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| Iraq |
| An Abundance of Riches |
| 2007-07-10 |
| A very cool story With two well-timed phone calls, Iraqi civilians made some Soldiers’ day July 9. The first tipster called Troop C, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and alerted them to a cache south of the village of Al-Dhour, Iraq, south of Baghdad. The troop responded, located the buried weapons, and was only five minutes into the process of digging them up when they got another call. A man claimed he had the 2nd BCT’s top high-value target and would deliver him to coalition custody. The man and Capt. Adam Sawyer, Troop C commander, agreed on a pickup site. The Soldiers hastily re-buried the cache and moved out, and when the vehicle arrived, they stopped it and took the most wanted man and two other men into custody. Some of the Soldiers were still able to see the cache from their vantage point - and were surprised to see a civilian pickup truck stop there and begin hastily loading the weapons into the bed of the truck. They engaged the vehicle with an M-240 machine gun, and the men tried to flee, but the Troop C Soldiers detained them all – and called an explosive ordnance disposal team to destroy the weapons. Sawyer a native of Reading, Penn., was jubilant about the operation. “All of this was possible because of sources we’ve developed, through local-national engagements and working with the residents of the area,” he said. “It’s our work with the people in these areas, our relations with them, paying off.” The primary target is allegedly responsible for shooting down an AH-64 helicopter in April 2006, the abductions of two Soldiers in June 2006, and complex attacks on patrol bases and terrorist acts against both Coalition Forces and Iraqi civilians. Additionally, he is believed to be the leader of an al Qaeda network, known to prey on the general public through intimidation and murder against those resisting compliance to the AQI demands and decrees One of the detainees had been wounded in a previous engagement, and was taken to a coalition hospital for treatment. The other six are being held for further questioning. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #5 LH is absolutely right (and James, you're absolutely wrong). Civilians are just that -- civilians, or as Bill Whittle would call them, sheep. Nothing wrong with being a sheep, that's what most of us are. But you have to be a mighty brave sheep to go messing with the wolves when there's no sheepdogs around to protect you. Most folks won't do that. 'Clear and hold' means that we keep the sheepdogs around (either our troops or sufficiently capable Iraqi troops), so that civilians are willing to risk their necks to provide information. When they see that the sheepdogs are honest, aren't brutal (that's the point, wxjames), and risk their own lives to protect the population, then the civilians will step up, just like this. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-07-10 16:47 |
| #4 They only do this when they see we are winning in their area and giving them at least some safety from AQ. Thats why more such stories since the surge. And from areas where the surge forces have been concentrated. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-07-10 16:31 |
| #3 While a welcome development, please let me know when this happens on a daily basis. Only then will the Iraqis even begin to deserve the tremendous boon that has been handed to them on a silver platter. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-10 15:10 |
| #2 Cool story. Intelligence is starting to shape up. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-10 14:52 |
| #1 Get the water boards ready for intel surfing. Notify the second shift that more raids are pending. It's collection time ! |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-07-10 14:38 |