Mood:  celebratory

Troops disrupt operations, capture insurgents

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Farnsworth, a platoon sergeant with Company A, 325th Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, pulls security next to a Soldier from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division during a clearing operation in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah District Monday. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs.

BAGHDAD -- Coalition forces detained a number of suspects and uncovered an enemy mortar system in Iraq during operations that ended Tuesday.

A local citizen tipped Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers to uncover a 60mm mortar system in Sadr City Sunday.

The local approached paratroopers from 82nd Airborne Division’s 325th Airborne Infantry regiment and told them the location of a mortar system he discovered in the back of a truck.

“We suspect this mortar system was used in attacks on Coalition outposts, based on the location and point of origin site in which it was found,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. David Oclander, the executive officer for the unit’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

“Risking his own personal security, this man took action to get weapons used by criminal militias off the streets,” Oclander said. “(This is) a great example of how Iraqi citizens are working to take action in securing their neighborhoods.”

Coalition forces conducted several other operations across Iraq.

In raids targeting al-Qaeda Tuesday morning, Coalition forces detained 18 suspected terrorists by using intelligence based off information gained from previous successful operations.

Coalition forces also raided four buildings associated with al-Qaeda northwest of Fallujah, rounding up an additional 13 suspected terrorists.

Military officials said the suspects have ties to a cell, which carries out car-bomb, sniper and mortar attacks against Coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.

In Mosul Tuesday, Coalition forces raided two buildings and detained two suspected terrorists, including an assistant to a senior terrorist leader who was captured May 29.

Coalition forces also captured suspected key al-Qaeda leaders in Rustafa, Taji and Termiyah, Tuesday morning.

“Our continuing operations are frustrating al-Qaeda in Iraq’s ability to operate,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman. “We are targeting them, detaining them, and in turn [they] are giving us information to disrupt the networks further.”

Coalition forces nabbed four suspected terrorists, including one suspected terror cell leader during raids in northeast Baghdad.

Military officials said the suspects are members of a secret terror cell responsible for moving explosively formed penetrators and other weapons to Iraq. The cell is believed to bring militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training.

“Coalition forces continue to break apart the terrorist networks that attempt to bring instability to Iraq and inflict continued violence on the Iraqi people,” Garver said.

The work of Iraqi citizens and Coalition troops has led to multiple arrests and the seizing of several weapons caches, disrupting operations and creating a safer environment for the people of Iraq.

(Compiled from Multi-National Force-Iraq and Multi-National Corps-Iraq news releases)

In other developments throughout Iraq:
• Coalition forces detained 18 suspected terrorists in raids targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq network Tuesday morning based on information gained from previous successful operations.

• Coalition and Iraqi forces captured a wanted insurgent during combat operations near the Karkh Oil Facility, northeast of Lutifiyah, Iraq June 1.

Multi-National Force - Iraq ** Troops disrupt operations, capture insurgents

Posted by yaahoo_ at 7:02 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 7:05 PM EDT

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Mood:  energetic

Definitely not a 'soft' drink...

Fox News.com ~ Associated Press ** Man Sues Health Drink Maker Over Erection

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:36 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 3:16 PM EDT

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Mood:  special

All You Need is Water: Dutch Students Make Alcohol Powder

AMSTERDAM -- Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.

The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gram packets that cost 1-1.5 euros ($1.35-$2).

Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.

"We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks," 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.

Van Elderen and four classmates at Helicon Vocational Institute, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam, came up with the idea as part of their final-year project.

"Because the alcohol is not in liquid form, we can sell it to people below 16," said project member Martyn van Nierop.

The legal age for drinking alcohol and smoking is 16 in the Netherlands.

In Germany, alcopops -- sweet drinks containing alcohol and in powder form -- caused quite a stir when launched on to the market. Alcohol powder, classified as a flavouring, was sold in the United States three years ago.

The students said companies interested in making the product commercially could avoid taxes because the alcohol was in powder form. A number of companies are interested, they said.

Fox News.com ~ Reuters ** All You Need is Water: Dutch Students Make Alcohol Powder

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:07 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 2:47 PM EDT

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Mood:  don't ask

Murder in US vs. Murder in Iraq

The federal government has released new murder statistics. You have to run estimates here to get the numbers because the story does not list the numbers. They just list the percentage increase in recent years. Anyway, the bottom line is that the estimates for the murders in America today are 16,185 every year, and rapes, 92,837. Doesn't that sort of put in perspective, ladies and gentlemen, what's happening in Iraq and the way news is reported concerning both?

