Ukrainians Head Home After Completing Iraq Mission

American Forces Press Service

By Jim Garamone
KUT, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2005 – Multinational Division Central South bid farewell to troops from Ukraine, one of the unit's mainstay nationalities, during a ceremony today at Camp Delta here. Ukrainian soldiers pass in review at the end of a farewell ceremony at Kut, Iraq, Dec. 19.

More than 5,000 Ukrainians have served as part of Multinational Division Central South since the unit formed in 2003.

Polish Army Maj. Gen. Piotr Czerwinski said the Ukrainian contingent has done excellent work in the area and helped provide stability to the region and training to Iraqi troops, who now pick up the mission.

Ukraine will not end its affiliation with the coalition, Multinational Force Iraq officials said, but large troop deployments will end. Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Anatoliy Pushniakov, a staff officer with the division, said more than 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers have deployed to Iraq since the operation began in spring 2003.

Ukrainian soldiers generally spend six months in Iraq, although some have asked to stay longer. A total of 850 Ukrainian soldiers of the 81st Tactical Group will fly home in the next few days. "I wish our soldiers a safe trip and to celebrate the New Year with their families back home," Pushniakov said during the ceremony.

The unit's commander, Maj. Gen. Evgeniy Goroshnikov, said he was proud of the way the unit acted and reacted to changing times in Iraq. "We have been here for two years, and in this time we have learned much about peacekeeping and we have made friends from many different countries," he said through an interpreter.

The Ukrainian contingent lost several soldiers during the militant "Mahdi Army" uprising in April 2004 and again in disturbances in October 2004. Others have been killed or injured in noncombat accidents. Goroshnikov wished local Iraqi officials well and praised the Iraqi 8th Division for its accomplishments. That division eventually will take over responsibility for the multinational division's mission area, officials said.

With the Ukrainian contingent's departure and the Bulgarians before, the Multinational Division is down to 11 nationalities. Twenty-three nationalities comprised the unit when it began. Czerwinski, the Polish general, said commanding such a multicultural division has been a challenge and has taught him the importance of communication. With units coming from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Latin America, he found that even deciding on which language to use was a challenge.

The division sends all operations orders in English, but on the battlefield troops use anything from Spanish to Russian to Polish. Czerwinski said the close working relationship among all nationalities in the division has helped build understanding on a national level, and he is proud of his Ukrainian allies for the role they played.

Iraqi Army Division Takes Step Toward Full Combat Readiness

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2005 – The staff of the 8th Iraqi Army Division was certified today in counterterrorism operations and tactics, which means the Iraqis can plan and conduct operations against enemy forces with limited support of coalition forces, military officials reported today.

Division units now are striving to achieve full combat readiness, officials said, adding that final coordination with local and central administration will be completed soon to finalize the process of battlespace transfer. Long-term training, including exercises and combat operations, officials noted, preceded the certification process. Before the division staff was certified, six battalions and two brigades of the 8th completed their certification processes.

Training for the staff was highlighted with classes in planning and executing counterterrorism operations, which encompassed cordon-and-search techniques, checkpoints, patrolling and convoy protection. Tactical training, such as weapons proficiency, engineering, communication, medical support and logistics, also contributed to the overall certification process, a Multinational Force Iraq statement said. "The main and final test was to check the capabilities of the division's soldiers during parliamentary elections in December," the statement added. Division staff, under supervision of Multinational Division Central South military transition teams, planned and conducted operations to provide the security environment during elections.

Staff and Iraqi soldiers passed this exam successfully, officials said. In other news from Iraq, one terrorist was killed and another was severely injured when the improvised explosive device they were attempting to emplace detonated prematurely Dec. 19 near Tikrit.

Tikrit police and soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team responded to the explosion. The police officers performed first aid on the injured bomber, who was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The IED was composed of a 155 mm artillery shell and a detonating device, according to an explosives ordnance team investigating the explosion.

Soldiers searching the area discovered another artillery round and several other IED components in a nearby vehicle. In addition to the wounded bomber, two other men were detained for allegedly attempting to help the surviving bomber avoid the responding security forces. Coalition aircraft flew 50 close-air-support missions Dec. 19 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons and Navy F/A-18 Hornets struck an enemy position near Salman Pak, strafing the target and dropping precision-guided munitions onto it.

