20 MAY 2008 War In Iraq - Daily News

IPs Graduate From First Academy in Diyala

Tuesday, 20 May 2008

ASHRAF — Four hundred and thirteen Iraqis graduated, May 16, from the Multi National Division Regional Training Academy located in Ashraf, Iraq. The Iraqis attended the four-week course in order to become Iraqi police. “The training the IP received was top notch training, and it’s going to help them when they go out to their stations and start doing the job of taking care of the Iraqis and providing their security,” said Sgt. Richard Forbes-Watkins, a soldier with 202nd Military Police Company. The Iraqi police graduation is a huge step forward for Iraq, said Sgt. Maj. Gerald Stegemeier, the senior noncommissioned officer of the 728th Military Police Battalion. The Iraqi people are now one step closer to taking over the job of providing security for their nation, he added. “The IP’s I’ve meet have been very professional and have taken the responsibilities that their job entails very seriously,” Stegemeier said. The new graduates will now go out to their duty stations and man their post, said 1st Sgt. William Finch with the 202nd MP Company.

The main goal for the newly trained IP is to replace the American forces in the role of providing security for the Iraqi people, Finch said. The IP’s are very excited and dedicated to the idea of taking over their country.

“The Iraqis are eager to provide security for their nation,” Stegemeier said. Currently, there are more than ten thousand Iraqis applying to become Iraqi police.

(4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division)

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President Meets Iraqi VP, Operations Continue in Iraq

WASHINGTON — President Bush noted the improved security situation in Iraq’s southern oil city of Basra following meetings with Iraqi Vice President Abd al-Mahdi in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, May 18. Bush said he told Iraqi representatives at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East that he’s impressed with the progress being made in Iraq. “We talked about Basra and the success of the Iraqi government in Basra in dealing with Shia extremists,” Bush said.

National Police, Iraqi Army Conduct Clearing Mission in Baghdad

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY — Iraqi national police officials with support from Iraqi army soldiers conducted a clearance mission in the Karadah Security District of eastern Baghdad, May 17. With national police Brig. Gen. Aamir and his operations officer, Col. Tariq, leading the effort, 1st Brigade, 1st National Police Division, conducted a cordon-and-search mission within Muhalla 711 to find and confiscate illegal weapons and explosives.

Marines Assist Ramadi Police Progress

RAMADI — Two years ago, Ramadi's police force was essentially wiped out by a strong insurgency that devastated almost every police station, leaving only a small number of officers on the job and a city considered by officials to be uncontrollable and nicknamed the “wild west.” According to an NBC News article from September 2006, a secret report concluding that the United States military could not defeat the insurgents in al-Anbar province and al-Qaida was rapidly filling the political vacuity. Almost a year ago, the tribal leaders of Ramadi formed the “Al Anbar Awakening Movement” and agreed to work more closely with coalition forces.

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