Welcome To The District Six Website

 

Visit to Iraq

Palace Compound

101st Airborne

Iraqi Police

Turning Over Vests

Kurdistan

Kuwait

"You cannot succeed in this effort if you're not willing to recognize the enormous contribution the Iraqis are increasingly making to their own future."
-Vice President Dick Cheney

 

 Iraqi Police and Government

We visited Iraqi Police facilities in Tikrit, Bayji and Sulaimaniyah. We were also invited to attend a Regional Government meeting that included the Provincial Governor, police chief and the Mayors and City Councilmembers from the various cities in the Salah ad-Din Province. The pictures show the government and police headquarters in Tukrit and Bayji.

When we visited Bayji, we flew the 40 miles in a Blackhawk helicopter to Forward Operating Base Summerall and then got into a convoy to visit the two police headquarters in the area.

If democracy is going to succeed in Iraq, establishing a functional local government and an effective civilian police force is on of the first tasks at hand. Our US Military is working hard to do just that. While it was clear they are making great progress they still have a long way to go. The Iraqi's are emerging from thirty years under a tyrannical dictator and need to learn just what freedom is really about. What we saw in visiting these facilities is what the Iraqi's lack in knowledge they more than make up for in enthusiasm. We take our freedoms and liberty's in America so much for granted and to experience the new love of liberty these wonderful people now have was often very emotional.

Click on picture to enlarge

Provincal Justice Center

Sign at the entrance to the Salah ad-Din Provincial Justice Center.

Entrance to Regional Justice Center

While we were waiting to go inside, a soldier asked us to immedialty go in the building. He said that the day before an Iraqi police officer had been killed at this spot by a sniper from a nearby building.

Welcome the Regional Justice Center

Lt. John Pettis and Brian Burry in the main lobby.

RJC Operations Center

This is where all activities of the regional police forces are monitored and tracked. If anything happens in the Province, this is the first place to find out about it.

"Indoor" Gun Range at the RJC

This is where the Iraqi police officers practice with their firearms. This is one tunnel of about eight and they are made of old rather large tires.

Rooftop Bunker at Regional Justice Center.

This is a closeup of the rooftop bunker at the Regional Justice Center. There are several of them located on the roof and protect the building from attack from all directions.

View of Tikrit

This is a view of Tikrit from the roof of the Provincial Justice Center looking towards a Mosque Saddam built for his brother.

Iraq Democracy

We had the honor of being invited to attend a provincial government meeting of the Governor, Provincial Police Chief and other high ranking officials with the Mayors and City Councilmembers from the various cities in the province.

It was very inspiring to actually see the world's newest democracy working.

Provincal Government Meeting

This is a picture of some of the Mayors and City Councilmembers who attended the regional meeting. In the style of a true democracy, the debate got very spirited at times and the elected officials argued about money (just like here).

Every one of these people and their families are targets of the foriegn terrorists.

Salah ad-Din Police Headquarters Building

This is the office of Provincial Police Chief General Mazher Taha Ahmad.

 

Provincial Police Chief General Mazher Taha Ahmad

Goup picture with the General

Lunch With Provincial Police Chief General Mazher Taha Ahmad

The General invited all of us to a lunch of traditional Iraqi food. It was absolutely delicious and I am now a big fan of Iraqi cuisine. The basic meal is a piece of Arabic flat bread and you fill it with beef, lamb, chicken, rice and lots of fresh vegetables. The soldiers couldn't get enough.

Repairing a Blockade

Security is tight everywhere. These Iraqis are repairing a gate at a checkpoint at the Provincial Police Headquarters.

Group of Iraqi Police

When word got our that American civilians were visiting, quite a few police officers came by to get a look and say hi.

Iraqi Police Car

A lot of firepower, not much protection.

Photo with Iraqi Policemen

Everywhere we went the Iraqis we met all wanted us to take their picture. This group was at the Provincial Police Headquarters.

Terrorist Truck

The day before two men in this truck pulled up to an Iraqi police checkpoint and opened fired from inside killing four Iraqi police officers before they were killed. Both men were foriegn nationals. The bullet holes from the men firing from the inside are easily seen on the side of the truck.

Iraqi Police Auditor

One could say this is the Iraqi equivalent of an Independent Police Auditor

Bayji Police Station

When we visited the City of Bayji, we took a helicopter ride to Camp Summerall and then a convoy to the police headquarters. This is a picture of the headquarters building.

Picture with Iraqi Police Officers in Bayji.

As would happen often, the Iraqi officers wanted to be in a picture with us.

Iraqi Police Payday in Bayji

We watched the officers get their monthly pay. Being a police officer is one of the highest paid positions in the gounry. Since Arabic names are very difficult to translate into English, officers are identified by the serial number of their weapons.

Iraqi Police Payday in Bayji

There used to be a lot of problems with Iraqi policemen losing (or selling) their weapons. Once they started using their guns serial number as the officers ID to get paid, this problem stopped.

Iraqi Police Car IED Victim

Two Iraqi police officers were killed when this vehicle was struck by a terrorist IED (Improvised Explosive Device) in Bayji. Being an Iraqi policeman is a very dangerous job as the foreigh terrorists target them. In spite of this there is a waiting list of thousands to fill these positions.

Humvees in Defensive Positions

When we visited a Iraqi Police sub-station in Bayji, our Humvees would park themselves in a defensve position to be able to defend the group if necessary. You can see two of the four Humvees in this picture with the gunners keeping an eye on things. This picture was taken from the roof of the police station.

Picture with Bayji Police Chief

This is a picture of me with the Police Chief of the substation we visited in Bayji.

Bayji Apartments

This is a picture of typical apartments in Bayji, Iraq. It was taken from the roof of the police sub-station we visited. This appeared to be a very common housing setup.

Bayji Police Station Guardhouse

On the roof of the Bayji Police substation we visited, an Iraqi policeman keeps an eye on the area. There are several machine gun bunkers set up at various places on the roof. You can see bullet holes in the blue shelter.

 

Not paid for at taxpayer expense