Chrenkoff

"Unlike many of their supporters, most Sunni politicians now accept Talabani as president. The Iraqi Islamic Party, which refused to take part in the elections, has called on its members to give Talabani a chance. Kheder Mohammed, a party member and Ramadi council member, said, 'In the interests of Iraq, we have to deal with Talabani and his new government free from sectarian, national, or ethnic judgment.'

"Middle-class, educated Sunni Arabs are, it seems, already willing to accept that the appointment of a Kurdish president is an important step towards democracy. 'Educated Arab Sunnis after the election became more accepting of the new political situation in Iraq. They understand that they must be part of politics to reach their goals, so they welcomed the presidency of Talabani,' said Mohand al-Grayri, a political analyst from the Strategic Centre in Baghdad."

"Europe's new pledge to assist in Iraq's postwar reconstruction is occurring in an unlikely place -- the working-class French town of Cleremont-Ferrand, where the vanguard of Iraq's new experiment in democracy is being established.

"Nestled among rolling hills in central France, it is here that the students - among them a one-time underground journalist in Saddam Hussein's Iraq -- are studying the basics of regional administration. Seated around the classroom table is the man in charge of Iraq's de-Baathification effort who simply identifies himself as a 'department chief.'

"The University of Auvergne is where some of the first pieces of a post-Saddam political landscape are being put together -- and where Europe's pledge to help Iraq in the post-Saddam era is being tested. 'What's most important are the principles,' said Jean-Pierre Massias, who heads the university's project to train the first class of senior level Iraqi officials in the basics of regional governance. 'The rule of law. Checks and balances. Compromise. How local administration is a tool in preventing a conflict -- and how to administer a country.'

"After dividing bitterly over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the European Union is finally coming together to help out in the country's reconstruction. The assistance is taking a myriad of forms, from training Iraqi security forces -- primarily outside the country -- to the Paris Club creditors' agreement last year to write off roughly 80 percent of Baghdad's debt."

"Mahdy Ali Lafta is an Iraqi teacher. But in 1979, 10 years into his career in Baghdad schools, Saddam Hussein came to power and Mr Lafta, because he wouldn't support the dictator, was forced out of his job. He spent the Saddam years teaching friends, family and neighbours, and doing a little private tuition. Mostly, he found other ways to make money, like driving a taxi in the city...

"Mr Lafta, 57, is married, has a 15-year-old son, and lives in Baghdad, where, following the fall of Saddam, he now does something once unthinkable. He is head of the Iraqi Teachers' Union (ITC), set up for all of Baghdad's teachers east of the river Tigris...

"How would he describe the state of Iraqi education when Saddam fell? 'In one word? Disastrous,' he says."

"The electricity department in Najaf... decided to start an Arabic blog to introduce the citizens of Najaf to the department's activities and the hardships it encounters while attempting to restore full power supply for the city... An agricultural engineer [is] using his blog to talk about problems facing agriculture in his area and he's urging his colleagues to start their own blogs to create a network that provides solutions for agricultural problems (who would think that blogs can fight termites!!). Here's an organization that cares for the marshes and the authors talk in their blog about the suffering of the people of the marshes under the past regime."

"Residential real estate prices in Iraq's capital have quadrupled in many parts of the city, says Ali al-Difaie, 54, manager of a government office that processes property deeds. Difaie and real estate agents say the rise is driven by an increase in income since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago and the liberalization of building and property laws...

"Statistics are hard to come by, but Difaie says an average 3,000-square-foot home in Baghdad's upscale Mansour district sells for $300,000 now. That is four times the Saddam-era prices. Prices are similar in other middle-class neighborhoods around the capital, Difaie says."

"Though barely over 30, Ahmad Walid al-Said has already become the biggest of the hotshots on the noisy floor of the Iraqi Stock Exchange.

"As head broker at al-Fawz Company, one of the country's most respected brokerages, and chairman of the Iraqi Association of Securities, he sleeps, drinks and eats the stock market, even when he's not roaming the floor and putting through orders.

" 'After I finish all this, we go to lunch,' he says after the close of the session. 'During lunch we talk about what we're going do the next session. We can't talk about anything but the stock market, all day long.'

"Welcome to the one place in Iraq where go-getters are abundant and no one is waiting for a handout. Unlike much of the rest of Iraq, the men and considerable number of women who ply their trade here live by a bootstraps philosophy, eagerly profiting from an equities market where daily trading volume has grown twelvefoldsince Saddam Hussein's era.

"The stock exchange may be one of post-war Iraq's few success stories, with its expanding trading volume and increased market capitalization."

