The Heaven of the Moment

Always thinking of what you like
and what you don't like
exhausts the energy that could by used
to fuel your passion.

Events of life are always changing.
Everything is made new in your life
between the time you read this line . . .
and this one.
Difficult times and joyous times
can follow each other as swiftly.
When good times arrive welcome them.
When they seem to pass, let them go.
When pain arrives do not despair.
It will pass on as well.
You will sometimes feel strong and whole,
and sometimes weak and partial.
This is not a problem.
Do not let these things distract you.

When this evening comes,
lie down in each other's arms.
Let the day slip away.
And enjoy the heaven of the moment

Hello From LT Pham

I have just arrived at Los Angeles after a few days or fun traveling starting from Iraq to Kuwait, then Germany, Texas and finally Los Angeles. Life have been good so far and I enjoy my time very much. I will not be able to post any good story from Iraq as I'm not physically there, but I will be posting something fun everyday. Wardawgs, you take care and those of whom in Barquba, you take care too and God bless your dedicated heart.

Pyke, back for more

So alot has happened since Ive last done my piece on here. We had a brand new Buffalo due to some weird circumstances. On our 2nd mission out with it we decided to blow it up. Shit happens but whats the best way to break in new equipment than to break it. So with all that behind us life seems to be rolling along. The monotony of the day to day has gotten to such a point that well days have blended together and the only thing that seperates one day from another is our maintnence day which we have no missions. In some respects it makes time go faster but in others it drags things out cause you have no idea what day it is or even the date unless someone has told you. For me it has made the days/weeks/months fly by. In saying that I will be departing on leave on the eve of the 20th. Im mostly excited. I cant say that Im going crazy or anything but a break would be nice. And on that note our beloved LT has gone on his leave not more than a day ago. I hope he has a riot on leave being hes been rather stressed lately. Ask him and he would deny it all but ones face and charisma can never hide the true feelings of the inside. Everyone who has been on leave and has returned says we all look like zombies walking around here. Maybe its that I havent gotten away from it all yet but from my eye everyone dosnt seem so bad. I think its an aspect problem. Of course seing happy people in the USA and then seing us here in Iraq we are going to seem depressed and dead to the world just due to pure circumstance. If we all looked happy and joyful well the army would probably take away our hazzerdous duty pay and our hardship duty pay. So there is something to be said for the rough faces around here. Its still a war. Things are still respectively tough. And people are still trying to fight us. With that being said Im going to move on out and do some online shopping (its impossible to say with an internet full of cool stuff to buy)

Well its been real, and its been fun, But is sure as hell hasnt been real fun......
Pyke

Troops blast through a bomb-strewn route in Diyala province

DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq — An Army combat engineer pointed to the side of a paved road riddled with holes in southern Diyala province.

"That’s where the Husky blew up," he said of the spot where one of his platoon’s mine-clearing vehicles hit a roadside bomb. "And that’s where our second Husky got hit," he said as he looked at a crater on the opposite side.

Another soldier coolly chimed in: "No, it was our RG [mine-protective vehicle]. The second Husky was further down."

For the soldiers of the 84th Engineer Company’s 1st Platoon, explosions are their forte. And for long stretches in this violent region, the Visleck, Germany-based unit has had plenty of opportunity to use its expertise.

The soldiers have been tasked with clearing a bomb-infested supply route that runs between Baghdad and Baqouba. Iraqi army soldiers intend to use it as they continue to advance on al-Qaida in Iraq strongholds.

It has been a time-consuming endeavor filled with unexpected bomb blasts. In three days, the platoon has cleared just a four-kilometer stretch. Four armored vehicles have been hit by roadside bombs. And one soldier has sustained injuries that were not life-threatening injuries, with at least one kilometer of road yet to be cleared.

The engineers are approaching the situation with mine-clearing line charges, or MICLICs. The devices launch a rocket attached to a 100-meter-long strand of C4 explosives into a straight line. Then the C4 strand —1,600 pounds’ worth — ignites into a huge fireball, setting off any explosives in its kill zone.

The method was popular against minefields during the first Gulf War. Nowadays it’s rare to see it used in Iraq, soldiers say.

"We’ve been treating it like a minefield," platoon leader 1st Lt. Trevor Needham said of the road. "That’s why we’re using the MICLICs."

After the detonations, soldiers scour the road for traces of bombs not blown up in the colossal blast. About 13 bombs, mainly hooked up to pressure plates, have been found, the company’s executive officer said.

