Saturday, January 5, 2008

Combat Camera: Troops Search Muqdadiyah, Iraq for Caches and Intel

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U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 2-23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, find an M1 rifle (in mint condition) after searching a house used by suspected al-Qaida insurgents in west Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007. (U.S. Army Photo/Spc. Shawn M. Cassatt)

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U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 2-23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, find a fighting position set up on a roof top facing the road used by U.S. Forces, west Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007. (U.S. Army Photo/Spc. Shawn M. Cassatt)

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A U.S. Army soldier from Alpha Company, 2-23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, looks through a rocket propelled grenade scope he found, after searching a home, to see if it still works in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007. (U.S. Army Photo/Spc. Shawn M. Cassatt)

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U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 2-23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, find a large cache of illegal weapons in a farm house in west Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007. (U.S. Army Photo/Spc. Shawn M. Cassatt)

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A U.S. Army soldier from Alpha Company, 2-23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, keeps his weapon aimed while his partner confronts a local man with a weapon approaching them from the vine groves in west Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007. (U.S. Army Photo/Spc. Shawn M. Cassatt)

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U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 2-23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, search the remains of a house destroyed by a Joint Direct Attack Munitions in west Muqdadiyah, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2007. (U.S. Army Photo/Spc. Shawn M. Cassatt)

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Iraqi Soldier Allegedly Kills Two U.S. Troops During Joint Mission

Dispatches from the Front

Dispatches from the Front:

TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 5, 2007 -- Two U.S. soldiers killed during a combined Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces operation in Ninewah province on Dec. 26, were allegedly shot by an Iraqi soldier.

For reasons that are as yet unknown, at least one Iraqi Army soldier allegedly opened fire killing Capt. Rowdy Inman and Sgt. Benjamin Portell, both of whom were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The incident occurred as U.S. and Iraqi Army soldiers were conducting operations to establish a combat outpost. Three other U.S. soldiers and one civilian interpreter were wounded in the attack.

The Iraqi soldier who allegedly opened fire fled the scene but was identified by other Iraqi Army personnel and was then apprehended. Two Iraqi Army soldiers are now being held in connection with the incident.

Coalition and Iraqi investigations into the incident are underway.

(Story from a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)

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Friday, January 4, 2008

Forces Kill Two Terrorists, Detain 12 Suspects in Iraq

Dispatches from the Front

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2008 (AFPS) -- Coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained 12 suspected insurgents today during operations targeting al Qaeda operatives in central and northern Iraq, military officials said.

During two separate raids conducted north of Muqdadiyah, coalition forces targeted reported al Qaeda operations in the northeast Diyala River Valley region.

During one of the operations, the coalition force engaged and killed two terrorists. In a separate raid, a suspected terrorist displayed what appeared to be fresh wounds from a previous engagement. He was treated on site and subsequently detained, along with one other suspect. Coalition forces also destroyed a building in the area that was assessed to be a safe house for terrorist operations.

During an operation in Sadiyah, coalition forces captured a wanted individual believed to be involved in an al Qaeda in Iraq media cell operating north of Muqdadiyah. The wanted individual also allegedly is associated with numerous terrorists operating in the Diyala River Valley region. During the operation, the wanted individual identified himself to coalition troops and was detained, along with three more suspected terrorists.

Southwest of Kifri, coalition forces captured another alleged terrorist leader responsible for a network operating in the Diyala region. The detainee allegedly is responsible for numerous attacks against coalition forces. Reports also indicate the suspect was previously injured during an Iraqi security forces operation. The detainee allegedly escaped from the hospital with the help of other terrorists, killing five Iraqi policemen during the escape.

In Mosul, coalition forces detained five suspects while targeting an alleged al Qaeda leader involved in weapons facilitation and kidnapping operations.

“Our operations are steadily chipping away at the al Qaeda in Iraq network,” said Navy Capt. Vic Beck, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to relentlessly apply pressure on these terrorists that carry out brutal attacks against the Iraqi people and the security forces that protect them.”

Yesterday, coalition forces killed seven terrorists during anti-al Qaeda operations in Muqdadiyah.

Coalition forces targeted associates of an al Qaeda leader allegedly responsible for coordinating and directing a large terrorist group, and carrying out executions in the Diyala River Valley region. Intelligence reports indicate that this terror cell killed at least two people in the last few days and has attacked coalition forces on multiple occasions.

The terrorists were positively identified at a known al Qaeda in Iraq safe house. Coalition forces directed a precision air strike that killed two of the terrorists.