Navy F-14 Tomcats provided close-air support to coalition troops near Balad and Hawijah. Air Force officials noted that 13 U. S. Air Force, Navy and Royal Australian Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. Also, U. S. and Royal Air Force fighter aircraft performed in a non-traditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors. (Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and U. S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases. )

Iraqi-American Calls Today 'New Day for Iraq'

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – Today is "a new day for Iraq," regardless of who wins in the country's parliamentary elections, an Iraqi-American who emigrated here 12 years ago and became a U. S. citizen in 1995 said here today.

Ali Sadoon al-Timimi, an Iraqi-American sporting his ink-stained finger showing he's voted, calls Iraq's parliamentary election on Dec. 15 "a new day" for his native country. Photo by Donna Miles (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Ali Sadoon al-Timimi, a Shiite Muslim from Basra, proudly held up his ink-stained finger to show he'd been to the East Coast polling station in nearby McLean, Va. , set up where Iraqi expatriates could vote.

After three and a half decades under Saddam Hussein's bloody dictatorship, Timimi acknowledges he and many of his countrymen never dreamed they'd live to see the day when they would choose a new, democratically elected government. "We're really, really excited," he said. "We as Iraqis believe in democracy, and the people are so happy to see this day. " Timimi remembers all too well the brutality and repression of the Saddam Hussein regime.

He said two of his brothers were murdered under Saddam's order, one during the 1991 uprising against him. Regardless of who wins at the polls today and what sect they represent, Timimi said, all Iraqis will be winners if their legislators keep the interests of the country at heart. "Whoever wins, it doesn't matter, as long as they are for the people," he said. "Who's good is good and who's bad is bad. It doesn't matter what group they come from.

" Timimi said he's encouraged to see Sunnis taking an active part in the elections after boycotting the January elections. "The Sunnis have come to see that this is the new reality and that things have to change," he said. "It's good is that they are now a part of that. " A U. S. citizen for the past 10 years, Timimi keeps in close touch with his family in Iraq and travels there frequently as an adviser to U. S. military organizations and contractors.

He sees a critical mission for himself and his fellow Iraqi-Americans: to help bridge the gap between Iraqis and Americans and educate their fellow Iraqis about America. Many Iraqis know only what the Saddam Hussein regime taught them about the United States, he said. "I want people to see the other side," said Timimi. "Our responsibility is to help educate the people in Iraq. "

Election in Sadr City Goes Smoothly

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

SADR CITY, Iraq, Dec. 15, 2005 – In April 2004, this section of Baghdad exploded. Troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division found themselves in a fight against a Shiia militia. View of Sadr City, Iraq, in the days preceding the Dec. 15 countrywide parliamentary elections. Sadr City, part of the East Baghdad area, is home to about 2. 6 million people.

Fast-forward to December 2005, and the Americans are greeted as friends, and residents go out of their way to compliment the members of the Iraqi security forces for the roles they played in bringing democracy to Iraq.

Election day in Sadr City was a resounding success, with no incidents in the crowded area of 2. 6 million people, 3rd Infantry Division officials said. "Things have gone very smoothly. We have had great cooperation between the Iraqi police and the army," said a representative of the Sadr City District Advisory Council. He was speaking with Army Col. Joseph Di Salvo, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Di Salvo leads the coalition effort in East Baghdad, of which Sadr City is a part. And it wasn't just the security effort that made the election a success.

"Look around you; the people are being very cooperative too," Dr. Muhammad, another councilman, said. "The people have opened their homes to the police, soldiers and election workers. " Thousands of voters already had streamed through the school before Di Salvo arrived. Officials said that people arrived early to vote, including many older residents and those with infirmities. They said the police were "flexible and helpful" in their efforts to help all residents vote.

Dr. Muhammad said the residents of Sadr City looked on the election "as a feast, and we add it to the list of holy days we have throughout the year. We celebrate. " The councilmen all agreed that Sadr City has turned a corner. A large part of that is due to the hundreds of projects the coalition has sponsored in the city. Under Saddam Hussein, sewage ran in the streets, electricity ran for maybe four hours a day, water was contaminated with the sewage, and medical care was essentially nonexistent.

