RAF Engineer - "first in and last out of Iraq"

A Royal Air Force engineer who was amongst the first British military to enter Iraq in 2003 is now going to be one of the last out.

Squadron Leader Graem "Pingu" Corfield was flown with the Royal Marines into Iraq's Al Faw Peninsula on day one of the British operations in Iraq in 2003.

He was part of One Marine Expeditionary Unit who provided air engineering support for the Royal Marines' assault on the Al Faw Peninsula.

Now after much change in southern Iraq, Squadron Leader Corfield is serving as second-in-command of the Joint Helicopter Force (Iraq) (JHF(I)), based in Kuwait, supporting Operation Brockdale; the drawdown of British equipment from.

And he now expects to return home on one of the last, if not the last, flight. Reflecting on the change in Iraq since the start of Operation TELIC, Sqn Ldr Corfield said:

"Iraq was a police state when I first arrived. Now it's an organised, democratic and self-reliant nation."

He also spoke about the use of the Merlin helicopter in Iraq:

"Chinooks and Lynxs were world class at their job in the original invasion of Iraq but now, the Merlin is the battlefield helicopter of choice and it has made Iraq its own. It's saved lots of lives," he said.

In the UK, Sqn Ldr Corfield works as a Senior Engineering Officer on Tornado aircraft, based at RAF Lossimeouth.

He is currently working with JHF(I)'s three Merlin helicopters as part of the Joint Force Logistic Component (JFLogC) in Iraq which is running the operation to recover six-years-worth of kit from the country, through Kuwait and onward to the UK.

The task faced by JFLogC when they arrived in Iraq on 28 March 2009 was immense with almost 4,200 troops in Iraq, an estimated 5,000 containers of equipment to process, and over 600 vehicles from Challenger tanks to quad bikes to deal with.

The majority of kit has been shipped to the UK on one of four civilian Roll-on/Roll-off ships, operated on a long-term lease by the MOD to transport military supplies and equipment. To date six ships' worth of military hardware has been dispatched, with another two to go later this month.

Apart from a small number of forces who will likely remain in Iraq, subject to the agreement of the Iraqi Government, to continue training and mentoring the Iraqi Armed Forces, British personnel, kit and equipment are due to be home by 31 July 2009.

80 per cent of kit removed from Iraq

The operation to return British military equipment from Iraq, one of the biggest logistic challenges to be undertaken by British military forces in modern history, reached its 100-day point on Friday 10 July 2009

The Joint Force Logistic Component (JFLogC) is the driving force behind Operation BROCKDALE which commenced on 1 April 2009, and they estimate that 80 per cent of the work is already complete.

Commenting on Operation BROCKDALE on Friday, the Secretary of State for Defence Bob Ainsworth said:

"The withdrawal of UK forces from Iraq has been conducted in good order and with consummate skill and I congratulate everyone who has been involved. This is intelligent logistics at its best, ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.

"In their first 100 days, the Joint Force Logistic Component, supported by forward-based civilian teams from the Defence Support and Distribution Agency, has made magnificent progress and I am confident they will continue to do so until the task is complete."

The Commander of JFLogC is Brigadier Paul Stearns Royal Marines who said:

"Today's military equipment is at a premium, it is high quality and high value. It's vital we get it to its next home fully refurbished or put on the shelf ready for use again as quickly as possible.

"The taxpayer has invested a lot of money in our equipment and my team are acutely aware of this. It is my job to protect that investment."

The task faced by JFLogC when they arrived in Iraq on 28 March was immense with almost 4,200 troops in Iraq, an estimated 5,000 containers of equipment to process, and over 600 vehicles from Challenger tanks to quad bikes to deal with.

Since then the JFLogC have made every one of the 100 days count.

Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Amison, the Commanding Officer of 4 Logistic Support Regiment, who make up the mainstay of the specially formed Theatre Drawdown Unit or TDU, said:

"Of the 5,000 containers we had to deal with we have shipped to the UK, sold or disposed of almost all of them.

"We have now processed all but 100 of the vehicles that are due to go back home, and we are on track to get the remainder where they need to be by our target date of September."

In an innovative military development the TDU was specifically generated to reflect the requirements of Op BROCKDALE, incorporating a Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) Armoured Equipment Support Company to process vehicles and a Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) General Support Squadron to deal with the hundreds of thousands of items of kit and equipment.

Rebuilding Iraq: the role of IT staff

IT contractor Peter Moore has been held hostage in Iraq for over two years.

His plight has highlighted the dangers facing ordinary workers and civilians living and working in the country. Even aid agencies have deemed the situation too perilous, and most moved their staff out years ago.

There are 31 million Iraqis in the country, as well as thousands of contractors and military staff, including technology workers working on projects that will play a crucial role in the rebuilding of the country.

The war decimated much of the country's infrastructure, including the telecommunications network and any hope of a reliable internet.

Some restructuring work is underway, but Gartner analyst Vittorio Dorazio predicts it will be at least five years before Iraq sees any real changes.

Many would consider technology as relatively low down the list of priorities in a country that does not have enough doctors or schools. But IT will be a crucial part of improving basic living standards.

Building records and systems

IT company EMC is working in Iraq through its business partners. Mohammed Amin, regional manager for EMC Middle East, said IT is central to providing public services and standards of living.

"IT has to work in parallel with building roads and schools, and improving transport and healthcare," he said. "These developments need records and systems. You need healthcare databases, and systems are needed to determine who is eligible for new passports and citizenship, for example."

The main areas of activity are telecoms, government and the banking sector, which is now starting to re-awaken. Most telecoms investment is going into mobile communications, because landline networks are more cumbersome and expensive. The government, with help from oil revenues, is investing large amounts in basic infrastructure equipment and in archiving government information.

"There are so many documents from the past 30 years which are very important - they detail how to run the country, how to handle the security situation, how to control Iraq's borders. They need a huge archiving system," Amin said.

Full of potential

Despite the hurdles that Iraq will no doubt have to get past, there is plenty of activity and potential, according to Dorazio.

