U.S. Forces Dealing With Different Enemy in Anbar

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Dec. 10, 2005 - The enemy in Anbar province is different from that in other areas of Iraq, U.S. officials here said.

While terrorists and foreign fighters pose a continuing problem, most of those fighting coalition forces are Iraqi "rejectionists," Multinational Forces West officials said on background.

Officials characterize rejectionists as mostly Sunni Arabs who see the interim government in Baghdad as favoring Shiite and Kurdish interests. "There is a fear of Shiia dominance here," an official said. "There is also a fear of dominance by Iran." Roughly 60 percent of Iraq's population is Shiite. Twenty percent is Kurdish, and 20 percent Sunni Arab.

Sunnis boycotted January elections for a National Assembly to write the new national constitution. "While there were moves to increase Sunni representation in writing the constitution, most Sunnis believe their viewpoint was underrepresented," a U.S. embassy official said.

Yet, officials say, Sunnis recognized their mistake and will participate in Dec. 15 elections. Fallujah is a case in point. The city of more than 200,000 was a hotbed of insurgent activity in 2004. In December 2004, U.S. Marines and Army and Iraqi units went into the city and cleared terrorists out. In January 2005, only about 7,000 Fallujans voted in parliamentary elections. In the October 2005 constitutional referendum, more than 200,000 people in the greater Fallujah area voted, according to figures from the Independent Election Commission of Iraq. Officials expect that a greater number of Fallujans will vote Dec. 15.

In the provincial capital of Ramadi, the voting story is different, officials said. Before the October referendum, terrorists and Iraqi rejectionists intimidated the people of the city of about 500,000. Only about 4 percent of those eligible voted. Multinational Forces West officials believe they have improved the security situation in the city and that a far greater percentage of the population will vote Dec. 15.

Fear of domination by the Shiite majority has caused a two-track development in the province, officials said. Citizens are willing to participate in the election because they want their views heard and changes made. But they also still are willing to kill coalition troops, officials said.

One senior Multinational Force Iraq spokesman likened the situation to Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland: there are both militant and political wings of the Sunni camp.

Officials said it is important for any new government to produce results. Embassy officials said that most people in Iraq view the interim government as ineffective. Only the Iraqi security forces have a favorable rating and are respected, according to polls.

Traditional crime also complicates the security picture in Anbar. The border with Syria and Jordan was a construct after World War I. Family and tribal ties crisscross all borders in the region. Smuggling has been a way of life in the region for thousands of years, officials said.

Smugglers offer services to any who can pay. In addition to smuggling cigarettes, alcohol, electronics and porn, smugglers also bring in terrorists and the money suicide bombers need to carry out their missions.

Controlling the border with Syria has been tough. Officials said Syria has not done enough to stop the traffic across their border. Operations in the western Euphrates River Valley have disrupted smugglers' routes and stopped some of the flow of suicide bombers in to Iraq. But disrupting the smuggling routes means driving those involved more firmly into the ranks of Iraqi rejectionists.

"Nothing is easy or simple" in the region, a Multinational Forces West official said. Still, with all the challenges, it would be a mistake to "run out" on the Iraqis, the official said. "We need to hold our ground," he said. "It's worth doing."

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

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NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
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Iraqis on Point for Election; Turnout Expected to Rise

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2005 - Iraqi forces have the lead in providing security for national elections Dec. 15, officials said here today. This is a huge job, military and embassy officials said on background.

Some 230,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will provide security for more than 6,500 election sites and polling centers in the nation. The election will select members of the first permanent democratic government in Iraq's history. More than 3,800 people are running for office, officials said. They can run as individuals or as members of parties, and parties may be connected to larger coalitions.

Iraqi airwaves are filled with campaign ads, and many are quite sophisticated, a translator at the embassy said. Others are less so.

A "war of the posters" also is raging on walls and security barriers in Baghdad. In many places one candidate's posters are papered over by those for another candidate. In other places, the name of the candidate is ripped off. Officials said that in some isolated cases, police are putting up the posters. "We tell them they can't do that, but they are new to this and many are swept up in the excitement," an embassy official said.

In Baghdad alone 1,075 election sites contain 1,350 polling centers. Officials explained that some sites have more than one polling center.

While officials will not detail exactly how Iraqi forces will maintain security at polling centers, they do say they will follow the general outline that was successful in January National Assembly elections and the October constitutional referendum.