The coalition has cleaned and repaired the sewer system and installed dedicated electric lines to the pumping plants to ensure the sewers continue to work. They have rewired much of the city and, when terrorists stop blowing up the pylons getting electricity to Baghdad, citizens will have safe power in their homes.

Most residents of the city have safe, clean drinking water and coalition contracts are rebuilding hospitals and clinics throughout the city. "But the big accomplishment is what happened here today," Di Salvo said to the councilmen. "The brave people of Sadr City have defied the terrorists and come to vote. "

Ops Prison Stands as Testament to Saddam's Evil

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2005 – Saddam Hussein, sitting in a defendant's chair, looks harmless and slightly ridiculous. But his deserted facilities at this base are testament to his evil.

The inside of Saddam Hussein's Directorate of Internal Security, where "high-interest" enemies were imprisoned, provides a chilling reminder of what life was like under the former dictator.

The Americans moved onto the grounds of what was Saddam's Directorate of Internal Security. At its center is a prison that could comfortably hold 500. At times, it had 3,000 people jammed into it. The prison had no name and is surrounded by the high-rise quarters that once housed the torturers and their families. One corner of the prison - the area with the guard's offices - was hit by a precision-guided bomb. Now the area is the headquarters of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division.

The Marne Division soldiers use cells as storage areas and arms rooms. "We have local nationals who still won't walk near it," said Army Capt. Melissa Ringhisen, a military intelligence officer who is the "mayor" of this base. "People would disappear from the streets and end up here. There is a whole system of tunnels under the base leading from the prison to the hospital to the headquarters. Once the prisoners went in, they didn't see the sun again.

" Saddam built a house just over the wall from the prison and could watch as guards tortured high-interest prisoners. Many were tortured to death. "The soldiers here before us said there was a wood chipper in the prison to dispose of the bodies," Ringhisen said. The cells themselves are little more than closets into which four or five people would be jammed. Prisoners hooked up rags and buckets to try and catch moisture from the cooling vents.

Many prisoners wrote verses from the Koran on the walls or scratched their names into the paint along with a date so that someone, somehow could learn their fates. Other cells had bunks for eight, but typically the guards would jam in 20 people.

The 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment - the U. S. unit that first occupied the forward operating base - once offered tours of the prison for Iraqis, but stopped the practice because of the force protection situation. Ringhisen said she doesn't know if it would be better to raze the structure or preserve it as a museum and a remembrance of those who died there.

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Iraqi Citizens Support Ongoing Anti-Terror Ops

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2005 – As Iraq progresses militarily and democratically, citizens there are stepping forward to inform indigenous and coalition forces of terrorist operations and covert weapons caches, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported today.

Iraqi citizens sometimes even are apprehending suspected terrorists themselves, officials noted. For example, on Dec. 17, a group of Iraqi citizens near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, captured two suspected terrorists who were observed digging up a weapons cache.

The citizens reportedly subdued the suspects and called the Kirkuk Joint Coordination Center, which then relayed the information to a nearby patrol. The combined Iraqi and U. S. patrol responded and secured more than 20 artillery rounds, while detaining the terrorist suspects for questioning, officials said. Also on Dec. 17, another group of Kirkuk residents flagged down a U. S. Air Force patrol and led the airmen to a small weapons cache. The airmen reportedly found two mortar rounds, two rocket-propelled grenade warheads and several anti-aircraft artillery rounds.

An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the weapons in a controlled detonation, officials said. A tip from a local citizen in the Tissa Nissan area of Baghdad Dec. 16 led a group of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Brigade, to a large, buried mortar cache of seven 60 mm mortar rounds.

The soldiers reviewed the site and reportedly discovered another suspicious site, which had 19 60 mm mortar rounds. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the ammunition, officials said. Iraqi soldiers, too, are stepping forward to take the lead, officials said. Iraqi army troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, reportedly found and cleared two weapons caches near Husaybah Dec. 17. The first cache, northwest of the city, held six 40 mm rounds, three AK-47s, a single assault rifle and assorted small arms ammunition, officials said. The second cache of 50 82 mm fuses was found in a water tank, northeast of town.

