Iraq Bits

Early-morning mission nets seven terrorists

HASWAH, Iraq – Iraqi Army Soldiers and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers conducted a pre-dawn mission that resulted in the capture of seven suspected terrorists east of Haswah Jan. 20.

Soldiers from 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division cordoned off the area as Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division air assaulted in and detained the suspects who were trying to flee the area.

Terrorist captured after attack

TIKRIT, Iraq – Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers detained a suspected terrorist after an IED attack near Hawijah Jan. 19.

Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team were recovering a vehicle damaged by the IED when they began taking small arms fire. The Soldiers returned fire, forcing the gunman to flee.

A patrol that was en route to the site chased and stopped the suspect’s vehicle and a search revealed a sniper rifle and a rocket propelled grenade launcher with a warhead.

Two Soldiers received minor injuries and were treated and returned to duty.

Four terrorists detained after IED detonates in transit

TIKRIT, Iraq – Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers detained four terrorists after an IED the men were transporting detonated prematurely.

Soldiers from the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division were alerted to the incident when their patrol was flagged down by two local men who were transporting a wounded man. The Soldiers took the man to a nearby military medical facility and a second patrol was sent to investigate the explosion.

When the patrol arrived at the site they found three other uninjured men who admitted that they and the wounded man were transporting the IED.

Suspected bombers captured in As Siniyah

TIKRIT, Iraq – Task Force Band of Brothers Soldiers captured four suspects believed to be involved with an explosion that ripped through the As Siniyah city government building Jan. 19.

A tip led the Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team to two homes in the area, where the men were detained without incident.

The explosion occurred just before 8 p.m. local time in the small city west of Bayji. The building was reportedly leveled by the blast, but no injuries were reported to Coalition Forces.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

Iraqi, U.S. Forces repel attacks in Ramadi

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Iraqi security force Soldiers and U.S. Forces in Ramadi repulsed attacks on military bases beginning at approximately 3:45 p.m. Jan. 20 in the provincial capital of Ar Ramadi, about 100 kilometers west of Baghdad.

The attacks by insurgents were a combination of small arms and mortar fire which coincided with the Iraqi government’s announcement of results from the first democratic election under the new constitution.

Iraqi Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 1st Public Order Brigade along with U.S. Soldiers and Marines defeated the attacks within an hour using a combination of small arms fire, medium and heavy weapons and preplanned aviation assets.

BAGHDAD , Iraq – The results of Iraq 's first free and democratic election of a permanent government were announced today, and the nation's new military academy recently graduated its first class of cadets in another step forward for Iraq 's fledgling democracy.

An alliance of Shiite religious parties won the biggest number of seats in Iraq 's new parliament but too few to rule without coalition partners, the election commission announced today. Sunni Arabs gained seats over the previous balloting.

The Dec. 15 election was largely peaceful and successful in great part to Iraqi Security Forces providing tight security and Coalition Forces providing support.

The results of the election were announced a day after an international review group said the election was flawed but generally fair considering the country's security crisis. Sunni politicians had demanded the review after raising allegations of fraud.

Commission official Safwat Rasheed said the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance captured 128 of the 275 seats in the Dec. 15 election, down from the 146 it won in January 2005 balloting. It needed 138 to rule without partners.

Sunni Arabs will have a bigger voice in the legislature than they had in the outgoing assembly, which many Sunnis had boycotted the January vote.

Kurds saw their seat total reduced. An alliance of the two major Kurdish parties won 53 seats, down from the 75 they took in the January 2005 vote.

Politicians have four days to contest the results, which were largely in line with preliminary returns following the balloting. Officials then will have 10 days to study any complaints before they certify the results and parliament convenes to appoint a new government. In a Jan. 19 speech before the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney pointed out the magnitude of what the Iraqi people have achieved.

“A short time ago, the Iraqi people had an appointed government, no popularly elected legislature, no permanent constitution, no recent experience with free national elections,” he said. “In less than a year they have drafted a progressive, democratic constitution; then approved the document in a national referendum; and elected a new government under its provisions.”

** On a different note, its nice to see that even the muslims hate Mr Tiddles aka George Galloway the bitch of Saddam.

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