An image of the Golden Mosque Jan. 20 from the rooftop of a hotel, as it is currently being rebuilt and restored after being bombed by insurgents, Feb. 22, 2006. Photo by Spc. Shantelle Campbell

During a recent visit to the ancient city of Samarra, Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, the United States Corps –Iraq commander, walked along the city’s streets with the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division commander, Col. Henry A. Arnold, III and the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment commander, Lt. Col. Eric Timmerman.

As they made their way to the rooftop of a hotel across from the Golden Mosque, which is currently being rebuilt and restored to its original form, one couldn’t help but notice the evident change that has taken place in a city that was nearly destroyed by war.

On Feb. 22, 2006, the Al-Askari Mosque, or the Golden Mosque was bombed, setting off a chain of sectarian violence in the city. Then, June 13, 2007, terrorists attacked the mosque again, destroying two minarets and the clock tower. Despite the attacks on this prominent landmark and sacred mosque, the citizens of Samarra have made significant progress to restore peace.

In the past three years, violence has significantly decreased as Iraqi security forces have taken the lead to provide security of the city. According to Arnold during a recent interview with the New York Times, the improvements that have been made in the city are a result of the citizens rejecting terrorists and the professionalism of the Iraqi security forces.

There is a feeling of peace and security now, as markets are open and children are playing in the streets.

“The citizens are calling in reports,” he said during the interview. “The people have turned against violent extremists.

“I walk around in ACU’s and a soft cap; no body armor, no helmet. I walk to the mosque, something I would not have been able to do in 2006.”

There are future plans being made for Samarra like removing the protective t-walls surrounding the mosque; installing a decorative gate that can be opened and closed to pedestrians as security dictates; and installing security cameras.

Along the streets, Iraqi civilians stood outside their shops or paused long enough to gesture or say “hello” to the commanders as they moved toward their destination. After reaching the rooftop of the hotel, the group walked to the side of the roof that faced the ancient mosque which was still a sight to see even without the 72,000 golden plates that once adorned its dome.

DVIDS
Story by Spc. Shantelle Campbell

Iraq prepares for H1N1 flu pandemic

Doctors in Salah ad Din province are taking the threat of H1N1 seriously. They are taking no chances in preparing for pandemic influenza.

“They view it as a serious problem,” said Dr. Marcus, an advisor for the Salah ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team.

With the announcement of the global flu pandemic and growing fears of an H1N1 outbreak within the country, the doctors in Salah ad Din province took action. Weeks of clinical preparations, public health announcements and professional preparations culminated in the mid-July provincial H1N1 Influenza summit in Tikrit, Iraq.

Six leading physicians from the Tikrit University College of Medicine, the Tikrit Teaching Hospital and the Salah ad Din Health Directorate, along with an American preventive medicine physician from the US military, presented on topics that ranged from the epidemiology of H1N1 to public health controls to prevent and respond to an outbreak in the province.

Clean water restored to Iraqi villages

For residents of the villages of Qalata and Khalkhalan, Iraq, access to a cup of clean drinking water is not always as easy as going to the faucet and pouring one. The current water purification plant that supplies both villages no longer produces clean, drinkable water, requiring residents to travel to a nearby city.

But soon the nearly 7,000 residents of the villages will only have to travel to their water pumps to get purified water.

“Local contractors are set to begin refitting the old water purification plant so it produces water people can actually drink,” said Hameed Faqi, the director of municipality for the villages.

“Right now all you can use the water from the old plant for is washing clothes and showering,” said Othman Hassen, a member of the district council.

Microgrants restores business around Samarra’s Golden Mosque

The area around the Al Askari “Golden” Mosque of Samarra, Iraq, once thrived as an open-air market serving thousands of visitors every year. Iraqi and U.S. forces are working to guarantee security, and that means more than safety. It also means rebuilding the economy.

Joined by Samarra Mayor Mahmood Khalaf Ahmed, U.S. Soldiers with the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion and the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, distributed $2.5 million in small-business grants to more than 900 local store owners, Aug. 3 to 5.

Following the bombing of the Golden Mosque in February 2006, business plummeted. Some shops shut down due to security concerns and the placement of protective barriers around the city.

“The closure of the stores around the Golden Mosque truly hurt the economy of Samarra,” Ahmed said. “Many of the visitors to the city would come and shop and provide the much-needed money for the city. With these microgrants, we will be able to return being the strong, economic city that we were in previous years.”

The Iraqi government and U.S. forces have allocated millions of dollars in grants for small-business owners, and to those who wish to become small-businesses owners, to revitalize the economy. The grants ranged from $2,500 to $10,000.