Yahoo News ~ Reuters - James Vicini ** Violent crime up again, more murders, robberies

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:44 AM EDT

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Mood:  d'oh

Louisiana Congressman indicted on corruption charges...

Jury Indicts Jefferson (D) in Bribery Probe, corruption charges

WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering in a long- running bribery investigation into business deals he tried to broker in Africa.

The indictment handed up in federal court in Alexandria., Va., Monday is 94 pages long and lists 16 alleged violations of federal law that could keep Jefferson in prison for up to 235 years. He is charged with racketeering, soliciting bribes, wire fraud, money-laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Jefferson is accused of soliciting bribes for himself and his family, and also for bribing a Nigerian official.

Almost two years ago, in August 2005, investigators raided Jefferson's home in Louisiana and found $90,000 in cash stuffed into a box in his freezer.

Jefferson, 63, whose Louisiana district includes New Orleans, has said little about the case publicly but has maintained his innocence. He was re-elected last year despite the looming investigation.

Jefferson, in Louisiana on Monday, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Two of Jefferson's associates have already struck plea bargains with prosecutors and have been sentenced.

Brett Pfeffer, a former congressional aide, admitted soliciting bribes on Jefferson's behalf and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Another Jefferson associate, Louisville, Ky., telecommunications executive Vernon Jackson, pleaded guilty to paying between $400,000 and $1 million in bribes to Jefferson in exchange for his assistance securing business deals in Nigeria and other African nations. Jackson was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Both Pfeffer and Jackson agreed to cooperate in the case against Jefferson in exchanges for their pleas.

The impact of the case has stretched across continents and even roiled presidential politics in Nigeria. According to court records, Jefferson told associates that he needed cash to pay bribes to the country's vice president, Atiku Abubakar.

Abubakar denied the allegations, which figured prominently in that country's presidential elections in April. Abubakar ran for the presidency and finished third.

The indictment does not name Abubakar. But it describes Jefferson's dealings with an unnamed "Nigerian Official A" who was a high-ranking official in Nigeria's executive branch who had a spouse in Potomac, Md. One of Abubakar's wives lived in that Washington suburb.

Court records indicate that Jefferson was videotape taking a $100,000 cash bribe from an FBI informant. Most of that money later turned up in a freezer in Jefferson's home.

In May 2006, the FBI raided Jefferson's congressional office, the first such raid on a sitting congressman's Capitol office. That move sparked a constitutional debate over whether the executive branch stepped over its boundary.

The legality of the raid is still being argued on appeal. House leaders objected to the search saying it was an unconstitutional intrusion on the lawmaking process. The FBI said the raid was necessary because Jefferson and his legal team had failed to respond to requests for documents.

Some but not all the documents seized in the raid have been turned over Justice Department prosecutors.

Associated Press writer Cain Burdeau in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Breitbart.com ~ Associated Press - Lara Jakes Jordan ** Jury Indicts Jefferson in Bribery Probe
Also at: Fox News

Most ethical congress... ever!!! As I expect that Nancy Puglosi will ask Rep. Jefferson to resign. [sarcasm off]

LOL, Right-wing conspiracy? Racism? A mistake? It can't be corruption, it just can't be!

Three things will happen: 1. All the MSM will start referring to him as "Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson," instead of "Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA), just like they did with Gary Condit years back, to take heat off the demented-cRATS and try to make it appear as if he's a Republican. 2. Pelosi, Reid, et. al., will start harping about "innocent until proven guilty,' and get Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to start up the race baiting. They will not force, or even ask, Jefferson to resign -- to the contrary, they will state how he is standing up for the Constitution and the Rule of Law by not giving in to those racist crackers in the DOJ. 3. This story will disappear from the MSM by Friday of this week.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EDT

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Mood:  loud

Democrats hide pet projects from voters...

House keeps pet projects from scrutiny

AP Photo: Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., walks through a hallway after speaking at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Hall of Fame Dinner, Saturday, June 2, 2007, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. >>>>>

WASHINGTON -- After promising unprecedented openness regarding Congress' pork barrel practices, House Democrats are moving in the opposite direction as they draw up spending bills for the upcoming budget year.

Democrats are sidestepping rules approved their first day in power in January to clearly identify "earmarks" — lawmakers' requests for specific projects and contracts for their states — in documents that accompany spending bills.

Rather than including specific pet projects, grants and contracts in legislation as it is being written, Democrats are following an order by the House Appropriations Committee chairman to keep the bills free of such earmarks until it is too late for critics to effectively challenge them.

Rep. David Obey (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., says those requests for dams, community grants and research contracts for favored universities or hospitals will be added spending measures in the fall. That is when House and Senate negotiators assemble final bills to send to President Bush.

