Articles 4.24.2005

The Stars & Stripes has an article on the top NCO in South Korea leaving his post after 5 years in Korea. Command Sergeant Major Troy Welch specifically mentions the challenge of preparing the 2nd BCT for deployment in 2004: "Perhaps one of the greatest challenges, he said, came toward the end of last summer. Strike Force, a brigade within the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, got orders for a yearlong Iraq deployment. The commanders trained the troops for urban warfare at Rodriguez Range near the North Korean border, Welch recalled during an interview in his office. “It’s never easy, standing on a tarmac, shaking hands and sending folks off to combat,” he said. “But what makes you feel good about that is knowing that they were trained. Those kids were ready to go.”
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The Associated Press has an article on a civilian contractor killed in Ramadi. Curtis Hundley had served in Iraq with the National Guard, but upon return to the U.S. he quit his regular job and returned to Iraq working for Blackwater Security Consulting. According to the article, "Blackwater is employed by the U.S. government to provide security in a number of contexts in Iraq, ranging from protecting aid convoys to providing personal security for U.S. diplomats." Mr. Hundley died after a bomb exploded near a Blackwater armored vehicle. He was 42 years old.
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The Washington Post has an article on escalating violence in Iraq. A few quotes:
- "Violence is escalating sharply in Iraq after a period of relative calm that followed the January elections. Bombings, ambushes and kidnappings targeting Iraqis and foreigners, both troops and civilians, have surged this month while the new Iraqi government is caught up in power struggles over cabinet positions."
- "The U.S. official said this week that overall attacks had increased since the end of March. Roadside bombings and attacks on military targets are up by as much as 40 percent in parts of the country over the same period, according to estimates from private security outfits."
- "Soldiers and police across much of Iraq have fallen into inaction. The Defense and Interior ministries are run by interim chiefs slated for replacement. Initiatives by the Iraqi forces against the insurgents have all but ceased."
- "The insurgency has found new hideouts, gathering points and recruiting areas in western and central Iraq, and in eastern Iraq along the Tigris River, as well as in other locations."
- "In city after city and town after town, security forces who had signed up to secure Iraq and replace U.S. forces appear to have abandoned posts or taken refuge inside them for fear of attacks."
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Other articles from the region:
- LA Times (reg req'd): Leadership Void Fuels Disarray in Iraq
- Associated Press: Insurgent attacks delay forming new Iraqi government
- Washington Post: Private Security Workers Living On Edge in Iraq