1st Battalion 22nd Infantry
Families return to Jihad 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 Baghdads
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, Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent Williams |
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 governments 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.
(Editor's note: CPT Garling can be seen at the far right of the photo.)
Photographer: Staff Sgt. Brent
Williams
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs
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