The ordnance was collected and slated for subsequent destruction, officials said. Elsewhere in Iraq, on Dec. 15, soldiers with the Task Force Band of Brothers discovered a large cache of improvised explosive device components near Hawijah. The components reportedly were found by a pair of scout helicopters from the 101st Airborne Division. The helicopter pilots spotted suspicious activity by several individuals, officials said. They then relayed the suspects' location to a nearby patrol from the division's 1st Brigade Combat Team. The patrol found a weapons cache buried in several 55-gallon drums.

The cache consisted of 414 two-way radios, 48 circuit boards, and more than 100 timing devices -- all of which are used to manufacture IEDs. The cache also included small amounts of AK-47 ammunition, detonation cord, batteries and several bomb-making manuals, officials said. This was the second time in less than a month that 1st Brigade Combat Team has uncovered a major cache in its area. The team discovered more than 4,200 mortar rounds in a single cache Nov. 27 near Kirkuk, officials said.

Meanwhile, at several locations near Tikrit on Dec. 17, soldiers from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade detained 15 suspected terrorists as part of Operation Eagle Watch. The 101st soldiers reportedly were conducting an area reconnaissance near Forward Operating Base Speicher, when they observed the terrorist suspects at two separate sites. Unit UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters swooped down to investigate. They found several AK-47 rifles, two sniper rifles, an RPK Soviet machine gun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, officials said.

The contraband was confiscated from the suspects, who then were taken to a nearby detention facility for questioning. Officials reported one American fatality in Iraq Dec. 16. A Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died from a non-hostile gunshot wound in Camp Fallujah. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense. The incident is currently under investigation, officials said.

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Ambassador Says 2006 to Be 'Year of Police' for Iraq

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service
BAGHDAD, Dec. 20, 2005 – 2006 will be the 'Year of the Police' in Iraq, the U. S. ambassador to Iraq said here today. At a news conference, Zalmay Khalilzhad charted Iraqi political progress over the past year, and talked about the road ahead for the country.

The ambassador, who arrived in Iraq in July after serving as U. S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said the United States is making progress on the "Iraqization" of the security effort. In 2005, the number of Iraqi police and army battalions skyrocketed from a handful to 123.

Some 81 of these battalions are fighting side by side with coalition forces and 42 are taking the lead role, he said. "We will work with Iraqis to increase the size, capability and credibility of Iraqi forces," Khalilzhad said. The emphasis on the police does not mean the Iraqi army will be neglected, said embassy officials after the briefing.

Coalition military transition teams will continue to work with Iraqi army units, and larger units - brigades and divisions - will stand up and take over battlespace from coalition forces. The 8th Iraqi Army Division, for example, was certified as ready today in a ceremony at Multinational Division Central South. But the police need some work to become "credible in their own communities," the ambassador said.

The newly elected government's selection of a new interior minister will be critical, he said. "You can't have someone who is regarded as sectarian as minister of the interior," he said. "You need to have someone who has the confidence of all communities.

" Much training already is under way, and the Interior Ministry's paramilitary public order battalions acquitted themselves well in the past year, officials said. But local police - also under the Interior Ministry - did not do as well, and the coalition will take steps to provide training and increase the professional outlook of the Iraqi force, officials added. Iraqi is a diverse country, and the nation must reach "a national compact" as the permanent government takes reins in the coming months, the ambassador said.

He said the negotiations over the constitution began the discussion and narrowed the differences among groups, deferring some decisions until the newly elected parliament has a chance to debate them. "This give-and-take and willingness to search for accommodation set the stage for the ratification of the constitution," he said. In 2006, the ambassador added he will work with the parties to help sort out that Iraqi national compact.

Khalilzhad said goals of the past year to include Iraqi "rejectionists" in the political process and isolate Saddamists and foreign fighters will continue. He pointed to the number of Sunni Arabs who participated in the Dec. 15 election as a sign of success. "In the coming year, we will continue to bring more Iraqis into the political process, which will isolate the hard-core terrorists and Saddamists," he said. "We will continue to go after the terrorists in focused operations.

" Khalilzhad said he will continue efforts to reach out to regional friends and allies to help Iraq, and will continue to discourage "unhelpful" behavior by Iran and Syria. "Over the next year, we will encourage our regional friends and allies to do more to support the emergence of Iraq as a valued partner in regional political and economic systems," he said. "We will also take steps to stem unhelpful activities by Syria and Iran.