"There could have been a few more that we didn’t know about," said 1st Lt. Erich Schnee, 28, of Auburn, Ala.

Spc. Casey Watson found a roadside bomb the hard way — triggering it with his armored vehicle. The explosion destroyed the engine, blew the hood off and sent a tire 50 feet away.

"My ears were ringing and I had a slight headache," the 22-year-old Atlanta native said. "You know, I’m a soldier. I survived," he added with a grin.

U.S. military intelligence had noticed local Iraqis bypassing a section of the road and turning onto a smaller route in the village of Alawi Kharris Alawi.

On Tuesday, a bulldozer followed by an Iraq army convoy plowed its own way past the road along dusty flatlands nearby.

"We’re moving slowly," acknowledged Needham, 24, of Doylestown, Pa. "The Iraqi army has pushed ahead to the side of the road. That gets them in deeper to catch these guys."

Before leaving for the day, Needham advised Iraqi soldiers to be wary of any areas that haven’t been cleared.

"You don’t think anything is there, but we can’t be sure," he said.

Iraqi army 1st Sgt. Ahmed briefly bragged about his swift, battled-hardened unit, the 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, which made the makeshift dusty road.

"We get many attacks but we never stop," he said through a translator. "We are fighters."

Needham’s platoon still has orders to clear the road to allow a faster, safer access point for troops chasing insurgents.

Two tiger cubs added to Baghdad Zoo's attractions

They are an endangered species, now living in a new home in a place
that's fate had been anything but certain.

Two Bengal tigers - donated by the Conservators' Center in North
Carolina - have arrived at the refurbished Baghdad Zoo. The cubs are
around 2 years old, weighing around 150 pounds each, and are among an
estimated 3,000 of their kind in the world.

During and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the zoo lost most of
its animals to violence or starvation; its previous tiger was shot when
it reportedly began attacking a U.S. soldier.

Now the zoo has nearly 800 animals in 62 exhibits, officials said. The
facility gets about 10,000 visitors on the weekends - Friday and
Saturday in Iraq - and around 2,000 to 3,000 on weekdays.

The tigers, named Hope and Riley, are expected to boost those numbers.

The animals were transported from the U.S. by the military, with the 2nd
Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division in charge of
the curious task. The $66,000 transport-and-care bill was paid for by
the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, officials said.

The zoo is in what is now a safe part of Baghdad and has 24-hour
security inside and outside its gates.

N.C. group donates big cats to Iraq
Stars and Stripes
August 13, 2008

Changes

The Army is really good with dealing with surprises. We would always be prepared for the worst case scenario. If we can put in as much as we can without putting the performance in jeopardy, we are good to go.

Why do we have to bring M8, M9 papers with us on the route? I don't know! why do we have to carry machine gun tripod with us on our vehicle? I don't know either. But what happen if? This is the reason why the Army is such a successful organization. Because we prepare as much as we can for the worse; so we will be prepared for any changes by the surrounding (environment) by surprise.

As the deployment flies by, we all need to keep our eyes open and our mind alert more than ever.

Well, my time is up as a Soldier came up to me and says,"Sir, you have 5 minutes." Take care and God bless you all!

Marines see progress helping Anbar rebuild

FALLUJAH, Iraq — Not long ago, the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, would have been tasked with destroying targets in Anbar province.

Now, these California-based artillery Marines have been designated as Civil Affairs Detachment 3, Regimental Combat Team 1. They work in small teams in Fallujah, Karmah, Habbaniyah, Zaidon and other areas, overseeing the rebuilding of schools, medical clinics, water and sewage treatment facilities and other structures.

Apart from the improved security situation, they say, it is rebuilding Anbar that will bring U.S. troops closer to leaving.

In fiscal 2008 alone, the U.S. military has pumped more than $106 million U.S. tax dollars into restoring the province’s infrastructure.

It’s a monumental effort in a province ruined by years of fighting and neglect.

Iraqis in many areas live in dire conditions so much worse than what Americans consider poverty that it doesn’t compare, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Byron T. Yoshida, 29, one of the team leaders, who has been in Fallujah for six months.

The problems are many:

* Electricity from the national grid is available only for a couple of hours a day.
* The sewage treatment facilities are inadequate.
* Clean water is in short supply.

These civic obstacles in Anbar are common throughout Iraq.

The public works systems in place are further strained as Iraqis tap into them illegally, Yoshida said.

