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| Iraq |
| Trained for War, 12 Green Berets Keep the Peace in an Iraqi Town |
| 2003-04-18 |
| They were trained in the art of war and came to Iraq to fight. But now that the regime has been toppled, Army Special Forces soldiers in Diwaniya have found themselves on an entirely different and, in many ways, more difficult mission. They are trying to rebuild the city. It is a battle against chaos instead of bullets. The Green Berets have had to wade into angry crowds. They have mediated between rival tribes locked in blood feuds. They have tried to hold together the city's thin threads of social order, not always with success. Today, a man was killed when the bodyguards of a sheik from another city fired into a crowd of 200 men who were protesting the sheik's presence at a community meeting. Soldiers arrested 16 of the bodyguards and detained the sheik, drawing loud applause from the crowd. But it was a setback for the team, which had worked closely with the sheik, a leader of the Jabour tribe. "Just when things looked like they were going good, we have a power struggle in town," said the Special Forces team leader, a 32-year-old captain. Rules imposed by the military bar identification of the leader, or any members of his team. There is a crisis like this almost every day. The team has become the de facto center of Diwaniya's government, which has all but ceased to function. It is a role the Green Berets have played before, in villages and towns in Vietnam and elsewhere. (con't see link) |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #4 From this AM's Centcom briefing "There are still many challenges ahead. Power remains at the core of many issues confronting the coalition as well as the Iraqi people. Progress is being made daily, however. In Hadithah, near the Hadithah dam, through the efforts of coalition special operations forces and the local population, power has been restored to the surrounding community. In the northern towns of Irbil, Dohuk, Sulimaniyah, there is sufficient fuel on hand to run electric powerplants for over 40 days. Returning full power to Baghdad will require more electrical managers and technicians to come back to work. ... As of today, in Baghdad, six diesel-operated plants are online and generating power, and the south Baghdad powerplant has resumed operations." Further comments on moving medical supplies to hospitals in Baghdad and Nassiriya. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-18 16:07:00 |
| #3 Christian Science Monitor reports looted medicines being returned to Red Cross in Baghdad. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-18 09:24:08 |
| #2 From yesterdays Centcom briefing (via Globalsecurity.org) "Power was recently restored in the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk, and while this is a very important accomplishment for the over 750,000 people in Kirkuk, its impact is far more significant in areas beyond Kirkuk. In this case, the power in Kirkuk will restore function to a natural gas complex that's also located there. Once the gas complex is restored to 100 percent capability, the natural gas can then be pumped from Kirkuk to Mosul, where a gas-operated power plant is currently down. The gas-operated power station will then be able to provide stable electric power that's needed to run the Mosul hydroelectric station at the Mosul Dam to the northwest of Mosul -- formerly known as the Saddam Dam. Once power is restored there, the water distribution system in Mosul can also be restored. And most significantly, the lines that run from Mosul south to Baiji can be activated. That, then, provides enough energy into the Baiji substation to push power straight into Baghdad and also Tikrit. So, as we have successes like the Kirkuk power plant being restored, it starts a sequence that rapidly improves conditions throughout. Concurrently, the Baghdad South power plant is being prepared to run on a temporary supply of oil until an uninterrupted supply of both power and oil can be provided. And, we are confident that there will be many more good news stories like this in the coming days." |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-18 08:58:47 |
| #1 From the BBC: "For British forces controlling the streets of Basra, the last few days have been a vindication. Colonel Chris Vernon of Britain's Seventh Armoured Brigade says you've only got to look out on the streets of the city to see that the doom merchants were wrong. "Shops opening, taxis operating, markets operating, people out on the streets, cars moving in far greater quantities than they were for example when we came in here. All those signs are of normality." It's hard to deny that things are improving fast in Basra. Local people no longer complain of the looting. Instead, it's clean water they are now demanding. " |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-18 08:39:34 |