Photo By Rick Rzepka | A weapons cache found near Balad is unearthed by Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 32nd...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Rick Rzepka
1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
TIKRIT, Iraq – The governor of the Salah ad Din province, Hamad Hamood Shekti along with Col. Michael S. McBride, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) met with local governmental and military leadership to discuss the way forward for Iraqis wishing to reintegrate back into society, June 26, in Tikrit, Iraq.
Since May, over 600 hundred men, have pledged to support the Iraqi government by taking the gun out of politics in the province, which is home to the key Iraqi cities of Tikrit, Samarra, Bayji and Balad.
By broadening the reconciliation process across the province, the Iraqi government, Iraqi security forces and the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division seek to provide an opportunity for former fighters and supporters of the insurgency to unite under the Iraqi flag.
"The purpose of this is to open doors for those who do not have anything to do with violence or killing of any Iraqis or coalition forces," Shekti said.
The governor said that reconciliation is a window of opportunity that men who find themselves wanted by ISF and CF, should not pass up.
"The individuals whose names are on the roster should hand themselves in," he said. "It is great chance to clear your name so you can continue with your life and to rebuild Salah ad-Din and Iraq."
The governor described the reconciliation window as a period of pardon, which is meant to give those who have felt marginalized, a chance to rejoin the budding political processes.
"Those seeking to wipe the slate clean will be treated fairly and justly by Iraqi security forces," Shekti said. However, those who have committed crimes against the Iraqi people will continue to be pursued, he said.
"Those that are wanted for killing that will not cooperate will be hunted down. We will not rest until we get the individual to justice," Shekti said. "We will build Salah ad Din in a good way - that is why we have this reconciliation plan."
In the city of Ad Dawr, near Tikrit, former extremists have begun filing into the security station there to begin the reconciliation process, which begun, June 30. In the first day 58 men reconciled, said Maj. Tim Povich, the executive officer for 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team. "Reconciliation is the logical next step in our area," said Povich. "With the recent security improvements in both Ad Dawr and Tikrit, reconciliation, or "musalaha" as the Iraqis call it, will provide additional momentum to keep the situation improving in both areas."
Returning to a stable life, to not be pursued by coalition or Iraqi security forces is a major draw for many of the former fighters.
Coalition forces will recognize the period of pardon by not pursuing those who wish to reconcile with the Iraqi government, said Col. Michael S. McBride, 1st BCT, 101st Airborne Division commander.
The meeting comes on the heels of a massive reconciliation effort in the city of Balad, where more than 500 Iraqis pledged loyalty to the Iraqi government by signing a cease fire agreement as a component to the formal reconciliation process. Since the effort began in Balad in May, dozens of weapons caches and munitions have been turned into Iraqi security forces.
Acting on Iraqi sources, coalition forces were led to a subterranean arsenal, June 28, which contained rockets, mortars and anti-tank missiles, east of the city of Balad. Troopers from the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division discovered the cache, which is the latest in a series of large finds.
Approximately four-hundred 82mm high-explosive mortar rounds were found buried, along with three anti-tank missiles, 12 rockets and various other armaments.
Reconciliation efforts in the Balad area have led to an increase in cache finds due to an enhanced flow of information from the local populace, said Maj. Johnpaul Arnold, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division spokesman. "The people of the Balad area are coming forward with information on weapons caches and the whereabouts of terror supporters, because they want to be free from the fear and brutality that al-Qaida brought to their country," he said. "They are no longer afraid or intimidated by that fading and failing organization."
| Date Taken: | 07.02.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.02.2008 12:14 |
| Story ID: | 21111 |
| Location: | TIKRIT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 471 |
| Downloads: | 459 |
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