In Iraq

This morning during a brief chat Dallas IM'd the following statements:

yea, its fun going out doing patrols, working with the Iraqi national police, and the Iraqi army, talking with the locals, finding out whats going on in their neighborhoods, or mulhullahs.

...but the people love us, almost everyone we've talked with, while doing patrols and shit, have thanked us for what we are doing, a couple rather articulately in english

This video seems to fit with that sentiment.

Press Release Distribution

"COALITION FORCES CONTINUE TO PRESSURE BAGHDAD VBIED NETWORK
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition Soldiers from eight brigade combat teams completed a nine-day sweep throughout Baghdad to disrupt the Baghdad vehicle borne improvised explosive device network on March 10. The operation was designed to attack the terrorist command and control structure organizing and financing the deadly car bomb attacks."...

The operation coined as Arrowhead Strike 8 included Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division; 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division; 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division; 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division; 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division; and other Special Operations Forces.
"We wanted to put pressure on the entire network at one time" said Colonel Steve Townsend, Commander of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.


Get the whole story...:

1-504 PIR on patrol

"'Coalition forces will continue deliberate and methodical operations in order to pursue, capture or kill terrorists trying to prevent a peaceful and stable Iraq,' said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman.

Elsewhere, at least 20 people were killed and 11 others were wounded when insurgents launched several attacks in the Rusafa security district of the Iraqi capital yesterday.

At about 11 a.m., Iraqi police officers reported that a car bomb detonated, wounding one Iraqi officer. Iraqi police quickly cordoned, secured and cleared the attack area.

In a separate incident, the 9th Iraqi Army Division reported a suicide bomber attack on a bus several blocks from the Mustansiriyah University at 12:20 a.m. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, responded and secured the scene, reporting seven Iraqi civilians killed and five wounded.

About two hours after the initial attack, a second car bomb detonated near a checkpoint in the Karradah peninsula area in eastern Baghdad. A separate unit from 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, responded and reported 13 Iraqi civilians killed and six wounded.

In all three incidents, Iraqi emergency services responded and aided in transporting the wounded to a nearby hospital. "

read the whole story:

In Iraq

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Pearce sits next to an Iraqi boy during a visit to Sheik Burhan Al Asee's house during a patrol in Riyahd village, Iraq, March 8, 2007.

n.b. I posted this because of the incongruity of the image.

The Baghdad Order of Battle: March 5, 2007

Roggio Report

larger picture

THE BAGHDAD SECURITY Plan is now well into its third week of operations since the official announcement on February 14. Over the course of the last week, Baghdad has seen a significant reduction in violence. Deaths from sectarian fighting have dropped dramatically since December. "The number of bodies found this month in Baghdad--most shot and showing signs of torture--has dropped by nearly 50 percent to 494 as of Monday [February 27], compared with 954 in January," reports the Associated Press. "The figure stood at 1,222 in December, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. ...


Iraqi and U.S. troops continue to move into [Sadr] city, establishing checkpoints and building Joint Security Stations, where U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and police will patrol from inside the individual neighborhoods. Fifteen of the planned 32 Joint Security Stations are now open in Baghdad. The most recent station to open is located inside Sadr City, where elements of the 2nd Brigade of the 82 Airborne Division have set up shop. The 82nd, along with Iraqi soldiers and police and two companies of Strykers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division--1,150 troops total--have initiated a clearing operation in Sadr City. Sheikh Rahim al-Daraji, the mayor of Sadr City, has welcomed U.S. forces into the neighborhood, but is unhappy with the deployment of the 1st Iraqi Special Operations Forces. "We want you here sooner, rather than later," Al Daraji said."...

More...

NM family mourns paratrooper’s death in Iraq

KOBTV.com - NM family mourns paratrooper’s death in Iraq: "BELEN, N.M. (AP) - A New Mexico family is mourning the death of an Army paratrooper who was killed while serving in Iraq.
Twenty-seven-year-old Andrew Perkins was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division.
Perkin is being remembered by his family as an energetic outdoor enthusiast and someone who knew the consequences of serving his country.
Perkin’s family says he had planned a career in the military and was to be promoted to sergeant when he died.
The family was informed that Perkins died while on patrol in Samarra, the capital of the Salahuddin province. They were told he was likely killed by an improvised explosive device.
The Defense Department has yet to confirm Perkins’ death, but the military has said six soldiers of the 82nd Airborne were killed Monday in a bombing in Salahuddin province.
It was the single largest loss of life in the past three years of combat for the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based unit.
"

Note: The following was released March 8, 2007 by DoD.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of six soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Mar. 5 in Samarra, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their unit during combat operations. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Killed were:
Staff Sgt. Justin M. Estes, 25, of Sims, Ark.
Staff Sgt. Robert M. Stanley, 27, of Spotsylvania, Va.
Sgt. Andrew C. Perkins, 27, of Northglenn, Colo.
Spc. Ryan M. Bell, 21, of Colville, Wash.
Spc. Justin A. Rollins, 22, of Newport, N.H.
Pfc. Cory C. Kosters, 19, of The Woodlands, Texas.
For more information in regard to this release the media can contact the 82nd Airborne Division public affairs office at (910) 432-0661.

The Canadian-American

From a fellow patriot and blogger:

"Mutual-Link Blogroll Additon: From a Canadian Cadet to an American Soldier
This morning I am proud to introduce an addition to my Mutual-Link Blogroll,
From a Canadian Cadet to an American Soldier. Here you'll find 'stories by and
about a multinational patriot -- an American Soldier -- and a military mom.'
With all of the broad strategic pronouncements we make on our blogs daily, this
wonderful resource shows us very clearly that the War on Terror is being fought
by people with families who love them very much.

God bless North
America, its fine service-people and those they are working to protect."

Victoria Cross Canada

"A Victoria Cross medal has been produced in Canada for the first time and sources believe it will be presented by the Queen at a ceremony in April marking the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The launch will not only restore the decoration to the top of Canada's military honours system, but also end a controversy that raged in the 1980s and 90s about whether an award of British origin had a place in Canada.
The VC has been awarded just 1,350 times since it was instituted by Queen Victoria after the Crimean War in the 1850s. Of those, 94 were given to people serving with the Canadian military -- the first in 1856 and the last in 1945. Canada's last living recipient, Ernest (Smokey) Smith, died last year.
Each of the Canadians received a VC cast by Hancock, a jewellery store in London. Canada assumed responsibility for the decoration in 1993, but it has not been awarded or produced in that time.
Military historian Jack Granatstein said the reinstatement of the VC is a step forward for Canada."
More...

See alsoAlpha Mike Foxtrot

In Iraq

Image Gallery - Full Caption: "An Iraqi child walks U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Sepulveda back to his vehicle in Al Salaam, Iraq, March 1, 2007. Sepulveda is from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Martin K. Newton, U.S. Army. (Released)


Photo by: STAFF SGT. MARTIN K NEWTON, 982ND COMBAT CAMERA
Record ID No. (VIRIN): 070301-A-7430N-053"

Why I'm Not Embedded in Iraq

The Army isn't helping win the war at home.
by Michael Fumento
03/02/2007 12:00:00 AM

MOST PEOPLE WOULD rather undergo several root canals than go to Iraq. Most reporters would, as well. But there are a tiny number who actually feel the need to do so--even to the extent that they're willing to pay all their own expenses in the hope, but nothing more--of recovering part or all of those expenses through donations and selling articles about their experiences. These are the citizen embeds, and I am one of them. I was supposed go over in February, but I didn't, and the reason I didn't is of more than personal interest."
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