"According to expatriate businessman Raad Ommar, the reconstruction of war-ravaged Iraq is much more than rebuilding a war-shattered infrastructure. It is... 'an investment in the future of a country that is painfully recovering from decades of misrule.'

"Ommar, who serves as chief executive officer of the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IACCI), made his comments during a recent networking seminar in Beverly Hills that provided a 43-member Iraqi trade delegation with the opportunity to meet with Southern California-based companies interested in forming joint ventures and other business partnerships…

"The organization... has 5,700 members on its rolls, including more than 300 in the US and maintains offices in Baghdad and Arbil, Iraq and Amman, Jordan. Its US headquarters in located in Glendale, near Los Angeles."

"Iraq has invited international companies to drill new oil wells in its south and evaluate the state of export terminals there, oil officials and executives said... After a series of failed tenders, the projects could mark the first step toward overhauling the facilities and help restore production in the region, which accounts for all of Iraq's oil exports.

" 'We could be seeing the start of business in Iraq. They have issued tenders for wells before, that were cancelled,' an oil executive preparing to bid for the project said. 'The tenders are small but significant because they involve transporting expensive equipment and workers. It will indicate whether southern Iraq is safe for operation and the potential for larger work,' he said."

"The departure lounge is tiny, but the inky stamp - 'Republic of Iraq, Kurdistan region' - on travellers’ passports is real enough.

"The Magic Carpet airlines’ flight from Arbil to Beirut, Lebanon, is the first step towards Iraqi Kurdistan achieving an international airport, as the Kurds seek to join the modern world after three decades of oppression and isolation...

"At Dollars 700 (Euros 540, Pounds 370) for a one-way ticket, the flight to Beirut is beyond the pocket of most Kurds and carries a mixture of Arab, western and Kurdish businessmen. But the psychological impact is immense for a people who associate aircraft with bombs."

"The energy in Amman is contagious. Ali Sharif runs a contraction company in Najaf, Iraq. Though he still sees problems, they are not as widespread as often portrayed. 'The security is not very bad. Only in a small region in Iraq the security is bad, in the north, in the south we feel that it is good, very very good.'

"Sharif described the developing economy as almost boundless with opportunity. 'We give advice to different companies to start work in Iraq because the country is like a well, a deep well - whatever you put in it, it will not be full. At the same time, the Iraqi market is very wide.'

"Sharif added: 'For 40 years not many companies have come to Iraq because of the sanctions and because Iraq was blocked. There is need in all sectors, and there is a lot of money and capital flowing into Iraq.'

"One businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the international media is partly to blame for the misperceptions of the conditions in Iraq. He explained the situation to a small group of reporters at the event: 'In Iraq, there's a bit of a problem with journalism. What you all report, and what we see, it's not sometimes the same thing. There's a difference between what I see on CNN, and what I see right next door. The difference is night and day. They dwell on the negative, and we in Iraq, especially all over the country, we are dwelling on the positive'."

"The State Department has ordered a major reevaluation of the troubled $18.4 billion Iraqi reconstruction effort, blaming problems on early decisions to hire US companies for major infrastructure projects.

"In a report to Congress last week, the State Department said reconstruction officials will cancel several planned water and electricity plants and shift $832 million to focus on immediate job creation and training for Iraqis.

"The new approach would also place a strong emphasis on spending remaining funds to contract with Iraqi companies, which have experienced fewer problems with insurgents and have lower overhead than US multinationals."

"Last June, when he made his first trip to Baghdad, Blake D. Henderson asked one of his Iraqi bodyguards what he thought about the prospects for democracy in his homeland.

"The answer was a simple shrug.

"But when Henderson, the president of Northeast Engineers & Consultants Inc., got off a plane at Baghdad International Airport about 10 months later, the smiling bodyguard approached him saying, 'Iraq is beautiful! Iraq is free!'

"The change in that man's outlook along with the improvements Henderson has seen across the capital city through his company's work - including plans to overhaul the sewer system and the installation of new radar and navigational aids at the airport - make all the dangers of doing business in a war zone worth it, he said."

"Iraq's Ministry of Education (MoE) is establishing a new education television channel in April to give primary and secondary school students the option of taking additional lessons at home and for those who are not attending school due to insecurity.

" 'The idea of this channel is similar to the educational TV established during the 1970s. We are going to present the entire curriculum for all grades, along with scientific programmes which are useful for the students,' Baha'a Yehyah, director of the education channel, told IRIN in the capital Baghdad.

"The channel will broadcast for at least six hours a day, seven days a week. 'Specialised supervisors in the education field and good teachers will participate in preparing the programmes and teaching lessons,' Yehyah added."

