Admiral Recounts First Month of Baghdad Security Plan

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

March 19, 2007 – During the new Baghdad security plan's first month, civilian casualties were reduced by about 50 percent from the previous 30 days, a senior military official told reporters in the Iraqi capital today. "It's the first positive sign that we see in terms of ... protecting the Iraqi people in Baghdad," Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox, Multinational Force Iraq's communications division chief, said.

The operation, called Fardh al-Qanoon, an Iraqi phrase that means "Enforcing the Law," was announced Feb. 13 and included initiatives to split Baghdad into 10 districts and create joint security stations in the capital city.

"We currently have 25 Joint Security Stations operational throughout the city," Fox said. Combined forces' current goal is to establish 70 such stations and combat outposts, he said.

"This is a conditions-based effort," Fox added. "If we need more, we will build more."

Fox said the reduction of civilian casualties in Baghdad is heartening, but it will take patience, resolve and commitment to make peace in Baghdad a "long-term trend."

The admiral noted that three of the five U.S. surge brigades have yet to arrive in Iraq.

"I think it will take a number of months, rather than days or weeks, for us to see the results that we want to see," he said. "This is a struggle between the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people who want peace and security, and against those who would use terror to sow their own seeds of chaos and division."

An example of such terror was visible March 16, Fox said, when an al Qaeda member drove his truck, laden with explosives, into a small village outside of Fallujah.

"He then maliciously detonated his chlorine bomb in an attempt to murder a crowd of innocent Iraqis," Fox said. "The terrorist only managed to kill himself, but regretfully, 95 Iraqi villagers suffered the effects of chlorine gas exposure."

The admiral mentioned this and another recent bombing as evidence that al Qaeda and other extremists "are determined to use massacres and intimidation to spread terror and create division."

"This is what the people of Iraq are up against," he said.

But Iraqi security forces' efforts are working to protect civilians, Fox said. He cited the Iraqi army's March 16 discovery of a large weapons cache that contained more than 1,800 pounds of bulk explosives, six surface-to-air missiles, 124 rockets, 260 mortar rounds and 79 projectile rounds in Mosul.

"This was a significant find," he said. "It was so large that the Iraqi forces didn't have enough room in their trucks to move the entire cache in one trip."

This operation is true evidence of Iraqis in the lead taking ownership of their own security, he said. "They're showing bravery and growing professionalism every day."

This article is sponsored by criminal justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.

Security Plan Working as Violence Drops in Northwest Baghdad

By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

March 16, 2007 – Moving coalition forces out of big forward operating bases and into smaller community-based combat outposts as part of the Baghdad Security Plan has reduced violence and helped to stabilize northwestern Baghdad, a senior Army officer serving there said today. Murders are down by more than half since January in the densely populated 93-square-kilometer area controlled by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said its commander, Army Col. J.B. Burton.

His troops have found only 10 planted improvised explosive devices this month. That's down from 36 in January, when 89 IEDs were detonated. So far this month, there have been only 21 IED detonations, Burton reported.

About 1 million people live in the area patrolled by Burton's troops. It is principally Shiia-occupied in the northeast, Sunni in the west and southwest, and mixed in the southeast. Sectarian fault lines define the areas, and both Sunni and Shiia extremists fight for control over portions of the city and its citizens, Burton said.

Extremists have used tactics ranging from car bombs to illegal militia control over access to gas stations and food distribution programs to execution-style murders by death squads, Burton said. Such murders are down from 141 in January to 63 in February to only 16 so far in March, he said. But the area has seen an increase in car bombs targeting Shiia gathering places, Burton said, mostly by Sunni extremists.

Burton said he believes this decline is directly attributable to his soldiers living in the neighborhoods and working side by side with the Iraqi security forces.

Originally, the combat outposts were designed solely to create and keep a troop presence in the community. However, they have transformed into combined command posts, or joint security stations, with coalition forces working in cooperation with Iraqi forces. This allows for better and faster information sharing and easier operations planning, Burton said.

"Every day I go out and visit these joint security stations, I see better interoperability, increased command and control processes and increased sharing of information," Burton said. "What we started out with as a means to get coalition forces out into the battlefield has grown into a very promising effort to execute combined operations across western Baghdad."

But, while violence has decreased since implementing the Baghdad Security Plan, Burton was quick to add that it is still too soon to say how long the downturn will last.

"Make no mistake, we are not proclaiming victory yet. There's a lot of tough work ahead, but we are very optimistic," Burton said.

Meanwhile, the lull in violence is giving local governments time to form and operate. Burton said it's also boosting the confidence local Iraqi forces, which he called a "fundamental necessity for improving the quality of life for Iraqis in Baghdad is security."

Within the next month, a provincial reconstruction team will embed itself in the area. The team will work with the local governments to begin improving essential services and infrastructure, Burton said.

Already, his own reconstruction team has been working in the area to increase employment opportunities, which Burton said is a key element of decreasing acts of violence. In Shula and Kadhimiya, his team has worked with local government leaders and the district advisory councils to create municipal jobs and help open small business.

"These are all positive signs, that we see the employment opportunities decreasing the violence, specifically in the Shula and Kadhimiya areas," Burton said. "We hope to export similar programs throughout the rest of the area of responsibility."

This article was sponsored by criminal justice online leadership; and, police and military personnel who have authored books.