Later that day, coalition forces positively identified terrorists involved in the same terrorist cell operating in the region. Coalition forces directed a second air strike that killed five more terrorists.

“Al Qaeda remains a threat to the safety and security of the Iraqi people,” said Navy Cmdr. Ed Buclatin, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to strike the al Qaeda networks that are responsible for conducting heinous attacks against the Iraqi people.”

In other Iraq news:

U.S. helicopter aviators destroyed an al Qaeda in Iraq safe house in the Zambraniyah area Jan. 1. A U.S. infantry patrol reported being firing on by occupants of the house. An AH-64 Apache helicopter from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade engaged the house with a Hellfire missile. One enemy was killed, another enemy was wounded, and five suspected al Qaeda fighters were detained during the operation. One local Iraqi was wounded. A second Apache helicopter destroyed an improvised explosive device discovered by a local citizen in the area.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers captured dozens of al Qaeda-affiliated extremists during a Dec. 29 operation conducted in the Ubaydi farmland 20 miles south of Baghdad.

During the operation, American and Iraqi troops searched houses and fields near the Tigris River. Iraqi soldiers detained 32 people that were on their most-wanted list. Three of the detainees were found in a “spider hole.”

About half of the anti-insurgent force was made up of Iraqi soldiers. Iraqi police stopped al Qaeda fighters from escaping the targeted area.

“The purpose was to clear all reported or suspected enemy safe houses, meeting locations and cache sites in the northern portion of (the area of operations) Anzio,” said Army Lt. Col. Dane Barksdale, a task force commander. “We detained more than 40 enemy and confiscated or destroyed enemy mortar and anti-aircraft ammunition.” Iraqi soldiers discovered four 120 mm mortar rounds and 80 rounds of 20 mm anti-aircraft ammunition.

In Dec. 28 operations:

Coalition forces killed an al Qaeda leader and two other insurgents during operations conducted near Baghdad. Coalition forces targeted Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim, the deputy military leader for the al Qaeda in Iraq network operating south of Baghdad. Ibrahim was a key planner in numerous attacks against coalition forces operating in the Mahmudiyah area. He also was involved in the facilitation of foreign terrorists and weapons. Ibrahim and other senior al Qaeda members allegedly were planning to conduct a large-scale attack against coalition forces in the near future. “This was a dangerous terrorist who will never again harm innocent Iraqis or the security forces that protect them,” said Army Maj. Anton Alston, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to relentless pursue terrorist leaders, like Ibrahim, who threaten our forces and attempt to deny the Iraqi people a future of their choice.”

U.S. soldiers found an explosively formed penetrator cache during a cordon-and-search operation conducted in Baghdad’s west Rashid sector. U.S. soldiers found three assembled armor-piercing bombs and six more ready for assembly while searching a residence in Aamel. The captured ordnance was removed for disposal.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

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Combat Camera: New Year's Blast in Iraq

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A large explosion of confiscated mortar rounds, grenades, guns and other explosive devices set up by Army explosive ordnance disposal technicians on Contingency Operating Base Q-West, Iraq, Dec. 31. The controlled blast, which contained more than 1,500 pounds of explosives, was set off at midnight as a way to ring in the New Year from Iraq. Photographer: Spc. Eric Rutherford, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

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White phosphorous ignites and lights up the impact area after a large blast of confiscated mortar rounds, grenades, guns and other explosive devices set up by Army explosive ordnance disposal technicians on Contingency Operating Base Q-West, Iraq, Dec. 31. The controlled blast, which contained more than 1,500 pounds of explosives, was set off at midnight as a way to ring in the New Year from Iraq. Photographer: Spc. Eric Rutherford, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

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A stack of mortar rounds, grenades, guns and other explosive devices that were confiscated are set up by Army explosive ordnance disposal on Contingency Operating Base Q-West, Iraq, Dec. 31. The controlled blast, which contained more than 1,500 pounds of explosives, was set off at midnight as a way to ring in the New Year from Iraq. Photographer: Spc. Eric Rutherford, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

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Thursday, January 3, 2008

Combat Camera: Patrolling the Karkh District of Baghdad

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Sgt. 1st Class Leon Clayton, platoon sergeant and native of Brick, N.J., with Mortar Platoon, Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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Yuba City, Calif., native Sgt. Joshua Brown, with Headquarters Platoon, Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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New Lexington, Ohio, native Pvt. Joe Nelson, with 1st Platoon, Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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Citrus Heights, Fla., native Spc. Alex Marsolais, with 1st Platoon, Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), talks with Iraqi children in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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Brick, N.J., native Sgt. 1st Class Leon Clayton, platoon sergeant, Mortar Platoon, Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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Brick, N.J. native, Sgt. 1st Class Leon Clayton, platoon sergeant, Mortar Platoon, Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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A soldier with 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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Soldiers with 4th Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Stryker Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) pulls security in the Karkh District of Baghdad, Dec. 19. Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, both of Shia and Sunni religions, gathered to march amongst one another to bring the two sects together as one. Photographer: Sgt. James Hunter, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs.

