Rock of the Marne pacifies “Triangle of Death”

 The mighty Third Infantry Division, nicknamed the “Rock of the Marne” is credited with pacifying an area that the Associated Press calls the “Triangle of Death”;

“When we first arrived here 15 months ago there was nothing but sectarian violence, al-Qaida, Shiite extremists,” the division commander Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said as he wrapped up a tour of an industrial complex.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. officials are likely to tout successes like that here during a U.N. conference that begins Thursday in Sweden, aimed at reviewing political and security progress in Iraq. The gathering will also see pressure on Iraqi leaders to make similar movement on political goals, such as reconciliation between the country’s Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

The U.S. military says violence across Iraq has reached its lowest level in more than four years after successes this year in breaking al-Qaida’s and other Sunni insurgents’ hold in western Iraq and — more recently — government crackdowns in the southern city of Basra and northern city of Mosul.

But the success in the Triangle of Death, centered on the town of Iskandariyah, is perhaps the most dramatic. The area’s population is mixed between Sunnis and Shiites to a far greater degree than many others, and in 2006 and 2007 militants from each community were killing each other, as well as attacking U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The area has boomeranged to become a bastion of relative peace on the edge of a violent capital, while Sunni militants remain elusive in the north.

I did two tours (and seven years) with the 3rd Division in the 2/15th and 1/7th Infantry, and it’s always been a damn good division, always filled with heroes. It’s good to see them get the recognition they deserve. Join me in a chorus of their Division song;

 I Wouldn’t Give A Bean
To Be A Fancy Pants Marine,
I’d rather Be A Dogface Soldier Like I Am.
I Wouldn’t Trade My Old O.D.’s
For All The Navy’s Dungarees
For I’m The Walking Pride Of Uncle Sam;
On All The Posters That I Read It Says
The Army Builds Men
So They’re Tearing Me Down To Build Me Over Again
I’m Just A Dogface Soldier
With A Rifle On My Shoulder
And I Eat Raw Meat For Breakfast Everyday.
So Feed Me Ammunition,
Keep Me In The Third Division,
Your Dogfaced Soldier Boy’s A-Okay.

Category: Support the troops, Terror War