Commander's Update, August 2, 2007
2/12th Cavalry
James Nickolas, LTC, Commanding Officer
The THUNDERHORSE Troopers continue to attack both the Sunni
(Al Qaeda) and Shia (Jaysh Al Mahdi) militias throughout our zone. The downward
trend in violence that began with the establishment of our first Joint Security
Station (JSS) CASINO, and fell further with the emplacement of JSS THRASHER and
JSS MAVERICK shows no sign of reversing. Although we do have occasional spikes
in enemy activity, the combination of constructing outposts, establishing safe
neighborhoods by emplacing concrete barriers and checkpoints, and the
reinforcement of our area with two additional Iraqi Army battalions helped
establish Coalition dominance in our neighborhoods and severely restricted the
freedom of movement of our enemies. We've still got a long way to go, but our
operational successes are truly outnumbering our challenges. The opportunity for
the Iraqi Government to succeed is there; reconciliation among Iraqi political
leaders remains our greatest challenge.
To help accommodate the reconciliation process, we've added another layer of
complexity to our operations. We've successfully recruited locals into an
organization we're calling the Ghaziliyah Guardians. Formed from the Sunni
population, the Guardians will begin to work side by side with the Iraqi Army
battalions we're partnered with in Ghaziliyah (both of these Iraqi battalions
are overwhelmingly Shia.) Victory for this program will be the successful
integration of the Guardians into either the Iraqi Army or police. Again, our
greatest challenge at this point is getting real traction within the Iraqi
Government for this to occur. I've had direct discussions with Iraqi Under
Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, as well as, arranged a meeting for the
Under Secretary with our local Sunni leaders. Although these initial engagements
look promising, a long road still remains.
With the lowering of violence, we've also pushed re-establishing essential
services within our area of operations. The Sunni portion of our zone remains
effectively without full government services; however, we've now seen city
workers return to our neighborhoods. The largest challenge we won't be able to
overcome in the near term is the horrendous state of disrepair of the Iraqi
infrastructure. We'll patch what we can and ensure all shortfalls are
identified. Re-establishing the local phone system and providing some new
medical equipment for a local clinic are the types of issues we can quick
address. The decrepit sewage and electrical systems won't be fixed until long
after we leave.
Finally, it was a breath of fresh air to see the Iraqi people come together as a
result of the recent soccer victory in the Asia Cup. Perhaps the politicians of
Iraq can follow the example of unity the soccer team demonstrated in achieving
defeating the Saudi team.
CSM Payne and I remain in awe of the sacrifice and courage our young Soldiers
demonstrate day-in and day-out. Thank you for your continued support and
encouragement. We remain "Always Ready."
THUNDER 6