One Coalition Soldier killed in attack

[seruriermarshal]

One Coalition Soldier killed in attack

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Coalition Soldier died of wounds after a U.S. patrol came under attack in central Baghdad. The Soldier died around 1:30 a.m., June 26.

The name of the Soldier is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

The incident is under investigation.


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From (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/media-information/june2004/040626d.htm)

REGIMENTAL PRAYER

Almighty, merciful, and loving Father,
you are the one who hears all our prayers and grants our petitions.

We ask you to remember, as we do,
the tremendous sacrifice made by those who went before us.
They have given their lives so that we might live and breathe freely.
We ask you to receive them into your hands.

Father, give us the strength and wisdom to learn from their example,
to uphold freedom and life at home and around the world.

Keep us vigilant as we guard the frontiers of freedom.

Give our leaders the wisdom and the strength to lead well.

Grant all of us courage and confidence.
Be, for all of us, troopers, a wise counsel in keeping peace
and a strong shield for us against our enemies.
Oh heavenly Father, give us the determination
that the peace and freedom won at such a high price be lasting!

Father, hold all of the troopers in the palm of your almighty hand
and protect them in the shadow of your wings.

Amen.

[seruriermarshal]

Other news :

STRIKE OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ZARQAWI NETWORK

Statement by BG Mark Kimmitt, Deputy Director for Coalition Operations

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Today, Coalition forces conducted another strike on a known Zarqawi network safe house in southeastern Fallujah, based on multiple confirmations of Iraqi and Coalition intelligence. This operation employed precision weapons to target and destroy the safe house and underscores the Coalition's continuing resolve, in partnership with the Iraqi Security Forces, to defeat and destroy terrorist networks within Iraq. Wherever and whenever we find elements of the Zarqawi network, we will attack them.

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From (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/media-information/june2004/040625e.htm)

Iraqi police detain three after attack

TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Police detained three individuals suspected of attacking the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headquarters near Tuz at 1:43 a.m., June 25.

Four individuals were spotted in the vehicle used in the attack; one evaded capture.

Iraqi Police are investigating the incident.

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From (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/media-information/june2004/040625f.htm)

Iraqi Security Forces and first responders perform well during attacks

MOSUL, IRAQ - A series of attacks in Mosul on June 24, that included four or five car bomb explosions and a rocket-propelled grenade attack, resulted in a "hardening of wills" by many senior Iraqi government and security force leaders, according to Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of Task Force Olympia.

"The response to these attacks was almost entirely Iraqi - Iraqi police, Iraqi National Guard, explosive ordnance disposal, ambulances, fire stations and medical teams," Ham said. "The first responders did a great job. I am very happy with their performance under very dire circumstances" Ham added.

According to the Ninevah Provincial Governor's Office, the attacks killed 72 Iraqi citizens, including a number of police officers and other security forces members. The number of wounded was reported to be more than 250.

The attacks began at 9:05 a.m. when car bombs exploded outside the Iraqi Police Academy and the Al Wakas Police Station in western Mosul. Another explosion occurred near the Al Jamhori Hospital. At 10:15 a.m. another car bomb exploded near the Sheik Fatih Police Station in western Mosul.

Iraqi National Guard soldiers moved to secure the Sheikh Fatih Police Station in response to reports that terrorists had taken it over, but terrorists fired at the Iraqi soldiers from across the street at the Mohammed Al Noory Mosque.

Coalition forces moved to the Sheikh Fatih Police Station to support the Iraqi soldiers and were fired upon from the Mohammed Al Noory Mosque as well. Iraqi Security and Coalition forces returned fire on the terrorists in the mosque.

In less than two hours, Iraqi National Guard soldiers secured the Mohammed Al Noory Mosque away from the terrorists, and Coalition soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment took back the Sheikh Fatih Police Station from the terrorists as well.

"Iraqis are taking the lead; today they required very little assistance from Coalition forces," said Ham. "My guarantee to the Iraq Security Forces is that if they encounter a situation beyond their control we'll be there to help."

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From (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/media-information/june2004/040626a.htm)

Mosques in Sadr City call for calm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Mosques throughout Sadr City called for a cessation of attacks against Coalition forces June 24.

The message, broadcast over mosques' public address systems, addressed insurgent fighters affiliated with Muqtada al-Sadr and Sadr City's general populace.

Col. Robert Abrams, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, called the announcement a positive sign. He said Coalition forces will continue to protect key infrastructure and government buildings in the area, as well as train and integrate Iraqi Police, Force Protection Services and the Iraqi National Guard.

"We will continue to strive to bring essential services to the people of Sadr City," he said. "The announcement by the mosques is definitely a step in the right direction."

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From (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/media-information/june2004/040626b.htm)

Iraqi Security Forces open joint coordination center

MOSUL, Iraq - The Iraqi Security Forces in the Ninevah Province opened a joint coordination center here June 23.

The Mosul center serves as a coordination hub for all security operations in northern Iraq. Representatives from the Iraqi National Guard, Iraqi Police, Facility Protection Services and Iraqi armed forces are stationed at the center to help fight crime and terrorism.

"This state-of-the-art facility will change how we communicate and handle security problems," said Ninevah Gov. Osama Kashmoula.

The JCC's operations center has three plasma televisions, 20 laptop computers and telephones along with a 5-foot by 5-foot map of the Ninevah province, which helps the JCC officials track the situations in the province and communicate to the units in the field.

The security officials meet daily to coordinate what forces are working where and determine specific responsibilities, according to Lt. Col. Jassim Habib, the JCC operations officer.

