Good News From Iraq

Read this and ask yourself how much of this was reported by the commie subversive run BBC or any of our gutless lefty run papers for that matter.

Approximately 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts in about six weeks. Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced Aug. 6 that renovations of 43 schools in the northern and southern provinces are funded for repairs, and contracts have been awarded for the work. As part of the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund, over $1.3M was set aside to continue a nationwide school repair program that addresses rehabilitating sanitary facilities, electrical and mechanical systems, and structural repairs to schools in Karbala, Dahuk, Najaf, Basrah, and Qadisiyah.

More than 200 Iraqi children received medical screenings from Coalition Forces, with support from Iraqi Police, during an operation Aug. 5 in western Mosul. Soldiers and medics handed out soccer balls and hygiene products to the local children while they conducted the screenings. More than 1,000 children have received medical screenings during this and four similar operations over the last three weeks.

In Baghdad, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad attended the handover ceremony of the International Press Center (IPC) to the Iraqi Government Communications Directorate (GCD) on Aug. 9. The IPC is a hub of activity for Iraqi and International journalists during press conferences, National Assembly sessions, and other media events. To mark the handover, USAID/Iraq provided a grant to the IPC for technical and office equipment that includes 20 desktop computers, 30 laptop computers, licensed software, printers, a scanner, a copy machine, CD writers, desks, chairs and other necessary office equipment. A group of Iraqi journalists who have used the IPC since its opening in February 2004 received the 30 laptop computers yesterday.

Iraqi and U.S. officials unveiled a special monument to honor four Iraqi Army Soldiers who gave their lives for the security of Iraq during the Ashura holiday. Dr. Ahmed Chalabi, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister, said the country owed a great debt to the four Soldiers and their families, and promised the Iraqi government would care for them in gratitude for the Soldiers’ gift to the country.

Officials from both countries also signed a charter to detail plans to bring much-needed projects to the people of Husseiniya, an agricultural town north of Baghdad whose population boomed during the previous regime. Coalition Forces are working with the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works to build storm drainage projects, water-quality improvements, and most importantly, sewage treatment facilities. The Husseiniya Charter is the first of its kind in the area, and will serve as the test-bed and guide for other projects in impoverished areas in and around Baghdad.

Reconstruction projects around the country are in progress, and this week, construction started on a Police Facilities project in the Samarra District of Salah Ad Din Province. This 250-officer station in the northeast part of Samarra, which is a $4.3 million investment, will provide a presence in the city to help stabilize law and order. The contractor employs 25 Iraqi workers, and the project is scheduled for completion in November.

Iraqi workers in Baghdad finished the $3.6M Al Amari Water Distribution project this week. The project can produce approximately 250 cubic meters of potable water daily and service about 2,000 families in the Al Amari and 9-Nissan areas of Baghdad.

Iraqi Security Forces continued to prove themselves as they strive toward assuming security operations around the country.

Iraqi Army soldiers discovered five improvised explosive devices placed around a building in Rawah August 9. The soldiers located the five IEDs connected with wiring and secured the area to prevent any injuries while a coalition explosive ordnance disposal team neutralized the threat.

Iraqi Security Forces EOD teams were also busy – clearing three IEDs in separate cities the same day. Iraqi Police discovered an artillery shell wired for command detonation in Baqubah, a more complex IED rigged for remote control detonation in Tikrit, and another in Hit. An Iraqi EOD team eliminated the threat while an Iraqi Intervention Force secured the area, protecting community members from the terrorists’ weapons.

Citizens in Baghdad and Ramadi were just some of the Iraqi citizens who assisted Coalition and Iraqi Forces in locating weapons caches this week, taking an active part in securing their communities and creating an environment that will foster more reconstruction and increased stability.

All of this was obtained from www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20050819.txt/

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