Such requests total billions of dollars.

As a result, most lawmakers will not get a chance to oppose specific projects as wasteful or questionable when the spending bills for various agencies get their first votes in the full House in June.

The House-Senate compromise bills due for final action in September cannot be amended and are subject to only one hour of debate, precluding challenges to individual projects.

Obey insists he is reluctantly taking the step because Appropriations Committee members and staff have not had enough time to fully review the 36,000 earmark requests that have flooded the committee.

The committee has been absorbed with writing a catchall spending bill cleaning up unfinished budget business from last year and the just-completed Iraq war spending bill.

"It's going to take weeks to get that screening done and I'm the person that has to sign off," Obey told his colleagues at a committee meeting just before Memorial Day. "As long as I'm in charge, I'm going to make doggone sure that we do everything possible to screen every project."

Obey also says many lawmakers requested additional time to get their official requests for back-home projects submitted for review.

Budget watchdog groups who "scrub" appropriations bills for questionable provisions are outraged.

"Who appointed him judge and jury of earmarks?" Tom Schatz, president of the Citizens Against Government Waste. "What that does is leave out the public's input."

What Obey is doing runs counter to new rules that Democrats promised would make such spending decisions more open. Those rules made it clear that projects earmarked for federal dollars and their sponsors were to be made available to public scrutiny when appropriations bills are debated.

The rules also require lawmakers requesting such projects to provide a written explanation describing their requests and a letter certifying that they or their spouse would not make any financial gain from them.

The greater transparency was supposed to lead to more self-discipline on the part of lawmakers. While the great majority of home-state projects are easy to defend, there are often clunkers. For example, the "bridge to nowhere," a $223 million span in Alaska to link Ketchikan and Gravina Island, which has a population of about 50.

Ultimately, after the bridge was widely mocked in news account, Congress decided to dump it.

Obey has promised to cut congressional earmarks — which the White House says totaled almost $19 billion in 2005 — in half.

Democrats, he says, will follow the new rules when earmarks are added to the bills, which in most cases will not be until House-Senate talks in September.

Republicans say Democrats are skirting the new disclosure rules. Rep. Jerry Lewis (news, bio, voting record) of California, the Appropriations Committee's former chairman and now its top Republican, said Obey's move represents "a complete lack of transparency."

Conservatives say they will employ guerrilla tactics during debates in the full House to push their point.

"This is not more sunlight. This is actually keeping earmarks secret until it's too late to do anything about it," griped Rep. Jeff Flake (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz. "It will be impossible for anybody to challenge any of what will be thousands and thousands and thousands of earmarks."

Some Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are threatening to block appropriations bills from going to House-Senate conference talks if that is when lawmakers' projects are going to be added.

Democrats in the Senate — including Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee — also are unhappy about Obey's move. Many do not like the prospect of waiting until September or October to learn which hometown projects they will get

Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Andrew Taylor ** House keeps pet projects from scrutiny

You can always trust the Demented-crats. To raise taxes to pay for their hidden agendas and pay for all the perks and "entitlements" while not supporting the military.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EDT

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Mood:  energetic

More bad news for the lame-stream media, Demented-crats and libtards...

Sunni revolt against al-Qaida spreads

AP Photo >>>

BAGHDAD -- An al-Qaida-linked suicide bomber struck a safehouse occupied by an insurgent group that has turned against the terror network. Friday's attack northeast of Baghdad killed two other militants, police said, the latest sign that an internal Sunni power struggle is spreading.

The U.S. military also announced the deaths of five more servicemen. At least 126 American troops were killed in Iraq in May, the third-deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began more than four years ago.

May was also the third-deadliest for Iraqis since The Associated Press began tracking civilian casualties in April 2005. At least 2,155 Iraqis were killed last month, according to the AP count. The Iraqi government put the number at 2,123, according to officials at the Interior Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The explosion in Baqouba came as Iraqi and U.S. troops fanned out in the Sunni stronghold of Amariyah in the capital, enforcing an indefinite curfew after heavily armed residents clashed with al-Qaida in Iraq fighters, apparently fed up with the group's brutal tactics.

"Al-Qaida fighters and leaders have completely destroyed Amariyah," said Abu Ahmed, a 40-year-old Sunni father of four who said he joined in the clashes. "No one can venture out, and all the businesses are closed. They kill everyone who criticizes them and is against their acts even if they are Sunnis."

Other residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, said the clashes began after al-Qaida militants abducted and tortured Sunnis from the area. That prompted a large number of residents, including many members of the rival Islamic Army armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, to rise up against the terror network. U.S. forces joined them in the fighting Wednesday and Thursday.

