National Police welcomes newest NCOs

Multi-National Force - Iraq:

Wednesday, 29 August 2007
By Pfc. Nathaniel Smith
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

BAGHDAD — In the U.S. Army, the Non-Commissioned Officer corps is known as the “Backbone of the Army.” While the Iraqi Security Forces are forging their way ahead, the National Police strengthened their own corps by recently welcoming a group of new NCOs to their ranks.

A class from the 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, graduated from the newly developed Warrior Leader’s Course in a ceremony at Joint Security Station Doura in southern Baghdad.

Of 19 ‘shurta,’ the Arabic term for policeman, that started the course, 17 completed it successfully. Those that met the requirements were promoted to the rank of corporal at the end of the graduation ceremony.

Brig. Gen. Karim Abud, the commander of 7-2 NP, told his new NCOs they work for one thing: the citizens of Iraq.

“We are the police of lawful people,” he said. “We have to work by the law. We are not sectarian or party-affiliated.”

Karim continued by making it clear that generals like himself accomplish nothing without their troops on the ground.

“I cannot do my job without the soldiers,” he said. “I am nothing without the soldiers. Any commander with no soldiers can do nothing.”

Lt. Col. Edward Rowe, the deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, from Gaithersburg, Md., advised the police to relish in their success but to remember what they work for.

“Enjoy this day; enjoy this recognition,” he said, “but remember: you must do your duty to Iraq, to your unit and to your commanders.”

Lt. Col. Michael Lonigro, the commander of the 7-2 NP Training Team from San Antonio, had more advice for the graduates.

“Your job is to do the right thing all the time, whether your (police) agree or not,” he said. “The right thing is to support the government of Iraq.”

Cpl. Wamir Jubr, one of the graduates of the course, felt the instruction he had received could help him do his job on the streets of Iraq.

“The challenge is to help on a day-to-day basis,” he said, “but I overcame this by getting more training here.”

Some of the training Jubr and his fellow NCOs received consisted of first-aid, weapons and maintenance, basic NCO development, and tactics, techniques and procedures.

Jubr felt he can do more to help his fellow policemen by instructing them on everything from first-aid to proper weapons maintenance.

“Going through all the training, I’m beginning to learn more and more,” he said. “I can pass that onto them.”

---

As anyone who has ever worn a uniform can attest, you can't have an effective fighting force withouth qualified, experienced NCO's. While the experience issue can only be dealt with over time, this story indicates that the ISF is developing well.

Only Clinton Could Solicit from China

Say it ain't so. Queen Hillary taking shady campaign contributions from shady Chinese businessmen using funny addresses?

Looks like it.

One of the biggest sources of political donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton is a tiny, lime-green bungalow that lies under the flight path from San Francisco International Airport.

Six members of the Paw family, each listing the house at 41 Shelbourne Ave. as their residence, have donated a combined $45,000 to the Democratic senator from New York since 2005, for her presidential campaign, her Senate re-election last year and her political action committee. In all, the six Paws have donated a total of $200,000 to Democratic candidates since 2005, election records show.

Ace has got this one, too.

Whereas Allah doesn't seem to think that any campaign finance laws have been broken, some folks at AOSHQ think so.

What strikes me as odd is that after the fiasco of the Buddhist Temple fundraisers, someone at the campaign should just know better. Shouldn't they?

John McCain: Senator, Patriot, Warrior

From a speech to the National Guard Association of the United States:

“We have new commanders in Iraq, and they are following a counterinsurgency strategy that I have advocated from the beginning of this war, which makes the most effective use of our strength and doesn’t strengthen the tactics of our enemy. This new battle plan is succeeding where our previous tactics failed. Although the outcome remains uncertain, we must give General Petraeus and the Americans he has the honor to command adequate time to salvage from the wreckage of our past mistakes a measure of stability for Iraq and the Middle East, and a more secure future for the American people. To concede defeat now would strengthen al Qaeda, empower Iran and other hostile powers in the Middle East, unleash a full scale civil war in Iraq that could quite possibly provoke genocide there, and destabilize the entire region as neighboring powers come to the aid of their favored factions. The consequences would threaten us for years, and I am certain would eventually draw us into a wider and more difficult war that would impose even greater sacrifices on us.

...