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Troops Disarm Bombs, Save Lives in Afghanistan

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Afghan National Army soldiers from 205th Corps detonate an improvised explosive device discovered on a hillside in the Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province, Dec. 29, 2007. The Afghan soldiers found the IED while conducting a security patrol in the area. U.S. Army photo

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Afghan National Army soldiers from 205th Corps found an improvised explosive device in a village in the Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province, Dec. 29, 2007. The soldiers found the IED only 50 meters in front of the village mosque while conducting a security patrol in the area. U.S. Army photo

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Afghan National Army soldiers from 205th Corps found an improvised explosive device in a village in the Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province, Dec. 29, 2007. The soldiers found the IED only 50 meters in front of the village mosque while conducting a security patrol in the area. U.S. Army photo

Dispatches from the Front:

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 3, 2008 - Afghan national security forces saved the lives of Afghan civilians and coalition forces when they found two improvised explosive devices placed on commonly used routes in the Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province last week, military officials reported today.

During a security patrol to provide medical and humanitarian aid to villagers in the area, Afghan National Army soldiers assigned to 205th Corps discovered an IED placed along a village roadway very near a mosque. The soldiers immediately secured the site and detained a suspect for questioning.

They also warned a coalition convoy on the same road of the danger ahead and prevented them from hitting the IED.

"If the ANA soldiers had not alerted us, we would have hit the IED," a commander from the coalition convoy said. "Their actions saved our lives and the lives of the villagers who regularly use the road to get to the mosque."

After the Afghan soldiers disabled the IED, they investigated the surrounding area and found a wire leading to the mosque, where an insurgent intended to detonate the bomb.

With the IED removed and the site safe, Afghan and coalition forces continued their mission until the Afghan-led convoy found another IED in the roadway. The second IED was in an area overlooking a village known for insurgent activity. Afghan army engineers destroyed the mine, protecting villagers who could have inadvertently set off the bomb.

"The ANA is a national institution that grows stronger every day," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. "Their actions continue to save the lives of countless civilians and coalition forces. Their capability to provide security in areas where insurgents are active is a testament to their bravery and capability."

(From a Combined Joint Task Force 82 news release.)

Related:
Combined Joint Task Force 82
NATO International Security Assistance Force

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'Battlemind' Program Preps Soldiers for Combat, Return Home

News in Balance

News in Balance:

STUTTGART, Germany, Jan. 3, 2008 (AFPS) -- Every soldier headed to Iraq and Afghanistan receives "Battlemind" training designed to help them deal with combat experiences, but few know the science behind the program.

Consequently, Dr. Amy Adler, a senior research psychologist with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research's U.S. Army Medical Research Unit Europe, in Heidelberg, Germany, visited Patch Barracks here, breaking down the program, which is a system of support and intervention.

The Battlemind system includes separate pre-deployment training modules for soldiers, unit leaders, health care providers and spouses. Psychological debriefings are given in theater and upon redeployment. There are also a post-deployment module for spouses and several post-deployment modules for soldiers.

Not every soldier who deploys is at risk for mental health problems; the main risk factor is the level of combat experienced, Adler explained to her audience of medical, mental health and family support professionals.

Army studies show the greater the combat exposure a soldier encounters, the greater the risk for mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anger and relationship problems. When soldiers first return home, they may not notice any problems; sometimes it takes a few months for problems to develop.

For those in the medical community, "our challenge was how to develop interventions that can get at all these things," the doctor recalled. "How do you develop a mental health training of some sort that's going to prevent that eventual increase over time?

"We realized we needed to develop some kind of alternative," Adler continued. "There was no existing mental health training that made sense for these sets of questions. It's not like there was something off the shelf in civilian literature that would begin to address this."

Post-deployment health briefings didn't specifically target soldiers going into combat and coming back with adjustment challenges, so researchers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research began to define their objectives for a mental health training program. Adler said the team needed to develop something that was "going to make sense for different phases of the deployment cycle."

"For example," she said, "the existing mental health brief (at the time) was the same for pre- and post-deployment. That doesn't make sense. The challenges are different."

"Secondly," she continued, "we wanted to make sure it was integrated. If we tell somebody something at (pre-(deployment), we want to make sure whatever theme we're going for or concept we're trying to communicate, it's going to connect with the same information that we're going to talk about at (post-deployment)."

The result? Battlemind, a term used to describe combat readiness that the researchers felt was appropriate for the training they were designing. Adler called it a soldier's inner strength to face fear and adversity in combat with courage, labeling it "resiliency."

The Battlemind system is built on findings from surveys and interviews given to soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, many of the researchers themselves have deployed.

The research team gathered soldiers' accounts of specific events and incidents, turning them into teaching tools that warriors can relate to. "Some of these stories tell more than any briefing ever could," Adler said.

The first Battlemind product was a mental health post-deployment briefing. It quickly became a training system supporting soldiers and families across the seven phases of the deployment cycle.

As part of her presentation here, Adler discussed various challenges in developing a relevant pre-deployment mental health briefing for soldiers.

"You have 45 minutes, maybe an hour, to tell soldiers, before they deploy to Iraq, something about mental health," she said. "What are you going to tell them? You don't want to sugarcoat it, but you don't want to teach them a whole lot of new information right at a time when they are focused on the task ahead of them."

The researchers first chose to identify the reality of combat and deployment. It may sound rudimentary, but earlier research found that soldiers were not telling other soldiers what to expect. Soldiers didn't want to sound as if they were bragging, Adler said.

Pre-deployment Battlemind tells soldiers what they are likely to see, to hear, to think and to feel while deployed by describing the worst-case scenario.

For the post-deployment phase, Battlemind addresses safety concerns and relationship issues, normalizes combat-related mental health reactions and symptoms, and teaches soldiers when they should seek mental health support for themselves or for their buddies.

The researchers realized that this post-deployment briefing, the original Battlemind, was not enough. The soldiers they talked to were raw, edgy and angry. Another training program, Battlemind II, was developed to be given three to six months into redeployment.

The system reemphasizes normal reactions and symptoms related to combat and "Battlemind checks," which are signs that indicate mental health support is needed.

"If you're still carrying a weapon around with you during the three- to six-month post-deployment phase, ... if you're still looking around for snipers, if your sleep is still really messed up, these might be signs that your transition is not going smoothly," she explained. "These are signs that you need to get help."

(Story by Susan Huseman, U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart Public Affairs Office.)

Related: Battlemind

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Troops Kill Two, Capture 21 in Iraq

Dispatches from the Front

Dispatches from the Front:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2008 (AFPS) -- Iraqi and coalition forces killed two suspected terrorists and detained 21 others in Iraq over the past three days, military officials said.

In Kirkuk today, coalition forces captured a wanted individual believed to be an improvised explosive device cell leader for an Ansar al Sunna extremist group operating in the city.

Reports indicate the suspect commanded two brothers detained Dec. 31 by coalition forces for their role in IED attacks against troops. Ground forces detained the wanted individual’s brother, who military officials said is a suspected terrorist.

During other operations today in Jalula, Samarra and north of Muqdadiyah, coalition forces detained 11 suspected terrorists while targeting al Qaeda in Iraq associates involved in murder, intimidation and terrorist financing.

In Mosul yesterday, troops captured a wanted individual believed to be associated with an al Qaeda senior leader operating in northern Iraq. The suspect claims to have been involved in attacks against coalition forces and is associated with a foreign terrorist facilitator operating south of Baghdad who was detained Nov. 16, military officials said.

“Coalition forces are working to clear and hold areas where terrorists think they can hide," said Navy Lt. Patrick Evans, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to take the fight to al Qaeda, diminishing their ability to attack innocent civilians.”

In Baqouba on Jan. 1, Stryker Brigade soldiers killed two enemy fighters and detained seven. Three of the detainees are known members of an IED cell operating in the area, military officials said.

Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., conducted the raid in the Baqouba suburb of Burhitz.

“It was a successful operation in that we captured seven detainees, and when we were engaged by anti-coalition forces, our soldiers returned fire and were able to ward off the attack, killing two of the enemy," said Army Capt. Philip Mundweil, the company commander. "The soldiers performed spectacularly in accordance with their training, and the information we gain from the detainees will undoubtedly lead to follow on information that allows us to kill or capture more al Qaeda in Iraq in the future."

Elsewhere in Iraq on Jan. 1, Multinational Division North soldiers received a report that an ambush in Salahuddin province killed one Iraqi police officer and injured six others, including the Salam Iraqi police commander. The report added that three Iraqi National Police officers also were injured in the attack.

Coalition forces evacuated six of the injured to a local hospital and three others to a Multinational Division North medical treatment facility, officials said.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Corps Iraq and Multinational Division North news releases.)

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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Combat Camera: Blown Up House, Desert Patrol in Iraq

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A U.S. Army soldier, attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, patrols an area of the desert just outside the city of Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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U.S. Army soldiers, attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, find containers of acid while on a patrol through an area of the desert just outside the city of Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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A U.S. Army soldier, attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, crawls over the debris from a blown up house in Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Their mission is to investigate the house destroyed by a bomb earlier that day. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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Iraqi army soldiers, from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division, kick down a door to search a house in Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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An Iraqi army soldier, from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division, searches a house in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 25. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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Iraqi army soldiers, from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division, walk amongst the debris from a blown up house in Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Their mission is to investigate the house destroyed by a bomb earlier that day. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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Iraqi army soldiers, from the 2nd Iraqi Army Division, walk amongst the debris from a blown up house in Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Their mission is to investigate the house destroyed by a bomb earlier that day. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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U.S. Army soldiers, attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, stand amongst the debris from a blown up house in Mosul, Iraq, on Dec. 25. Their mission is to investigate the house destroyed by a bomb earlier that day. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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A U.S. Army soldier, attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, provides security on a rooftop in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 25. The team's mission is to investigate a house destroyed by a bomb earlier that day. Photographer: Spc. Kieran Cuddihy, Joint Combat Camera Center.

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Iraq Suicide Bombing Underscores Need to Keep Pressure on al Qaeda

News in Balance

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2008 (AFPS) -- Tuesday's suicide bombing at a Baghdad funeral highlights the need to keep up the pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer said today.

The al Qaeda attack "is further evidence of the nature of these extremists," Army Maj. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. More than 30 Iraqis died in the blast, which injured nearly 35 others, according to news reports.

Bergner condemned the "barbaric" attack, noting it personifies al Qaeda's indiscriminate violence and the group's corrupt, extremist ideology that targets the innocent.

The Baghdad bombing, the general said, underscores the need to apply "continuous and persistent pressure" against al Qaeda and other terror groups that operate in Iraq.

Working toward that purpose, coalition and Iraqi security forces have killed or captured 51 al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, Bergner said. Ten of the most significant of these deceased or detained insurgent leaders were involved in weapons trafficking, murder, foreign-terrorist facilitation, hijacking, finances, bomb making and other activities, Bergner said.

Bergner also praised the tens of thousands of Iraqi citizen volunteers who have joined in the fight against al Qaeda.

"Together with the Iraqi security forces and this new group of leaders, we will continue to pursue those who terrorize the Iraqi people," Bergner said. "We know it will continue to be a tough fight and one that will test the courage and the strength of the Iraqi people, the Iraqi forces, and the coalition forces."

Bergner praised the Iraqi people and their military and police forces for "standing up" and rejecting extremists like al Qaeda.

In 2007, surge-reinforced coalition troops and Iraqi citizens' groups, soldiers and police pushed al Qaeda operatives out of Baghdad and Iraq's Anbar province, Bergner said.

"It has been a year of very tough fighting," Bergner observed, noting that offense-minded U.S. troops often paid a price when attacking dug-in enemy fighters.

Coalition forces in Iraq "have pursued the enemy in places which had become safe havens and operating bases," Bergner explained. Al Qaeda forces, he noted, often were ensconced in hard-to-attack defensive positions.

"So, the year that we have seen a significant amount of progress is also a year that has involved an enormous amount of sacrifice," Bergner said.

At the start of a new year, Bergner predicted more battles ahead for U.S. forces in Iraq.

"All of us start this year with the full understanding that this is still a tough fight. It will continue to be a tough fight," Bergner said.

U.S. forces in Iraq will face that challenge teamed with increasing numbers of capable Iraqi soldiers and police, as well as additional concerned-citizen groups that have sworn to fight al Qaeda, Bergner said.

In 2008, "we will see increasing commitment and involvement" against al Qaeda by the Iraqi military and police forces and the Iraqi people, the general predicted.

(Story by Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service.)

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