Iraq Bits & more on the shiftless inept UK government & Welsh collective

Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces detain two suspects

DIYARAH, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Coalition Force Soldiers detained two suspected terrorists in connection with recent IED attacks in Diyarah during a morning raid Jan. 24.

Soldiers from the 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Iraqi Army Division, and 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, raided two houses suspected of harboring the terrorists.

Also today, Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd BCT, discovered an IED west of Iskandariyah without incident. The IED consisted of a 155 mm round, a long-range cordless telephone, and a detonator with wires protruding from the round.

Explosive ordnance disposal Soldiers disabled the weapon.

U.S. Army Sergeant Jimmy Schumacher (left) and Specialist Stephen Quandt (right), from C Company, 1-327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Ft. Campbell, KY, provide security while stopped outside of Forward Operating Base McHenry, Iraq, on Jan. 13, 2006. (U.S. Army photo by Spc Timothy Kingston) (Released)

Iraqi school guard halts terrorists

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and the1-71 Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, responded to a call from an Iraqi school guard reporting a possible improvised explosive device in the school Monday.

Upon arriving at the school south of Khadra, Soldiers found a 122mm mortar round booby-trapped to a door in the school.

An Explosive Ordnance Team disabled the bomb.

Village dedicates new pump

TAJI, Iraq – The village of Muzerfa dedicated a new irrigation pump symbolizing the cooperation between the citizens of Iraq and Coalition Forces Jan. 19.

Lt. Col. John Cross, the commander of 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division met with local leaders to dedicate the irrigation pump that will service the village and nearby farm fields.

“It went really well,” said Cross. “I met Sheik Maghood and 30 men from the village related to him. “We turned it (the pump) on and we got water.”

After the dedication, the Soldiers from 1st STB and the local citizens enjoyed a banquet featuring local cuisine and discussed issues of mutual interest for two hours.

“They gave us a promise of lots of cooperation,” Cross added. “This is an example of what lays ahead for the new Iraq, he added, Iraqi citizens cooperating with each other and enjoying a safe and secure environment.”

Officers detained in arrest operation

BASRAH, Iraq – Two serving Iraqi policemen and another Iraqi male were arrested and detained in and around Basrah City during the early hours of Jan. 24 as part of a wider operation to root out corruption in the Iraqi Police Service. The operation was conducted by British troops serving with 7th Armoured Brigade.

1st Battalion The Highlanders Battle Group based in Basrah City were assisted by the Brigade Reserve troops - Arnhem Company of the 1st Battalion the Kings Own Royal Border Regiment as well as soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in the first stage of an ongoing operation to reform elements of the Iraqi Police Service in Basrah. The operation also involved Danish troops.

For some time members of the former Department of Internal Affairs, Criminal Intelligence Unit and Serious Crimes Unit are believed to have been involved in corrupt and criminal activities, targeting both Iraqis and Multi National Forces.

The individuals detained are suspected of involvement in numerous criminal acts including kidnapping, extortion and assassination of Iraqi civilians. They are also believed to have been involved in attacks on members of the Iraqi Police Service and Multi National Forces.

Lieutenant Rob Small, Platoon Commander with Arnhem Company, 1st Battalion the Kings Own Royal Border Regiment was the Strike Multiple Commander for the first arrest. He said:

“Using minimal force to gain entry into one of the suspect’s houses, we were confronted by armed bodyguards. They were surprised to see us to say the least.

“We didn’t know exactly what we would be up against beforehand, so were glad when everything went smoothly. The Soldiers used the search and arrest skills learned prior to their deployment, which have been developed and maintained whilst we have been out here, to ensure everything went well.”

Commander of 7th Armoured Brigade, Brigadier Patrick Marriott said:

“This operation has involved lengthy and careful planning and was very well executed by soldiers from the Basrah City Battle Group and 7th Armoured Brigade. It was also made possible by superb support from our helicopters in Joint Helicopter Force. This has removed a number of terrorists who have been working against Multi National Forces, the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi people, specifically in Basrah.

“As this operation progresses, we will be supporting the chief of police in selecting and training decent and honest police service officers to form the new intelligence agencies in Basrah. I am confident that this will enable the chief of police and his officers, to carry out their duties without fear of intimidation and will be a significant step towards the transfer of responsibility for security in the province.”

The operation was coordinated with officials in Baghdad following direction from the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior to the Basrah chief of police to undertake a reform of Department of Internal Affairs, Criminal Intelligence Unit and Serious Crimes Unit. In addition to the arrests, a considerable number of weapons including 70 AK variants and four machine guns and 15 pistols were seized during the operation.

MND-B Soldiers find, destroy large weapons caches

BAGHDAD, Iraq – In separate operations, Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers seized a significant amount of weapons Jan. 22.

A tip from a local national led Soldiers from 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, to a large weapons cache north of Baghdad Sunday morning.