"Throughout Iraq, over 4,600 community members have participated in 55 workshops to organize the replacement of rural schools made of mud and reeds with concrete facilities. During the workshops, held by local Departments of Education in 16 governorates, community members completed written surveys pledging in-kind contributions of materials and labor to support school construction and pledged a variety of support including potable water tanks, electrical fixtures, labor for school construction and evening security. Workshop attendees included representatives from the local mud school, the Parent-Teacher Association, and other community members."

"Some two years after the U.S.-led invasion and the end of the Saddam Hussein era, the country's gains -- and challenges -- can be detected in the emergency rooms of hospitals such as Medical City and Al Yarmouk where trauma patients receive treatment.

"Medical City, along with the medical community in general, has made material strides. Doctors' salaries have jumped from as low as $120 a year to between $3,000 and $4,000. Last year, the average annual income in Iraq was $800.

"Medical City is a sprawling central Baghdad complex with a staff of 2,140 that treats about 100 emergency patients and 3,000 other patients per day. Its budget has increased from about $360,000 in the second half of 2003 to $3.3million last year, not including funds from some nonprofit international aid groups that prefer to give directly to hospitals rather than to the Ministry of Health, Mostafa said.

"Hospitals now include Internet cafes where doctors can look up the latest medical information online or request advice from a physician abroad.

"And Iraq's health care industry has access to far more funds and better supplies than it did under the last dozen years of Saddam's rule. Doctors no longer have to smuggle under the radar of United Nations sanctions black-market cancer drugs or the latest equipment."

"- An architecture student at a Baghdad university who lost his arm when his house collapsed during Coalition fighting is receiving a prosthetic hand and therapy sessions with the assistance of the CAP program.

"- Eighty-five disabled people in Maysan Governorate received wheelchairs through a Wheelchair Distribution Project. To complement this project, 37 buildings in the town, including health centers, the court house, the main post office and several schools, have been selected to receive wheelchair ramps. Along with construction, the local organization will coordinate several activities to highlight the rights of disabled members of society.

"- A Ninawa’ village health center that was suspected as being used by anti-Coalition Forces was completely demolished in March 2003. The center was empty at the time and no one was injured; however, the closest hospital is 40 km away. A $46,049 grant supported the rehabilitation, enabling 2,500 people in the area to obtain the medical and health services they need.

"- The CAP team in Karbala began working with a Community Association in May 2004 to construct a health clinic at the University, which is now open to students and faculty members injured during Coalition Forces attacks on insurgents in the area in December 2003 as well as to residents of nearby communities, many of whom have also been victims of the military incursions, insurgent attacks and increased criminal activity.

"- A physical therapy center in Karbala governorate will be rehabilitated with CAP support. The center is the only of its kind in Karbala and sustained looting and damage in April 2003 and years of neglect under Saddam’s regime. As a result, the center is ill-equipped to treat patients, including 90 persons that were injured by Coalition Forces military operations.

"- CAP will provide equipment to improve the medical services available to 20,000 people in a town in Salah ad Din governorate; to date, there have been 17 civilian victims of Coalition military activity in the town. The total project value will be $46,350, and will benefit 30 war victims, over 20,000 town residents, and an additional 20,000 in surrounding villages."

"Ten-year-old Majid Fadhil is a long way from his home, his parents and his six siblings in Kut, Iraq, getting a very special gift — artificial legs and the ability to walk again.

"Majid was hurt while walking home from school in Kut, in southeastern Iraq, with a younger cousin and other friends in February 2004. The cousin stepped on something — it's not clear whether it was a roadside bomb planted by Iraqi insurgents, a stray grenade or a landmine — and triggered an explosion. His cousin was killed. Majid lost his legs just below the knees.

"He's shown remarkable progress. He took his first steps on his prosthetic legs in January. After physical therapy to rebuild thigh and back muscles he had not used for more than a year, he was walking by himself in a matter of weeks — well enough that he was able to enroll in the third grade." As the report notes, Majid is learning English quickly: "His standard greeting is now: 'What's up, dude?'"

"Close on the heels of providing world-class health care facilities to patients from overseas countries, India has also emerged as the destination for children from countries like Iraq and Lebanon. The relatively low cost treatment provided by Indian hospitals has led to the development of medical tourism in the country.

"Madras based Frontier Lifeline Heart Foundation is proving to be one such hospital centre being undertaking complex heart surgeries of poor children from countries like Iraq and Lebanon...

"In 2004, the multi-speciality hospital treated 20 Iraqi children with various heart ailments as a goodwill gesture and also conducted free heart camps for school children in the city."

