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| Iraq |
| Pacifying the Baghdad Airport Road |
| 2005-11-16 |
| November 16, 2005: For two years, the ten kilometer road from Baghdad to the airport was the site of constant combat, as terrorists set off roadside bombs and shot at coalition and Iraqi troops. This was embarrassing, as everyone leaving Baghdad via the airport got a vivid example of something the U.S. Army was NOT able to control. From a military standpoint, it should not have been impossible to make the road safe. But it wasn’t until the Summer of 2005 that someone was put in charge, who knew how to get the job done. The job was given to Lt. Col. Michael Harris, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division's 6th Battalion, 8th Calvary Regiment (the divisional reconnaissance battalion). Harris quickly sized up the problem. First, there was the problem of roadside bombs. These came from teams of terrorists who crossed about 75 meters of open ground from the villages along the smaller parallel road, to the multilane airport road, and set up the bombs. Over the last two years, this had become a lot more dangerous, because of regular UAV and helicopter patrols. But the air cover was not there 24/7, and the more persistent terrorists would wait for when there was nothing the air, and make their move. As planting roadside bomber became more difficult, suicide car bombers got onto the highway in greater numbers, because the access roads were not guarded all the time. The solution, it turned out, was the increasing availability of reliable Iraqi soldiers and police. Harris arranged for the Iraqi police to set up 24/7 check points on all access road to the airport highway. There were now enough Iraqi police to patrol the villages along the highway, and American troops were made available to back up the Iraqi cops if they ran into large groups of terrorists (who, in the past, were assembled to chase the police out of a village or neighborhood.) The people in the villages, as they grew more confident in the abilities of the police, were more inclined to report terrorist activity. Harris also took advantage of the better training and tactics of American troops and had them slow down when traveling on the highway. This made it easier to spot any roadside bombs, before they could go off. There weren’t many bombs along the road anyway, and if they could be spotted, they could be disabled or destroyed. By slowing down, the troops also reduced traffic accidents, which caused a lot of injuries and damage. In October there was only one injury along the road, from enemy attacks. There were more losses from traffic accidents. The Iraqis benefited the most from this, because most of the losses on the road this year had been Iraqi civilians. The troops were ready and able to defend themselves, the civilians weren’t. The resources had been there for a while to make the highway safe, but it took one officer with sufficient insight and leadership skills to make it happen. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #11 Is it just possible that the MSM isnt monolithic? No, Rove has total control. If you knew about this, lh, why didn't you post it? |
| Posted by: Grolusing Chutch6799 2005-11-16 18:00 |
| #10 60 minutes spun it the other way AFTER the WaPo did their piece. But thats CBS. Is it just possible that the MSM isnt monolithic? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-11-16 17:09 |
| #9 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302600.html?nav=rss_nation/special November 3rd. Washington Post. NPR picked it up the next day, as did the Seattle paper. Not sure who else did. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-11-16 17:06 |
| #8 uh, guys. This one was in the Washington Post over a week ago. The Strategy Page piece looks like it was largely lifted from the WaPo. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-11-16 17:04 |
| #7 plainsow - more likely they rushed to get their negative propaganda out in front of the good news they knew was about to air. Verlaine - A few weeks ago I saw a few western reporters nearly bristle with challenges What's sad about that comment is that it doesn't make the surprise meter budge. It's just accepted that reporters work against our interests. That should be shocking - but it's not. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-11-16 14:43 |
| #6 Remember, positive developments simply make a topic disappear. A few weeks ago I saw a few western reporters nearly bristle with challenges when a the head of the military press center mentioned the near-total absence of attacks on Route Irish in recent months. I still wish we'd just closed it to non-Coalition traffic and used the resulting stupid attempts to attack it as harvesting and demonstration opportunities .... |
| Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq 2005-11-16 14:14 |
| #5 They mentioned it Grizzeled. It was on 60 minutes, as to how bad it was. Next morning, I first heard how safe it was. Don't know if 60 minurtes will redo thier story. The reporter kept trying to get the miltary to say it was a failure. Can we get them to say thier report was a failure? |
| Posted by: plainslow 2005-11-16 13:50 |
| #4 Let's find out if it really is safe. Send, unannounced, John McCain from the Airport to the Green Zone in an unescorted Super Shuttle. That was his definition of success, wasn't it? |
| Posted by: Jamble Croting5747 2005-11-16 12:43 |
| #3 The road to the airport's safe? When did that happen? They never mentioned that on the news. Or maybe I was too trashed when they did. Looks like it's time to catch a flight home and sign that book deal. I'll call it "War Is Hell!". On second thought, I got a little time. Doubles for everybody, Mahmoud! Put it on my tab. I'll expense it when I get home. I'll send you your tip. Promise. |
| Posted by: Grizzled War Correspondent 2005-11-16 12:41 |
| #2 QUAGMRIRE, VIETNAM, LIES, HALIBURTON, ROVE, LIBBY, PLAME, WMDS, PBS, CBS, FNC, MICKEY MOUSE! BTW good job Col Harris. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-11-16 11:47 |
| #1 The solution, it turned out, was the increasing availability of reliable Iraqi soldiers and police. Well I never... |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2005-11-16 11:06 |