California Conservative

The local citizenry turned on the insurgents south of Baghdad late last week, pointing the troops to a major weapons cache south of Baghdad:

On July 23, a local Iraqi man came to Patrol Base Inchon, near the Euphrates River, staffed by Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and elements of the 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. He told troops that several other residents had chased a group of anti-Iraqi forces away from a weapons cache. He asked Soldiers to remove the weapons.

Several local residents guarded the cache and placed a fluorescent marking cloth to alert helicopters that they were not hostile. Soldiers of Company D moved out to find the cache and were met on the road by some of the local residents, who guided them to the cache, which was next to a canal.

The cache contained 210 57mm rockets, 25 82mm rockets, eight 120mm mortars, a large rocket, and a bag of homemade explosives. An explosive ordnance disposal team detonated the contents of the cache with a controlled explosion.

Although most rockets and mortars found in caches are not suitable for firing as intended, they are commonly used as improvised explosive devices.

In other words, people are stepping forward to help clear their areas of insurgents and weapons caches. This report also noted that this is a troubled area:

The rural areas south of Baghdad have long been a trouble spot for Coalition Forces. The fertile land was given by Saddam Hussein to Ba’ath Party members and close friends, and the ties made it a hotbed of terrorism.

If they’re able to start turning the tide in this rural area, that will provide an incentive for other citizens to come forward with more tips on insurgent locations and weapons caches. There’s lots of work to still be done but the progress continues.

The biggest question is whether Congress develops a spine and lets them win or if Congress continues to set policy by moistening a finger. Don’t be bashful people. It’s never wrong to pick up the phone and give your congresscritter a spine transplant. Let them know that you expect them to vote for victory.

Technorati Tags: Intel, Weapons Cache, IED, Rockets, US Military, Iraqi Military, Saddam, Baath Party Loyalists

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Monday, July 30th, 2007 at 4:01 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Intel, Iraq, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.