"The Iraqi IT industry is definitely growing, despite the crisis. There are small companies, but you don't see large companies. It is in a very early stage. The fighting is even now ongoing and it is very hard to provide a service when the overall infrastructure is disrupted," he said.

EMC's Amin agrees the security situation is still a problem. EMC has considered opening an office in the safer northern part of Iraq, but has had to put its plans on hold after a resurgence of violence in the past couple of months.

Progress on security is still being made. Large IT companies and consultancies, such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, do business in Iraq and transfer knowledge to the country.

The armed forces have also played a big role in training up the Iraqi security forces in all kinds of skills, ready for the UK's departure in July this year.

Lt Col Jon Cole, commander of joint forces for communications and information systems in Iraq, said, "We have assisted with training the Iraqi forces so we are not leaving them in the lurch. There is also a small British army presence that is staying in the country, at the invitation of the Iraqi government, to help with training."

The army, navy and airforce have worked in partnership with local contractors throughout their six years in the country, although the military operations have been self-contained and will have had little impact on civilians. In mid-March the information systems engineers started winding down the military IT operations in Iraq, and they expect to be finished in mid-July.

Throughout the war, IT and communications have been a central part of military operations. "It is absolutely crucial," Cole says. "More and more equipment that comes into service is technologically far superior than in previous generations. Command and control officers use large screens and advanced systems to keep track of where soldiers and vehicles are. If the IT is not working, a patrol will not go out - it is as simple as that."

Once the military has moved out, the UK government will help reconstruction efforts through the Provincial Reconstruction Team, based in Basra. There is a long way to go, but hopes are high that Iraq could one day become a technological hub in the Middle East.

"First, we need stability," says Dorazio. "But Iraq could really leapfrog other countries in terms of technology. Back offices will not be constrained by legacy systems, and people starting businesses can get the newest technology. There is a massive amount of potential."

RAF Tactical Supply Wing returns from Iraq

A highly specialised unit within the Joint Helicopter Command, the RAF Tactical Supply Wing, which has been refuelling battlefield helicopters in Iraq for the last six years, has now come home. Report by Neale Adams.

Battlefield helicopters will not fly unless the RAF Tactical Supply Wing (TSW) is on operations to make it happen.

The best mechanics and pilots can ensure an aircraft is airworthy or flown well, but without fuel the war bird stays on the ground.

Usually the first in and some of the last to leave operational areas, personnel from the TSW literally 'dig in' to establish and maintain a battlefield fuel capability to keep the helicopters in the air to move troops and equipment and, where necessary, extract casualties.

The fuel depots are a high-level target. In 2006 a major offensive by local insurgents against the Forward Operating Base at Al Amarah saw a direct mortar strike on a TSW rubber storage tank, resulting in the loss of 94,000 litres of aviation fuel.

Two days later, during a further bombardment, refuelling hoses were set on fire, but the swift action of the TSW detachment prevented a further loss of fuel and allowed helicopter operations to continue.

Moreover fuel and replacement equipment was rapidly redeployed from the main operating base in order to swiftly re-establish TSW's full operational capability.

In another incident a General Service Tanker containing 28,000 litres of fuel suffered a direct hit, resulting in the total loss of the vehicle.

During the same period TSW personnel continued to refuel aircraft while coming under fire, to ensure that the aircraft were able to take off and counter the threat.

In recognition of the dedication and bravery of the TSW personnel, two members were awarded the General Officer Commanding Commendation for their actions.

This article is taken from an edition of RAF News - Voice of The Royal Air Force.

Royal Marine brings kit home from Iraq

A local senior Royal Marines officer, who is Commander British Forces in Iraq, is leading the huge operation to bring home six-years-worth of operational equipment from Iraq in good order.

Brigadier Paul Stearns, is the commander of the Joint Force Logistics Component, a specialist headquarters that can be deployed anywhere in the world to support UK operations.

His headquarters of 25 staff is currently in the Iraqi desert, overseeing the removal of more than 4000 combat troops, 5000 containers of kit and more than 1000 vehicles – from quad bikes to the 72-tonne Challenger Two main battle tank from Kuwait.

The operation has been ongoing since before the completion of UK combat operations in Iraq was announced in April and is now well under way.

Their aim is not only to recover all the combat kit used in operations in Basra Province but to make sure it is done in good order and as efficiently as possible.

Brigadier Paul explained: ‘Today’s military equipment is at a premium, it is high quality and high value. It’s vital we get it to its next home fully refurbished or put on the shelf ready for use again as quickly as possible.

‘’The taxpayer has invested a lot of money in our equipment and my team are acutely aware of this. It is my job to protect that investment.“

Most of the equipment has left for the UK on a fleet of military container ships leased by the Ministry of Defence. By the end of the operation they will have moved

U.S. Combat Troops on Pace to Leave Iraqi Cities by June 30

American combat troops are on pace to leave Iraqi cities by the June 30 deadline stipulated by the U.S.-Iraq security agreement, U.S. officials in Baghdad said yesterday.

Army Brig. Gen. Keith Walker, commander of the Iraq Assistance Group, said in a news conference that security throughout the country has continued to improve.

The security agreement calls for all coalition combat forces to be out of the cities by the end of the month. “We will adhere to the security agreement,” Walker said. “So, all combat forces will be out of the cities unless there is a specific invitation from the government of Iraq.”

U.S. forces will be available in advisory roles and to provide enabler capabilities, the general said.

In 2007, there was an average of 900 attacks per week. In 2008, that number dropped to 200 attacks per week. In 22 of the 26 weeks this year, fewer than 100 attacks have taken place per week nationwide, Walker said.

This improvement in security happened as the number of U.S. forces in Iraq declined by more than 20 percent from the height of the surge. “We have returned over 100 bases to Iraq since October,” the general said. “The provisions of the security agreement make our partnership with Iraqi forces that much more important.”

Today, Iraqi security forces conduct all operations. Coalition forces participate only with Iraqi concurrence. The coalition-Iraqi partnership “is characterized by combined planning, preparation and execution with Iraqi security forces in the lead,” he said. “It is enabled by a close working relationship and the collocation of partnership units and transition teams.”

The partnership’s coalition units help the Iraqi units with enablers, logistics and to ensure situational awareness between Iraqi forces and coalition forces.