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) called the awarding of a construction contract earlier this month in southern Iraq sociologically ground-breaking because the winning bid was submitted by a female-owned business.

"With recent contracting initiatives for the reconstruction effort, the Corps offers opportunities to female-owned businesses as well as those from local provinces when awarding construction and renovation contracts...

"At a preconstruction conference, the Iraqi company owner, her mechanical engineer, civil engineer and manager – all female - and male translator were acquainted with the Corps’ contracting and construction management procedures."

"Altogether, it weighs more than 700 tons and is affectionately known as 'MOAG,' or the 'Mother of All Generators.'

"The gigantic, German-built piece of machinery required a U.S. military escort to reach its new home: A U.S.-financed electrical power plant going up outside Kirkuk, an oil center in northern Iraq.

"In what U.S. officials describe as one of the most logistically complex operations of the Iraqi reconstruction effort, the 260-megawatt combustion-turbine generator was transported 640 miles — including a 240-mile detour around a destroyed bridge — from the Jordanian border through Anbar province, a vast western region that is a hotbed of the anti-American insurgency.

"Planning for the trip started in September and was kept secret. The huge generator set out in a 30-vehicle convoy March 21, officials said. Moving at 5 mph, it reached its destination April 2."

"Amid the danger for U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq there's also plenty of hope: The American mission includes reconstruction projects that are revitalizing parts of Iraqi society, especially the schools.

"Iraqi schoolchildren are eager to learn, and many people say the country's school system is one of the bright spots in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion two years ago.

"One of the success stories is the Fine Arts Institute for Girls in Baghdad. After a $60,000 renovation, students are flourishing in their new environment. The school's headmistress, Karima Hassan Ahmad, says with fresh paint, new supplies and a place to display their artwork, they're expressing themselves like never before. 'We feel we are more, we have a freedom now,' she said, 'and we need this freedom to do something to our society.'

"A number of parents in Iraq were encouraged by January's elections, and more are sending their children to school these days. As a result, the need to get schools and classrooms up to par is now greater than ever.

"So far, one unit — the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division — is helping. The soldiers have spent $5 million of American taxpayer money to rebuild nearly 50 schools, including the Art Institute.

"But there is still much to do. Most of Iraq's schools are still run down and out of date. According to the Ministry of Education, 5,000 additional schools are needed, and repairs are required at 80 percent of existing ones."

"Iraq used to have one of the highest levels of literacy in the Arab world and one of its best education systems, but two decades of war, sanctions and funding shortages under Saddam Hussein have turned it into one of the region's worst.

"One of the positives is the number of children going to school. Iraq has one of the highest percentages of children attending classes in the Middle East, according to the United Nations.

"But few of these children are getting a decent education. Many of the best teachers fled abroad during Saddam Hussein's rule and have not returned. Many schools lack basics such as books and desks and even buildings. At least a quarter share premises with other schools, according to the Ministry of Education."

"The 155th Brigade Combat Team is calling on all schools in Mississippi to help rebuild Iraq by participating in a newly developed program, Adopt-A-School... In conjunction with their efforts as American soldiers in restoring the Middle Eastern country, the 155th Brigade has developed an Adopt-A-School program to link schools in Iraq with schools in Mississippi...

"The program is still in its first month of existence, according to Lt. Col. Tommy W. Fuller. 'The soldiers got excited about the program and have also involved churches and other organizations,' Fuller said... Fuller also hopes this program will build a foundation upon which Iraqi families and American families can both grow. 'We may not be able to change the minds of the adults, but we can change the minds of the children,' Fuller said. 'I do not know too many parents who mind if you provide help to their children. We want to win the hearts and minds of the children, parents and educators of the schools we adopt'."

"For many Iraqis who live in rural villages, having enough water to get by has always been good enough. 'They might bathe once a week, and they don’t do laundry like we do,' said Dr. (Capt.) Mike Tarpey of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment. 'The people are not used to having clean water like we are. It’s true with most Third World countries.'

"Part of the U.S. military’s goal is to change that way of thinking. If more Iraqis had clean water to use, there’d be less hepatitis and gastrointestinal disorders such as diarrhea. So the military is working with local contractors in north-central Iraq to build water-cleaning facilities at villages along the Tigris River such as Hardania and Bichigan."

"The three-story hospital in downtown Fallujah sits empty and abandoned, but with funds allocated through the Commanders Emergency Response Program and a private donor, this is about to change. 'This is truly a collaborative effort here. It was great creative problem solving to address the immediate needs of Fallujah,' U.S. Army Col. Terry Parker.