“I have many responsibilities to the American people, and I try to take them all seriously. But I have one responsibility that outweighs all the others – and that is to use whatever meager talents I possess, and every resource God has granted me to protect the security of this great and good nation from all enemies foreign and domestic. And that I intend to do, even if I must stand athwart popular opinion. I will attempt to convince as many of my countrymen as I can that we must show even greater patience, though our patience is nearly exhausted so we can defeat our enemies. That is how I construe my responsibility to my country. That is how I construed it yesterday. It is how I construe it today. It is how I will construe it tomorrow. I do not know how I could choose any other course.

Read the entire speech here. While Mr. McCain has now almost no chance of winning the Republican nomination for President, this is the kind of resolute leadership we will need in the White House from January 2009 forward.

UPDATED to provide the link to the speech text.

Weapons, Weapons, our Brothers

Counterterrorism Blog's continuing coverage of the Holy Land Foundation's trial in Dallas, Texas.

One document, seized from the home of unindicted co-conspirator Ismail Elbarrase was dated August 1992 and handwritten in Arabic. The missive came from the Islamic Relief Committee, a recipient of HLF funds and described by the U.S. government as “part of the HAMAS social infrastructure in Israel and the Palestinian territories.” The document discussed, among other things, meetings that took place in June and July of that year; the suggestion of a consultative committee and “Activities of the Intifada:”

You do not know how happy people become when they watch those Mujahideen and how proud they feel when they parade in their uniforms and weapons and the extent of their honor when they carry out their Jihadist operations against the Jews and their tentacles. It is a feeling that no taste or enjoy its flavor except the ones who live it. Jihad in Palestine is different from any Jihad; the meaning of killing a Jew for the liberation of Palestine cannot be compared to any Jihad on earth. This is the meaning that I came out with from there…about your brothers over there in our beloved Strip. They live now in permanent alert and cry out to you with their loudest voice: ‘Be with us and live with us. Do not rest, and do not twinkle until you care about us and provide us with what helps us of funds and weapons. Weapons, weapons, our brothers.’

Dawn Patrol

Mudville Gazette's daily roundup of news and commentary on the Global War on Terror.

Along with Thunder Run's Web Reconnaissance, a daily must read.

Khalis Waterway Opened, 33 Jihadists Meet Allah

33 insurgents killed, Khalis waterway open
Multi-National Division – North PAO

DIYALA, Iraq – 5th Iraqi Army Division partnered with Coalition Forces conducted an air assault into the town of Gobia to restore essential services to Khalis, Aug. 27.

The pre-dawn assault, involving several hundred Iraqi and Coalition Forces, defeated numerous small-arms attacks throughout the day resulting in a combined 13 insurgents killed.

CF attack helicopters and close air support supported the ground forces, killing 20 more.

The objective of the mission was to open the spillway, which regulates water flow to the town of Khalis, restoring the essential service of water.

The action by the IA and CF termed “Operation Church” also netted three caches containing 150 lbs of home-made explosives, two 130mm rounds, a ZU-23 with 2,000 rounds, a rocket-propelled grenade with eight rounds, a PKC, and seven AK-47s.

Three detainees were captured at one of the cache sites and water is currently flowing unimpeded to Khalis.

JihadWatch and the Iraq Conflict

Jihad Watch's Hugh Fitzgerald writes:

Finally, along with the sectarian (Sunni-Shi'a) division inside and outside Iraq, there are possible further unsettlements and sectarian strife in Pakistan, in Saudi Arabia (the oil-bearing Eastern Province), in Lebanon, in Bahrain, even in Yemen. Instead of being welcomed -- since when does one attempt to prevent division and demoralization in the camp of one's enemies? -- these are actively being deplored, in warnings from the Great and Good, that an American withdrawal will bring, could bring, might bring, that deplorable thing called "chaos" to the Middle East. Nonsense. Not "chaos" -- not with those kinds of despotisms willing to use their kind of force with their kind of secret police. Not chaos, really, but perhaps a using up of men, money, and materiel, and attention -- but this time they would all bear the initial adjective "Muslim" rather than "American," and that is a highly desirable change.

This is an interesting perspective. And one with which I respectfuly disagree. Jihadwatch.org is one of my favorite sites. A widget over on the right displays the site's feed here and I am a regular reader (and listener, when I can be) of Spencer and Fitzgerald. For a pair of infidels, they have a keen grasp of Islam and the threat the theocratic adherents pose to freedom.

I think they miss the point on Iraq. Or, I think Fitzgerald does with this post.

