B36 News - 09 September 2006

So it seems that body counts are making headlines again, except that this time they belong to the bad guys. I'm referring to the battle in Diwaniyah that caused about 30 bad guys to reach room temperature which is somewhat elevated here in Iraq. Of course the media can't focus on our successes too much and are quick to mention that an Abrams tank was disabled by RPG fire, but allow me to help frame that based on reports from MNF-Iraq.com, DefenseLink.mil, and FoxNews.com.

Bad guys put up a stiff defense against a combined CF/ISF patrol that included armor assets. During the fight, as many as 10 RPG teams were engaged and 6 were eliminated, but not before they disabled one of the tanks. Disabling a tank means exactly that, it didn't explode in a fireball or burn to the ground, it was simply disabled much like a car with a flat tire. The crew of the tank made it out just fine. Once the site was secured (code for killing the bad guys or running them off) the tank was recovered; think tow-truck for tanks here.

But that wasn't the end of it. After all this, the patrol was still able to see their mission through to a successful end in the capture of a high-value bad guy. Mission complete.

Anbar Police Chief Drives On
A few days ago I posted a story about the tribes of Anbar banding together to drive terrorists from the province. PM Maliki recenlty threw his support behind their efforts to clear out the bad guys so now we just need to keep an eye on it and make sure it happens.

An example of making happens was provided by Iraqi Police Colonel Sha'ban al Obeidi. After being wounded in an ambush on his patrol, he passed on the following message to his fellow policemen

Continue to take care of the people, continue the fight. No food, no drink, no pleasure, only fighting the terrorists and eradicating them.

Troop Makes Kids Lives Better
What can one troop caught up in the war for civilization do to make a difference? SSG Valrica Pollard decided to do what she could.
Pollard said she visits the clinic whenever she gets a chance, usually about every other weekend.

After turning in the boxes of goodies, she likes to play with the Iraqi children, who get excited about new toys and the animated movies playing in the waiting area.

“Regardless of what your purpose is, you have a good feeling that you did your part,” said Pollard.