Coalition transition units are now shifting attention to beefing up Iraqi command and control capabilities, sustainment and enabler units. “We have reached the point where partnership units are the core of what Multinational Corps Iraq does,” Walker said.

The corps will take over the partnership chores from the Iraq Assistance Group. “It no longer makes sense to have two organizations doing the same thing,” Walker said, so the mission of the group is folding into the corps.

Multinational Corps Iraq will handle the military and police transition teams and training for Iraqi forces in addition to operational responsibilities. The Iraqi Assistance Group will case its colors June 3.

Even once the U.S. units move out of the cities, they will remain associated with their Iraqi partners, Walker said. “They’ll have to drive a bit more, but they will be available,” he said.

The security agreement covers the entire country, so coalition forces will move out of areas such as Mosul, which have been fairly hot in the past months, the general said.

More than 600,000 Iraqis serve in the country’s security forces.

Kiss goodbye to Iraq, daddy - The Sun

CORPORAL Ian Evans enjoys a welcome-home kiss — as the last Army combat troops serving in Iraq arrived home yesterday.
The final homecoming of heroes from C Company, 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, signals relief for thousands of forces families after six long years.

Amid emotional scenes at their barracks in Paderborn, Germany,Cpl Evans embraced wife Amy and two-year-old daughter Page and said: “It’s good to be back.”

Amy, 23, added: “I missed him loads. It’s been difficult.”

Fittingly, the battalion is the Army’s most decorated after their heroics during three Iraq tours.

Private Brian Wottrich, 19, of Southampton, said: “It feels like I’m part of something historic.” Their commander, Major Giles Francke, added: “I’m proud and happy to have my troops back.”

The soldiers, dubbed the Armoured Tigers, guarded the final convoy of military equipment to cross the border to Kuwait.

Only a few hundred logistics troops and RAF Regiment soldiers remain in Basra, southern Iraq, as the final British parts of the air base there are packed.

A further 400 Royal Navy sailors are staying on at the port of Umm Qasr, to train the fledgling Iraqi Navy.

UK firms encouraged to rebuild Iraq

The British Government is to step up its campaign to secure Iraqi construction contracts for UK firms. By Mark Lewis

It has developed a guide aimed at helping UK construction firms win contracts, and set up both a National Investment Commission and a Basra Investment Commission to act as points of contact for UK firms seeking Iraqi government contracts.

According to MEED Projects, the research arm of Construction News’ sister title Middle East Economic Digest, some $46 billion (£31bn) worth of reconstruction work is planned to be tendered in the coming months and years to rebuild the war-torn country.

Head of the Middle East Unit at UK Trade and Investment Paul Taylor said Britain’s historic ties with Iraq meant UK contractors were in a strong position to pick up contracts, particularly in the south of the country.

He said: “The strong message we have from [prime minister] Nouri Al-Maliki is that he wants British contractors to be bidding for these contracts.

“And in terms of winning contracts, the locals would feel more strongly about the US in the way that they have engaged in the country, whereas the UK is still regarded very highly.”
A draft copy of the UKTI guide, due out in the summer, reveals that the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works has a budget of up to$741 million (£497m) and is tendering for around 35 major new water and wastewater treatment plants.

The guide also emphasises the growing importance of the Ministry of Construction and Housing, which is in charge of improving 45,000 km of dilapidated roads in the country.

Rail, aviation and the ports and maritime department are all also seeking to undertake major projects, according to the guide.

On 30 April, at a meeting of 250 UK companies and Iraqi officials in London, Business secretary Peter Mandelson signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi deputy Prime Minister, Barhan Salih, to improve business ties.

Community Centred - Soldier Magazine

AT the height of Telic’s troubles, the Contingency Operating Base (COB) at Basra Airport was an exceedingly dangerous place to be.

Despite being out of the city and away from the threat of small arms fire and IED strikes, the location was bombarded with indirect fire attacks as militia mortars and rockets fell from the sky, destroying equipment and ultimately claiming casualties.

With the marshland in the vicinity of the base providing an ideal firing point for would-be assailants, British commanders realised that the key to extinguishing the deadly attacks once and for all lay in establishing a presence in the villages in and around the intricate system of waterways surrounding the city.

The solution arrived with the formation of Forward Operating Base (FOB) Oxford, an austere smattering of canvas on a riverbank about 5km from the COB. Its watery environment is a world removed from the dusty streets of Basra city itself, but strike battlegroup soldiers from the Desert Rats on Op Telic 12 and, more recently, their 20th Armoured Brigade successors on Telic 13 have played a major role in clamping down on rocket strikes.

Just three attacks have been made on the COB since the turn of the year and the final soldiers to launch patrols from FOB Oxford using assault boats manned by 35 Engineer Regiment’s sappers have been able to fully focus on building up a rapport with rural Iraqis living in nearby villages.

The gratitude for Britain’s help in ridding the area of troublemakers is evident in the happy faces greeting 5 Rifles’ troops at every turn out on the ground. Scores of children tagging onto one of last month’s concluding patrols were rewarded with sweets, chocolate and footballs, while influential sheikhs made a point of stopping to talk to platoon commander Capt Charlie King.

“It’s completely different now to how it was in the recent past,” said the officer. “Our emphasis has been on going out and getting to know the people. That way we could see what their problems were, whether that was a lack of water or not having somewhere to play football, and do something about them.

“Now we go through areas where people have been stoned in the past and it’s a good indicator of how far things have moved on that we are greeted with enthusiasm. I think that our presence has given the local population something to believe in and someone they can trust. Obviously we can’t give them everything they might want and need, but we can start to give them that bit of hope.”

Joining the Rifles on a river patrol through the narrow channels of water that cut blue swathes through the surrounding green-and-brown landscape, it is not long before Soldier encountered the first villagers keen to provide a glowing endorsement of the British Army.

“We are currently building a house which will be the biggest one here,” said resident Mohammed Mahdy as he took a break from his construction site in the intense mid-morning heat. “We can do this in peace because the British soldiers are kind and professional men.