Osama bin Laden and his right hand boy Zawahiri have declared that the central battlefront on Islam's War against America is Iraq. Their schpiel is that Muslims suffer so greatly because of their fraternization with the west. We are corrupting them and turning them away from Allah.

It is only when Muslims completely reject western ideals of "imperialist" democracy and "exploitative" capitalism and throw the decadent infidels out of Muslim lands that the faithful can prosper and flourish, we are told.

Having infidel Americans work side by side with Sunni and Shi'a Muslims to defeat other Muslims, and install a thriving, productive Iraqi democracy would be a complete repudiation of everything radical Islam stands for.

Make no mistake about this: Al Qaeda is having its head handed to it in Iraq. As in Afghanistan, the radicals completely underestimated the military capabilities of the United States. But more importantly, Al Qaeda also completely underestimated the desire of ordinary Iraqis to simply live in the peace and freedom of conscience that millenia of social evolution have instilled in all of us.

As I write this, Muslims are fighting side by side with Americans, driving other Muslims out of the historic and cultural center of ancient Islam. For Al Qaeda, it is an unmitigated disaster to see their forces beaten like squalling pigs by other Muslims, fighting in sworn alliance with the forces "Great Satan." As bad as that is for them, it will be even worse when the nation that emerges from the conflict begins to thrive economically, politically and culturally.

The stated goals of Operation Iraqi Freedom are not as farfetched as Fitzgerald believes they are. They are extraordinary difficult to achieve however, and I am not convinced that Mr. Bush will see much of them met by the time he leaves office. But at least one goal--showing the Muslim world that everything Al Qaeda stands for is a lie--is worth pursuing until accomplished.

Turkish Military Issues Stern Warning

According to the Associated Press:

Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, Chief of General Staff for the politically potent Turkish military, published a statement  on the military's Web site, sternly warning that "our nation has been watching the behavior of those separatists who cannot embrace Turkey's unitary nature, and the behavior of 'centers of evil' who systematically try to corrode the secular nature of the Turkish Republic."

"Nefarious plans to ruin Turkey's secular and democratic nature emerge in different forms everyday.  The military will, just as it hasthrough history, keep its determination to guard social, democratic and secular Turkey."

This is no idle threat. The Turkish Armed Forces are granted special status by that nation's Constitution, and it views itself as the steadfast guardian of Kemalism, the ideology embraced by Mohammed Kemal Ataturk.

The military has staged coups in 1960, 1971, 1980 and most recently, 1997. Each time the military has returned the reins of political power to civilian authorities after a brief period of control by military junta. The 1960 coup was staged by junior grade officers. The 1971 coup was staged after the military learned of an impending leftist coup attempt. The 1980 coup took place after the military had established Martial Law in 1978. Each time, the military invoked the Kemalist tradition of secularism and state unity, proclaiming themselves the defenders against communism, fascism, sectarianism and religious fanaticism.

In 1997, just the sight of tanks in the streets was enough to cause the government to step down. However, it remains to be seen if Islamists will be so meek in the face of the military.

The current Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, is in a bid to become President of the Republic. The military has accused Gul of being too closely tied to Islamist factions, foreign and domestic. Gul is expected to win the office. The military will watch his actions closely, and if there is even the slightest indication that the civilian authorities will institute islamic principles, the military will intervene in the fifth putsch of the post WWII era.

Still Invested in Failure

SWJ's Dave Dillege writing in The Washington Times

The media's coverage of two recent events — the release of the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq and Sen. John Warner's call for a symbolic reduction of troops by Christmas — serves to illustrate the perverse symbiosis between defeatist politicians and a news media that is heavily invested in an American failure in Iraq. Read carefully, the updated NIE provides some ammunition for both supporters and opponents of the war, presenting dour predictions about the level of violence in Iraq and the ability of the Iraqi government to achieve national-level political reconciliation, but also pointing out that "measurable" security improvements have been made in Iraq since January and will expand modestly in the next 12 months with continued pressure on the insurgents.

Dillege is spot on, of course. A freshman journalism student conducting his first textual analysis can find numerous examples of this investment in any of the day's "straight" news stories.

For example, in a "straight" news story today from Agence France Presse:

The dissident views now being expressed by prominent Republican figures like Warner have piled pressure on the Bush administration for a change of course in Iraq as the mid-September report looms.

Recall that earlier this summer, the lock-step dailies were remarking on the coming "Republican Revolt" over Mr. Bush's intransigence over policy in Iraq. A parade of Republicans were supposed to be bolting from the President and joining the anti-war Democrats.