"The Taleb Janabi Hospital, a privately-owned facility, will receive $150,000 in response progrram funds and the owner, Dr. Taleb Janabi, will contribute an additional $50,000. This case is unusual because typically response progrram funds can only be spent on public projects. However, this is the only hospital within the city."

"- Fallujah General Hospital is slated to receive a new x-ray machine and a CT scan, diagnostic equipment used to generate anatomy imaging, in the next couple of weeks from the Iraqi Ministry of Health.

"- Three medical clinics have been rehabilitated and opened and five new clinics are scheduled to be built, according to the ministry.

"- A total of $6.2 million, which was supplied by the ministry, has been earmarked for the Fallujah General Hospital and medical clinic renovations in and around the city.

"- The Ministry of Health has also recently allocated $40 million for a new general hospital in Fallujah."

"Two Soldiers from the 256th Brigade Combat Team have made a new friend, and they want to show him what he means to them, so they presented him with a new bicycle.

"Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Bryant from Shreveport, La., of Company B, 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, and Staff Sgt. Joe Speck from Deville, La., of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, were won over by a little boy, whose mother is a first sergeant with the 36th Commando Iraqi Battalion. The 36th falls under the command of the 40th Iraqi National Guard, and Speck and Bryant are stationed at Camp Justice training them.

" 'His father was with the Iraqi Army and killed by an insurgent about a year ago,' said Speck, 'and this kid has the biggest smile. We just wanted to do something to make him happy.'

"Acquiring the bike proved to be a challenge. Bryant tried to purchase one in the Camp Justice area, and when all attempts failed, he turned to the 256th Brigade Combat Team historian.

" '[Bryant] came to the office and mentioned that he was trying to find a bike for a little boy, but that he was having some trouble,' said Sgt. Jessica Dubois from Abbeville, La, of Headquarters Co. 256th Brigade Combat Team, 'A man in one of the shops here usually gets me things pretty quickly, so I asked him about this, and in two weeks he had it for me'."

"Captain Katherine M. Knake has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 8 years old. Now the native of Arden Hills, Minn., is a veterinarian with A Company, 407th Civil Affairs Battalion, 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, stationed in Mahmudiyah, Iraq. As part of a civil affairs team, she helps local farmers by examining their animals and administering medicine with her on-hand supplies.

"On April 2, she went on a mission that included a lot more than veterinary care. Her day started with a pre-patrol briefing, where the vehicles were prepared for the day’s missions and rehearsals were conducted.

"Part of her checks included packing medicines and supplies into her aid bag and cooler. Unable to carry large amounts, she was forced to select a specific animal type and stock up for each mission. Her choice for that day was for sheep and goats. It was almost six hours into the patrol before she found a suitable herd of sheep and goats.

"After the interpreter explained to a local resident what the Soldiers were there to do, he was more than happy to allow their help. His herd of 133 sheep and goats were de-wormed and several were given shots for mange. While giving out medicine, Knake was also conducting a health assessment of the herd, identifying any possible diseases or herd issues."

"The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division has welcomed a new infantry battalion to its ranks. And, just like most of the units in the Fort Stewart-based division, the soldiers of this battalion are from Georgia.

"However, most of these soldiers don't speak English.

"The 13th Infantry Battalion joins the 4th BCT from the country of Georgia, a former Soviet Republic located on the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia.

"The 550-soldier battalion will be responsible for security at two of the most important sites in Baghdad—the al-Rasheed Hotel and the Iraqi Convention Center, the home to the newly-elected Iraqi National Assembly. The battalion will also provide security for United Nations convoys in Baghdad."

"There are growing signs of hostility between secular Iraqi insurgents and Muslim extremists -- some of them foreigners -- fighting under the banner of al-Qaida.

"The factions have exchanged threats and are increasingly divided over the strategy of violence, much of it targeting civilians, that aims undermine the fragile new government.

"The increased tension, critically, arises as the mainstream component of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency -- which remains active, deadly and vibrant nearly two years since it began -- has opened a campaign designed to reap political gain out of its violent roots.

"Post-election realities appear to have forced the tactical change as majority Shiites and Kurds consolidate power and the population grows increasingly angry over the largely Sunni-driven insurgency that is killing vast numbers of ordinary people and the country's fledgling army and police force.

" 'You see a withering of the insurgents that had a short-term agenda, like preventing the January election. But the insurgency is not unraveling yet,' said Peter Khalil, former director of national security policy for the now-defunct U.S.-led occupation authority in Iraq.

"The divide among militants, however, is becoming more noticeable."

"Signs are growing that the slaughter of all Iraqis in the army or police, or civilians working for the government, is leading to divisions in the resistance...

