Come and play the beautiful game in Al Dayr

The children of Al Dayr, north of Basra, Iraq now have properly constructed playing field thanks to the coalition forces based in Basra, and what better way to open the pitch than a local football tournament?

A badly worn pitch used by hundreds of children, which was very often unplayable after rain, and always uneven and awkward to play on, was situated on the town’s outskirts.

Using money taken from the UK Commanders Contingency Fund the village was gifted a new playing field. The pitch was raised in height to stop flooding in the winter and allow an all year round playing surface.

‘The work improving the pitch has allowed football to be played all year round and give the town of Al Dayr a focus to come together, whatever their background or age’, said the Head Coach, Mr Baasim Kareem Hamaizy.

‘The development of the seating surrounding the pitch and the goals has made it feel like a real football pitch’, one of the players said.

In terms of giving the town a focus and somewhere to go and play the benefits are easy to see, allowing all of the tribes and all age groups to come together and play the beautiful game.

‘This is an amazing day for the people of Al Dayr. The new pitch will see 40 different teams of all ages and tribal backgrounds use it; there will be at least two matches everyday. All the people are truly grateful for all that has been done’, Mr Baasim Hamaizy said.

The pitch was officially opened by Staff Colonel Walled and Sheikh Sarad Farid who cut the ribbon and declared the pitch ‘open for sport’.

The turnout of over 200 people on the day is just the start of a project that enhances life in the area.

Both the ISF and the Al Dayr Emergency Police Battalion were present throughout the event, providing assistance and security in another positive sign that Iraq is capable of standing on its own two feet.

Local dignitaries commented on how pleased the local people were that the British had helped them.

‘We were only assisting the Iraqi people to help themselves. The provision of the football pitch was a gift from the Iraqi people, for the Iraqi people’, said Capt John Gordon who helped Mr Baasim organise the event.

The prize giving saw the winning team presented their trophy by the Commanding Officer of 52 Brigade Military Transition Team, Lieutenant Colonel John Price, 1 Yorks, who was sat with the Iraqi dignitaries throughout. Prizes were given to the runners-up team, the man of the match, the officials and all the locals that assisted in the event.

The Al Dayr Municipal Directorate, Mr Adnan Jassim said, ‘Today has been a huge success and it is great to see so many happy children being able to play the sport they love.’

Christmas in Basra: Yuletide for Britain's armed forces - Independent

Turkey, presents, and then a screening of 'The Great Escape': Kim Sengupta reports on the troops' final Christmas in Iraq

British troops will wake up on the last Christmas they spend in Iraq to gunfire, this much they already know. This time, however, it will not be the lethal attacks which they had been receiving for much of their five years of the conflict. Gunfire, in this case, is tea laced with whisky served by their officers and senior NCOs – a long-held custom in the armed forces. Then, after a rare free morning for most, it will be a traditional lunch with roast turkey, Christmas pudding and mince pies.

The overwhelming choice of film to watch after the Queen's speech this year is The Great Escape – to celebrate, say the soldiers, the fact that they are due to be back home by the end of July as the UK ends its engagement in the most bitter and controversial war in recent history.

In Iraq, the furthest shipment of Christmas food has been to al-Qurnah where a British unit is mentoring Iraqi forces. The village, 80 miles north-west of Basra, at the confluence of the rivers Tigris and the Euphrates, is the supposed location of the Garden of Eden.

They and other UK troops embedded with Iraqis will be visited by the commander, Major General Andy Salmon, in the course of the day in "Operation Empty Sack"' – so called because he has no presents to give them apart from reassurance that they will be going home soon. In reality there are no shortages of gifts for the troops, not just from friends and families, but also from general members of the public, with some of the parcels addressed to simply "Soldier in Basra" or "British Forces, Iraq".

Away from the rituals of Christmas, the mood among the British troops was this week quiet and reflective. Most of them have done a number of tours in Iraq and seen the fortune of war change from pensive calm in the aftermath of the invasion, to sustained violence, to the current mood of relative peace since the Shia militias who in effect took over Basra were driven out by Iraqi, American and British forces in an operation called Charge of the Knights.

The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment had been deployed four times to the country and took part in fierce fighting against paramilitaries atAl-Amarah, in Maysan province, in 2004 when they took a number of casualties. They are currently based at the Shatt al-Arab Hotel in Basra City, training Iraqi forces.

Sitting under a Christmas tree, Lance Corporal Mathew Bignell, 22, from Southampton, said: "It is difficult to believe that we are having such a quiet Christmas. Up in Al-Amarah, we had action each day, every day.

"We genuinely did not know whether we would survive until the end of the tour. I remember a firefight where bullets were landing just few inches from my feet. We had rockets and mortar rounds landing all around us.

"Now we go out along with the Iraqis and the people are friendly, they come up and talk to you. I must admit I did not think that I would ever see this. But I am very glad that we are leaving when things are getting better. Of course I miss my family at Christmas, but that's the job and they understand that."

Click here for the full article on the Independent website

UK troops in festive mood in Iraq - BBC

By Caroline Wyatt BBC News, in Basra

A group of recruits stand stiffly to attention at their passing-out parade on a parade ground in the centre of a burnt-out, bombed military academy in Basra.

Their uniforms are a hotch-potch of different desert camouflage, but all stand with pride as they are awarded their end-of-course medals.