Ahmed denied being a member of any insurgent group but said he sympathizes with "honest Iraqi resistance," referring to those opposed both to U.S.-led efforts in Iraq and to the brutal tactics of al-Qaida.

With the insurgency appearing increasingly fragmented, Iraqi officials congratulated Amariyah residents for confronting al-Qaida.

"Government security forces are now in control of the Amariyah district," Iraqi military spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi was quoted as saying by Iraqi state TV. He also lauded "the cooperation of local residents with the government."

U.S. and Iraqi officials have claimed recent success in the effort to isolate al-Qaida, particularly in the western Anbar province, where many Sunni tribes have banded together to fight the terror network.

A growing number of Sunni tribes have reportedly been turning against al-Qaida elsewhere as well, repelled by the terror network's sheer brutality and austere religious extremism.

The extremists also are competing with nationalist groups for influence and control over diminishing territory in the face of U.S. assaults, a situation exacerbated by the influx of Sunni fighters to areas outside the capital as they flee a nearly four-month-old security crackdown.

But the clashes in Amariyah appeared to be the fiercest fighting between Sunni groups in the capital.

"I think this is happening because of al-Qaida's brutality," said Ehsan Ahrari, professor and specialist in counterterrorism at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. "They have been hurting the Sunni population in Iraq and that is coming back to hurt al-Qaida."

"The event itself is significant because it looks like the U.S. is making some breakthrough in terms of establishing consensus with the Sunni population," he said. "Of course we have to hold our breath and see, but this is important no doubt."

Official casualty figures from the fighting in Amariyah were not available. But a local council member, who declined to be identified because of security concerns, said at least 31 people, including six al-Qaida militants, were killed and 45 other fighters were detained in the clashes. The council member also said an indefinite curfew was imposed starting at 6 a.m. on Friday, confining people to their houses.

The explosion in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, came as residents said al-Qaida was trying to regain control of the central Tahrir neighborhood from the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a group composed of officials and soldiers from the ousted regime who have allied themselves with local security forces against the terror network.

Local police said at least two members of the rival insurgent group were killed. The bomber was affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq, according to police who would not be named because they feared they would be targeted.

Separately, the U.S. military announced that coalition forces killed six militants and detained 18 others in operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq on Thursday and Friday.

Three children, ages 7, 9 and 11, were also killed Friday during a U.S. attack on suspected militants trying to plant roadside bombs in Anbar province, the military said.

Nationwide, at least 32 Iraqis were killed or found dead on Friday, including 15 bullet-riddled bodies that turned up on the streets of Baghdad, apparent victims of so-called sectarian death squads usually run by Shiite militias.

The deadliest months in the past two years were December 2006, when at least 2,309 were killed, and November 2006, when at least 2,250 were killed.

The number of bodies found — usually attributed to sectarian death squads — dipped slightly in February 2007, immediately after the Baghdad security crackdown began Feb. 14, but has been steadily increasing in recent weeks. Since April 1, at least 1,974 bodies have been found across Iraq. At least 1,186 of these were found inside Baghdad, and 788 outside the capital.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that three American soldiers were killed by small-arms fire in Baghdad over the past three days.

Another soldier died Thursday at a hospital in Maryland, two weeks after he was seriously wounded by a sniper while searching for American troops captured by al-Qaida-linked militants south of Baghdad.

The military also announced the death of a soldier from wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest Shiite party, returned to Baghdad from Iran after completing the first phase of his treatment for lung cancer, according to the Web site of the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq.

Separately, the State Department said the publication of computer-generated projections for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad on an architecture firm's Web site would be a factor in future security considerations but would not affect the operation as a whole.

"Obviously, the fact that some of this material has been out in the public domain is something our security folks will have to take into consideration as they move forward with construction and occupancy of the facility. But it hasn't in any fundamental way altered our plans," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington.

AP writers Sinan Salaheddin and Bushra Juhi in Baghdad and AP's News Research Center in New York contributed to this report.
Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Kim Gamel ** Sunni revolt against al-Qaida spreads
Related: This Blog *** Surge improves security, quality of life in Baghdad
Washington Post ~ Associated Press - Anne Gearan ** U.S. Embassy in Iraq to Be Biggest Ever

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:39 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 6:36 PM EDT

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Mood:  bright

We better put the Demented-crats on suicide watch...