"Posters threatening extreme resistance fighters have appeared on walls in Ramadi, a Sunni Muslim city on the Euphrates river west of Baghdad. Insurgents in the city say that resistance to the Americans is being discredited by the kidnapping and killing of civilians. 'They have tarnished our image and used the jihad to make personal gains,' Ahmed Hussein, an imam from a mosque in Ramadi, was quoted as saying."

"Officials said the U.S. Army has perfected techniques to detect and neutralize so-called improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq. They said the improved capability reflects enhanced equipment, technology and expertise by soldiers.

"Over the last year, U.S. casualties from IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan have been reduced by 45 percent, officials said. They said that in 2005 the number of bombing attempts has declined and the IEDs have become more crude in their design...

"U.S. troops were said to have had their greatest success in the Baghdad area. Officials said Task Force Baghdad has succeeded in finding half of all IEDs. They said 70 percent of the IED attacks against troops in the Baghdad area failed to produce casualty."

"To the U.S. military in Iraq, what looks like bad news is often the opposite. A spate of attacks against a U.S. Marine outpost on the Syrian border is just such a case, according to military commanders...

"A head-on military-style clash has generally been eschewed by the Iraqi insurgency. In conventional combat, they are outgunned: U.S. forces have better weapons, body armor, and training. That disadvantage is what drove insurgents to improvised explosive devices in the first place, according to the military: the bombs presented a low risk but a reasonably high payoff.

"However, innocent Iraqis are increasingly suffering from the attacks -- in part because U.S. forces have the benefit of armor protection. That fact seems to be eroding support for the insurgency, even among the Sunni population, according to U.S. military officials. That insurgents would again resort to the high-risk but more honorable assault on U.S. military bases suggests they see their waning stature and want to reverse it."

"the apparent success [in western Iraq] against the insurgency is more than just the result of a blockade, the Marine official said. It is the direct result of the November assault on Fallujah which yielded a trove of intelligence, both from captured documents and fighters.

" 'The "intel" windfall from Fallujah painted a very good picture of the interconnections from Husaybah into the Mosul-Baghdad area. Once we could focus our troop strength... Hit-Haditha-Rawah corridor, we were able to overcome the enemy advantage of being able to hide amongst the populace or in remote desert hideaways,' the official said.

"The 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions launched two operations -- Operations River Blitz and River Bridge -- on the insurgent way stations on the Euphrates River beginning in February. For the last 18 months, the insurgency has evinced a frustrating adaptability -- if they are pressured in one town, they squeeze out and occupy the next, often staying one step ahead of a military force stretched thin.

"That dynamic may be starting to change. 'We were in pursuit mode ... the enemy was forced to move. To move he has to communicate. If he is moving and communicating, we can find him. The more we find, the more information we get from detainee interrogation. The more information we get from interrogation, the more they have to move. The more they have to move, the more they have to communicate.....etc,' the official said."

"Since November, U.S. forces have killed at least 350 militants in the province, including 50 foreigners from Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, says Brown, 45, of Fort Lewis, Wash., where his 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division unit is based.

"Brown says attacks have dropped in recent weeks because the populace is coming around against the insurgents, with tips to security forces running at about 250 a week...

"During the Fallujah battle, guerrilla attacks doubled in Mosul from 54 over a week in early November to 100 reported the following week, according to U.S. Army figures.

"The week of the Jan. 30 elections – nationwide voting largely boycotted by Sunni Arabs believed to make up the backbone of Iraq's insurgency – attacks spiked again to nearly 90. Since the elections, attacks in Mosul declined to about 50 per week in mid-March, the most recent figures available."

"The two dozen Iraqi soldiers marched in formation into downtown Mosul, streets emptying in their path. The men trained their rifles on potential bomb threats: a donkey-drawn vegetable cart, a blue Opel sedan, a man with a bulge beneath his tattered gray coat.

"Less than a month ago, U.S. forces patrolled these dangerous streets. But on this humid morning there were only the Iraqis and a lone U.S. adviser, Marine Staff Sgt. Lafayette Waters, 32, of Kinston, N.C., who blended unobtrusively into the patrol.

"This is Area of Operations Iraq, slightly more than two square miles in the heart of Iraq's third-largest city. It is also at the center of the U.S. military's strategy to hand off counterinsurgency operations to Iraqi security forces and ultimately draw down the number of American troops.

"Since Iraq's Jan. 30 parliamentary elections, that process has accelerated much more rapidly than U.S. commanders have previously acknowledged. Although AO Iraq is one of just two sectors currently under Iraqi control (the other is the area around Baghdad's Haifa Street), two senior U.S. officers said the Iraqis' zone of responsibility would soon expand and eventually include all of Nineveh province, including Mosul and Tall Afar, another volatile city, possibly within a year."