These are Iraqi soldiers, junior NCOs (non-commissioned officers), passing out under the watchful eyes of their British army mentors from the Queen's Royal Hussars (QRH), who look on with equal pride.

"They're every bit as good as some of ours - and some of them are better," says the Regimental Sergeant Major Ian Hammond.

Few of the young Iraqis speak much English, but the two sides seem to share a common military language.

There is a real sense of achievement here, and mutual respect between two armies which only five years ago stood to fight against one another.

British back-up

The training of Iraq's new army will be one of Britain's lasting legacies in Basra.
One recruit, Sgt Adel al-Baidhani, even wants his British mentors to stay on longer.

His ears were cut off on the orders of Saddam Hussein as a punishment for deserting the Iraqi army in the 1990s. A British plastic surgeon later helped repair the damage, offering pioneering surgery.

Sgt al-Baidhani has just been given the passing-out prize for being the best young sergeant. He was keen to join the new army.

"The Iraqi army is strong now, and it has good leadership but it's not ready to defend the country on its own yet.

For the full article click here for the BBC website

MiTTs: Enabling the Iraqis to take charge

Wearing soft hats and smiles, Basra's native soldiers' relaxed air as they patrol the city's streets serves as a tangible example of the upturn in security in southern Iraq. Helping them inch ever closer to assuming full control of Basra are British Military Transition Teams (MiTTs). Report by Stephen Tyler.

Operating in areas that less than a year ago would have taken several hundred men to take and hold, the Iraqis are making giant strides in convincing Basrawis that they are a force for good.

Central to that shift in opinion has been the implementation of the MiTT system by coalition troops. Already widely used by the US Army in Baghdad and by the British - in the form of OMLTs (Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams) - in Afghanistan, the concept is helping indigenous soldiers take charge of their country's destiny.

By allying a Military Transition Team to individual battalions of the Iraqi Army's 14th Division, the British enable the Basra-based soldiers to take the lead in establishing and maintaining security across the city.

Major Conrad Turpin of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, the man in charge of monitoring the transition project, explained that the principle behind successful 'mitting' is to take a back seat and allow the Iraqis to empower themselves by taking charge of everything from training programmes to operations:

"Training is a very small part of mitting," he said. "It's more about living alongside the Iraqi Army and providing support as and when they need it. We are not here to be overseers and instructors, we are here to enable them to succeed.

"Ultimately our aim is to grow and develop the 14th Division to the point where they are able to cope without us and act fully on their own. Our first job out here was to learn from them what they do and how they do it because we are not trying to impose the British way onto them. It's Iraqi-led and we have to ensure that they succeed. If they don't, the populace won't support them and they will have lost Basra."

The success of mitting is clear to see in and around Basra's southern suburbs.
Deep in territory once ruled by trigger-happy militiamen sits a bombed-out hotel that now serves as the base for a company of 50 Brigade Iraqi troops.

From their adopted home - which was a Jaish Al Mahdi stronghold less than a year ago - the soldiers carry out patrols and conduct training under a MiTT relationship with 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Major Toby Christie, Officer Commanding, was quick to dispel any notions that the Iraqis were anything other than well-trained soldiers dedicated to securing a peaceful future for their country:
"There seems to be an impression that they are a bunch of boy scouts, but they are not," he said.
"They are professional and capable and in Operation Charge of the Knights they fought through the city like a bunch of devils."

Further evidence of the inroads mitting is making in the peace process is not hard to find. The palpable sense of danger that engulfed Basra just half-a-year ago has lifted and the locals are returning to some semblance of normality in their day-to-day lives.

Perhaps inevitably for a city that has known little other than firefights and explosions in its recent history, the streets and buildings bear the scars of battle. But with the damage comes the need for regeneration and the demand for repairs and for new equipment has given the Iraqis another chance to win favour with the population.

Military Transition Teams visit neighbourhoods within their areas to look for improvements that need to be made and are then able to apply for coalition cash to get the work done.

Local labour and material is used wherever possible and the resulting boost to both the communities and the economy is helping to turn even more hearts and minds round to the Army's way of thinking:

"We have helped with Iraqi-identified support projects like improving sewerage and drainage to win influence in the communities," continued Major Christie. "That has enabled them to learn from the process and carry out their own influence operations. It's exhausting and hard work and frustrations arise because of the cultural and language barrier, but it's been a challenge that has provided clear results after six months."

From a base in the heart of Basra, soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and 9th/12th Royal Lancers have also been impressed with the increasing ability of their Iraqi counterparts.

During a dawn patrol which took troops past curious crowds of children making their way to school in unprecedented safety, Major Bev Allen of 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment said he was pleasantly surprised with the professionalism of the 1st Battalion 51 Brigade Iraqi troops working in his MiTT:

"For me, the perception before I came was that we would be dealing with an amateur army who were not capable of operating successfully on their own," he said. "I'm glad to say that myth has been blown out of the water.

"We have done a lot of influence work and I think the Iraqis are more than capable of taking things forward. It has been a very good tour."

The infectious faith in Iraq's soldiers is spreading across the south of the country largely thanks to the support and guidance of the Military Transition Teams.

And although the Iraqi Army still has some way to go before it is ready to assume full control of Basra, Major Christie said the MiTT system has helped the Middle Eastern soldiers inch closer than ever before:

"It's still not a bed of roses and it would be mad to suggest it is," he concluded. "But things are moving fast and the city is certainly very optimistic."