President Bush announced the withdrawal of 30,000 US troops from Iraq (In Victory) earlier this week.
Girls smile after receiving stuffed toys from a U.S. soldier in the village of Multaka in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, June 19, 2008. A U.S. soldiers’ team travels to different towns in Kirkuk and plays soccer with the locals. Picture taken June 19, 2008. (REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz)
The last of the surge brigades readies to return home after their very successful tour of duty in Iraq.
MNF-Iraq reported:
The last of the five Army brigades to deploy with the “troop surge” in Iraq will return in July after a 13-month deployment, during which soldiers detained more than 800 terrorist suspects and helped foster Iraqi self-governance.
The 3rd Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team has operated in the Arab Jabour area of southeastern Baghdad, where the number of attacks plummeted from about 30 a week when they arrived in May 2007 to about one a week now.
“All in all, it’s been a very successful operation for us,” Army Col. Terry Ferrell, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander, told reporters at the Pentagon today via video teleconference from Forward Operating Base Kalsu, in Baghdad.
President Bush announced the temporary 33,000-troop surge in January 2007 to tamp down violence in Iraq and help prepare Iraq’s national security forces to maintain security. The first surge brigade went home in March, and the final redeployment next month will reduce the number of brigades in Iraq to 15.
Meanwhile… Joe Honan at Argghhh! has an impressive report on the progress taking place in former Al-Qaeda stronghold of Ramadi.
Related… Things are so tough for Al-Qaeda in Iraq that it’s come to this– Jihadis are now posting video of failed attacks.
UPDATE: Bill Roggio has more on the latest gains in Iraq.