More Squalls Before the Storm

Video: The Pentagon Channel reviews Baghdad operations in 2006.

A pdf report on 2006 in Iraq here.

Confession: I'm linking without having read the document myself. I did run the video. Don't watch it if you're looking for a self-congratulatory exercise in back-patting.

On NPR, a "look" (it's audio only, of course) at the Anbar Salvation Council:

In Iraq, Sunni Arab sheiks angry over al Qaida attacks in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar province are urging their tribesmen to join the local police forces. So far, the United States has trained three battalions.

About 300 U.S. Marines returned Saturday to Camp Lejeune, N.C., from Iraq. The troops had been fighting in Anbar province.

Friday:

But now that congress has done their bit for al Qaeda and other killers in Iraq, it's time for them to return the favor. Expect their next best attempt at a Tet-like offensive soon...

BAGHDAD -- Insurgents launched a multi-pronged attack on a U.S. outpost north of the capital today, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring 17, as violence in and around Baghdad left dozens of Iraqis dead.
<...>
Disjointed accounts of the 7 a.m. attack emerged in cellphone conversations with witnesses and law enforcement officials. An area police officer said the attackers came in three cars, at least one of them packed with explosives, and assaulted the downtown Tarmiya police station, used by U.S. forces as a base.

Insurgents opened fire with rockets mounted on a truck. Fuel tanks inside the base caught fire, setting off a huge explosion, said a police official and a Tarmiya resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. medical helicopters landed five times to evacuate the casualties. Two Iraqi civilians were also injured in the crossfire.

I expected something more, (yes, more even than this), or something more innovative (our enemy is innovative, see 9/11 for example) - but I often did when I was in Iraq before the January, 2005 elections, too. The press always made more out of whatever did happen, but while phenomenally successful from a PR standpoint, invariably the attacks were - like this one - essentially innefective. (Yes, those killed might feel otherwise.)

But I suppose I still haven't learned my lesson. I still expect more.

But I expect more of this, too:

Iraqi Army troops detain three after shooting

FORWARD OPERATING BASE YUSUFIYAH, Iraq — Small-arms fire near the Yusufiyah Joint Security Station led to the capture of three insurgents in a combined U.S. and Iraqi Army operation Feb. 16.

Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Iraqi police and troops from the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division observed two men with AK-47s northwest of the JSS. The Iraqi police and U.S. forces engaged the men from the rooftop.

An Iraqi quick response force from the 4/4/6 IA went to the JSS and conducted a patrol to kill or capture the anti-Iraqi forces. Three suspects were detained. The three suspects are being held for questioning.

KALSU, Iraq – An Iraqi Army quick reaction force with a military transition team from 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division found insurgents in the act of constructing Explosively Formed Projectiles and found EFP-making materials, an EFP transporting vehicle and 10 107mm rockets in a house in Hilla, Iraq Feb. 17.

The Iraqi quick reaction force established a cordon and searched the building and discovered two insurgents. The material for manufacturing the deadly roadside bombs was found there, while the two were in the process of assembling EFPs.

A third suspect was captured later in the day in connection with the cache. The three suspected insurgents have been detained for further questioning.

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq — A Multi-National Division – Baghdad patrol southwest of Baghdad found an improvised explosive device and detained two men Feb. 17.

Soldiers of Company A, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, “Wolverines,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) spotted the roadside bomb under an overpass while patrolling the major Iraqi highway known as Route Tampa at approximately 7 p.m. The patrol stopped to cordon off the area and a civilian vehicle crossed the cordon.

Soldiers stopped the vehicle and conducted a search, uncovering two locked-and-loaded AK-47s, a 9mm pistol, a hand grenade and a forged weapons permit. The two men were detained for questioning and the weapons seized.

“Any time you capture logisticians or financiers, you effectively cut off their ability to conduct terrorist operations in the area,” said Capt. John Sirhal, squadron fire support officer for 1-89th.

The IED was destroyed in a detonation controlled by explosive ordnance disposal technicians.

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers teamed up with Iraqi Army forces and seized an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun and ammunition southwest of Mahmudiyah, Iraq, Feb. 18.

Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division discovered the cache just 20 miles southwest of Baghdad during a combat patrol.