“They have been coming here every ten days recently and because of them there is no distrust in the village. Everyone likes them being here because they have good policies. One year ago we would not have left our houses after dark, but now everyone feels safe to go out at night.”

It may have lacked the frequent contacts and acts of bravery that characterised previous deployments, but 5 Rifles’ Telic tour has nonetheless yielded incredible results which have been delivered while living and working in the most basic of conditions.

Alternating between acting as the COB’s quick reaction force and spending time at FOB Oxford, the infantrymen have had to face long periods of relative inactivity in order to carry out some of the key functions of the operation’s closing months.

But despite the danger of becoming complacent amid such a peaceful environment, Capt King (pictured below left) said his soldiers had excelled in keeping their minds firmly on the job in hand.

“We did have an anticipation before we arrived about how things would be, but we came in to a situation where nothing was really happening and no shots were being fired,” he told Soldier.

“We have switched from being the quick reaction force racing to the front gate to go and help out in the city, to working on the Iraq/Iran border to stagging on at a FOB. The breadth of stuff the guys have taken on is something I have to thank them for.

“It’s difficult coming into an environment that not too long ago was a complete war zone but they have adapted themselves to a completely different situation and it’s been a case of taking on whatever jobs we need to and getting on with it.

“The guys are always professional and although it has been very quiet, it would have been easy to get complacent and think that nothing is going to happen. My boys have stayed focused and have always been ready for the worst case scenario.”

Out of the darkness - Soldier Magazine

OFF-DUTY policeman Qasem La’Ety Thamer’s face glowed with contentment as he took in the hustle and bustle of downtown Basra on a balmy evening in mid-April.

Sat on a bench with wife Mona Hussein and five-year-old son Ali (pictured), the officer listened to the clacking of dominoes and jovial chatter of a group of young men wafting across the crowded corniche – the main drag of shops and restaurants lining the Shatt al Arab waterway.

That Qasem was able to head into Basra from his home 25 kilometres away to enjoy a night out is testament to just how far the city has emerged from its dark recent past.

Only one year ago, the corniche fell silent after 1800 as Iraqis rushed for their homes to avoid the attentions of the militias.

Now Basra is a city transformed and, as with every person Soldier stopped to talk to during Telic’s final joint patrol with British, Iraqi and US troops, Qasem can’t get enough of his new-found freedom.

The proud policeman – who was thrown into prison in the 1990s for refusing to join Saddam Hussein’s army – has high hopes that the successes of the six-year op and the growing capability of the Iraqi Army will help his country blossom into a nation where his son can have a safe and prosperous future.

“You could not go outside after dark before Charge of the Knights,” he said over the din of Basra’s rush hour traffic. “Life was very hard and people were scared. It was difficult to do your job. Now I’m happy and secure because Basra is the best province in the south of Iraq.

“I’m a policeman and we are working hard to provide security for everybody who lives here and give them freedom from the bad times. Because of that, I can come here with my family to enjoy my life.”

As much as Basra is revelling in its conflict-free present, no one is under any illusions about the amount of blood, sweat and tears shed by coalition troops since Op Telic rolled into action in 2003.

After encountering some hard fighting during their initial push into Iraq from Kuwait, British troops were able to patrol in soft hats as the situation calmed down. Things soon took a turn for the worse and a total of 179 UK soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice in the ensuing battle against insurgents.

Fighting aside, Britain’s biggest legacy to the people of Iraq are the thousands of newly-trained soldiers who make up the Middle Eastern nation’s Army.

From its beginnings as a rag-tag group of men using outdated kit and tactics, the modern Iraqi force now stands tall thanks to the wealth of knowledge passed on by the military transition teams that lived and worked alongside them.

Gen Aziz Mohammed – the man responsible for all of Iraq’s Security Forces in Basra province – said that the coalition’s hard-fought contribution to installing lasting peace and democracy in the region would not be forgotten.

“What the British have done is already appreciated,” the senior officer explained during a rare interview at the Basra Operations Command based in the Shatt al Arab Hotel.

“They have given a big hand for training, for logistics, even for civilian life. Already if you walk around Basra you feel how safe it is. I feel that in the future we will have a good life.

“We have started projects and are doing new things to allow the Baswari people to feel they are secure. We are all very serious about working hard to give them a life that is better than the one they had.”

Unsurprisingly for an operation that saw such frequent contact with the enemy during its peak, tales of British bravery under Telic’s most testing times are not hard to come by.

CSgt Andre Pepper (1 PWRR), who was Mentioned in Dispatches for his part in the daring rescue of stricken British troops stranded in downtown Basra in 2004, saw further action on his second tour two years later.

Stationed at the Provincial Joint Coordination Centre near the former Ba’ath Party headquarters opposite Basra’s Old State Building, Pepper was first on the scene when, in 2006, a Lynx helicopter was shot down, crashing nearby and killing the five personnel onboard.

The senior soldier battled through an angry crowd and was faced with “walls of fire unlike any other” as he searched through the residential block to find the aircraft’s wreckage. The clear-up operation took two days to complete and was carried out under intense RPG and mortar attacks from insurgent fighters.

Now coming to the end of his third and final Telic, selfless Pepper carries a genuine belief that the sacrifices made by himself and his colleagues since 2003 will not be in vain.

“I can’t believe the city as it is now,” he said. “I still expect to go around the corner and for it all to go wrong.

“It has changed completely and I’m pleased we are leaving because that’s the job done. On top of that, I’m also pleased for the people of Basra and their future.

“They really need it because they haven’t had much luck and it will be nice to see it all work out for them. Whether they like us or not, I hope that the Iraqis see that we were here doing good.”
Despite the sterling work carried out by Britain’s troops in Iraq, there remains an ever-diminishing proportion of the public that questions the motives of the coalition in invading in the first place.

But looking as Qasem La’Ety Thamer and his young family spending time together in an increasingly thriving city provides an answer in itself.

Saddam Hussein has gone, the militias have dispersed and business is booming. The capable Iraqi Security Forces have taken control of their country’s safety needs and democracy has firmly taken root, with national elections due to take place later this year.