" The U. S. will work with the new government to enhance the national ministries, and to help the provincial and regional governments, Khalilzad said. The provincial reconstruction team concept, so successful in Afghanistan, is being imported into Iraq, he added. And that will be a way for coalition officials to help train a level of government that really didn't exist under Saddam Hussein.

The focus, he said, will be on delivering basic services to the Iraqi people. The ambassador noted economic gains over the past year. Iraq's gross domestic product grew by 3 to 4 percent in 2004, and embassy officials estimate the growth for 2005 will be in double digits. Officials, the ambassador explained, have recalibrated the Iraq reconstruction program to smaller projects employing Iraqi companies and workers.

He said he wants Iraq to shift away from nonproductive subsidies. Finally, the ambassador said, he will continue efforts to explain U. S. goals in Iraq and the region as well as he can in as many places as he can.

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Small-Arms Fire Claims Marine's Life; Iraqi Soldiers Disrupting Enemy

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2005 – A U. S. Marine was killed by small-arms fire in Ramadi, Iraq, Dec. 18, military officials announced today. The name of the deceased, assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

In other news, soldiers from three Iraqi battalions kicked off a cordon-and-knock operation, called Operation Moonlight, east of Ubaydi today. The operation is aimed at disrupting insurgent activities along the Euphrates River, officials said. Operation Moonlight participants include soldiers from 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, backed up by U. S. troops from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 2, and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward).

"This is the first large-scale operation planned and executed by Iraqi soldiers of the 1st Brigade," a U. S. military spokesman noted. "The operation objective of Moonlight is to disrupt insurgent activity along the northern and southern banks of the Euphrates River near Ubaydi.

" Officials pointed out that the eastern Qaim region, including the cities of Husaybah, Karabilah and Ubaydi, was cleared of al Qaeda in Iraq-led insurgents during Operation Steel Curtain in November. "The operations enabled residents to vote in the Dec. 15 Iraqi national elections," the spokesman said. In operations over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 50 close-air-support missions Dec. 18, including supporting coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities, Air Force officials announced today. Air Force F-16 jets blasted a cave used by anti-Iraqi forces with precision-guided munitions near Tal Afar, officials said. In other action, 12 U. S. Air Force, U. S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq.

Also, U. S. Air Force and British Royal Air Force fighter aircraft performed in a non-traditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.

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Rumsfeld: War Can Be Lost Only in U. S.

By Sgt. Sara Wood,

USA American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2005 – American servicemembers are doing a superb job in Iraq, and the only place the war can be lost is in the United States, where people don't have a clear understanding of what's happening on the ground and can lose patience, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said Dec. 19.

"The work that they're doing overseas is so professional and so able, and we're so fortunate to have them there that I would have to say that the only place this could be lost is if we lost our will here in the United States," Rumsfeld said in an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live. " ... more The U. S. is winning the global war on terror, Rumsfeld said, citing as proof the progress made in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The three elections that have taken place in Iraq in 2005 and the development of a constitution are historic events that show the bravery and determination of the Iraqi people and their significant progress toward democracy, he said. "It has to be an enormous disappointment to the enemies," he said. "They have lost something very big, because the Iraqi people now have control of that country. "

In Afghanistan, the parliament was seated this week and the country has a popularly elected president for the first time in 5,000 years, Rumsfeld said. In this same country that people were not too long ago calling a quagmire, the army is improving steadily and the United States will be able to significantly draw down its forces soon, he said. "I'm absolutely convinced that the course we're on is the right course," he said. "We're not losing the war.

" Every U. S. conflict has had opponents and has caused divisions within the country, Rumsfeld said, but if the government gave in every time someone expressed doubt, this country wouldn't exist as it does today. "I just am hopeful that people will reflect on our history as a country and the nature of conflicts -- prior conflicts -- and develop an understanding about the difficulty of them," he said.

"We have to constantly adjust our tactics to meet the changes that the enemy is imposing on themselves. " At this time of year, it is important to remember the troops overseas and the sacrifices they make to serve the country, Rumsfeld said.

"They volunteered and said, 'Send me,' and they're over across the globe serving our country with courage and perseverance and great dignity and professionalism," he said. "They are convinced that they're winning in Iraq. They are convinced that they are engaged in noble work that's important for the world and for our country and to protect the American people here at home. "

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Up-dated on December 23, 2005