America's North Shore Journal

A mix of force, good governance and economic stimuli has resulted in a turnaround for an area in Iraq that once was a hotbed of Sunni and Shiite insurgents. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team is completing a 15-month tour as part of Multinational Division Center, and the unit commander, Army Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., spoke to Pentagon reporters yesterday about the deployment. The “Sledgehammer” brigade arrived in February 2007 as part of the surge of additional forces into Iraq. Violent crime was out of control, Grigsby said, and al-Qaida in Iraq intimidated Sunni portions of the area, allowing the terrorist group to use them as safe havens. “In our time here, murders have declined by greater than 50 percent, from 631 in ’06 to 253 in … Read entire article »