Every military man and woman like Pepper who has served with dedication and courage in unspeakable conditions against a brutal enemy can hold their heads high knowing that the British Army’s steadfast commitment to freedom has ensured that Telic has ultimately triumphed.

Iraq To Start Drilling At Shared Field With Kuwait

Iraq will commence drilling for oil at a field shared with Kuwait although the lack of an agreement outlining investment in equally owned fields, according to sources. In the weeks before the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Baghdad blamed the nation of stealing billions of dollars worth of oil from its fields through horizontal drilling. Kuwait denied the charge.

"The oil minister visited Safwan oilfield and inaugurated the installment of many rigs, which are due to start drilling in a few days," oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said.

Several fields overlap the border, including the Rumaila South field and also the Safwan and Zubair fields.

During a visit to the joint border fields, Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani said that until an agreement is entered with Kuwait, Iraq will drill additional wells in the region, his spokesman said.

"We will start drilling more wells in the border field of Safwan to make the most of crude available to raise production and export rates," Jihad quoted Shahristani as saying.

Iraq has not signed any agreement setting out the technical and legal mechanisms to spend in oilfields shared by the two nations.

New speaker for Iraq parliament - BBC

Members of Iraq's parliament have elected a new speaker, ending months of dispute about who should fill the post.

Ayad al-Samarai, who is from the main Sunni Arab alliance, won 153 of 232 votes cast, and promised to work for national unity.

Politicians had agreed to reserve the position of speaker for a Sunni Arab, but Mr Samarai had failed to win a big enough majority in a previous vote.

Parliament has been without a speaker since last December.
The previous holder of the post, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, stepped down following criticism of his abrasive style.

After the vote that approved him as the new speaker, Mr Samarai said Iraq's parliament needed a "process of reform" that would allow competing parliamentary blocs to work together more productively.

"The process of [parliamentary] oversight is not a means of weakening the executive authority but of strengthening it," the AFP news agency reported him as saying.

Correspondents say his selection opens the way for parliament to deal with crucial reforms that have been on hold since Mr Mashhadani stepped down.

"Today we finished a complicated problem which has lasted for months and thank God has been settled in this democratic manner," the acting speaker, Khalid al-Attiya, told Reuters news agency.

"And we hope that the new era for the elected president [of parliament] will be full of achievements in order to allow parliament to rise to its responsibilities," he said.

Iraqi Women Can Now Say No to Hijab or Head Scarf

Relative Security Improvements Mean Greater Freedom of Choice for Iraqi Women.

All over Baghdad the gradual improvements in security and the near-disappearance of militiamen and al Qaeda members from the streets have reduced the pressure on Iraqi women to cover their heads with a "hijab," or head scarf.

Militants routinely threatened to kill each and every woman who did not dress according to the precepts of sharia law that were put in force in 2007. According to Juliana Dawood, a college teacher who lives in Basra, graffiti on the city walls threatened violence against any woman who did not wear the hijab. Fliers distributed in cities like Basra reinforced the warning.

People in the Ghazaliyah neighborhood in western Baghdad witnessed many assaults on women in 2007. "I saw a group of armed men. [they] grabbed a girl and beat her before a crowd of more than 50 people along with her father for not wearing hijab, and afterward they cut her hair with knives," a man who identified himself as Eman told ABC News. "I was frightened and never left home for nearly a week."

A woman named Ibtisam, a 56-year-old housewife living in Baghdad, said that fear of the militiamen "drove my 23-year-old daughter to wear the head scarf. ... We did it for security."
The Hijab phenomenon, in the eyes of many Iraqis, can be linked to the influence of neighboring Islamic-ruled countries.

Yanar Mohammed, the head of the Iraqi Womens Group, told ABC News the phenomenon was enforced indirectly by "the militants who represent the ideologies of their countries." She added that members of al Qaeda "actually distributed the full hijab worn in Afghanistan and forced women [in Iraq] to wear it. One woman who refused ... was killed the next day."

Another Iraqi, Ashjan, a 35-year-old working woman who lives in the Al Khadraa neighborhood of western Baghdad, said that after security improved and there were "no more al Qaeda in Iraq members in the streets to threaten us, I stopped wearing the hijab. I feel free now."

Ilham, a teacher in a girls school said, "Even Christian women were frightened by the wrath of militants and wore the head scarf to avoid being targeted."
After 2003, Iraqis say, militants tried to cast a more religious character on the country's secular society in a number of other ways, such as prohibiting young men from wearing short pants or smoking cigarettes in public.

Ahmed, who owns a tobacco store that includes a hubble-bubble, the traditional Iranian water pipe, said he narrowly escaped an armed attack. "I was sitting at my shop in the al Khadraa area and all of sudden two masked armed men broke in and opened fire." The bullets left him wheelchair-bound.

For a time, hubble-bubble smoking pipes were prohibited in Baghdad coffee shops, and weddings and parties became taboo, after Iraqi state television ran a graphic story about a bride who was slaughtered in the province of Diyala because al Qaeda in Iraq deemed her wedding un-Islamic.
Now beauty, bridal and cosmetics shops flouish in areas that were previously hotbeds of violence. Young Iraqi women now wear short skirts and boots without fearing for their lives. After six years, things are slowly getting back to normal, and Iraqis revel in the new freedom of how to live their lives.

Is God Answering Prayer For Iraq?

"'I am just optimistic, and I think we are on the right path,' said Hiba Aal-Jassin, a dental student.

"There are dramatic numbers to backup this sentiment. A new ABC News poll finds 65 percent of Iraqis feel positive about their lives. So much so, that from the port city of Basra in the south, to Karbala in the heartland, there are signs of new life everywhere.

"The streets, the markets, the restaurants, they are all bustling with people. some Iraqis in Baghdad have even taken up new hobbies like car racing.

"'It is all new,' said Luay al-Ameer. 'It is nice.'"

Many Americans prayed earnestly for a democracy build in Iraq after the fiendish despot was dethroned. Is democracy now blossoming?

Per George Thomas,CBN News Senior Reporter, there is real hope. Six years have passed since the US moved into Iraq to rid the place of Saddam Hussein.

Six years. Can one imagine that the years have flown by so quickly? Yet they have and change has moved in for the better.