This includes a "ring system" of defense. Iraqi police will provide security for the inner ring, the area closest to the polling places. The second ring also will consist of Iraqi soldiers or special police battalions. They will set up checkpoints and conduct searches before allowing citizens to proceed to polling sites.

Beyond this is a third ring consisting of some Iraqi army battalions and coalition forces. This is a quick reaction force ready to ride in if Iraqi security forces on the inner rings encounter something they cannot handle. "We will be there if we are needed," a U.S. military official said. "I don't think we will be (needed). We weren't in October or January, and the Iraqi forces were a lot less capable then."

As part of security measures, Iraqi officials will temporarily halt all vehicular traffic near polling places and stop travel between provinces.

Embassy officials expect more voters this election than came out for the constitutional referendum. Only 40 percent of voters in Anbar province voted in the October election, which was up from only 4 percent who voted in January. Officials here and in Anbar expect that number to rise.

Also, voter turn out in the Shiia Arab provinces in southern Iraq was lower than expected in October. "Part of this was the confidence that the referendum was going to pass," a senior embassy official said. "The Shiia realize how important this election is, and they will go to the polls in force."

Iraqi election officials have added polling sites throughout the country. In the Baghdad region, officials added 46 polling centers, mostly in outlying areas. In January, some Iraqis walked 11 miles to reach a polling place in Baghdad. While this complicates an already complicated security situation, it probably will increase turn out.

Overall, officials said, as many as 10 million Iraqis may vote on Dec. 15. "This is not a bad turnout when you consider we had only 54 percent of registered voters turn out for the presidential election in 2004, and no one was shooting at them," a senior military official said.

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051210_3608.html.

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Iraqis Capture, Prosecute, Convict Terrorists

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2005 - Iraqi Ministry of Justice officials announced today that the country's Central Criminal Court has convicted seven members of al Qaeda in Iraq for heinous crimes against the Iraqi people.

Four of the convicted terrorist-insurgents were members of a Mosul bombing cell led by Abu Talha. They were found guilty, on Nov. 23 of attacking Iraqi police, Iraqi national guard and coalition forces -- all Article 194 violations of the Iraqi penal code. All four convicts were sentenced life imprisonment, 20 years under the Iraqi system, officials said.

The other three convicted terrorists were based in the Adhamiya area of Baghdad. They were found guilty of threatening the public safety, crimes against the security of Iraq, and belonging to armed groups that threaten the Iraqi people.

Officials said the Mosul bombing cell convicts are foreign fighters from Jordan, Syria and Algeria. They reportedly entered Iraq illegally and committed crimes ranging from murder and terrorism to possession of illegal weapons. They were captured in a house where the kidnapped governor of Anbar was found murdered. These terrorists resisted arrest, and a firefight ensued before they all eventually were captured, officials said.

Iraqi police, Iraqi national guard and coalition forces raided the house on May 29 and apprehended the four terrorists: Bilal Mahmoud Abdul Hadi, aka Abu Muhommad; Abdullah Muhammed Atala Muhammed, aka Abu Muhammed; Mohammed Ben Rabit Saada, aka Abu Amar; and Ishmail Muhammad Abdullah Bin Abdullah, officials said.

Elsewhere, the three convicted insurgents in Baghdad's Adhamiya terrorist cell planned and participated in armed attacks against Iraqi police, national guard and civilians, and coalition forces. The Adhamiya terrorist cell also provides safe passage into Iraq of foreign fighters from Morocco, Tunisia and North Africa, officials said.

- Iraq's Central Criminal Court found Musab Kasar Abdul Rahman al-Hafith, aka Yunis, guilty of threatening the public safety on Nov. 16. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
- Uthman Awad Hamid Ahmed al-Jubouri, aka Ossman Awad Hamid Ahmed, was found guilty of crimes against the security of Iraq on Nov. 22 and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
- Daud Salman Mohammed Ali al-Barmani was found guilty Dec. 5 of belonging to armed groups who threaten the Iraqi people on and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Officials hailed the convictions as a landmark for the Iraqi judicial system. The verdict reinforces the will of the Iraqi people that former regime members, terrorist-insurgents, foreign fighters and their supporters be held accountable and punished by an Iraqi court of justice, officials said. Iraq's fledgling civic governmental institutions are working increasingly in tandem to capture, prosecute and convict terrorist-insurgents, officials said.

