detained six suspected terrorists and seized a number of items including a letter written to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi while conducting a raid on a safe house in Mosul July 27. In the letter to al-Zarqawi, the author, Abu Zayd, a terrorist operating out of Mosul, complained of the poor leadership in Mosul and mistreatment of foreign fighters. Abu Zayd informs in his letter to the “Sheikh” that, “This is a clarification of what has become of the situation in Mosul,...

Weapons cache destroyed in Al Anbar BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-national ground forces, acting on an Iraqi tip, discovered and destroyed a large cache of artillery shells in the early hours of Aug. 16. The shells were apparently intended for use as improvised explosive devices. An explosive ordinance disposal technician advised that the 25 to 30 individual 152mm rounds located inside a building within Al Anbar province be destroyed. Security forces confirmed there were no friendly or en...

Iraqi Policeman Engages Suicide Bomber in Mahawil American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2005 – An Iraqi police officer identified a suicide bomber in Mahawil, Iraq, Aug. 14 and attempted to kill him before the bomb could be detonated, according to a multinational forces report. Despite the policeman's best efforts, the Syrian suicide bomber was able to detonate his bomb, killing two civilians and injuring four others in the town, which is located about 16 kilometers nort...

Aug. 12, 2005 U.S. Soldiers foil 7 bomb attacks, nab 8 suspects BAGHDAD, Iraq - A group of Iraqi citizens helped Task Force Baghdad Soldiers working in northwest Baghdad find two roadside bombs before terrorists could use them Aug. 10. The civilians approached a U.S. patrol at 9:15 a.m. to tell the Soldiers that the bombs were placed near a major highway in the area. When the patrol investigated the site, they found two land mines and two mortar rounds wrapped in detonation cord. The...

Successes this week in Iraq (5-11 Aug., 2005) BAGHDAD, Iraq – Reconstruction projects strengthened Iraq's infrastructure this week, while community leaders showed their commitment to rebuilding. Iraqi Security Forces continue to be an essential part in working to increase the country's security. Approximately 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts in about six weeks. Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced Aug. 6 that r...

First I am the first to admit I take the pollwith a grain of salt based on the sorce of the numbers. I would like to see ALL of the questtions they asked and what the responses were, even the negative ones, but for what they did report it is very interesting. Aug. 9, 2005 – A recent poll in Iraq shows Iraqis do not support the terrorists launching attacks in their country, Defense Department officials speaking on background said here today. However, officials said, the poll also shows th...

August 9, 2005 Release A050809b UPDATE: Operation Quick Strike nets car bomb factory CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Iraqi Security Force soldiers and Marines from Regimental Combat Team-2 discovered a bomb in a building in Haqliniyah during Operation Quick Strike August 8 . Three 155 mm artillery rounds, weighing more than 100 pounds apiece, were wired to a desk inside the building. Marines determined that the explosives could not be removed safely from the building. The bom...

Aug. 8, 2005 – Multinational Corps Iraq operations continue to place pressure on terrorist operations in Iraq, with coalition and Iraqi security forces conducting more than 182 combined and independent offensive operations throughout the country since late July. Results from operations conducted between July 30 and Aug. 5 include the discovery and clearance of 109 improvised explosive devices and 32 caches; the capture of 805 insurgent fighters, with the subsequent detention of 493; and t...

Aug. 6, 2005 – Coalition forces in Iraq captured seven terror suspects, seized a car bomb being prepared for an attack, and foiled five roadside-bomb attacks during a series of combat operations conducted in Baghdad over the past two days. Just before 6 a.m. today, coalition forces seized a car bomb and three terrorists who admitted they were planning to use the car bomb in an attack later in the day. An explosive ordnance disposal team safely detonated the bomb, and the terrorists were ...

Police Chiefs Group Bolsters Policy on Suicide Bombers By Sari Horwitz The International Association of Chiefs of Police, which represents the heads of police departments in the United States and across the world, has issued new guidelines saying that officers who confront a suicide bomber should shoot the suspect in the head. The recommendations, the first from a major police organization to deal with the realities of a post-Sept. 11 world, take a more aggressive posture than t...

Secretary Rumsfeld COSCOM Town Hall Meeting in Balad, Iraq Here are a few excerpts from the meeting he had in Balad, Iraq. They are quite enlightening. Sir, my name is Sergeant Major [Pritsing] and I'm with the 1st Team. My question is of all the naysayers out there that think we need to pull out of Iraq, what can we do in the military to convince our public that we are making significant progress in both Iraq and in the global war on terrorism and that we have to remain committed to ...

I think I made a difference finally in all my letter writing and web blogging. On June 28th I posted this article: Link and also July 19th this one Link which clearly outline the misleading information that people were being fed by my local paper The Gainesville Sun ( Link ) I wrote letters to the Sun and to its parent paper, the New York Times. I also sent e-mails to the AP and its staff. I tried to find out why this misinformation was going on. Then today it happened. I was sitting an...

The following was written by Staff Sgt. David Green in the current issue of "Scimitar", July 20th Edition. The Scimitar is a weekly publication of the Multi-National Force - Iraq. I read the following and found it to be both motivational and thought provoking. It goes along with all the discussions we have had in the recent weeks about what we should feel, or do about these attacks. Read this and see what you think: What man is a man that doesn’t make the world better?” This line from Ri...