[Chat] Situation in Northern Iraq

[william.schlegel at us.army.mil]

Subject: FW: 101st Airborne update Mosul, Iraq=20

From: LTC Richard Lacquement 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)=20
Mosul, Iraq=20

A couple of people have asked about my sense of the security situation =
here in Northern Iraq, particularly with the spate of attacks over the =
past week or so. That and the increased attention from when we found and =
killed Qusay  and Uday. I actually had a great e-mail answer that I =
developed a couple of days ago that was lost completely when the message =
blasted into the cyberspace ether by accident (trust me, it was REALLY =
good). It's taken me two days to find enough time to try to reconstruct =
it. I learned my lesson and composed this in word before cutting and =
pasting to send.=20

In the meantime, night before last, the 101st had three more soldiers =
killed in a nighttime vehicle ambush several kilometers south of Mosul. =
That brings to six the number of soldiers the division has had killed in =
action in the past week. Those were the first deaths due to hostile fire =
since the end of  "major combat operations." During major combat =
operations, the division had four soldiers killed in action. There have =
been 11 other deaths in the division due to non-battle injuries since =
deployment to theater in February. We have had 148 soldier wounded in =
action since the war began. The six KIA of the past week occurred in =
three separate attacks. All were ambushes of multi-vehicle convoys. One =
occurred on the outskirts  of Mosul in the early morning, but daylight =
hours. The other two occurred at night. One out to the west near a town =
called Tall Afar in Sunni tribal areas. The last and most deadly (3 KIA) =
occurred on the main road that runs south along the Tigris in the =
direction of Kirkuk.=20

We killed Uday and Qusay over this period as well as at least five other =
people who attacked some of our soldiers. In all of this, we have not =
killed a single civilian that I  am aware of (and generally, Al Jazeera =
and other inflammatory press outlets would make sure to tell the world). =
As the press reports, fairly accurately, there are about a dozen attacks =
against the division every week (and have been the whole time I've been =
here). There are a couple every day or so. Most have been drive-by, =
nighttime, hit-and-run attacks where the attacker simply sprays some =
AK-4 rounds or an RPG round in our general direction. It seems to me the =
main difference in the past week is that we've seen a few examples of =
somewhat more sophisticated tactics.=20

Quite frankly, the attackers have also gotten luckier than in the past =
(we have had vehicles destroyed and soldiers wounded in attacks since I =
got here, but only in the past week have the attackers actually managed =
to kill someone).  We have studied the attacks, taken extra security =
measures and will continue to hunt down and destroy the elements we can. =
So, we have taken it seriously  We have not been diverted from our =
efforts to continue the momentum we've built in stability operations and =
helping the Iraqi people.=20

 The contrast since I got here has been dramatic. The evidence of our =
success has finally started to break through to the people in the =
street. In fact, that may be a key reason behind some of the attacks in =
the past couple of weeks. We are making progress in providing for the =
people and our enemies know it and the people are starting to see the =
benefits of our presence more clearly. When I first got here, one of the =
main themes at the twice weekly city council was that we weren't doing =
enough to help solve basic problems and that what we were doing was not =
well publicized. We have continued to pursue projects and pump money =
into the local economy. We have also done more to publicize the =
Division's contributions.=20

The same leaders who complained when I first arrived now acknowledge =
that the word is getting out and the projects are getting noticed. In =
the end, these deeds speak louder than words and the enemies who are =
trying to portray us negatively are facing a more daunting challenge =
everyday.  This situation regarding Uday and Qusay is hard to read. =
Local Muslawi (what Mosul residents call themselves) claimed credit for =
the city as having been the place they got turned in.on the other side =
of the coin the two brothers had apparently been hiding out here, =
unmolested, for some three weeks. We have received lots of =
congratulations from locals. There have been no significant =
demonstrations against us (that day or since). One theory is that the =
former regime thugs and some other terrorists know they are losing Mosul =
and the rest of the north and have therefore stepped up their activities =
in this area.=20