Is this the Revolt they were predicting? If the "pressure" on Mr. Bush consists of rhetoric from a retiring Senator, a newly elected Phrench President and two partisan Democrats, then the revolutionaries seem to have surrendered without shooting much of a wad.

Attacks Down, Economic Development Up in Iraq

BAGHDAD — Recent strides in Iraq’s economic development, including the reopening of a flour mill last week, are occurring as Iraqi and Coalition forces disrupt al-Qaeda and other terrorist elements, a senior military spokesman in Iraq said Sunday.

“Local production of flour in a previously dormant mill is a small but meaningful step in Baqubah that demonstrates that as al-Qaeda in Iraq is driven out, economic growth emerges,” U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, deputy spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq, said at a news conference Sunday.

The flour mill in Baqubah, closed for nearly a year, is capable of producing 200 tons of finished flour per day and will employ about 100 mill workers and several truck drivers. The reopening of the mill was the result of a collaborative partnership between the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and Diyala provincial leadership, Fox said.

“As we focus on pressuring al-Qaeda, we gain tactical momentum and economic developments and reconstruction are now possible,” Fox added. “As al-Qaeda is driven out, normal activities like banking and commerce flourish.”

Disrupting al-Qaeda while trying to develop an economy and a democracy takes a dose of diplomacy.

On the diplomatic front, the State Department’s Provincial Reconstruction Teams, interagency expeditionary teams designed to develop stable economic and political environments at the provincial level, are also making meaningful strides, according to the State Department’s counselor for public affairs, another featured speaker at today’s news conference.

“The role of the Provincial Reconstructions Teams is to help provincial governments develop a transparent and sustained capability not only to govern, but to increase security, rule of law, promote political and economic development, and provide the administration necessary to meet the basic needs of the local population,” said Philip Reeker.

There are now 29 Provincial Reconstruction Teams at work throughout Iraq’s 18 provinces. A conference that begins tomorrow in Baghdad will gather provincial governors from the four northern provinces, Reeker added.

“A great example of the progress we’re making is the conference of northern province governors. It is an opportunity for delegations to share issues that affect the four northern provinces and discuss solutions,” Reeker said.

Turning to operations, Fox told the Baghdad press corps that joint operations between Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces have doubled compared to this time last year. He added the total number of attacks against civilians and security forces are at the lowest level since August 2006.

“Although we have made progress, we know we face a tough fight against an enemy that is willing to indiscriminately kill innocent men, women and children,” Fox said. “We will continue to work closely with the government of Iraq and Iraqi Security Forces to pursue the enemy and build on our tactical momentum.”

OO-RAH! HOO AH! It's all good...

The Tank on National Review Online:

A whiny jarhead belly aches over how the United States Army has seemingly co-opted the Marines' "OO-Rah!" utterance and butchered it into "Hoo Ah!"

Don't these damned jarheads have some Halls of Montezuma or Shores of Tripoli to invade? Gahh.

Web Reconnaissance for 08/27/2007

The Thunder Run

Monday morning edition of the blogosphere's most comprehensive roundup of news and commentary.

Enjoy...

Burning Another Beauchamp

At Confederate Yankee, a lively and fascinating discussion is taking place over an accusation of conservative media dishonesty by Harper's Scott Horton. Horton accuses a prominent conservative commentator of creating "pure fabrications," and cites as evidence his direct experience at the location in question:

I have no idea whether Beauchamp's story was accurate. But at this point I have seen enough of the Neocon corner's war fables to immediately discount anything that emerges from it. One example: back last spring, when I was living in Baghdad, on Haifa Street, I sat in the evening reading a report by one of the core Neocon pack. He was reporting from Baghdad, and recounted a day he had spent out on a patrol with U.S. troops on Haifa Street. He described a peaceful, pleasant, upscale community. Children were out playing on the street. Men and women were out going about their daily business. Well, in fact I had been forced to spend the day "in the submarine," as they say, missing appointments I had in town. Why? This bucolic, marvelous Haifa Street that he described had erupted in gun battles the entire day. In the view of my security guards, with which I readily concurred, it was too unsafe. And yes, I could hear the gunfire and watch some of the exchanges from my position. No American patrol had passed by and there were certainly no children playing in the street. This was the point when I realized that many of these accounts were pure fabrications.