"Though they have only been working with the Iraqi Army for two months, Soldiers of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armor Division, are making significant strides to build up the military force in Iraq. Along with providing the basic necessities required for soldiering, the 2-70th has trained the 507th Infantry and 1st Presidential Battalions of the future 4th Brigade, 6th Division, on infantry tactics and maneuver movements. Over the past several months, the training has resulted in the IA gaining loyalty from the local Iraqi community.

"Captain David Carey, from Kokomo, Ind., commander of A Co., 2-70th shared a story of an attempt by criminals to launch mortars, an attempt that was stopped by Iraqi civilians. 'They (the terrorists) went to put out the mortar tubes, and the local populace actually pulled out their AK-47s and fired on the mortar team,' he said. Carey attributes the actions of the civilians to the Iraqi Army and outlying American patrols.

" 'That’s a success story,' he added. 'You know you’re doing things right when the locals start doing things like that.' Carey, who was in Iraq a year ago for the ground war, explained that a lot has changed since he was last here, especially the focus, mentality, and capabilities of the Iraqi Army. 'Both of our battalions are doing really well, we see a lot of improvement from a year ago. They’re able to stand up, and the officers and Soldiers are better'."

"Military and Iraqi police are working together in a partnership program to better train, support and secure the future of Iraq, according to Multi-National Forces.

"In order to enhance police command and control; staff operations; communications and intelligence networks; and to streamline law and order within areas of operation, the 42nd Military Police (MP) Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash., has employed police support teams at the Baghdad police headquarters and stations, Maj. Curtis M. Schroeder, Iraq Police Service liaison, 42nd MP Bde, said.

" 'We are teaching and coaching the leaders to delegate authority and use their staff efficiently and showing them how to train their own troops,' Schroeder said. The MPs are working hand-in-hand with the Iraqi Police Services to train Iraqi police forces, making them equipped and automated so the Baghdad police can operate efficiently."

"Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil doesn’t own a how-to manual titled 'Building a Police Force in the Midst of an Insurgency.' He’s winging it.

" 'We are learning from current events,' said Fil, commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, or CPATT, charged with organizing, training, equipping and mentoring the entire Iraqi police force. 'Late last summer, early fall, it was evident that normal police techniques were insufficient against the very lethal, well-organized, viscous threat aimed at coalition and police forces. So a fighting police force was required, without creating another army,' the 51-year-old Portola Valley, Calif., native said.

"That meant equipping police forces with body armor and rifles, instead of just badges and handguns. It meant building a mock police station at the Baghdad Police Academy where recruits could learn to fortify their stations against attacks. It meant creating teams of specialized police members in areas of specialized weapons and tactics and emergency response units, Fil said."

"The courses consist of Basic Criminal Investigations (BCI) with 46 graduates, Interview and Interrogations (II) with 34 graduates, Violent Crime Investigation (VCI) with 27 graduates, Internal Controls Investigation (ICI) with 31 graduates, Critical Incident Management (CMI) with 27 graduates, Kidnapping Investigations (KI) with 29 graduates, First Line Supervision (FLS) with 38 graduates and Organized Crime Investigation (OCI) with 28 graduates."

"He was a soccer star in a previous life, the one untouched by war. He was famous among his fellow Iraqis, as soccer players usually were.

"But now, he lives a life in obscurity — his face hidden behind a black ski mask when on the job. It’s too risky for the 24-year-old soccer star-turned-cop to reveal to the world his life as a member of the Emergency Response Unit, an elite part of the rebuilding Iraqi police force.

"He prefers his new life. 'My jobs are almost the same. In soccer, we made goals. Now I make goals. Goals by capturing terrorists,' he said Monday during a training break at Camp Dublin, near Baghdad International Airport."

"For about $200 a month, 24-year-old Mnieer risks his life getting to and from the office. He’s an Iraqi police officer. Strike one. He’s employed in the U.S. coalition-controlled International Zone police station. Strike two.

"But the young police officer said he sees a dire need to help protect his country, and the spate of insurgent threats and terrorist bombings that has killed hundreds of his brethren won’t dissuade him. 'We have a good system and we’re taking care of the country'."

"Despite the risks, Iraqis keep signing up to serve. The Baghdad Police College says it has no shortage of recruits. In a country with unemployment well over 50 percent, a police paycheck — about $200 a month — is simply too tempting.

