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'The Brigade Made A Huge Difference In Northern Iraq'

Oct- 7-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By Keith Eldridge, KOMO News

FORT LEWIS - President Bush warns that al-Qaida is still plotting against America as he seeks to revive support for the war in Iraq. But what do the soldiers say? We had a chance to talk with the commander of the Stryker Brigade that just returned from Iraq.

For a year, the 4,000 soldiers from Fort Lewis have been battling the insurgents in Iraq. Today, the president says it's a fight that is nowhere near over: "We will never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory."

The Strykers are all back home here at Fort Lewis now and have had a chance to think about what they accomplished in Iraq. Their top commander says they left Iraq in much better shape than when they got there.

"This is a different type of war in a counter insurgency where sometimes it's not as clear what is accomplished," said Stryker brigade commander Col. Bob Brown. "But the brigade really did a fantastic job and in fact made a huge difference in Northern Iraq."

Col. Brown has been back only a few days. Iraq is fresh on his mind. "One of the things you can measure is 80 percent of al-Qaida in Northern Iraq were either captured or killed. That's not our term, this came from the al-Qaida leaders themselves."

The Stryker Brigade, known by its specialized vehicles, spent much of its time around Mosul.

"We captured the No. 2 al-Qaida leader in Iraq and the No. 1 in Northern Iraq and after he was captured, the next 7 guys to step up to take over were captured." [...]


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