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Election better than feared, local troops say

Jan-31-2005 » Filed Under: TF Freedom

Link to Full Article
MICHAEL GILBERT AND ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune

Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, was admittedly pessimistic about what Sunday might bring in embattled Mosul. A few days before the election, he said he feared suicide bombers would strike early and discourage voters from turning out.

But the bombs didn’t come, and Iraqi voters turned out in higher than expected numbers, Ham said.

“This was not at all the day I expected,” Ham said in a telephone interview late Sunday, “but pretty close to the day I secretly wished for.”

Nearly 10,000 troops with ties to Washington state are in Iraq, including Fort Lewis-based Stryker soldiers with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, and nearly 3,200 National Guard soldiers assigned to the 81st Brigade Combat Team.

For weeks, they worked with Iraqi security forces to quell insurgent activity in the country prior to Sunday’s historic vote.

The efforts apparently paid off. There were only a few attacks on polling stations guarded by Stryker and 81st Brigade troops in Mosul and Baghdad. Voter turnout appeared high in both cities, U.S. military commanders said.

The rest of the article provides a good summary of activity in Mosul yesterday.


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