B36 News - 12 July 2006

Today's top story comes from Samarra. Right smack dab in the middle of Samarra is Patrol Base Uvanni, named for SGT Michael Uvanni of Rome NY who fell in battle there. This story talks about the methods and tactics and the success of those tactics. These guys are walking their way to victory.

Walking to Victory
By the time the occupants of a suspected insurgent’s home have a clue that the Soldiers are there, the ladders are up and they are over the wall, breaching the door as the occupants are waking up.

“Walking has definitely aided in our success as a platoon,” said Call.

As a tribute to Bravo’s success, an e-mail recently was sent to Call that was taken from a terrorist web site explicitly warning other anti-Iraq Forces not to stay overnight in the city of Samarra because Coalition Forces are launching nightly raids and capturing insurgents.

“When the enemy starts to talk about your successes, it helps you feel confident and be proud of what our company has done and accomplished in our [area of operation],” said Call. “Bravo has a major footprint in the city,” said Call.

Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika
133rd Mobile Public Affairs
(I'll post the whole story in the comments section)

National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
While doing research for my upcomming 5 part series on how we're winning the war I found this document and I was floored. Here was the gameplan for winning the war in simple, easily understandable language. After taking the time to read it I was convinced that the nay-sayers were too busy spouting their opinions that they obviously didn't read this. Yes, it's long, but it's worth it.

Amb. Khalizad on Iraqi Progress
My friends at the Belmont Club posted the text of a speech that US Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalizad gave recently. This too is long so let me summarize it:

I will give my bottom line up front. I believe Americans, while remaining tactically patient about Iraq, should be strategically optimistic. Most important, a major change - a tectonic shift - has taken place in the political orientation of the Sunni Arab community. A year ago, Sunni Arabs were outside of the political process and hostile to the United States. They boycotted the January 2005 election and were underrepresented in the transitional national assembly. Today, Sunni Arabs are full participants in the political process, with their representation in the national assembly now proportional to their share of the population. Also, they have largely come to see the United States as an honest broker in helping Iraq's communities come together around a process and a plan to stabilize the country.
- Zalmay Khalizad, US Ambassador to Iraq

Security in Northern Iraq is Improving
Amazingly, Yahoo provides another positive story out of Iraq, well at least most of it is positive. Baby steps with the media, we can't expect them to come to their collective senses all at once.

This one comes from Tikrit, home of former dictator Saddam "The Rat" Hussein. According to the report, MG Turner of Multi-National Division-North is very optimistic of the security situation in northern Iraq. Give the article a read, it's worth it for a main stream media piece.