CY denizens respond by demonstrating that Horton was probably not in the area at the time the alleged "fabrication" was written. There is a good chance that the piece Horton refers to is either this NYSun Op/Ed by Fred Kagen:

It is true that the overall level of violence in Iraq remains high, and American soldiers are still dying. Scores of terrorists flow into Iraq every month, detonating suicide car bombs against civilians, Iraqi security forces and American troops. This is the core of the security problem faced by our troops and by innocent Iraqis.

But looking at these casualty numbers alone distorts reality. Security is improving across Baghdad, even in traditionally bad areas. In early May, I walked and drove through these neighborhoods. Haifa St., scene of day-long gunfights between Al Qaeda terrorists and coalition forces in January, is calm and starting to revive. Its market is open and flourishing.

Or, it could be this Weekly Standard Op/Ed by feared and hated William Kristol:

"We went through two of the worst Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad... heavily infested with al Qaeda and other terrorists who terrorize the population and drive them to support or at least tolerate attacks against us. But the kids on the streets--and there were many--waved, smiled, asked for candy. The locals give us tips and ask us to get the terrorists out of the area and, above all, to protect them. We walked through a market off of Haifa Street--remember, the site of that long-running gun-battle back in January that made so much news? The market was thriving, flourishing, the local U.S. commander knew everyone and everyone knew him. The kids thronged around us, laughing, asking for candy... .

Both of these items describe conditions as seen by the scribe in May of this year. However, there is no evidence at all that Horton was even in Iraq in May, 2007. In fact, Horton has apparently not been in Iraq since Spring 2006.

Meanwhile, kat-missouri of Middleground painstakingly documents how Haifa Street has been in a state of flux almost since the beginning of the insurgency, with the most recent reports indicating that Kagen and Kristol's accounts were accurate. Given their professional relationship and Kristol stating that he was relating the observations of a friend, the two accounts could be of the same events.

We have no journalistic accounts of Haifa Street by Horton in 2007.

What fascinates me about CY's discussion is that Bob originally started out with an intellectually honest question about whether a conservative writer was "Beauchamping" his story. Instead, it appears the worm has turned and it is the liberal who gets burned for dishonesty.

Assault of Moonbattery...

Hot Air-HuffPo genius to Peter Pace: Arrest this man and relieve him of command:

"Like Fisk’s embrace of Trutherism in the course of denying he’s embracing Trutherism, this turd’s found a rich vein of “nuance” in calling for a partial military coup. Bush would continue to execute his civilian domestic duties, he assures us; it’s just that he’d presumably have to do so from a brig, after he’s been court-martialed and imprisoned. An advanced case of BDS here, to be sure, but they’ve been known to happen."

This is a perfect example of the HuffPo, Moveon and Daily Kos mentality.  If these are the kinds of people pulling the strings on the left, then a GOP victory next November is a slam dunk.

You just can't make this stuff up.  You just can't.

British Soldiers Withdraw From Basra Command Center

Brits Bail, Mahdi Jihadis take over

In typical AP fashion, the story doesn't touch on the fact that the Brits have turned tail and run in Southern Iraq. Basra, Iraq's key oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, is Iraq's second largest city and a key strategic location.

I wonder if the Brits have been infiltrated by the Phrench...

Badgers Forward: New Glass

Badgers Forward: New Glass

Badger 6--an Army Engineer currently stationed in Anbar Province--blogs on a recent "road trip" from Ramadi to Fallujah. These two places used to be among the most dangerous in Iraq. Badger 6's observations are revealing.

Sometimes, progress is measured in ways that we take for granted.

Food for thought.

The Thunder Run: Web Reconnaissance 08/26/2007

The Thunder Run: Web Reconnaissance 08/26/2007

The undisputed best of the daily rundowns on the GWOT and other topics of interest.

SENATOR WARNER'S BAD WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

By RALPH PETERS

If we don't quit, this will not only be a huge practical win - it'll be the information victory we've been aching for.

No matter what the Middle Eastern media might say, everyone in the Arab and greater Sunni Muslim world will know that al Qaeda was driven out of Iraq by a combination of Muslims and Americans.

Think that would help al Qaeda's recruitment efforts? Even now, the terrorists have to resort to lies about their prospective missions to gain recruits.

With the sixth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, how dare we throw away so great a potential victory over those who attacked our country?