Where once soccer stadiums were used primarily for Muslim males to shoot bullets into women's heads to decree "honor killing," soccer stadiums are now used mainly for legitimate sport.

"Tens of thousands of fans feel safe to gather for soccer matches. Security is a big factor in all this.. 84 percent of Iraqis say the security conditions are good. The number is double what it was in 2007.

"'We feel safe and it is much better than last year,' said one Iraqi."

Instead of the sharia Islamic maddening so-called rule of justice and legality, locals praise democracy.

People are talking about planting their flower and vegetable gardens. Children are tossing balls in the streets. Markets are selling their produce.

Instead of Hussein's lusty sons picking up pretty women on the streets at night, taking them to rape rooms, then killing them before dawn, Iraqis try to forget the raunchy Hussein who played righteous while slaughtering his own.

Even Hussein's relatives feared for their daughters. Hussein would have lavish parties in his palaces. Relatives were invited. However, before daylight a young girl or two or three could be missing forever. Hussein and sons thought nothing of taking his own clan females for sex and then murder.

Bush's 'folly' is ending in victory

'MARKETS without bombs. Hummers without guns. Ice cream after dark. Busy streets without fear." So began Terry McCarthy's report from Iraq for ABC's World News Sunday on March 15, one of a series the network aired last week as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary.

A nationwide poll of Iraqis reveals that "60 percent expect things to get better next year - almost three times as many as a year and a half ago," McCarthy continued. "Iraqis are slowly discovering they have a future. We flew south to Basra, where 94 percent say their lives are going well. Oil is plentiful here. So is money."

In another report two nights later, ABC's correspondent characterized the Iraqi capital as "a city reborn: speed, light, style - this is Baghdad today. Where car bombs have given way to car racing. Where a once-looted museum has been restored and reopened. And where young women who were forced to cover their heads can again wear the clothes that they like."

One such young woman is dental student Hiba al-Jassin, who fled Baghdad's horrific violence two years ago, but found the city transformed when she returned last fall. "I'm just optimistic," she told McCarthy. "I think we are on the right path."

ABC wasn't alone in conveying the latest glad tidings from Iraq.

"Iraq combat deaths at 6-year low," USA Today reported on its front page last Wednesday. The story noted that in the first two months of 2009, 15 US soldiers were killed in action - one-fourth the number killed in the same period a year ago, and one-tenth the 2007 toll. The reduction in deaths reflects the reduction in violence, which has plummeted by 90 percent since former President Bush ordered General David Petraeus to implement a new counterinsurgency strategy - the "surge" - in early 2007. Even in northern Iraq, where al-Qaeda is still active, attacks are down by 70 percent.

In the wake of improved security have come political reconciliation and compromise. Iraq's democratic government continues to mature, with ethnic and religious loyalties beginning to yield to broader political concerns.

The Washington Post reports that the country's foremost Shiite politician, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has formed an alliance with Saleh al-Mutlak, an outspoken Sunni leader. It is a development that suggests "the emergence of a new axis of power in Iraq centered on a strong central government and nationalism" - a dramatic change from the sectarian passions that fueled so much bloody agony in 2006 and 2007. In the recent provincial elections, writes the Post's Anthony Shadid, Maliki's party won major gains, with the prime minister "forgoing the slogans of his Islamist past for a platform of law and order." Despite his erstwhile reputation as a Shiite hard-liner, Maliki now echoes Mutlak's call for burying the hatchet with supporters of Saddam Hussein's overwhelmingly Sunni Baath Party.

Those elections were yet another blow to the conviction that constitutional democracy and Arab culture are incompatible. For the 440 seats to be filled, more than 14,000 candidates and some 400 political parties contended - a level of democratic competition that leaves American elections in the dust. A Jeffersonian republic of yeoman smallholders Iraq will never be. But over the past six years it has been transformed from one of the most brutal tyrannies on earth to an example of democratic pluralism in the heart of the Arab world.

For a long time the foes of both the Iraq war and the president who launched it insisted that none of this was possible - that the war was lost, that there was no military solution to the sectarian slaughter, that the surge would only make the violence worse. Victory was not an option, the critics declared; the only option was to partition Iraq and get out. Time and again it was said that the war would forever be remembered as Bush's folly, if not indeed as the worst foreign policy mistake in US history.

Even now, with a stubbornness born of partisan hostility or political ideology, there are those who cannot bring themselves to utter the words "victory" and "Iraq" in the same sentence. But six years after the war began, it is ending in victory. As in every war, the price of that victory was higher than we would have wished. The price of defeat would have been far higher.

Army’s new breed of officers in Iraq earn their spurs in line of fire

Operation Telic in Iraq was supposed to be about liberating a repressed people and rebuilding a nation, but it turned into a war of attrition that put the Northern Ireland experience in the shade. The impact on the British Army has been profound. Every assumption made by senior military commanders based on the prevailing intelligence and political judgment at the time was turned on its head.

As a consequence, the doctrine of warfare taught at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and at the staff colleges had to be rewritten, and the Ministry of Defence was forced to beg for funds from the Treasury to provide equipment off the shelf to cope with the unexpected and unprepared-for surge of violence in southern Iraq.

Sandhurst went from being a renowned academy that prepared young officer cadets for regimental life, big-picture wars and peacekeeping operations to a production line for almost instant deployment to Iraq once the Sovereign’s Parade was over.

Second lieutenants armed with their classroom proficiency certificates were thrust into battle training on Salisbury Plain and within months found themselves on the streets of Basra and al-Amarah, leading platoons in the face of an increasingly competent and well-armed enemy.

One moment they were dining in New College at Sandhurst with pictures of great generals around them, the next they were immersed in full-scale combat and making lifesaving decisions that few of their senior officers had faced in their careers.

Operation Telic and then Operation Herrick in Afghanistan created a generation of extraordinarily experienced young officers who have had to fight for their lives and for the lives of the men under their command. These are the generals of the future, men who have never needed to know what it was like to plan for a Soviet invasion or even how to keep the peace in Northern Ireland.

