EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was emailed to us by KSEV morning talk-show host Edd Hendee, who is currently on his "second-tour" embedded with American troops in Iraq, and is joined this year by nationally syndicated talkshow host Laura Ingraham.

Read Part I

Read Part II (w/picture of SSGT Christina Martinez)

Read Part III

Friday, February 10, 2006

Our last full day in Iraq may have been the best day of all.  The Army would have taken great care of me if  I was on my own but Laura Ingraham’s media clout has to be credited with bringing us the lineup today at Camp Victory.   I mean lunch with an Iraqi Colonel?  If it was just me I’m afraid it would have been an MRE on the back of a humvee!  

That’s fun too but this day would be very special.  We were scheduled to meet with the Iraqi 3rd Brigade leadership and US Army counterparts to review training and cooperation in standing up these Iraqi units in their own AO.  The focus of this trip has to be the project of training and standing up Brigades in the Iraqi Army.  

The Iraqi Army First Brigade is up and has its own sector.  Third Brigade is nearly there and will soon have its own battle space.  Within a few months the Iraqi Brigades will own the areas surrounding northwest Baghdad.  A month ago this was all US Army Area of Operations but the baton is being handed over to the Iraqi Army at an astonishing rate.  Years of organization, coordination, and combines US and Iraqi training have accelerated this process at a rate far faster than is commonly understood and reported in the States.  The best description is the US Army is taking one step forward while the Iraqi Army takes two.  

Further the Iraqi Army has strengths and advantages that the US Army does not which will give them a huge advantage in this fight.  You and I cannot tell Iraqi from Syrian let alone an Iraqi from one province from another.  But you could tell the difference in a moment from someone who lived their entire life in New York City vs. Mississippi, Florida vs. South Dakota and so on.  So the Iraqi Army on a patrol can spot a foreign fighter or an insurgent thug who has just moved into a village to carry out terrorist operations.

Yesterday I went to a Press Conference in the International Zone by Maj. General Rick Lynch who showed an astounding graphic of the number of tips coming in on the Iraqi National Tip Line which is like an Iraqi anti terror Crime Stoppers phone number.  A year ago for a two week period the tips were trickling in at 20-25 for a two week period.  This January the high water mark was 684 for that same 2 week period.  The entire year was a steady incremental increase in the tip line activity indicating the Iraqi population was gaining trust in the new government as they moved to rid themselves of the terrorist threat.

Today I found that graphic to be a significant understatement of the number of tip calls on terror activity as it didn’t include local tips and informants.  Those stories include bold action by the local Iraqi people who come forward to point out insurgents and in one case led the Iraqi Army to the target in broad daylight.  A year ago that was unthinkable.

The 10th Mountain Division 1st BCT was our host today with CO Lt. Col. Bryan Drinkwine giving us a brief of his operations in training and preparing the Iraqi Army to take over this operation area.  He described his worst day on this rotation as this past September when a terrorist set off a vehicle packed with explosives injuring his men and killing many innocent Iraqi citizens.  

That incident may have been the turning point for the local Iraqi people to stand up to these insurgents by embracing the Iraqi Army and dramatically increasing the flow of information via tips given directly to the local Iraqi Army leaders.  In one case the cell phone of an Iraqi Army officer delivered the tip and then guided the Iraqi Army step by step to the recently placed IED.  Similarly weapons caches, IED devices, sniper rifles, and foreign jihadists have been turned in and taken off streets for good.

The Iraqi Army operates on immediate reaction while the US Army relies on its strength of intelligence, planning, and flawless execution.  That takes time and sometimes the moment is lost to capture the insurgent IED squad.  The Iraqi Army instead uses a lighting reaction thereby enabling them to catch an IED placement sometimes in the act.  Further the Iraqi population has embraced their Army as national heroes and is passing  information about terrorists to them at an ever increasing rate.  All of these factors convince me that this stage of the war on terror in Iraq is turning against the terrorists at an ever increasing rate.

Colonel Nasser is the Deputy Commander for the 3rd Iraqi Army 6th Division and we joined him and his staff for lunch in the conference room.  At a table for 20 spread with an Iraqi feast from one end to the other Colonels, Lt. Colonels and Majors of both US Army and Iraqi Army sat intermingled as brothers in arms sharing a bond as well as a meal.  The Iraqi Colonel described his relationship with his American counterpart by explaining that they address each other as “brothers” as opposed to rank.  Their body language and manner of communication confirmed that close relationship.

Laura Ingraham hurried to do her national show back at the Communications Center.  I decided to get the satellite equipment and set up a table with chairs right outside the 10th Mountain Division building.  The setting was perfect as I described an Iraqi sunset to our morning listeners back in the States and related this day of success not only for the Iraqi Army but for the US Army and our collective efforts in the War on Terror.  

The soldiers were superb on the radio as always – they are the real stars of the show.  My honor is just to bring their story and the story of their successes to you.   I believe we are on the verge of victory in Iraq.  Our servicemen and women deserve this victory.  Now I believe the Iraqi people will not settle for anything less for themselves.