Surge improves security, quality of life in Baghdad

By Master Sgt. Dave Larsen
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

An Iraqi vender works on setting displays of fresh vegetables on Haifa Street in central Baghdad, May 15. The area had been a hot-bed of violence and extremist activity, but is now returning to a peaceful normality of day-to-day living. U.S. Army photo by Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl.

CAMP LIBERTY -- The surge of Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces into Baghdad neighborhoods is aimed at improving the security situation in the Iraqi capital. Yet, there are other programs benefiting by having more boots on the ground during Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon.

“The surge has assisted civil military operations by putting more coalition eyes on the environment, so that we get a more responsive analysis of what essential services and economic development services are needed by the populace,” said Lt. Col. John Rudolph, the assistant chief of staff of civil military operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

Rudolph said civil military operations in MND-B’s area of operation, which run the gamut from governance to agriculture to infrastructure to economic improvements, have already dedicated more than $163 million of Commander’s Emergency Relief Project (CERP) funds to projects all aimed at improving the quality of life for Iraqis living in and around Baghdad.

An Iraqi sergeant major asks a question of the speaker during the personnel portion of the Iraqi Army Command Sergeants Major Conference May 20 in Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory. About 98 percent of Iraqi Army's sergeants major attended the event, which was held to help strengthen the army's NCO Corps. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Boyer.

“This really is about improving the quality of life for the Iraqis,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commanding general for support with MND-B. That “support” role not only touches the lives of the 50,000-plus troops working under MND-B, but also the Iraqi people. He said it’s challenging to move ahead with quality of life initiatives in the face of extremist efforts to stop them.

“There is a perception that I’ve seen in every sector of this region we have responsibility for - when I talk to the Iraqis - that the Americans have the ability to put a man on the moon, and yet they can’t provide us with electricity,” Brooks said. “That whole idea of an expectation that we promised and haven’t delivered causes a great deal of problems.”

Most westerners and Americans, for sure, cannot conceive flicking on a light switch on the wall and having it click with no effect. But, Baghdad has never had electricity flowing to its six million residents 24 hours a day. Electricity, or the lack thereof, was also tool used by the Ba’athist regime to reward or punish the population.

“You saw areas favored by Saddam and his regime see power longer throughout the day, but they still didn’t get power 24/7,” Rudolph said. “They still had to use what they called the ‘generator men,’ who were entrepreneurs who had their own generators and supplied power to local neighborhoods for the ‘off power’ periods - even during Saddam’s period.”

A local villager checks out the water from the new well at the grand opening ceremony in Kreidi for wells opened there and in Mualih Hasso, another village near Forward Operating Base Qyayyarah.

Rudolph said that providing power to Baghdad residents remains a priority, as witnessed by the 62 projects accounting for more than a quarter of the civil military operations funds dedicated this year – more than $44 million. The challenge to get the lights on throughout the Iraqi capital remains an ongoing issue.

"It was an inefficient system to begin with and what we have done is by our electrification projects, in general, we’ve improved distribution so that the power that comes in is distributed more efficiently,” Rudolph said. “However, the level of available power goes down. It goes out to more places, but it doesn’t last as long.”

Brooks said the provision of power to Baghdad neighborhoods remains a function of governance, and it will be the Iraqi government that will need to illuminate the Iraqi capital.

“Our effort here has to be more than a physical one - to not only find ways to improve those systems physically, but also have to work back through that governance effort to ensure that people who are in positions of responsibility in government are not sectarian and are not biased in the delivery of essential services to all people,” Brooks noted.

Improved security in some areas of the city has allowed life to flourish for some Baghdad residents. Temporary barriers erected throughout the city have created what military officials call “safe markets” and “safe neighborhoods.” Rudolph said the market areas have benefited from the temporary barriers, keeping suicide car bombers at bay while allowing commerce to continue.

The marketplace in the Rusafa District in what is known as “Old Baghdad,” on the east side of the Tigris River, is one of those success stories.

“Shoppers feel much safer going into the market now and they’ve actually seen an increase in the number of local citizens using that market,” Rudolph said. “It’s a perception, an attitude that the stigma of the random violence has lessened.”

The Doura Market is often a stop for visiting dignitaries to Baghdad in the southern Rashid District. The 1st Cavalry Division’s 2nd “Black Jack” Brigade Combat Team from Fort Hood, Texas, conducted the initial assessment of the area and started the revitalization project there.

Doura Market, Rudolph said, went from an unorganized street market of only a few dozen vendors to a thriving market place with more than 200 sellers now. He said the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., now operates in Rashid, and even more improvements are underway.