Indeed, one of the latest Iraqi and coalition efforts, Operation Able Rising Force, has resulted in the capture of 52 suspected terrorists in Khadisia, near Tikrit, officials said. Three of the suspected terrorists are wanted for having launched improvised explosive devices against Iraqi civilians and the military, officials said.

Operation Able Rising Force involves Iraqi soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, local Iraqi police, and U.S. troops from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051210_3606.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Five Soldiers Killed, One Dies of Heart Attack in Iraq

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2005 - Four Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed today and another Dec. 9. Elsewhere, a soldier died of a suspected heart attack in Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 8, officials said.

- Two Task Force Baghdad Soldiers were killed by small-arms fire in the Yusufiyah district, southwest of Baghdad today.
- One Task Force Baghdad soldier was killed by small-arms fire while on patrol northwest of Baghdad today.
- Another Task Force Baghdad soldier died when his patrol struck an improvised explosive device in the Adhamiyah district of northern Baghdad.
- A Task Force Baghdad soldier died when a suicide car bomber attacked a unit operating in the Abu Ghraib district of western Baghdad Dec. 9. The terrorist attack also wounded 11 other soldiers and one Iraqi civilian.
- The soldier who died of a heart attack Dec. 8 was assigned to the 155th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), and was on guard duty at a forward operating base.

The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Elsewhere in Iraq, Task Force Baghdad soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, on patrol discovered a large cache of munitions in southwestern Baghdad Dec. 9. They found 180 40 mm rounds half-buried in the ground on the side of the road. The stockpile was near previous weapons cache sites discovered earlier by Task Force Baghdad soldiers. An explosive ordnance disposal team later destroyed the rounds, officials said.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051210_3605.html.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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America Supports You: Group Sends Holiday Gifts to Deployed Troops

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2005 - A group that began in a Marine Corps wife's basement when her husband deployed to Iraq is in the midst of sending thousands of care packages to deployed troops for Christmas.

"Give2theTroops" is a nonprofit group aimed at supporting the physical, moral and spiritual health of America's armed forces in combat zones through the world through letters and packages prepared and shipped by volunteers.

Andi Grant of Connecticut founded the group three years ago when her husband Brian and his Marine Reserve unit prepared to deploy to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom. As he packed and attended briefings to get ready for the deployment, Grant said she, too, felt she wanted to play a part.

Grant knew her husband would receive cards and letters from his family and friends at home. What concerned her was that some troops would not, so she and her 10-year-old son Ryan began helping fill the void.

What began as a small family project evolved into an ongoing community effort, with schools, churches and other groups pitching in to help. Grant's personal goal is to expand the effort to show troops that communities in every U.S. state support them.

Now, after shipping more than 12,000 packages to 500,000 troops, Give2theTroops is now focused on shipping what David Jester, the group's California state director, describes a "a ton" of Christmas gifts.

Gifts range from high-tech gear like computers, video-game systems, software and compact disks to personal items like T-shirts, hand lotion and candy treats, Jester said.

To Jester, a Vietnam veteran who remembers being in a war zone and receiving few packages and even less in the way of public support, Give2theTroops reinforces public support for men and women in uniform. "It shows we're behind them and remembering them while they're deployed," he said.

Give2theTroops, part of the Defense Department's America Supports You effort, aims to continue building its efforts to reinforce that message. And troops offer "nothing but positive feedback" for the care packages they receive, Jester said.

Army Staff Sgt. Cameron Eichen, from 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry, wrote thanking the group for the care package her unit received. "The guys are gonna love everything in it," he wrote. "I'm going to put the items in some of the stocking you sent for the holiday. They can share them with the others.

"It is such a wonderful thing you do," Eichen said of the group's effort.

"Thanks for all you guys do back home!" echoed Army Staff Sgt. Brian Combs, from 7th Squadron, 158th Aviation Regiment. "I have a lot of troops under me and around me who do not get care packages from the rear. Christmas is coming up, so I am so glad I now have items from you that I can give to all of them!"

Related Sites:

Give2theTroops [http://www.give2thetroops.org/]

America Supports You [http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/]

_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051210_3604.html.

====================================================

Visit the Defense Department's Web site "America Supports You" at http://www.americasupportsyou.mil, that spotlights what Americans are doing in support of U.S. military men and women serving at home and abroad.

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Visit the Defense Department's Web site for the latest news
and information about America's response to the war against terrorism: "Defend America" at http://www.DefendAmerica.mil.

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