Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Steven Petibone | The mayor of Tal Afar and Lt. Col. John K. Tien, commander, 2-37th visit a Tal Afar...... read more read more
by Sgt. 1st Class Steven Petibone
138th MPAD
FOB SYKES, TAL AFAR, NINEWA PROVINCE, Iraq (7 September, 2006) - - September, 2005 was a milestone for Coalition and Iraqi Forces. It marked the end of Operation Restore Rights initiated by the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and completed by the "Iron Dukes" of 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment.
Tal Afar is located 35 miles from the Syrian border in northern Iraq. It was a strategic location for Al Qaeda and their former leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Tal Afar is a city of more than 250,000 residents, roughly the population of Akron, Ohio. It has dozens of tribes of different ethnicity and religion. Most of the city residents are Sunnis of Turkoman origin.
Tal Afar was a key strategic point for terrorist operations in Iraq. After the removal of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, terrorists began moving into the city. They sought to divide Tal Afar's many ethnic and religious groups and form an alliance with those who had benefited from Saddam's former regime and others with their own anti-Iraqi and Coalition Forces agenda.
Terrorists skillfully used propaganda to generate hostility toward Coalition Forces and the new Iraqi government. They exploited a weak economy and recruited young men to their cause and by September 2004, the terrorists and insurgents had seized control of Tal Afar. Terrorists and insurgents moved freely in the city.
Col. H.R. McMaster, commander, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment described Tal Afar this way: "When you come into a place in the grip of al Qaeda, you see a ghost town. There are no children playing in the streets. Shops are closed and boarded, all construction has stopped and local citizens stay inside as prisoners in their own homes."
The tactical plan was not to come in and remove the terrorists, then move on, but to adopt a new approach called clear, hold and build. This new approach was successful because of the significant gains made in training large numbers of capable ISF.
Under this new approach, Iraqi and Coalition Forces cleared the city of terrorists, leaving well-trained Iraqi units behind to hold the cleared portions. After hostilities and fighting was controlled, work began with local leaders to rebuild the economic and political infrastructure needed to live in freedom.
In May, 2005, the 3rd ACR was given responsibility for the western Nineveh province. A few months later, Iraq's national government announced a major offensive to clear the city of terrorists.
ISF and Coalition Forces built an eight-foot high, 12-mile long dirt wall around the city. The wall was designed to cut off any escape for terrorists trying to evade security checkpoints. Temporary housing outside the city was constructed so Tal Afar's citizens would have places to go when the fighting started. Safe havens in nearby towns were also eliminated, making it harder for fleeing terrorists to hide.
These steps took time, but signs of life started returning to outlying towns. The population of Tal Afar was convinced that Iraqi and Coalition Forces were on their side against a common enemy, the terrorists who had taken control of their city.
Only after all these steps did Iraqi and coalition authorities launch Operation Restoring Rights to keep the city clear of the terrorists.
The 3rd ACR redeployed in late December, 2005 and were replaced by the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment "Iron Dukes". Hostilities continued, but the terrorists and insurgents were fighting a losing battle.
September, 2006 marks the one year anniversary of Operation Restoring Rights. The city of Tal Afar is relatively at peace. On Sept. 2, the "Iron Dukes" transitioned the last Coalition Forces area of responsibility to the 1st Bn., 2nd Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division.
The handover included a massive Ottoman-era fortress called Fort Tal Afar. It is now the base of operations for the Iraqi 1st Battalion. The 37th AR has handed the reigns of military responsibility solely to the Iraqis and moved their operations back to Forward Operating Base Sykes.
As the insurgency in Tal Afar is drawing its last breath, Coalition Forces are breathing new life back into Tal Afar with help from the Mayor of Tal Afar, Najim Abullah Al-Jiboury.
U.S. Army personnel from the Provincial Reconstruction Team, FOB Marez, Mosul, have put the process of infrastructure rebuilding into motion.
"PRT members were brought from Mosul to bring our operations from the 'state-level' down to the 'county level', much like you would see in the states," said Maj. Max Muramoto, Ninewa Province Reconstruction Team liaison officer, Governance Support Team, Company B, 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion. "After Coalition Forces went house-to-house and cleaned out the town, the Mosul-based PRT was able to come in and open lines of communication and establish basic urban planning in the form of electrical, water and sewer infrastructure." Muramoto is an Army reservist from Tucson, Ariz.