Their experience, and the combat roles of the non-commissioned officers, against the Shia militia in southern Iraq and the Taleban in Helmand province will be the marker for how the Army will be run in the future.

Already, the selection for the next Chief of the Defence Staff has been dictated by the two campaigns. General Sir David Richards, who was in charge of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan in 2006-07, is to be head of the Army in August.

Lieutenant-General Sir Nick Houghton, who was Deputy Commanding General of the Multinational Force in Iraq in 2005-06, is to be promoted to Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in the summer. Both are front-runners for the top appointment when it becomes available in 2011.

How the British Army will evolve depends partly on the results of the reappraisal of doctrine that the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre is carrying out. The emphasis will surely be on developing the sort of high-tech weaponry and surveillance assets needed to stay one step ahead of the enemy, whether in an asymmetric war or a conventional conflict.

The experience of Operation Telic has proved that the size of the Army is too small. When he was Defence Secretary, Des Browne told The Times in December 2006 that if the tempo of operations continued for any length of time, the Army would have to increase in size.

Even though Operation Telic is now drawing to a close, and the Northern Ireland mission has been reduced to a normal garrison strength, the campaign in Afghanistan is going to tie up much of the Army for many more years. John Hutton, Mr Browne’s successor, is thought to agree that the Army is too small but he will have a battle with the Treasury if he tries to seek more money for his budget, even though recruiting extra volunteers for the Army is likely to be less challenging today because the economic recession is encouraging young people to consider a military career.

For the British troops, the counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq produced some shocking moments, such as the image of two soldiers with their combat fatigues on fire, climbing out of the turret of their burning Warriors in Basra in 2005.

There have also been some extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice, often shown by soldiers and Royal Marines in their teens and early twenties. The gallantry awards issued have revealed examples of bravery that have proved beyond argument that the new generation of infantrymen can fight with the same unselfish determination and the same unswerving commitment as their forbears.

No one can fail to remember the accounts of courage in the medal citations for Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, awarded the Victoria Cross, and the two George Cross holders, Captain (now Major) Peter Norton, and Trooper Christopher Finney who was only 18 when he won his medal.

There were, however, some serious lapses in discipline during the earlier stages of Operation Telic, none worse than the fatal beating of Baha Musa at the British detention centre in Basra in September 2003. That incident, to be the subject of an independent public inquiry by a retired judge, exposed the Army not only to uncomfortable and embarrassing headlines but also revealed a basic failure in the training of soldiers for prisoner-handling.

The blame for the death of Mr Musa lay not just with the soldiers who took part in the beating and abuse but also higher up — those who failed to underline to all units departing for service in Iraq that it was their solemn duty to protect prisoners of war and to observe the Geneva Conventions.

Absolute Radio - News Team in Iraq

This month, Absolute Radio dons its desert gear to spend a week with British troops in Iraq. Two of our crack newsreaders, Andrew Bailey and Tania Snuggs, are joining more than four thousand military personnel based in Basra to find out what life is really like in a war zone. They have been given unique access to all three services - Army, Royal Navy and RAF - and will be following the day to day lives of the UK servicemen and women working in the region.

For a raft of reporting, stories and radio reports click here

British commander in Iraq declares 'mission accomplished' - Telegraph

The commander of British forces in Iraq has said that all 179 UK troops killed fighting in the war sacrificed their lives for a good cause.

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent in Basra

Despite the controversy surrounding the conflict, Major General Andy Salmon said that the servicemen and women who had been killed in Iraq since 2003 did not die in vain.

Gen Salmon declared "mission accomplished" for British forces, adding that now was the right time to return to the UK.

Gen Salmon, a Royal Marine Commando, who first served in Iraq 18 years ago, also said he believed that the insurgency had been defeated.

He added that the Iraqi Army now held the "monopoly of violence" and the power vacuum, which had been exploited by the militias, had now disappeared.

The general, who commands the coalition's multinational division south east, also predicted a bright future for Basra and said that with hard work and the right investment there was "no reason" why Basra could not become as successful as Dubai.

The general, who will be Britain's last commander of British troops in southern Iraq, said he was proud of what has been achieved but added that there were important "lessons to be learnt" from the six year operation.

He said that Britain played a significant part in bringing a nation out of the "darkness" of a totalitarian dictatorship.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the general said it was always difficult to judge whether any military operation was worth the sacrifice of soldiers' lives.

He is understood to be the first British officer to publicly state that war was worth the sacrificing the lives of British troops.

The general said: "It's always a very difficult question to answer. Different soldiers will give you different answers, depending on their experiences. We all know that being a member of the Armed Forces on operations is not without risk.

"The picture in Iraq is very positive right now. We (the coalition) got rid of a dictator, we have given freedom to Iraqis, we have seen the start of a democratic process, we have seen things get better. The Iraqis are very friendly towards us and they are actually very appreciative of what we've done and the sacrifices that have been made so we have given something precious. So the sacrifices of our mates have not been in vain, so in that respect it has been worth it."

The general added: "These are not just my views but the view of the majority of the soldiers. I ask them 'Do you think it was worth it?' and they say 'yes our mates didn't die in vain'."

Gen Salmon, who has been in the post since last autumn, also believed now was the right time for the British to pull-out because the military task had been achieved.

The general added that the militias had been defeated and lost the support of the population, although he admitted that they still represented a threat.

He said: "For the UK military, it is a case of mission accomplished. We have achieved what we set out to do. We have got the Iraqi 14 Division up and running to manage security by itself. We have handed over Basra International Airport; we have created a secure and stable environment for social and political development to take place."

The general said that last month's provincial elections were a "litmus test" for the Iraqi army, which it had passed.

He added that the withdrawal of the British Armed Forces did not represent complete disengagement.

"Our leaving doesn't mean that the UK isn't here to stay. It will remain in a number of ways. There will be some diplomatic presence here, there willl be some trading relationships, some commercial activity. There is still a lot of work to help investment to take place and we need to help British investors to get in.

"There will still be defence relationship too. The work that we have been doing with the naval training teams, to help build capacity in the Iraqi navy and marines, will continue to take place and we will probably help with some of their officer training. So it's the end of this particular mission for the UK military but it's not the end of the UK partnership and relationship with Iraq as a nation state."

