MNFI Press Release - Nov 14

COALITION CAPTURES IED FACILITATOR
Coalition Forces captured a key Improvised Explosive Device (IED) facilitator in Mosul on November 14th. The intelligence-driven operation, which took place in the Al Rashidayah neighborhood around 8 a.m., was simultaneously conducted with another operation in the 30 Tamooz neighborhood, where another key terrorist was captured. “Maintaining a relentless approach to hunting down terrorists remains the focus of both Iraqi security and Coalition forces. We will continue to apply pressure where it is needed to reduce any threat to the population,” said Major Gary Dangerfield, Coalition Force spokesman, in Ninevah province.

MND-B SOLDIERS CAPTURE HOMEMADE ROCKET SYSTEMS
Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers seized an impromptu rocket launching system on November 13th in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. At approximately 11:45 p.m., Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, discovered and seized eight rocket rails with wires and an initiating device in an abandoned house in the Abu T’shir community of the Rashid district. “The Soldiers of the 1st ‘Raider’ Brigade continue to remove weapons and munitions from throughout the Rashid district of Baghdad,” said Major Dave Olson, spokesperson for the 1st BCT, 4th ID, MND-B.

SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF SOI TO GOI
More than half of the Baghdad province Sons of Iraq (SOI) have received their first paychecks from the Government of Iraq (GOI), with eight other provinces slated to follow suit by the summer of 2009. “October 1st was the first transfer of the SoI to the Government of Iraq in Baghdad province, with 51,135 SoI [now under GoI control], and then throughout the month of October was the validation of the pay rosters and getting the pay sites ready,” said Lt. Colonel Jeffrey D. Kulmayer, chief, reconciliation and engagement, Multi-National Corps – Iraq. “The October pay period was just paid this first week of November and it is a milestone in the history of the program because the GoI is now paying the SoI for providing critical infrastructure security.”

Diyala is the next province to transfer, said Kulmayer. “We will begin Diyala SoI registration on December 1st, and the transfer date will be on January 1st. Simultaneously will be the transfers of SoI payment responsibility to the Iraqi Government in the provinces of Babil, Wasit and Qadisiyah. “The southern provinces are already underway with their registration, and the transfer date will be January 1st as well,” Kulmayer added. Meanwhile, the GoI and Coalition forces are working to transition the SoI into meaningful jobs in the Iraqi Security Forces and civilian workforce.

“The successful payment portion of the SoI in Baghdad completes the transfer, but there is still a transition of these men into permanent employment, and that’s going to take a little longer,” Kulmayer said. “Some of them are already starting to move into the jobs; we’ve had 1,378 go into the Iraqi Police since the first of October, which is a significant breakthrough in the terms of integration. A very important part of the whole process is to get 20 percent of the SoI integrated into the ISF. The rest of the men will go into the ministries, municipalities, public works projects or private enterprise. Those jobs are going to take longer to develop, and that will happen in the weeks and months ahead. The coalition is assisting and working with the Iraqi government to develop those jobs.”

Part of the development in non-security jobs includes vocational training, which will give the SoI the skills necessary to take jobs such as carpentry, plumbing and electrical work as well as garnering employment in various municipalities and government jobs. And this transition seems to be going smoothly, Kulmayer said. “The government is doing the right thing,” Kulmayer said. “Baghdad has gone quite well and we expect that the rest of the provinces will do the same.” As of November 14th, the GoI has paid over half of the SoI in Baghdad.