The Iraqi central government has provided about $4.10 million to fund needed projects, according to Multi-National Force – West officials.

The government’s revenue, mostly generated by oil, has soared but officials have been slow to spend it on rebuilding the country, amassing a huge surplus instead, according to a study issued this week by the Government Accountability Office.

From 2005 through 2007, only one percent of the $67 billion spent on operating and investment activities was used to maintain roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

In Anbar province, there is a disconnect between the central government’s funding of projects and residents’ needs, said 1st Lt. Eric W. Spitznogle, 24, a team leader from Cleveland.

Civil Affairs detachments, using Commanders Emergency Response Program funds, have stepped in to bridge that gap, Spitznogle said. The Regimental Combat Team provides the money and the Civil Affairs detachments work with local leaders to determine what projects are needed.

All the work is contracted out to Iraqis, said 1st Lt. Nick McGrath, 27, from Lawton, Iowa, the executive officer for 2/11 Civil Affairs Detachment 3. "We can fund it, but it’s their idea, their execution, their long-term plan. It’s their school, sewage treatment plant, road," McGrath said.

The emergency funds are allocated by Congress and budgeted down to the regimental combat team level. RCT-1’s commander can approve projects under $50,000, while projects over $50,000 require approval by the deputy commander of MNF – West.

Yoshida, a team leader in Fallujah proper, and his Marines have spent a lot of time meeting with city leaders and visiting sewage treatment facilities, roads and other projects to ensure the progress of work. They have also provided about 34 generators to be used as backup for electrical power.

For projects in Karmah, Spitznogle works with Mayor Faisal Hamad Khalaf. "If you’re driving inside the city, you’ll see a lot of projects that have been paid for by coalition forces," said Khalaf, who added that the rebuilding also has propped up the area’s economy.

At any given time, the five teams of Detachment 3 oversee about 75 projects, McGrath said.

Such projects will help legitimize the Iraqi government and ensure stability in the province, Yoshida said. People who have electricity, clean water, and are employed don’t want to participate in an insurgency, he said.

"We’re trying to prop up the government; set them up for success," Spitznogle said.

Their efforts in Fallujah are working, Staff Sgt. Aaron Collins, 28, a team chief from Phoenix, said.

"They’re returning to normalcy. People are on the streets. A lot of citizens are rebuilding their homes and that’s a good sign that they feel secure, they know it’s going to last," Collins said.

And the Iraqi government is starting to figure things out, Spitznogle said. "Just in the last two months, [there are] more projects being done by the government of Iraq since I got here," he said.

By Cindy Fisher
Stars and Stripes
August 8, 2008

U.S. forces in north working to integrate ‘Sons’

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Iraqis are short about 17,000 police officers in northern Iraq, but some Iraqis in the region who have played a key role in fighting insurgents may not be eligible to join Iraqi security forces, said Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of U.S. troops in the region.

The "Sons of Iraq" are mostly former insurgents who are now being paid by the U.S. government to serve as an armed neighborhood watch.

As the program comes to an end, the U.S. military is working to incorporate the "Sons of Iraq" into the security forces or train them for other jobs, but some are not trained to enter the workforce, Hertling told reporters on Monday.

"There is a problem with some of these ‘Sons of Iraq’ in terms of literacy," he said. "We’re helping the Iraqi minister of education to form [a] literacy program to in fact train some of them so they would be eligible to join the security forces."

Over the past few months, about 3,000 "Sons of Iraq" in the northern part of the country have been folded into Iraqi security forces, mostly the police, Hertling said. Commanders in northern Iraq hope to reduce the remaining 29,000 "Sons of Iraq" on the U.S. payroll by 40 percent by October.

But the Iraqi government has been slow to embrace the "Sons of Iraq."

In December, the congressionally mandated progress report on Iraq said the Iraqi government was slow to bring the "Sons of Iraq" — then known as concerned local citizens — into Iraqi security forces.

The report noted that 80 percent of the roughly 69,000 Sons of Iraq are Sunni and said the Iraqi government was worried that they "may return to violence or form new militias of concern."

By Jeff Schogol
Stars and Stripes
August 12, 2008

On the offensive in northern Diyala

JALULAH, IRAQ - For the last 10 days, the Iraqi Army has been carrying
out its largest operation since 2003 here in the deserts and foothills
of northern Diyala province near the Iranian border, searching for
remnants of al Qaeda pushed out of urban areas by Iraqi and Coalition
forces in the past year.