The infrastructure rebuilding in Tal Afar is moving in a positive direction due to the efforts of Mayor Najim. The PRT is in the early stages of building a relationship with the mayor and his district to build an aggressive and progressive infrastructure program.
Mayor Najim is proactive in his effort to forge a modern Iraqi city. He made a trip to the U.S. to see how urban communities work in the Colorado Springs, Denver and Washington D.C.
Mayor Najim also wrote letters to President George W. Bush thanking him for the valiant sacrifices of 3rd ACR Soldiers during the hostile and violent military operations to rid Tal Afar of the terrorists and the insurgents.
Following are partial excerpts from the Mayor's letter:
Included in his letter, Mayor Najim asked the President if the 3rd ACR could be extended past their redeployment date to ensure that his city could continue to successfully rebound from the violence of the terrorists and insurgents.
The mayor is no stranger to the constant struggle for Iraq's democracy. He replaced Tal Afar's former mayor, in August, 2005, prior to the start of Operation Restore Rights, serving as mayor during a period of extreme unrest and violent insurgent activity.
He served as an intelligence officer during the Gulf War, a journalist and editor for Baghdad magazine, and prior to becoming mayor, he was Tal Afar's Chief of Police.
He has earned a Bachelor of Science Degree graduating with honors in Arabic Literature and Human Science from the University of Baghdad.
Mayor Najim is now ready to work with the Mosul PRT to establish Tal Afar as a model city. He attended the September 2nd transition of authority ceremony with the 2-37th AR, commander, Lt. Col. John K. Tien and that afternoon, both of them visited a market section in Tal Afar where they handed out stuffed toy animals to children and talked with merchants of newly opened businesses.
"Thirty seven million U.S. dollars has been pledged to help rebuild the Tal Afar infrastructure," said Muramoto. "We are starting to see the first of those projects come on line now."
According to Muramoto, nearly ten million dollars has already been spent to compensate the citizens of Tal Afar for damages due to fighting the insurgents in and around the city.
Although in its early stage, the Tal Afar urban planning program is comprehensive, aggressive and addresses the basic needs such as, repairable water systems, improvements to the health care, and improvements to sewage and waste disposal.
"I met with the local Director Generals of sewage and municipality for the town of Tal Afar," said Capt. Rose Grimm, infrastructure officer, 403rd CA Bn., Ninewa PRT, native of Millington, Tenn. "We discussed the different options that are available for computer-assisted master planning for urban environment."
According to Grimm, she advised the civil engineers in Tal Afar that the civil engineers in Mosul are using Geographic Information System software, which will setup and plan water needs, sewer needs and health care needs based on population densities.
Throughout 2004 and 2005, the terrorists and insurgents would use local schools to recruit very young students for their cause and hide their weapons. That has changed dramatically and the PRT is actively engaged in rebuilding the educational system.
"I met with the local Director General of Education, Dr. Abrahim, and discovered that he has a good program established for Tal Afar," said Navy Operations Specialist Chief Petty Officer Wrayman L. Harris, and resident of Marshall, Texas, 403rd CA Bn., Ninewa PRT. "While there I attended one of his literacy programs. The program is dynamic and he has an excellent staff."
According to Harris, the kids have an over-whelming ambition to learn, and to read and write. In addition to literacy program there is a computer skills program at the local small business center. He is currently seeking funding to build an indoor recreation center for basketball and volleyball.
"The PRT has come to Tal Afar four times in the last nine months. Three of those visits have been for working group meetings, understanding the particulars of working in Tal Afar," said Muramoto.
The new director of the Mosul PRT, James Knight, will meet with mayor Najim, to establish a rapport between Mosul and Tal Afar and to present ideas that will affectively set the course for rebuilding a town once considered a "ghost town".
| Date Taken: | 09.07.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 09.13.2006 08:42 |
| Story ID: | 7713 |
| Location: | TAL AFAR, IQ |
| Web Views: | 264 |
| Downloads: | 43 |
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