“4-1st Infantry is following up in their footsteps with a barrier plan just like Rusafa,” Rudolph said. “The shoppers (there) feel much safer in that environment. They’ve got solar-powered lights to provide security in the area. They have host nation security forces doing random patrols of the area, and because of these security measures more shops have opened up.”

Haifa Street, in the city’s center, west of the Tigris River, was once known as a hot-bed of extremist activity. It was a battleground for the 1st Cavalry Division when they operated in Baghdad in 2004-2005, and again earlier this year.

The battleground is now a model neighborhood.

“We’ve turned that around,” Brooks said. “Now, we have a thriving market area that is starting to grow and a revitalization process that will make the Iraqis really proud and recognize that things have improved.”

All things start with security, Brooks said, but quality of life initiatives have been brought to life in areas of the Iraqi capital where the neighborhood and district advisory councils have worked in harmony for the good of their constituents.

“It’s where people in the neighborhood, people in the district recognize that they have needs and they’re the ones who should represent the people in that area,” Brooks said. “Mansour has a very active district council that is functioning very, very well, and our recent security operations have enhanced that, so they feel more and more secure.

“They still remain periodically threatened, though,” Brooks said. “You have to recognize that people who are performing well, especially in harmony, are often targeted by extremists who don’t want to see good governance to ever form here.”

CERP funds are a “band-aid,” Rudolph said. They are a way for coalition forces to provide immediate aid where needed. But MND-B, in conjunction with the State Department, is looking at long-term solutions to many of the issues facing the residents of the Iraqi capital.

“They use training programs for business practices and they also do micro-grants and micro-loans, but those are ‘payments in kind,’ Rudolph explained. “If a business needed, say, a cash register to be able to transact business activities, they wouldn’t get the money to buy it. They would get a cash register. It’s the items they would need, not the cash. As much as security has improved, we still don’t want cash-flow going into the hands of the wrong parties. That’s the best means of addressing it.”

Brooks said MND-B has shifted its focus to long-term investments, versus short-term “band-aids” over the past three months.

“There’s been progress, but the approach that has been taken over the last several years for divisions like the 1st Cavalry Division was to find problems and fix them, and do it quickly,” Brooks said. “We’ve had success in that. But the reality is that it doesn’t leave an enduring systemic effect; so we’ve shifted our focus here over the last three months to look at the holistic system sewage on the west side of the river, for example, and identifying where the pump stations are, where the lift stations are, where the pipes that may be broken are, where there is standing sewage. Then, applying the resources, within the city of Baghdad and the government of Iraq, where they really matter.”

By looking at the broader picture, and engaging the local, district and provincial governments, Brooks said long-term progress is possible.

“What’s changed, I think over that last few years, is how much the larger infrastructure has been revitalized,” Brooks said. “Water pipes have been replaced, electrical transformers have been installed, but it’s that last 100 meters worth of the service that really still has to become focused. Then people will really recognize a difference.”

While on one hand, extremist elements are attempting to create chaos in the city streets and deter progress and quality of life initiatives, Brooks pointed in the other direction, to the American Soldier, and attributes much of the progress made to date in the Iraqi capital to the dedication of troops putting their boots on the ground to interact with residents and local officials.

“We wouldn’t have any of these successes; we’d have no progress if it weren’t for the contributions of our troops who are out there,” Brooks said. “We ask an awful lot of our Soldiers who are deployed over here. Certainly, we know we put them into harm’s way to accomplish whatever mission we set out to do. But their energy, their passion, their willingness to keep trying in the face of deliberate set backs at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of sometimes the Iraqis themselves - they’re out there every day and they keep moving forward.

“In all these areas, not only security, but in governance, it may be that the first, best way for people to come together is because an American Soldier encouraged a district council member to sit in the same room with another,” Brooks added. “And governance begins, then, with the passion and the heart of the Soldier in this country.”

Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ Master Sgt. Dave Larsen ** Surge improves security, quality of life in Baghdad
Related:
Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ Spc. Amanda Morrissey ** U.S. Soldiers, Iraqis open wells in Ninevah

Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ Staff Sgt. Jacob Boyer ** Senior leaders gather to help rebuild Iraqi NCO Corps

This Blog *** Sunni revolt against al-Qaida spreads

Press Releases:

• KRG assumes security responsibility
• SUSPECTED TERRORIST LEADER, 7 OTHERS DETAINED
• MNC-I Soldier attacked
• MND-B Soldiers capture two insurgents emplacing IED
• Small arms fire targets MND-B patrol
• MND-B patrol targeted by small arms fire

Arabic Press Releases

more >>

Let's wait and see how long it takes for this headline to reach the front page of the NY Times or the Washington Post. I'll be watching the sky for pigs flying, and checking the Weather Channel for snow flurries in Hell.

