More good news from Iraq

Our media does not want to tell us about the good things happening in Iraq. In January this year, Condi Rice made a statement , explaining the need to build up Iraq and provide its people with independence. If this was reported , I missed it somehow .

For some provinces of the country, that independence has been achieved. Setting a milestone on July 13, 2006, Muthanna became the first province to transition its security to Provincial Iraqi Control (PIC). The second province to transfer authority was Dhi Qar on September 21 and An Najaf on December 20. Most recently, Maysan transferred authority on April 18.



But the government in these areas is still in its fledgling stages. Having spent so much time under the Saddam-controlled central government, many officials in provinces such as Dhi Qar and Muthanna are learning how to manage and provide essential services for the people in their areas.



That’s where the Provincial Reconstruction Teams come in. The PRTs exist as a civil-military effort, which in many places become the number one interface between U.S. and Coalition allies and Iraqi provincial governments.

These provincial reconstruction teams are rebuilding Iraq daily, but all we hear is about suicide bombers and soldiers being tried for doing their jobs. Our soldiers are much better than the Left would want us to believe and they deserve our support.

Richard Riley, the deputy team leader of the Italian-led Dhi Qar PRT, said there were four areas in particular from the President's New Way Forward plan the PRTs were focusing on to build capacity within the Iraqis themselves.

"[We need to] bolster the moderates in government of the provinces where we work," he said. "Another is foster reconciliation across the political lines around the province. Develop the economy to the degree that we can by advising the government in economic development. The fourth is to develop the capacity of the government in the province to perform its functions as a government.”

Readers should go to cent.com and read the article.


Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq

Our Peace-keeping Mission

On The Elitist Pig , Dave Nalle hits the nail on the head about our involvement in Iraq. The actual war ended 4 years ago, and we have been conducting a peace-keeping mission since then all by ourselves practically.

Contrary to the popular spin, the war in Iraq ended just about 4 years ago this month. We went in, fought Saddam's army, defeated them, killed his raping maniac sons, captured the Beast of Baghdad himself and neutralized Iraq's potential to make trouble in the region and around the world.

I have to agree with Dave on this.

All this time various groups have found it politically advantageous or convenient to keep calling what's going on in Iraq a war, and there's certainly plenty of fighting going on to make it look like one. But what's absolutely not going on there is a war between the United States and Iraq. Putting aside our conflict with al Qaeda, our main role in Iraq for the last four years has basically been babysitting - we've been keeping the peace. We've been doing the job the UN was made for, without their support and without the support of most of the nations which ought to be in there risking their soldiers to try to sort out the chaos so that Iraq can survive long enough to stand on its own.

I have had these same thought, but have not been able to express them as well.

Someone is going to have to have a hell of a lot of troops in Iraq for years to come. If we continue to allow the situation there to be presented as a war, it's likely to be us going it alone for much longer than we'd like. No one wants to join in and help out with an unpopular war. Only by affirming and publicly acknowledging the transition from war to peace mission which really took place almost 4 years ago are we going to be able to move forward and do what needs to be done there and do it with the support of the American people and the international community who should have been there with us from the start.

More on Iraqi military transition

Here is Brigadier General Dana Pittard , the head of the Iraq Assistance Group on the progress of the transition of Iraq's army into leadership roles in the war .

Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard highlighted the role of transition teams in Iraq and their progress at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone, Baghdad.

Embedded transition teams work side by side with Iraqi Army and Police. The primary goal of these teams is to increase the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces and build their self- reliance, said Pittard.

Performance of the teams is important to success.

“I am very impressed with the performance of the Iraqi Army. There was a time when

Coalition forces had to urge Iraqi Forces to fight that is not the case anymore. They are not only capable of fighting, they want to fight for a sovereign Iraq,” said Pittard.

These teams are embedded with Iraqi Security Forces ranging from battalion to division-sized forces. There are currently 500 transition teams working with Iraqi Security Forces.

The embedded teams vary in size, but a typical team consists of 11 members. The number of teams may not increase, but the actual size of the teams may change, said Pittard.

Eight of the 10 divisions in the Iraqi Army are now under Iraqi control and all divisions are showing evidence of self- reliance, said Pittard.

Six of the divisions are under the Iraqi Ground Forces and two are under the Baghdad Security Command.

While they are under Iraqi control, they still receive some American support, according to Pittard.

Source -
cent.com

Due to the dedication of the embedded transition teams over the last two years the Iraqi Security Forces have seen a dramatic increase in performance.