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HAWIJAH, Iraq (March 2, 2008) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff walked through the bustling market street of this Iraqi
town today - a town that al Qaeda ruled just three months ago.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen saw a market crowded with people and shops
stocked with goods. And he saw American soldiers and their Iraqi
security forces partners operating with incredible
professionalism.
Three months ago, this northern Iraqi city was the "Wild West,"
said Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of Multinational
Division North. But a new sheriff came to town in the form of the
1-87th Infantry Battalion task force and cleaned the place up.
"I'm really impressed with the improved security and the speed
with which it changed," Mullen said during his walk down
street.
The chairman spoke to Iraqi security forces and with the
concerned local citizens - many of them unpaid volunteers -- who
help with local security efforts. "All that is positive," Mullen
said. "They want to take control of their own city; they want to
provide security and continue to make it better for their
people."
This was the second day that Mullen walked through an Iraqi
city. Yesterday, he strolled through a neighborhood in Baghdad's
Rashid district.
The chairman said the concerned local citizens groups - also
called the Sons of Iraq - are a phenomenon for peace. Some of these
men were Sunni insurgents, but decided the vision offered by al
Qaeda was not for Iraq. More than 91,000 Iraqis have joined the
groups, and from that have come more than 20,000 new members of the
Iraqi security forces. More than 6,500 Sons of Iraq are signed up
in Hawijah.
"When you are here on the ground, you really see the security
change," the chairman said. "Many of us talk about it in
Washington. Certainly we relay it from briefings and conversations
we've had with people here. But it's quite something else to be
here and talk to the people. There wasn't one individual in town
here today that didn't tell me that security wasn't better. They
really emanate hope for the future."
Jobs are the first priority now, Mullen said. The commander's
emergency response fund is a weapon against terrorists. Both
yesterday and today, people talked about microgrants - small loans
that help Iraqis start businesses and create jobs. The main
ammunition in Iraq against terrorism now is money, not bullets,
Mullen said.
Tremendous challenges still exist here. Task force commander
Army Lt. Col. Chris Vanek said the city has a 75 percent
unemployment rate. Reconstruction money has been slow to arrive
from the central government, so the colonel finds himself looking
for way to kick-start the economy. The area around the city is
primarily agricultural. Vast fields of wheat and other crops
stretch for kilometers. The American task force has contracted with
Iraqis to clear the irrigation ditches that years of neglect have
allowed to be clogged.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jesus Febo, the task force's senior
noncommissioned officer, said that three months ago, the shops
either were shuttered or housed al Qaeda cells. Task force soldiers
and special operations forces killed or captured 16 senior al Qaeda
operatives or financiers and the city turned a corner, the sergeant
major said.
Vanek told Mullen that the professionalism of his soldiers has
been key to success in the area. "These 19-year-old soldiers know
how to treat people with dignity and respect," he said. "That has
helped with sparking the growth of the concerned citizens
groups."
The colonel said that mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles
have helped protect his soldiers, but that they need to patrol on
foot, and have done so.
The chairman visited an agricultural cooperative on the street
and heard an earful about the lack of fertilizer. He stopped in and
spoke to the proprietor of an electronics store and a falafel
stand. He passed hardware stores and money exchanges.
One store on the street displayed wedding gowns. "That's a sign
of hope right there," said a soldier walking with the chairman.
Other stores carried toys, baby clothes and shoes. At the end of
the street was a kabob stand. There were also medical offices and
dental clinics.
The task force operates out of Forward Operating Base McHenry -
about three miles outside the city. Mullen visited with soldiers
from the unit there and participated in a ceremony where he
presented Purple Hearts to some 1-87 soldiers and promoted others.
Afterward, he asked the soldiers to break formation and gather
around while he spoke to them.
"This is the first time we've seen hope in the peoples' eyes in
this area," Mullen told the soldiers. "I'm reminded that when we
award Purple Hearts like this of the danger that you go through.
What I tried to gain in my short visit today is an appreciation of
what we're asking you to do and sacrifice. You've lost teammates
and had teammates wounded, but it is a job that is vital not only
to this area, but this nation.
"When I walked down the street and I talked to the Iraqi
citizens and they tell me they are able to put food on the table
and walk around without fear," the chairman continued, "it's you
who are doing that, and we're grateful to you for what you do."
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