What does this guy know? He's actually there. We need libtards in New York and Washington to tell us this isn't working, as usual.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:12 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 6 June 2007 6:38 PM EDT

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Mood:  d'oh

Musician canned for focus on wrong organ 

NEW FRANKEN, Wis. -- A Catholic priest has removed his church's organist and choir director from her duties saying her sale of sex toys was not "consistent with Church teachings."

Linette Servais, 50, played the organ and sung with the choir for 35 years. Much of her work as choir director and organist was done without pay. When her parish priest asked to meet with her, she thought it was to say thank you.

Instead, she was told to quit her sales job with company known as Pure Romance or she would lose her position in the church.

Pure Romance in Loveland, Ohio, is a $60 million per year business that sells spa products and sex toys at homes parties attended by women. It has 15,000 consultants like Servais.

She said her decision was not hard: She began working with Pure Romance after a brain tumor and treatment left her sexually dysfunctional. The job allows her to help other women who have similar problems.

"After I got over the initial shock, I prayed over this a long time," she said. "I feel that Pure Romance is my ministry."

The Rev. Dean Dombroski felt differently, removing her from the choir loft just before Thanksgiving and gradually taking away other church duties. Servais can no longer take pictures during First Communion services or lead the committee planning St. Joseph's annual late-summer picnic.

Dombroski said he couldn't discuss the situation because it involves personnel. But in a letter to his rural congregation, he wrote: "Linette is a consultant for a firm which sells products of a sexual nature that are not consistent with Church teachings. Because parish leaders are expected to model the teaching of our faith ... she could stay on as the choir director/organist or she could continue to be a consultant but she could not do both."

Servais responded with her own three-page letter to church members, saying she felt compelled to help other women, especially those suffering from problems caused by cancer.

Many choir members quit in support, she said, and some have gathered at her home on occasional Thursdays to sing hymns.

"Father Dean made it sound so sinful," she said. "There is so much more to this business than toys."

Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Boston Globe ~ Associated Press ** Musician canned for focus on wrong organ

Posted by yaahoo_ at 3:02 AM EDT

Updated: Friday, 1 June 2007 3:30 AM EDT

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Mood:  chatty

 Huge Story Alert!

Bad Guys Want Cease-Fire in Iraq?

Big, big news the Drive-Bys and Democrats want to ignore: The enemy is talking cease-fire in Iraq.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: "U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease-fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals. 'We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces,' Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad. 'It's just the beginning, so we have a lot of work to do on this,' he said. 'But we have restructured ourselves to organize to work this issue.'"

Now, this is a huge. If you're talking about a cease-fire here, this is something that results from strength. It is not something that results from weakness. I'll tell you what the Democrats are going to say. I know how they're going to spin this. We'll probably get a statement from Dingy Harry, if they even refer to this. They may not, since the Drive-Bys are doing their best here to keep this news story sequestered. But I think what Dingy Harry will say, "Well, this shows the weakness of the US position. We have to negotiate cease-fires with the enemy to stop our brave soldiers from being killed. We can't defeat them, and this proves it." That's what he'll say. That's what they're trying to spin right now. Then of course somebody might add, "they will break the cease-fire."

Of course, Dingy Harry won't say that because our enemies are honorable. We're not. But if Dingy Harry does say something like this he's going to further go down the road of being a pathetic laughingstock. It's when you negotiate from strength, that's the road to victory. If they're going to reach out -- I guess they already have reached out for a cease-fire to stop the violence in Iraq. I guarantee you this is not our idea. We're not the ones offering the cease-fire. We're going to see if they want to because apparently some signals have been sent from the bad guys that that is what they want to do.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Theresa in Waukegan, Illinois. Isn't that where Jack Benny was from?

CALLER: I believe so.

RUSH:  How are you?

CALLER: I'm fine. Thank you, Rush. I am so excited to be able to talk to you. I tell you whenever I'm down about the country, all I have to do is wait until Rush comes on every afternoon Monday through fry and I'll feel better about our country.

RUSH: I appreciate your saying that. What is it that makes you down on the country, or makes you feel that way? What happens to make you start thinking that way?

CALLER: Well, because of the idiotic things that you hear that our leaders are doing and our Congress, our president, the military leaders -- which is why I was calling -- and all these yahoos out here who have got everybody convinced of all the things you've been saying about Hillary, and I'm, like, going, "I'm the one who's stuck in the middle. You guys want to take my money. You guys want to take our money. What's left to feed my family?" and me, I worry about the terrorists. I have to take care of my own kids because the government isn't going to take care of it. (groan)

RUSH: But, see, it's working. They are trying to make you feel as miserable as they do.

