1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Families return to community

Sheik Talib Kwali, head of the Jihad Reconciliation Council, and Capt. Michael Garling,
commander of Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division - Baghdad, were amongst key community leaders and government representatives
to attend the Jihad Resettlement ceremony, Aug. 23, 2008, in the Hayy Jihad area of Rashid District in southern Baghdad.
The event brought leaders from the Neighborhood Advisory Council, the Government of Iraq and Iraqi security forces together
to celebrate the return of 250 Iraqi families into the Shishaan area of Hayy Jihad.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Iraqi Leaders, MND-B Soldiers Welcome 250 Families Back to Jihad Community in Rashid

Story by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
Posted on 08.24.2008 at 01:09PM

By Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Multi-National Division –
Baghdad Soldiers joined representatives from the Government of Iraq, the Hayy Jihad Neighborhood Advisory Council
and Iraqi security forces leaders to welcome approximately 250 families back to their communities
and neighborhoods in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad.

Soldiers and leaders of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, joined the Jihad Reconciliation Council
and Iraqi army soldiers, Aug. 23, 2008, to mark the relocation of Iraqi citizens of the Shishaan neighborhood.

The event was a special opportunity to highlight the many accomplishments made by ISF in establishing security
in the Jihad community, said Tom Lynch, Provincial Reconstruction Team leader embedded with the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.

The resettlement of Iraqis into their homes in Baghdad’s Rashid District is also a testament to the Iraqi people,
who are working to rebuild their lives, said Lynch.

“This is your achievement – the achievement of the people of Jihad,” said Lynch, who hails from Fairfax, Va.

Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Bobb, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad,
attends a Hayy Jihad Resettlement ceremony for 250 Iraqi families
returning to their homes and neighborhoods, Aug. 23, 2008,
in the Shishaan community of Baghdad's Rashid District.
Bobb, who hails from the Isles of Trinidad, provided security
for the 1st BCT's Embedded Provincial Reconstruction
Team Leader Tom Lynch, who was a guest speaker
at the event celebrating a new milestone
in security for the area.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Resettlements in Rashid happen every day, but a ceremony celebrating the return of more than 250 families is a unique event,
said Capt. Michael Garling, commander of Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT.

“This is all Iraqi-led, Iraqi-driven; and Iraqis put this together under the reconciliation council,” he said,
adding that he thinks the ceremony is a good news story that illustrates the people working with their local leadership
and the government of Iraq to take ownership of their communities and rebuild their neighborhoods.

Garling said his engineer company works with the soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 53rd Brigade, 14th Iraqi Army Division,
to provide security and stability to the area, which enables the Iraqi citizens to return to a sense of normalcy
after years of violence and strife.

“[These families] have been scattered far and wide across Iraq, and now they can finally move back in their houses
because the security is strong enough … in the Shishaan area, for them to feel safe,” said Garling, a native of Albany, N.Y.

Speaking at the ceremony, Staff Col. Ali Abood, the commander of the 1st Bn., 53rd Bde., 14th IA Div.,
asked the Iraqi citizens returning to their homes and neighborhoods to call if there is a lack of security in their communities.

Staff Col. Ali Abood of the 1st Battalion, 53rd Brigade, 14th Iraqi Army Division, addresses the sheiks and community leaders
of the Hayy Jihad and the Jihad Reconciliation Council, Aug. 23, 2008, at a ceremony to recognize approximately 250 displaced families
returning to their homes in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad. The event marked the ongoing security efforts made by coalition forces
and Iraqi security forces to return normalcy to a community that had once been marred by sectarian violence and strife.
Soldiers and leaders of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad,
helped facilitate the security milestone as members of Iraqi security forces and the Jihad Reconciliation Council
welcomed the families back to their community in the Shishaan area of Rashid.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Ali said his soldiers are working under the Iraqi government’s instructions and reminded those in attendance
that “there will be no safety without the return of displaced families.”

“We made the preparation for you to return safe and secure to your area and your homes,” Ali said.
“Our hearts are open for you as well as our eyes securing you.”

Sheik Talib Kwali, head of the Jihad Reconciliation Council, welcomed the displaced families to return
to the Hayy Jihad community and said he hopes that security will be maintained in Rashid.

Kwali also addressed the lack of essential services in some of the neighborhoods in the Jihad community
and asked the Government of Iraq to assist the Iraqi people to fix the problems.

Sheik Talib Kwali, head chairman of the Jihad Reconciliation Council, welcomes 250 displaced families to resettle
in their homes and communities of the Shishaan area of Hayy Jihad, Aug. 23, 2008, in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad.
Talib has been working to return displaced families to the Jihad neighborhood due to the success of Iraqi security forces
and coalition forces in providing security for the 1.6 million people of Rashid. Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division -- Baghdad, attended the event to show their support for the citizens
and the communities rebuilding their lives after years of violence and strife.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

“People of Shishaan are still concerned that in the area there are no services, such as sewer, water and electricity,
but Coalition, ISF and the people [in the muhallahs] are working together to help bring back those services,”
Garling said. “There are a couple of projects in the works right now that should help them out.”

Approximately 200 citizens, sheiks, leaders and community representatives joined coalition forces and Iraqi security forces
at a resettlement ceremony celebrating the return of more than 250 displaced Iraqi families to their homes
and communities in the Shishaan area of Hayy Jihad in the Rashid District of southern Baghdad.

Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs