When students in Tarmiyah, Iraq, returned to school in September, they were welcomed by new classrooms full of new furniture and supplies. Their school, northwest of Baghdad, also had new electrical and sewer systems.
After conducting a final assessment of improvements made to the Huda Teacher’s School on Oct. 20, Army 1st Lt. Erik Peterson, a native of Littleton Colo., who serves in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, met with the contractor, paid him the remaining funds for completion of his work and thanked him for a job well done.
This school is one of many reconstruction projects throughout Tarmiyah designed to provide the city’s residents more opportunity and a better way of life.
“When we first arrived here in December 2007, I visited a girl’s school that had no bathrooms,” Peterson said. “Now the schools have brand new classrooms, lights, chalkboards, furniture and sanitary bathrooms with septic systems. The students now have the ability to wash their hands.”
The children are attending much better schools and receiving a higher quality education, he added.
Fatima, a 6th grade student who attends one of the renovated schools, said her school is much better than it was.
“The doors have been painted, and we have lights and fans in our classrooms,” she said. “We learn about animals, reading, writing and how to speak a little bit of English. I love going to school.”
About $3 million will be invested into the reconstruction of Tarmiyah, with 13 school renovations, a media center, a bank, an ambulance center, road paving and solar lights among the scheduled projects.
Funding for the reconstruction is provided through the provincial council and the Iraqi Commanders Emergency Relief Program, or ICERP, which allows the local government to get money for projects quickly and efficiently and to participate in the planning process.
“ICERP is Iraqi money managed by coalition forces so that we can use our paperwork system to spend and track where everything goes,” Peterson said. “Unlike the United States government, the government of Iraq’s current budget system is in the initial stages of development for delivery of a capital budget to the [communities] from the provincial level.”
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51677
This is awesome! In addition to the US CERP program below, the Iraqi's have there own CERP program!
The Congress appropriated $923 million for the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP), of which $510 million was allocated to the Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I), a subordinate command of the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I). CERP enables U.S. military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to undertake a variety of non-construction and construction activities to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction requirements in their areas of responsibility. This may include making condolence payments after combat operations, providing funds for repairs, purchasing critical infrastructure equipment, or conducting large-scale civic cleanups that employ as many Iraqis as possible. As of September 30, 2006, MNC-I reported it had obligated $510 million for over 3,800 CERP projects.
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA466617
As you can see thousands of projects have been completed with this type of funding.
And with the Iraqi's developing a similar program it just doubles the effect of this already amazing program.
This article describes a program by which field commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan can fund initiatives to win hearts and minds, hunt enemies, and promote the growth of local institutions in this unorthodox phase of war. The Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) is novel and important, providing U.S. governmental appropriations directly to tactical units for the purpose of meeting emergency needs of local Iraqi and Afghan civilians. The CERP's novelty and importance present challenges for implementation of the program, as the undisciplined or uncoordinated use of CERP funds could result in Congress abruptly ending them. Such a fate is worth averting, because the program's early success demonstrates that relatively small amounts of money spent locally and intelligently by commanders can yield great benefits.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m6052/is_2004_Feb/ai_115695635
In addition there are still projects under construction with the initial reconstruction money the US invested in Iraq. And general reconsruction money the Iraqi government is distribuiting!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
June Lowest Iraqi Civilian and ISF Death count in 3 years!
May 08 506 iraqi civilian and security forces killed.
Apr-05 199 301 civilian and security forces
Mar-05 176 257 civilian and security forces
Feb-05 103 civilian deaths
Jan-05 109 civilian deaths
http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx
Hopefully the death count will go down even lower in the coming months! This is exciting! This year could see a drop of casualties of 57% compared to last year and 83% compared to 2006.
Apr-05 199 301 civilian and security forces
Mar-05 176 257 civilian and security forces
Feb-05 103 civilian deaths
Jan-05 109 civilian deaths
http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx
Hopefully the death count will go down even lower in the coming months! This is exciting! This year could see a drop of casualties of 57% compared to last year and 83% compared to 2006.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Solar Street Lights in Fallujah
With a marked decline in insurgent activity in recent months, Fallujah is on the road to a much brighter future.
And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing a project helping shine light in that direction.
That work involves the installation of 740 new state-of-the-art solar street lights that are illuminating Fallujah’s main roadways. Currently, the city’s main east-west thoroughfare has the new lights up and functioning. Work in other parts of the city is continuing.
“Residents tell us how much that project means to their community,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer Troy Swofford. “City leaders and the police are thrilled. It’s getting a lot of positive attention.”
Fallujah laborers are digging the holes, anchoring the 9-meter steel poles in concrete, and bolting on the solar panels and lights. Those fixtures, manufactured by a Florida firm, contain a photo-voltaic switch that turns them on at sundown and off at sunrise. The work got under way Aug. 7 and is scheduled to be completed in October. The crew is currently installing about 20 poles per day.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fallujah resident office is overseeing 57 projects valued at $117 million. Apart from the solar lights, Swofford is overseeing the $14 million upgrade of Fallujah’s 132kV substation, construction of two new 33kV substations (that work is nearly complete), new feeder lines connecting those substations, and supplies to rebuild portions of Fallujah’s neighborhood electrical network.
What’s great about the solar street light project is that it will provide clear evidence of how this 21st century technology works in this climate. We’ll know its viability and other Iraqi cities may soon be following Fallujah’s lead,” he added.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13919&Itemid=1
This project shows that American ingenuity is not dead. If we can get more attention on this project, I'm sure that it will be repeated in many other cities across Iraq. The rate their installing these street lights suggests the relative low cost of the project. I could see in the future using CERP funds to install solar powered street lights in cities like Ramadi, Mosul, and Kirkurk. I think even a public funded campaign for solar power street lights would do good
And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing a project helping shine light in that direction.
That work involves the installation of 740 new state-of-the-art solar street lights that are illuminating Fallujah’s main roadways. Currently, the city’s main east-west thoroughfare has the new lights up and functioning. Work in other parts of the city is continuing.
“Residents tell us how much that project means to their community,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer Troy Swofford. “City leaders and the police are thrilled. It’s getting a lot of positive attention.”
Fallujah laborers are digging the holes, anchoring the 9-meter steel poles in concrete, and bolting on the solar panels and lights. Those fixtures, manufactured by a Florida firm, contain a photo-voltaic switch that turns them on at sundown and off at sunrise. The work got under way Aug. 7 and is scheduled to be completed in October. The crew is currently installing about 20 poles per day.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fallujah resident office is overseeing 57 projects valued at $117 million. Apart from the solar lights, Swofford is overseeing the $14 million upgrade of Fallujah’s 132kV substation, construction of two new 33kV substations (that work is nearly complete), new feeder lines connecting those substations, and supplies to rebuild portions of Fallujah’s neighborhood electrical network.
What’s great about the solar street light project is that it will provide clear evidence of how this 21st century technology works in this climate. We’ll know its viability and other Iraqi cities may soon be following Fallujah’s lead,” he added.
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13919&Itemid=1
This project shows that American ingenuity is not dead. If we can get more attention on this project, I'm sure that it will be repeated in many other cities across Iraq. The rate their installing these street lights suggests the relative low cost of the project. I could see in the future using CERP funds to install solar powered street lights in cities like Ramadi, Mosul, and Kirkurk. I think even a public funded campaign for solar power street lights would do good
Monday, July 30, 2007
Possibilites for Anbar
You don’t hear much about Anbar Province anymore. That’s because this area, once the scene of the heaviest fighting in Iraq, has turned remarkably quiet of late. Attacks are down 80 percent since last year. If there is any cause for optimism in Iraq this is it: If an area as troubled as Anbar could be turned around so quickly, then no part of Iraq can truly be said to be hopeless.
Rock of the Marne!John W. CharltonCOL, Infantry Commanding CampAr Ramadi, Iraq
Security here in Ramadi continues to improve as the Iraqi police and army forces work daily to keep the population safe. When we arrived in February, we were averaging 30 – 35 attacks per day in our area of responsibility. Now our average is one attack per day or less. We had an entire week with no attacks in our area and have a total of over 65 days with no attacks. I attribute this success to our close relationship with the Iraqi security forces and the support those forces receive from the civilian population. The Iraqi police and army forces have uncovered hundreds of munitions caches and get intelligence tips from the local population every day. Our biggest challenge with the Iraqi police is getting them fully equipped, paid, and consolidated in police stations. The support system that begins with the MOI [Ministry of the Interior], and extends through the provincial police chief, is still a work in progress. As a result, the Iraqi police still rely heavily on coalition logistics and support. We expect the equipment issue to improve soon, and we are working hard to get their logistics and command and control systems in place. One thing that is not lacking is the courage and the dedication of the Iraqi police in al Anbar. For them, this fight is personal. They know that al Qaeda is targeting them, their families and their tribes. Some of our most recent successes have been in the areas of reconstruction and governance. The city government didn’t exist before April of this year, but has grown steadily over the past few months, and is now providing essential services to the population. In areas that were battlefields only a few months ago, city electrical employees are now repairing transformers and power lines. Sanitation workers are fixing sewer leaks caused by hundreds of buried IED’s [improvised explosive devices]. The Iraqis now have repaired the electrical grid in about 80 percent of the city and about 50 percent of the rubble has been removed. We expect to have all rubble removed in the next 90 – 120 days, which will allow for many parts of the city to start rebuilding.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/contentions/index.php/boot/657
That is amazing! And it gets even better if you keep on reading. Now even assuming Anbar dosen't get much better then this in terms of violence and insurgent activity. It would still be one of the most peacefull provinces in Iraq. Assuming reconstruction and security efforts progress more. I think Anbar could easily be transferred to Provincial Iraqi Control by December or January. Furthermore, 4000 marines were deployed to Anbar as part of the surge. Once it reaches Provincial Iraqi Control, those 4,000 marines could be withdrawn from the country or transferred to Baghdad, Diyala, Qaudisiyah or Salluh Ad Din provinces if needed. A combat force of 4000 marines can do a lot. As recently shown in Anbar. Anbar could also be a great testing place for solar power in Iraq. Its a peacefull province as of now, it has plenty of isolated villages. Those villages could be great places for solar power, since it would take the construction of miles and miles of transmission lines to provide them with power from the central grid. Another great thing is their power would not be as vunerable to insurgent attacks.
Rock of the Marne!John W. CharltonCOL, Infantry Commanding CampAr Ramadi, Iraq
Security here in Ramadi continues to improve as the Iraqi police and army forces work daily to keep the population safe. When we arrived in February, we were averaging 30 – 35 attacks per day in our area of responsibility. Now our average is one attack per day or less. We had an entire week with no attacks in our area and have a total of over 65 days with no attacks. I attribute this success to our close relationship with the Iraqi security forces and the support those forces receive from the civilian population. The Iraqi police and army forces have uncovered hundreds of munitions caches and get intelligence tips from the local population every day. Our biggest challenge with the Iraqi police is getting them fully equipped, paid, and consolidated in police stations. The support system that begins with the MOI [Ministry of the Interior], and extends through the provincial police chief, is still a work in progress. As a result, the Iraqi police still rely heavily on coalition logistics and support. We expect the equipment issue to improve soon, and we are working hard to get their logistics and command and control systems in place. One thing that is not lacking is the courage and the dedication of the Iraqi police in al Anbar. For them, this fight is personal. They know that al Qaeda is targeting them, their families and their tribes. Some of our most recent successes have been in the areas of reconstruction and governance. The city government didn’t exist before April of this year, but has grown steadily over the past few months, and is now providing essential services to the population. In areas that were battlefields only a few months ago, city electrical employees are now repairing transformers and power lines. Sanitation workers are fixing sewer leaks caused by hundreds of buried IED’s [improvised explosive devices]. The Iraqis now have repaired the electrical grid in about 80 percent of the city and about 50 percent of the rubble has been removed. We expect to have all rubble removed in the next 90 – 120 days, which will allow for many parts of the city to start rebuilding.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/contentions/index.php/boot/657
That is amazing! And it gets even better if you keep on reading. Now even assuming Anbar dosen't get much better then this in terms of violence and insurgent activity. It would still be one of the most peacefull provinces in Iraq. Assuming reconstruction and security efforts progress more. I think Anbar could easily be transferred to Provincial Iraqi Control by December or January. Furthermore, 4000 marines were deployed to Anbar as part of the surge. Once it reaches Provincial Iraqi Control, those 4,000 marines could be withdrawn from the country or transferred to Baghdad, Diyala, Qaudisiyah or Salluh Ad Din provinces if needed. A combat force of 4000 marines can do a lot. As recently shown in Anbar. Anbar could also be a great testing place for solar power in Iraq. Its a peacefull province as of now, it has plenty of isolated villages. Those villages could be great places for solar power, since it would take the construction of miles and miles of transmission lines to provide them with power from the central grid. Another great thing is their power would not be as vunerable to insurgent attacks.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Possibilities in Iraq
Possibilities in Iraq
Right now most of Iraq is relativly peacefull, the only violent provinces are Anbar, Diyala, and Baghdad. Anbar is getting better because the tribes are uniting against Al Qaida, Baghdad is getting better because American and Iraqi forces are not under political pressure to not engage militia's. And Diyala right now is experiencing more attacks, this hopefully will end soon with the coming increase of US troops in that province. The only thing the US should be doing in Iraq that we aren;t doing is transferring provinces over to the Iraqis. For example this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501237.html
talks about two provinces that should of been turned over in september. The article goes further to say that they were moved back to be tranferred in January or Febuary of this year. January and Febuary have gone by and they still haven't been transferred. Another good example is in the northern Kurdish area's three provinces Dahuk, Sulamaniyah and Irbil have been ready for transition since July of last year and still haven't been transferred yet. These are troops that could be going home or supporting the intensified opereations in Baghdad, Anbar or Diyala. As Americans I believe we should bring our concerns about these problems to the main media. The main media could bring this to the attention of congress and the senate and make it an issue that they have to work on. Other then our strategy seems to be working deaths in Baghdad have gone down 50% since the operation began. Were also building joint security stations in neighborhoods and patroling more to provide security for the population of Baghdad.
Right now most of Iraq is relativly peacefull, the only violent provinces are Anbar, Diyala, and Baghdad. Anbar is getting better because the tribes are uniting against Al Qaida, Baghdad is getting better because American and Iraqi forces are not under political pressure to not engage militia's. And Diyala right now is experiencing more attacks, this hopefully will end soon with the coming increase of US troops in that province. The only thing the US should be doing in Iraq that we aren;t doing is transferring provinces over to the Iraqis. For example this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501237.html
talks about two provinces that should of been turned over in september. The article goes further to say that they were moved back to be tranferred in January or Febuary of this year. January and Febuary have gone by and they still haven't been transferred. Another good example is in the northern Kurdish area's three provinces Dahuk, Sulamaniyah and Irbil have been ready for transition since July of last year and still haven't been transferred yet. These are troops that could be going home or supporting the intensified opereations in Baghdad, Anbar or Diyala. As Americans I believe we should bring our concerns about these problems to the main media. The main media could bring this to the attention of congress and the senate and make it an issue that they have to work on. Other then our strategy seems to be working deaths in Baghdad have gone down 50% since the operation began. Were also building joint security stations in neighborhoods and patroling more to provide security for the population of Baghdad.
A strategy in Baghdad that is working
BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 -- American soldiers are leaving their sprawling fortress-cities and establishing many small outposts in the capital's most violent neighborhoods in a major tactical shift under the two-week-old Baghdad security plan.Informed by counterinsurgency theory that calls for placing units full-time among the people they want to sway, U.S. troops are using their new bases to work with their Iraqi counterparts, uncover more battlefield intelligence and reinforce, by their sustained presence, the message that they will not allow militants unfettered freedom of movement. A new U.S.-Iraqi base in the Jamiyah neighborhood of western Baghdad, a platoon of American soldiers guards the front gate and watches from the rooftop."These little combat outposts, they are more exposed: Your routes in here are very limited, and they're definitely watching us," Staff Sgt. Marcel Weaver, 35, said of the insurgents operating in the neighborhood around the base. A grenade "attack is coming, I can guarantee that."U.S. soldiers have opened 15 of about 30 planned "joint security stations" in the capital. They have also set up an unspecified number of smaller "combat outposts." U.S. military spokesmen did not respond to requests for information about how many such outposts are operating in Baghdad or how many times they have been attacked.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022802217.html
Since the start of this new offensive the death toll in Baghdad has dropped 50 %! The main success of this is because the political situation is getting better, we don't have to worry about political pressure not to enter the Shiite neigborhoods. Another great idea is the joint security station plan, since Iraqi and US troops are living and patrolling together they don't have to worry about Iraqi soldiers not intervening in mass kidnaps because of secretatian ties. This gives the Iraqi soldiers and the civilians time to get to kno and trust each other. It also means their is less chance of secretian violence in the form of kidnappings and killings because Iraqi and US forces are patrolling in the neighborhoods constantly. In my opinin Joint Security stations should be established in Diyala and we should deploy a force of about 10,000 extra troops to counter the flow of Shiite Death sqauds and insurgents from Baghdad coming into Diyala.
Since the start of this new offensive the death toll in Baghdad has dropped 50 %! The main success of this is because the political situation is getting better, we don't have to worry about political pressure not to enter the Shiite neigborhoods. Another great idea is the joint security station plan, since Iraqi and US troops are living and patrolling together they don't have to worry about Iraqi soldiers not intervening in mass kidnaps because of secretatian ties. This gives the Iraqi soldiers and the civilians time to get to kno and trust each other. It also means their is less chance of secretian violence in the form of kidnappings and killings because Iraqi and US forces are patrolling in the neighborhoods constantly. In my opinin Joint Security stations should be established in Diyala and we should deploy a force of about 10,000 extra troops to counter the flow of Shiite Death sqauds and insurgents from Baghdad coming into Diyala.
Three Iraqi Provinces transfered
ARBIL, Iraq -- In a blaze of pomp showcasing Kurdish military muscle, US forces handed over responsibility for security in Iraq's three northern provinces to the Kurdish regional government WednesdaySeven Iraqi provinces, including Najaf, Muthanna, Dhi Qar, and Maysan, now have responsibility for their own security - a third of the total. The US hopes to add more as Iraqi forces grow in capability. "Reinforcing the security of Kurdistan is reinforcing the security of Iraq," insisted Rubaie. Unlike the rest of the war-torn country, the Kurdish provinces and their comparative security have attracted the interest of foreign investors, which has fuelled a construction boom in the region's cities. "You are an example for the rest of Iraq," Major General Benjamin Mixon, the commander of US troops in northern Iraq, told the assembled dignitaries.http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070530-025429-2320r
I wonder how many troops we will be able to pull out of those three provinces. Either way as I see it, its great news. Only 11 more provinces to go!!! Also depending how many troops pull out, I'm guessing around at least 10 thousand, we can reinforce Baghdad or Diyala if we need to. And as we transferr more provinces we can increase the numbers of troops in those provinces. I have to say those three northern provinces are pretty sweet, they have like sweet hotels, and cafes and such. And apparently are attracting a lot of foreign investment. I hope the rest of Iraq can shape up like these provinces.
I wonder how many troops we will be able to pull out of those three provinces. Either way as I see it, its great news. Only 11 more provinces to go!!! Also depending how many troops pull out, I'm guessing around at least 10 thousand, we can reinforce Baghdad or Diyala if we need to. And as we transferr more provinces we can increase the numbers of troops in those provinces. I have to say those three northern provinces are pretty sweet, they have like sweet hotels, and cafes and such. And apparently are attracting a lot of foreign investment. I hope the rest of Iraq can shape up like these provinces.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)