"This is the first time in the history of Iraq that we have had a facility where all of the security forces are in one building working together to provide security," said Habib. "If something happens, we can all work together to take the appropriate actions. The JCC will allow us to find a solution to a problem immediately and increase our chances of stopping the enemy."

Soldiers from the Stryker Brigade Combat Team helped create the JCC, but Iraqis provide the center's command and control.

Iraqi security forces, with the assistance of Coalition forces, assume responsibility for the safety and security of Mosul on June 30.

Iraqi officials said they plan to build similar facilities in every district in Iraq. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of Coalition forces in Iraq, said the center is a good example of how other JCCs should be set up.

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From (http://www.mnf-iraq.com/media-information/june2004/040626c.htm)

[seruriermarshal]

Shiite Party Members Killed in Attacks

Insurgents launched separate attacks on two Shiite Muslim political parties today, killing three people and wounding two others, hospital officials and witnesses said.

Attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the offices of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said party member Maitham Ibrahim.

Three party members died and two were injured, hospital officials said.

About an hour later, gunmen stormed the offices of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s political party, the National Accord Movement, setting off an explosion before fleeing, witnesses said.

No one was hurt.

Flames and smoke poured from the building. Police sealed off the area.

The attacks underscored the deep political and religious friction afflicting the country in the days leading to the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.

The attacks in this city, 35 miles north-east of the capital Baghdad, came only days after guerrillas launched a series of assaults against police stations and government complexes, killing about 100 people.

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From (http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3120424)

Iraqi Military Won't Get Tanks, Offensive Capabilities

By Jim Krane Associated Press Writer
Published: Jun 26, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The lightly armed military taking shape in Iraq is far different from Saddam Hussein's massive force, and the United States appears to want it that way - at least for the time being.
"Right now tanks and heavy armament are not necessary," said Frederick C. Smith, the U.S. senior adviser for national security. "What's needed are well-trained, disciplined troops with the proper equipment."

Rearming Iraq is a delicate undertaking. A robust military that can tamp down Iraq's guerrilla uprising is key to the American exit strategy. Too big a military brings forth alarming specters of coups and threats against neighbors.

Iraq needs a strong military to survive in one of the world's toughest regions - and to wean itself from an unpopular dependence on the United States, said Ibrahim al-Jaafari, one of Iraq's two incoming vice presidents.

"We don't want to turn Iraq into an arsenal. We don't want the military to return to a strategy of aggression," al-Jaafari told The Associated Press. "But we want Iraq to be strong enough to return assaults from others. There must be an army with reasonable weapons that can make the country safe, so no one can assault it."

President Ghazi al-Yawer has already called for doubling the size of the army, from the planned three infantry divisions to six. And Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has appealed to other countries to donate military hardware to bolster Iraq's beleaguered forces.

"Until our forces are fully capable we will continue to need support from our friends," Allawi said on Sunday.

Compared to Saddam's 400,000-man army, which boasted Soviet tanks and other heavy weapons, the Iraqi government that takes power Wednesday will wield a token force.

The army is expected to field some 35,000 soldiers early next year, equipped with light infantry weapons and non-armored vehicles, Smith told reporters in a briefing on Thursday.

Iraq's National Guard, a growing internal security force formerly known as the Iraq Civil Defense Corps, counts some 30,000 members. The nascent air force owns just two light reconnaissance planes.

The military's chief task is to fight resident guerrillas, not high-intensity warfare with a neighboring state.

"The general idea is that Iraq will not have an offensive capability that its neighbors find threatening," said Jeremy Binnie, an Iraq analyst with the London defense consultancy Jane's. "They'll be much lighter, mobile forces that can resist security threats when they arise, not like the previous forces organized to launch heavy armored assaults."

It is expected to take a year or more before Iraq's army can hold its own against well-armed Iraqi rebels, let alone handle an invasion from a neighboring state. For the near future, the 150,000 coalition troops who will remain here after the transfer of sovereignty Wednesday will guarantee Iraq is not invaded, Smith said after the briefing.

He also said that if Iraqi forces wind up needing more protection, as the Americans did, the country would have to find a way to pay for it. The United States is already spending $5 billion to equip Iraqi soldiers with light vehicles, AK-47s and body armor.

"That will be a future decision of the Iraqi leadership," Smith said. "It will be dependent on their resources."

American troops keep their casualties down by riding in tanks and armored vehicles, which stand a better chance against roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades. The United States also sends ground-attack jets to bomb rebel positions, and responds to mortar and rocket barrages with artillery fire. Iraqi forces lacking that kind of protection suffer higher casualties.

A heavily armed military whose loyalties to the government haven't been tested is another worry, especially when soldiers with previous allegiance to tribal or ethnic militias are brought in, Binnie said. For that reason U.S. advisers say they built ethnically mixed battalions, and have not imported militias intact into the army.

"We want to rebuild the army on new principles, new morals, balancing the different ethnic groups in Iraq," al-Jaafari said.

Saddam's army favored Sunni Muslim Arabs in its leadership - mirroring those in government - and kept Shiites as its foot soldiers, who were sent in the 1980s to fight the Shiite army of Iran. That eight-year war cost millions of lives and finally ended when the two countries fought themselves to a virtual stalemate.

Smith, the Pentagon's adviser, said the decision to avoid heavy weapons hinged on their expense and inappropriateness in the counterinsurgency fight, not a mistrust of the Iraqi military. He said he was "absolutely confident" the Iraqi army won't turn its weapons on U.S. forces or the nascent Iraqi government.

AP-ES-06-26-04 0234EDT

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From (http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB4IRYCXVD.html)