"The cadets interviewed by ABC News insist their motives aren't financial. Faisal Ghazi gave up a higher-paying job in the private sector and joined the force to avenge the death of his cousin — a police officer who was beheaded by insurgents. 'Me [and] my uncles joined the police force in order to capture the terrorist who killed him,' he said. 'With God as my witness, I will sacrifice my life to capture his killers'."

"Soldiers of the 1st Iraqi Army Brigade received training on basic first aid, sexually transmitted diseases and personal field hygiene on April 12. 'The purpose is to increase education of the Iraqi Army medical sections, and to clarify the existing knowledge,' said Lt. Col. Fuoud, 1st IA Bde. Surgeon.

"He said the Iraqi medical personnel are well-educated, but most have only hospital experience. His vision is for them to be proficient medically on the battlefield. He hopes to improve on the training program, with the help of the U.S. Army. 'We are in need of a sophisticated program, one that will educate the soldiers in all positions,' said Fuoud.

"Battalions were tasked to send five medics to the training. After they receive and pass all requirements, they will go back and train their own soldiers. The education, until now, was primitive, said Fuoud."

"- In less than a year, the Iraqi Regular Army and Intervention Forces grew from one operational battalion to 27 operational battalions. The total number of operational combat battalions is now 80, which includes the units incorporated from the intervention force and the National Guard.

"- Iraq's Navy became operational, with five 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels, and a naval infantry regiment that recently completed training.

"- Iraq's Air Force has three operational squadrons; one additional squadron was stood up in late-January/early February. They have nine reconnaissance aircraft, a helicopter squadron, and three C-130 transport aircraft.

"- Iraq's Special Operations Forces now include a superb Counter-terrorist Forces and a Commando Battalion, each of which has conducted dozens of successful operations.

"- Iraq's 1st Mechanized Battalion became operational in mid-January, along with a tank company and a transportation battalion; the remaining elements of a mechanized brigade will be trained and equipped by the summer.

"- Iraq's two Military Academies reopened in October 2004 and each graduated a pilot course of new lieutenants, 91 total, in early January. The new year-long military academy course has already begun.

"- The Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 trained and equipped police officers, up from 26,000 last Summer. Of the nearly 29,000 police officers who have been trained since then, over 12,000 were former police who underwent three-week transition course training and over 16,000 were new recruits who underwent eight-week basic training. More than 35,000 additional police are on duty and scheduled for training.

"- Five basic police academies became operational; together, they produce over 3,500 new police officers from the 8-week course each month, a course recently modified to better prepare the new police officers for the challenging environment in which some may serve. Several other regional academies are under construction.

"- Iraq's Mechanized Police Brigade recently completed training and began operations in mid-January, using fifty BTR-94 wheeled armored vehicles. One additional Mechanized Police battalion is in training.

"- Nine Police Commando battalions are operational.

"- Nine Public Order Battalions are operational. Three more battalions will commence training shortly.

"- Iraq's National Police Emergency Response Unit is now operational, and its elements have conducted operations in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Mosul.

"- Iraq's First Special Border Force Battalion is operating on the Syrian border in western Anbar Province; the Second Battalion competed training in February and has begun its deployments, and a third completed training in March.

"- Seven provincial SWAT teams have been trained, two more are in training, and eleven more are scheduled for training by August 2005."

"U.S. and Iraqi security forces say they are gaining ground on insurgents and criminals because more Iraqis are phoning tips to a hotline set up in October.

"The hotline, known as the Joint Operating Center, has fielded about 1,100 calls in six months, dramatically improving street-level intelligence, says Army Sgt. Major Jerry Craig, a military policeman who oversees the call center.

"Most of the tips have come from anonymous tipsters.

" 'Not only have the calls increased, the calls that give us actionable intelligence have increased, and our success rate has improved,' Craig says.

"The center, which is inside the U.S. Army's heavily guarded Camp Liberty near the Baghdad International Airport, forwards callers' tips to U.S. and Iraqi security forces for investigation.

"Since October, 82% of callers have offered information on insurgent actions directed against Iraqi security forces, Craig says. Seven percent have reported crimes. Eleven percent haven't been useful."

"Both American and Iraqi troops agree that there has been a drop in the number of insurgency attacks over the last few months. There is also a general feeling among the Iraqi population that this is the case.

"One of the reasons for this, according to Iraqi government and the American military sources, is the phenomenon of the public becoming more cooperative in providing precise information about insurgents. Until recently, people were very reluctant to do so.

"It is claimed that a controversial programme on the state-owned TV station 'Al-Iraqiaya' is responsible for this change in the public mood. The programme has become such a hit that other privately-owned Iraqi TV stations are now showing it as well."