The cache consisted of a ZPU-1 anti-aircraft heavy machine gun, 20 30mm rounds, a tripod and three spare barrels. The weapon was in firing condition and configured for use.

The ammunition was destroyed during a controlled detonation conducted by an explosive ordnance team. The weapon was seized by MND-B troops.

RADWANIYAH, Iraq — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers uncovered a weapons cache southwest of Radwaniyah, Iraq Feb. 18.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) found the weapons cache during a routine combat patrol 30 miles southwest of the capital.

The cache consisted of four 2.5-inch rockets and four 60mm mortar rounds.

The cache was destroyed during a controlled detonation conducted by an explosive ordnance team.

RADWANIYAH, Iraq — Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained a suspected terrorist southwest of Radwaniyah, Iraq Feb. 18.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment “Golden Dragons,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) detained the suspect during a combat operation 30 miles southwest of Baghdad.

The suspect was detained after the Golden Dragon troops discovered improvised explosive device-making materials, to include crush wire initiators.

The suspect was detained for further questioning.

MOSUL, Iraq – On Feb. 16, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division once again teamed with troops from D Co., 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and executed a raid against a possible cache of military ordnance in the Domiz neighborhood of eastern Mosul.

The operation was successful and the joint raid netted two 60mm mortar tubes, 20 60mm mortar rounds, 25 grenades and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with 25 rounds. Ten miscellaneous vehicle license plates were also confiscated. No detainees were found at the scene.

The pairing of Iraqi army and Iraqi police units with Soldiers from 2-7 Cavalry has netted numerous caches in the past weeks, as well as precipitated a large number of suspected insurgents being detained with evidence of illegal weapons, smuggling or bomb-making materials.

Speaking of Mosul, here's an entry I posted on MilBlogs a few days ago:

Regarding that Yon link in the "Large Battle" post, I don't think I need to point out the awesome job Mike's doing over there, but even if there's just one reader here who isn't aware I guess it's worth it.

I've been highlighting numerous MNF-I press releases here for the past several days, mostly because they're the sorts of stories seldom seen in the mainstream news. Maybe, near the bottom of a story headlining the death toll in Iraq you'll see a statement to the effect of "Elsewhere in Iraq, coalition spokesman claimed four alleged insurgents were captured during a raid in sometown."

I glanced back through those MNF-I press releases trying to find one that might correlate with Mike's Roughnecks story. It might be this one:

Coalition Forces disrupted explosives cells in Mosul and Baghdad during two raids Sunday morning, killing a suspected key vehicle-borne improvised explosive device cell leader and detaining five suspected VBIED terrorists.

The raid in Mosul targeted a terrorist who is believed responsible for the production of explosives used in attacks against Coalition Forces in Mosul.

Upon entering the targeted building, Coalition Forces encountered two suspected terrorists. One of the terrorists ignored Coalition Forces instructions and suddenly reached into his jacket. Coalition Forces responded with proper self defense methods in response to the perceived threat. The terrorist subsequently died from his wounds.

The other suspect was detained and is also believed to be responsible for the attacks. Two other suspected terrorists believed to have ties to the Mosul VBIED network were also detained during the raid.

It's entirely possible though that Mike's story came from some other raid in Mosul this past week. Read both accounts; both are factual and unembellished, but Mike's story adds the details and life that no press release can. Though sometimes you'll find a gem of a quote included like that in the third paragraph above, it's more often than not like the difference between reading the final score of a football game you hadn't seen and reading a full account by a reporter who did, and knows more than the score.

Worse, the mainstream press, for some odd reason, generally chooses to provide only the oppositions "score".

I'm not addressing that failure here - that's a given. I actually want to point out the magnitude of the failure. Over the past week I've collected not a handful, not a dozen, but 55 such press releases here - and there are others I simply didn't have time to add. Fifty-five stories that could have been told in the way Mike did; unembellished, un-hyped, and simply factual, but with the level of detail that a press release can't provide. Fifty-five stories lacking only the teller to be told.

But for reasons unknown - to me at least - the press won't provide.

This can't be because newspaper or magazine readers don't want this sort of material - I've failed to link Mike's work here recently because the past several times I've tried to do so his servers have been overloaded to the point I've been unable to access his site.

Fifty freaking five...

(You can verify my count, if you wish. Previous entry here.)