 The former regime has very few backers and very little popular support. =
This does not mean that we're loved by everyone else. More accurately, =
they simply recognize that we are doing things that they like and they =
are therefore unwilling to support those who would try to disrupt their =
increasingly normal lives.  I read and hear of plenty of credible =
expressions of support for Saddam and the former regime that cannot be =
dismissed. It's hard to fathom at times. In those cases, I am reminded =
of the outpouring of apparently genuine sadness by many Russians when =
Stalin died as well as the accounts of Russians, many years later who =
still looked back fondly on the orderliness of the Stalin's reign. I =
sense there is some of that in the Iraqis.=20

This was a welfare state where Saddam regularly doled out cash, jobs and =
privileges to vast swaths of the population just to keep them happy--it =
really didn't matter if they worked or produced much. The inefficiencies =
and waste were massive. There are many Iraqis who compare us unfavorably =
to Saddam because we don't throw cash around as readily as he did.  =
There are hundreds of vehicle-mounted and foot patrols every 24 hours. =
This includes daylight, nighttime and joint Iraqi-American patrols. We =
have gotten a lot of help from the local community finding and detaining =
a variety of criminals and members of the former regime. Security is =
still the number one priority.  But there's also much else going one.=20

There are over a thousand US Army engineers that are working hundreds of =
projects. We have MPs training a new Iraqi police force, infantry =
soldiers training Iraqi security guards for fixed sites and some of the =
local ministries. We have hundreds of medical personnel who are =
assisting with the rehabilitation of the health system (which is already =
back in very good shape). We run R&R trips up to Dahuk for a few hundred =
soldiers every week (the soldiers are guarded by a large contingent of =
Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers that we pay for while the soldiers are =
there). We run rifle ranges for the soldiers to use for training. One =
brigade has the mission to help the local University. It helped with a =
massive clean up effort and the establishment of internet access that's =
not routed and filtered by Baghdad. Another brigade has helped establish =
a huge youth sports program that included over 70 soccer teams at a =
recent event.=20

We have helped rebuild water pump stations and electrical power =
stations. We have employed over 4000 Iraqis in jobs working directly for =
our forces. We have opened locally run cafes, convenience shops, barber =
shops and tailor shops within many of our compounds. We have people =
working with the local city/government council every day to build and =
improve basic governing structures. We oversee the escort and delivery =
of fuel by over 100 fuel trucks every day. We supervised the orderly =
delivery of grain to silos and handled the payment to the farmers for =
the annual wheat harvest.=20

When I arrived in early June, electricity was erratic. The electricity =
is now on almost continuously. The list goes on and on. In one sense, =
part of the positive news is that the attackers have targeted us (US =
soldiers) and not the local population or the infrastructure/projects =
we've done to make life better.  There are approximately 20,000 soldiers =
assigned to this division right now. The energy and activity of that =
mass of  well-led Americans is awesome. In the past week there have been =
thousands of patrols, tens of thousands of routine small vehicle convoys =
going from place to place (all movements are with a minimum of two =
vehicles and four soldiers). Hundreds of projects initiated. Hundreds =
completed. About a million dollars spent in small parcels. Several large =
projects under CPA/USAID/Contractor direction are plugging along.=20

 Six soldiers died in three separate incidents. These are serious losses =
and we are constantly evaluating our force protection measures, studying =
the attacks for patterns to use in pre-empting similar attacks, and =
continuing a mission we never abandoned-security. But the ability of =
these attacks to impede the momentum of this division's actions and the =
progress being made for the people of Nineveh is miniscule if measurable =
at all.  Bottom line, there are some significant security challenges =
but, I would assess the security situation as still very favorable. I =
also think we still have a lot of positive momentum for our efforts to =
make life better for the local Iraqi population.=20

LTC Richard Lacquement 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Mosul, Iraq =