Since these stories don’t fit into the “grim milestone”/”if it bleeds, it leads” pre-sets, you won’t read about them on the front page. It’s the kind of cooperation we learned about on our short embed trip last week. It’s progress. It’s happening. In small steps. But forward progress, nonetheless.

First story:

Tip leads to hostage release, weapons cache
By Capt. David Levasseur 2nd BCT, 1st Inf. Div. PAO

BAGHDAD – An early morning tip phoned in to the Iraqi police led not only to the release of a kidnapping victim, but also to a sizeable weapons cache in western Baghdad Jan. 14.

The tip was called in by a concerned citizen stating they knew of a person who had been kidnapped and the kidnappers were driving a Hyandai Starek minivan. Iraqi police immediately put out a call to all units to look for the vehicle that had license plates matching those given over the phone.

About an hour later, the 1st Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police identified the vehicle and apprehended the driver. The driver refused to cooperate and would not reveal the location of the kidnapping victim.

A second tip, shortly after Iraqi police found the vehicle, provided the probable location of the home where the victim was being held.

Shortly before 11 a.m., ements of the 1st National Police Battalion raided a home in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Bayaa. There they found the kidnap victim and a large weapons cache.

The victim was interviewed before being released to his family.

“This raid was planned and executed entirely by the Iraqi national police,” said Maj. Blaine Wales, the team chief for the 1st Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Transition Team.

The weapons cache consisted of 31 mortar and artillery rounds, 12 rolls of detonation cord, one can of ball bearings, three blocks of C4 explosive, 100 blasting caps and fuses, two completed improvised explosive devices, multiple batteries of all types, four handheld radios, nine cellular phones and seven completed electronic circuit boards similar to those found in roadside bombs…

Second story:

Thursday, 18 January 2007

BAGHDAD — A joint press conference was held at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone Wednesday to discuss security operations and training in Iraq.

Rear Adm. Mark Fox, acting Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, and Brig. Gen. Terry Wolff, commanding general Coalition Military Assistance and Training Team, both touched on how progress was being made on the new plan made by President Bush.

“This institutional training mission is a critical component of our strategy to assist the Iraqis in creating and maintaining a viable and professional military capability,” said Fox.

There have been improvements already made into the training and size of the Iraq security forces.

“In 2006, we made significant strides in force generation and all components of the Iraqi military,” said Wolff. “The Iraqi security force currently sits at 327,000 trained and equipped policemen and Iraqi military.”

Despite these advances, Iraqi forces are still going through a change so patience and diligence will be needed in the coming months.

“What we’re seeing here right now is, we’re in the midst of a transition from the initial training and equipping phase into a partnering phase and ultimately with the goal of the Iraqi Army’s capability to deploy and to conduct autonomous operations and control their own battle space,” said Fox.

The importance of a unified Iraqi military and police force is not just for security but for uniting the country as a whole.

“I don’t think you can overstate the importance of the institution of the army as a unifying institution in Iraq, when you have people who come from all over the nation and now put on a common uniform and serve together,” said Fox…

***

On a related note, new Fox News poll results give you some handy insights into how Democrats really don’t want to hear about any progress at all (hat tip - Dean Barnett via Allah):

Ace:

A full 34% of our troop-supportin’ patriotic loyal opposition flatly wishes failure upon the US military.

I suppose some people may not fully listen to the question, so within that 34% are some respondants who just figure the more “No’s” they offer the more strongly they register their opposition, and some people who add the interpretation “I don’t want the surge to succeed, because I don’t want it to happen in the first place.”

But I don’t think you get to 49% based on misunderstanding the question alone, do you?

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