The cache included 14 57 mm rockets, three 84 mm mortar rounds, one 120 mm mortar round, 19 B-5 rocket fuses, 11 130 mm projectiles, 11 152 mm projectiles, 50 Iraqi grenades, 70 tetrol boosters, 15 grenade fuses, 50 blasting caps and a complete 120 mm mortar system. Soldiers also discovered enough small arms rounds to fill up a large military logistics container.

While conducting a patrol in south Baghdad, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a weapons cache at approximately 1 p.m. The cache included one anti-personnel tank round and 73 rounds of unexploded ordinance.

Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, patrolling in northeast Baghdad discovered another cache at approximately 4 p.m., which included 12 mortar rounds, two 125 mm rounds and blasting caps.

Explosive ordinance disposal teams destroyed all caches on site.

** Some facts on the nanny Blair state taking control of peoples lives from cradle to grave....bloody socialists have no idea on how to run a nation. Businesses have shed 17,000 jobs over a period where the government and its various agencies have hired 24,000 more staff - the exact reverse of the trend promised by Jack McConnell, the First Minister.

The CBI has warned Mr McConnell that his avalanche of government spending is now hurting the economy by squeezing out companies.

An unpublished survey of Scotland's labour market by the Office for National Statistics has found 707,000 people are now employed by the government - almost one in three jobs in Scotland. Such a ratio is rarely seen outside Scandinavia.

This is far higher than the official 577,000 figure published earlier this month by the Executive. But the ONS study includes people like GPs and quango staff - who are technically independent, but work only for the state.

Had this pic sent to me which sums up the state of that huge bloated quango the Welsh Assembly, a 10th rate talking shop that debates little of any relevance to people in Wales and pokes its ever growing nose into all aspects of the voters lives. And who are these Welsh Assembly Members? Well in the main jumped up local politicos that have made the leap from the town hall to what they call real politics, yet lack the drive to make in Westminster. In the words of Bob who sent the pic across: A few years ago Rhodri was reported as saying he wanted to see 'clear red water' between him and Tony Blair. He's been working hard towards it. He's taken central control of marginally independant organisations like WDA, Tourist Board, WMC. Jointly between the Assembly and the WDA there are around 1600 people employed to help attract new business to Wales - and make it operate better.

Now he's chosen 50 private companies for special investment - the so called 'Knowledge Bank'. Anyone who sets up a business in Wales gets flooded with advice from Government officials - and subsidised to undercut existing healthy businesses.

But does any of this work? Has Wales become a more productive independant economy? Or has it encouraged a culture of 'grant chasing' filling in forms and dependancy on government. Could not have put it better myself.

And all these good creative people - who could be setting up businesses - end up taking the easy road working for the State - with high salaries, and pensions 'guaranteed' - doing crap jobs that they know don't mean anything.

And another thing this shifty, untrustworthy and two faced government is trying to do is get is biometric-backed system of ID verification this year. After all the hassle with those naughty types in the Lords arguing over ID cards and throwing their bill back to the commons to be re-worked again and again, they now try to slide it in via the back door. The sort of move you would expect from New Labour ministers who could slide under the belly of a snake and have room to spare. Biometrics by the back door


Add to that the ever increasing rise in CCTV all over the place and yet are we any safer with them on every roof top? No, the myth is that they are there to stop crime yet as we see on the news on a regular basis is that they are just there to gather evidence. Case after case we see people assaulted, mugged, and now killed. Yet each time the cameras are either on auto or the people running them cant respond in time.

There was a case on the news of Rhys Pryce killed less than 100 yards away from his home in north west London, where the killers had been seen perpetrating a crime, less than 30 minutes earlier. They had been filmed on CCTV mugging an Asian man, who was standing alone at an underground station. Had someone intervened then, and helped the mugging victim, the second crime would not have been committed. Oh and if you think that yelling for help may summon a nice policeman or woman your most likely going to be out of luck. Seems that the police now spend £500 million a year on paperwork put on them by the government. So whilst you hand your watch etc over to Mr Mugger, Mr Policeman is stuck indoors fighting paperwork instead of crime. Is this what smiler Blair meant by getting tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.


Was going to do a long bit on the state of the Lib Dems, but figured that one picture is worth a million words.... Give it a few months and it may be the Lib Dem sign itself and not just a single persons sign being thrown out in the rubbish...Taking over the centre ground in the UK, not any time soon.




Finally a brilliant cartoon, one for the Python fans out there. Yes ol camel shagger Osama the cave hiding savage. Lots of his top men are either in the hands of the US or dead and yet this deluded man seems to think he is in a position to dictate terms to the US. What a knob.

Lastly well done Canada in kicking out the Liberals, must have been that loudmouth lardy Michael Moore shouting his mouth that pissed you Canadians off and swung the vote....

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