Forget the anti-war nonsense you hear. The truth is that our troops want to continue this struggle. I know. I'm here. And I'm listening to what they have to say. They're confident as never before that we're on the right path.

Ralph Peters from Anbar Province, Iraq.

Multi-National Force - Iraq - Clearing operations in Samarra strike hard at insurgency

Sunday, 26 August 2007
By Sgt. Joshua R. Ford
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs

SAMARRA — Paratroopers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, have been patrolling and operating in Samarra for more than one year and recently supported the Iraqi security forces in a clearing operation to rid the city of the al-Qaida presence terrorizing Samarra and its citizens.

The operation was dubbed “Operation Jalil” in honor of Col. Jalil Nahi Hasoun, Samarra’s former police chief, who was killed May 6, 2007, during a suicide car bomb attack.

The operation led Maj. Gen. Rashid al-Helfy, commander of Iraqi security forces in Samarra, his men, and paratroopers of Company C to the discovery of weapons caches, bomb making materials and the detainment of more than 80 suspected terrorists, including suspects responsible for the June 13, 2007, bombing of the Askirya Mosque.

The Askirya Mosque, also known as the Golden Dome Shrine, was first bombed Feb. 22, 2006, and sparked a wave of sectarian violence throughout the country. The explosion collapsed the dome.

The June 13 bombing destroyed the two remaining minarets flanking the golden dome of the mosque.

Since then, more than 2,500 Iraqi soldiers from the 4th Iraqi Army, and policemen from the 6th National Police Division, have been deployed to the city to create a stable security situation. Including Operation Jalil, Company C has detained more than 200 insurgents since the second mosque attack.

“When the Iraqi national police first arrived in Samarra, they received anything but a warm welcome,” said Capt. Buddy Ferris, commander, Company C. “The people of Samarra were very hesitant to receive the policemen.

“Now the citizens of Samarra are very receptive to the national police, and the paratroopers from Company C have seen this through the vast amount of information they receive everyday from the people in Samarra about terrorists operating in their neighborhoods,” he added.

“(The paratroopers) like to see that the Iraqis are taking the lead,” said Ferris. “We will continue to push forward the Iraqi security forces so they can provide a stable enough environment so we can start developing a legitimate government that functions and is tied in with the (Salah ad Din) province.”

The 150-paratrooper force is responsible for securing a city of more than 150,000. Two years ago the U.S. Army needed a whole brigade of more than 3,000 Soldiers to secure the city.

Since the paratroopers of Company C have been in Samarra, they have killed more than 50 terrorists and detained more than 300.

“The paratroopers of Company C have done an outstanding job in Samarra since they arrived in August 2006,” said Sgt. Tim Curry, team leader, Company C. “They always have a good attitude in wanting to help the citizens in the city.”

“(The paratroopers) have been holding the lid on the city of Samarra for a year. This company has been able to hold Samarra in one piece, so to say, and has actually been able to make progress and it speaks volumes,” said Ferris. “(The paratroopers) are tired; we are at month 13, but we know we’re making a difference.”

Riding with 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division (The Fourth Rail)

Wesley Morgan, embedded in Iraq.

For my last embed, I went back to the unit I’d visited with Gen. Petraeus: Col. Jon Lehr’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad. After waiting around at the landing zone for a couple of hours, the sergeant coordinating the flights finally barked out that the First Team Express –- the Black Hawk shuttle that circulates to the various Forward Operating Bases of the 1st Cavalry Division –- was arriving, and as a pair of birds descended onto the tarmac the other passengers and I filed out to board them.

Two soldiers, three female KBR workers, and I climbed into one helicopter, and a moment later came the familiar feeling of liftoff as the wheels left the ground. I had a good seat on this ride: the rear left one, which doesn’t have too much wind (in the rear right, for some reason, the rotorwash is so strong that it squashes your glasses back across your face and can easily take your helmet off if it’s not buckled) and from which you can see ahead along the flight path. I love night flights, and from this seat it was even better – all I could see out the door, all the way to the horizon, was the twinkling white lights of Baghdad, so beautiful and at odds with the scorching, chaotic reality down below, and the lines of little orange lights that marked the perimeters of US bases. One strange but comforting thing about Black Hawks is that when they’re blacked out and flying at night, you can hear the roar of their rotors, obviously, but you genuinely cannot see them from the ground; they appear suddenly out of complete blackness, making night flights basically safe from insurgent fire. Fifteen or 20 minutes later the birds landed at Taji.

Rest is here.