When asked what the future held for southern Basra and Iraq as a whole, the general admitted that significant challenges lay ahead.

He said that Basra needed billions of pounds of investment and reconstruction and redevelopment of the city could take up to 20 years.

He added: "Basra is a city which has been denied investment for more than 30 years and Iraq, as a whole, has major problems with corruption."

But despite the challenges, the general said that he believed the future was bright.

He said that the "geo-strategic" position of Basra - it is Iraq's only sea port - meant that it could become a major international city.

The general added: "Basra has a rail link to Baghdad, which has rail linked to Turkey, so in two steps you are at the borders of the European Union and that should not be lost on investors.

"There is social, economic and political development that needs to take place and we often use names like Dubai when we try and give people an idea of what Basra could become. I know that speaking to some of my Iraqi colleagues they talk about tax-free zones, like elsewhere in the Middle East. It is that sort of vision the Iraqis all have for Basra."

After Saddam & bombs, Iraqi band rockin' in USA

The band Acrassicauda is rockin' in the free world, but how they got here is an immigrant song of a different type.

After avoiding Saddam Hussein's secret police, enduring the bombing of their practice space, dodging death threats and navigating sectarian warfare in their native land, four Iraqi musicians who wanted nothing more than to rock 'n' roll all night are living in New Jersey, pursuing their dreams of heavy metal stardom.

Tales of bands struggling through hard times and overcoming obstacles to stardom are as old as rock 'n' roll itself. But Acrassicauda, named after a species of black scorpion, has had a harder time than most.

"A lot of heavy metal bands talk and sing about war and death and destruction, but they haven't experienced it," said bass player Firas al-Lateef. "We have."

After three years living as refugees in Syria and Turkey - and putting their survival ahead of their rock star dreams - the band is in America. They live in a small apartment with little more than some fold-out beds and a couple of chairs, doing the things many wannabe rock stars do: looking for jobs and women, not necessarily in that order.

"We're still in the process of figuring it all out," said drummer Marwan Riyadh, 24. "But we feel real optimistic about things. We're trying to fit in with a new culture and a new society and absorbing what's all around us. Our heads are spinning."

Acrassicauda (pronounced ah-crass-ih-COW'-dah) was formed in 2000 when Riyadh and guitarist and lead vocalist Faisal Talal met lead guitarist Tony Aziz, 30, in a Baghdad school where they were studying fine arts.

In between lessons, they realized they shared a love of heavy metal.

They joined with al-Lateef, 27, and played their first concert two months later before about 300 fans in a small Baghdad club. The city has a tiny heavy metal subculture that listened to cassettes by Metallica, Iron Maiden, Opeth, Slipknot and Savatage, purchased surreptitiously from the back of stores displaying Arabic music on the shelves.

Trouble soon followed. Saddam's secret police was seemingly everywhere, and grew suspicious when bands sang in English or languages other than Arabic, said the 25-year-old Talal.

"Our friends warned us this would happen, and they were right," he said. "They suggested we translate our lyrics into Arabic because the secret police would ask for it, and they did."

Though Acrassicauda's music deals with war and suffering, the band took pains to keep it apolitical, singing of injustices in a general sense in songs like "Between The Ashes" and "Massacre."

"It's like speaking about the killing of innocent children, but it doesn't have to be in your own country, or any particular country," Talal said.

When the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq and toppled Hussein in April 2003, music took a back seat to staying alive.

"We didn't expect to survive," Talal said. "During war, it's stay home, lock your door and stay indoors as much as you can. Missiles and bullets were coming down from the sky. It was always red outside."

Added Riyadh, "We spent nights when we didn't know if we would wake up the next morning."
Aziz's house was destroyed in the fighting, but he and his family weren't in it at the time and survived.

Once Hussein was toppled and fighting subsided in and around Baghdad, the band regrouped in January 2004, playing a show for 50 to 60 people at a place called the Hindia Club.

But the insurgency was gaining strength, and a different kind of danger was taking hold. Their next show attracted only five people.

Basra Polling Was 'Litmus Test' for Security Forces

Iraqi police and soldiers in Basra performed well during the Jan. 31 provincial elections, a senior British officer posted in Iraq said today.

Basra's citizens "were safe and secure" when they casted their ballots, British Royal Marine Maj. Gen. Andy Salmon, commander of Multinational Division Southeast, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference.

Salmon's command includes elements of the British and Australian militaries and it operates in the southernmost part of Iraq, including the city of Basra. The elections in Basra passed without major incident, said Salmon, who cited the "impeccable" performance of Iraqi soldiers and police.

Nearly 1.5 million people had registered to vote in Basra and its environs, Salmon said, adding that overall voter turnout in his area topped 50 percent. The elections took place in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Basra's voting-day success "was really important for the Iraqi security forces" there, Salmon said. "It was a litmus-test for them, and the fact that they passed with very minor incidents was a testament to the way they've developed" over the past few months.

Salmon said he was impressed by the Iraqi security forces' demonstrated performance and professionalism. For example, an Iraqi policeman was promptly "sacked" or fired on the spot by his commander, Salmon said, after the officer inappropriately fired his rifle in the air to move along a queue of voters.

Iraqi security forces in Basra will continue to improve, Salmon said, noting he predicts more joint cooperation and partnership between Iraqi soldiers and police. "Now, it's really a question of making sure that police reform continues," Salmon said.

Efforts to enhance border and port security in southern Iraq also are being enhanced, he said. With the much-improved security, Salmon said, Basra's citizens now rate crime, jobs, and the delivery of essential services as higher concerns. Those issues, he said, are "the sort of thing that anybody would be worried about in any city in the world, frankly."

Meanwhile, Basra's people are "determined not to go back to the previous 30 years of darkness," Salmon said, referring to the past brutal, corrupt rule by deceased dictator Saddam Hussein.

"They've tasted freedom recently; they like it and want more of it," Salmon said of Basra's citizens. "They want decent politicians that can deliver; they want more transparency, they want corruption dealt with. "And these elections are really the start of all of that," Salmon said.

See the article on the Australian web site here