CALLER: Well, that's why I listen to you because --

RUSH: Well, thank goodness you have me, because if you didn't have me, this stuff would overtake you and you'd be throwing up your hands in frustration, wondering, "What's the point of it all?"

CALLER: Exactly! Exactly. That's why I was calling, because now I hear, who are these military commanders who are talking to the terrorists? I mean, what kind of military strategy is that? I thought --

RUSH: Wait. You're talking about this cease-fire business?

CALLER: Yeah!

RUSH: Now, wait. When you saw that story, what was it that made you think that's happening because the United States has a weakened position there?

CALLER: Oh, I didn't think we had a weakened position. I didn't understand why they were because we are on the good side, you know? We are the strong one.

RUSH: Do you understand how huge this is, that the bad guys want to talk cease-fire?

CALLER: Yeah, I think that maybe we ought to go down there and beat them some more until they scream some more, you know?

RUSH: Oh, okay, so you want to wipe 'em out now that they're talking cease-fire and you don't understand --

CALLER: Oh, yeah!

RUSH: Okay.

CALLER: Oh, yeah! That's a sign that they're ready to give up. That's just a sign for us to be harder.

RUSH: Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't go so far as to say it means they intend to give up, but it does indicate a much weaker position that they are holding than is being reported, of course, by the Drive-Bys.

CALLER: Exactly. But wer'e talking to them. Well, why don't the police just talk to the criminals and say, "Hey, why don't we just... You know, let's not have any more gang bang murders, okay?" They don't do that. They go out there and arrest them. That's what our military should be doing! They shouldn't be talking to these criminals and terrorists.

RUSH: (Chuckles.) You befuddle me. We have a situation here. You can't compare this to local crime. We have declared hostilities here.

CALLER: Yes, but I read that same article --

RUSH: Wait. Wait a minute, now. In previous wars that we've had, when the bad guys wanted to surrendered, we talked to them.

CALLER: Uh-huh.

RUSH: We issued terms of surrender and so forth, and that's what's being discussed here. There are terms of surrender being determined and thought about, how they could be proposed and so forth. Now, in past -- like in World War II -- the Japanese surrendered after we did do what you suggest we do here, you know, Nagasaki, so forth and so on. The big difference with this is that this indicates a show of weakness. We're trying to preserve the Iraqi government and have it grow and so forth. The big thing here to me is that this runs totally counter to what the daily Drive-By news is every day, and that is that we're getting shellacked, that we're getting creamed, and it's hopelessly lost. Dingy Harry has already said so. We can't win this thing -- and all of a sudden the bad guys want to talk about a cease-fire.

CALLER: Yeah, exactly.

RUSH: It may be a trick, but the reason they're talking about a ceasefire is because we're doing what you want; it just isn't being reported. We must be kicking butt big time! It just may not be reported in a way that you know about it, but they're not coming along and saying, "Okay, we'll talk ceasefire," because they're winning. It's just the opposite. This kind of stuff happens when you occupy the position of strength. I fully expect the Democrats to spin this and to suggest that the administration "wants to give up and admit defeat. It's the only way to save our brave soldiers from dying," and all that. I'm waiting for that to happen, by the way.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Folks, there is another possibility for this cease-fire, a little float that the terrorists are engaging in here in Iraq, and it could simply be this. It could be something totally unrelated to our analysis up to this point. The terrorists suggesting that they're interested in talking cease-fire could simply be their way of telling the Democrats in this country that they're unhappy with the Democrats providing more funding without a withdrawal timetable. The terrorists might have looked at the latest vote in the House where the Democrats retreated from retreat and surrendered from surrender and said, "Well, my gosh, we've lost our allies in Washington. As long as we're going to support 'em, we're going to hang tough over here. We're going to try to beat Bush for them," and so forth, as long as they come up with a definite withdrawal date to get the army outta here. But now the Democrats have caved, and so the terrorists are saying, "Well, we don't know where bin Laden is. Zawahiri is a nonfactor. We're all over the place in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Jihad is not the organized thing it used to be. Now we've lost our big allies, the Democrats, what are we going to do?" It could be that, ladies and gentlemen.

END TRANSCRIPT
Read the Background Material...
Breitbart: Cease-Fire Eyed to Stop Violence in Iraq
*Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time.
RushLimbaugh.com ** Bad Guys Want Cease-Fire in Iraq?

Posted by yaahoo_ at 8:03 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 31 May 2007 8:44 PM EDT

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