Iraq's Quick Reaction Force, made up of Iraqi's Army 1st Division and
elements of the 9th Mechanized Division, operates at the discretion of
Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and moved from Baghdad to this area
earlier in the summer. Diyala has gained a reputation as the most
violent province in Iraq so far this year and is the location for the
most recent female suicide bomber attacks. Nearly 50,000 Iraqi Army and
Police troops and 4,000 U.S. soldiers are involves in the offensive.

"The Iraqi Army has started to clear all of the area - especially the
hinterland that was controlled by al Qaeda," said Iraqi Colonel Mounm
Ashem Fahad, commander of the 1st Division's 4th Brigade. "We have our
orders from the Prime Minister that people aren't allowed to have heavy
weapons."

The operation "Omens of Prosperity" began July 29 and has netted nearly
400 insurgents and numerous weapons caches. On Aug. 3-4, Iraqi soldiers
discovered three weapons caches that included 44 rocket-propelled
grenades, five RPG launchers, eight 82mm mortar rockets with fuses, 11
anti-personnel mines and five Iraqi military uniforms that could be used
for suicide bomb attacks. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed in action and
four soldiers were wounded.

Over the next two days, two additional caches were discovered and police
captured a man who had convinced two young boys to use explosives
against a military convoy. One of the boys was injured as a result and
the convoy was never attacked.

"Jalulah is like a small Iraq -- our fathers and grandfathers had no
problems in this area in the past," said Captain Gasan, an Iraqi Police
Officer who is also Sheik within one of the local tribes during a
meeting between Colonel Fahad and Iraqi Police. "Ten members of my
family have been sacrificed to terrorism. I'm proud to say we are ready
to sacrifice everyone to get this area away from the radical Islamists."

Tensions between the Arab-dominated Army and the Kurdish police and
Peshmerga militias were on display but remained low-key. A confiscated
machine gun from one of the Kurdish parties, the socialist Kurdistan
Democratic Party, was given back later in the day in return for the
flying of the Iraqi flag in front of the local party headquarters.

The 4th Brigade's U.S. Military Transition Team reported a break with
the past in terms of the Iraqi Army's behavior toward civilians.
Increasingly, the army is using less aggressive counter-insurgency
behavior to achieve its aims - a lesson gleaned from the US experience
during the last 18 months when it changed its tactics in Iraq toward
counter-insurgency.

"Many of the reports have the local people saying they're quite happy
with the way the searches have gone," said US Lieutenant Colonel Stephen
Wilson, commander of the 12-man US Military Transition Team. "They were
expecting very aggressive searches, doors being beaten down, furniture
broken, and things being stolen. That hasn't been the case with these
guys."

On Aug. 7, the task force cleared areas to the east and north of Lake
Hamrin, an artificial lake that is now mostly dry due to the effects of
a three-year drought. Much of the area, within the Khaniqin district, is
guarded by Kurdish militias, the first time in years that Iraqi and
Coalition forces have travelled through the area. No incidents between
the forces were reported.

"The political consolidation among the Sunnis, Shia and Kurd is already
done," said Major General Tariq Abdul Wahab Jassim, commander of Iraq's
1st Division. "Now let us focus on one Iraq."

The operations will continue for an undetermined time, the US Army said.

Five members of al Qaeda's executive council were captured during the
first week of operations with support from a US-led Operation "Iron
Pursuit" which covers both Diyala and neighboring Salahadin province.

Iraqi and US Special Operations forces are conducting air assault into
known al Qaeda rear areas deep within the Hamrin Mountains.

Written by Bill Murray on August 8, to The Long War Journal

Take A Look

Take a look, take a closer look at the picture. Granted, the picture is a very low quality and you can not really see it. If you are at the scene, then you would be able to comprehend the picture that much better; not really. Some people (Soldiers) would say that it was probably the best thing that they have seen in their life. People fighting each others, pointing weapons at one another and threatening to kill; weapons discharged and flesh was stabbed. Yes, the word "kill" is not overstated because it happens everyday. To me, it is a very sad thing to experience. Why don't people get along? Why this and why that? It is indeed a childish question; may be so, or many not be so. Even within the same platoon, there are people dislike each others; how can we ask such question that "why Iraqi people don't get along?" I hope that there shall be peace on Iraqi soil one day; ASAP; so that these people don't have to be worry about getting blown up when they get to the market to buy some food for the family. And as long as I live, I'm allowed to hope and absolutely nobody can take that away from me. I reserved the right to hope and I hope so are you, too.