WEBVTT

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on this edition of Freedom Journal of

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Rock . The Secretary of State visits

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Baghdad and multinational division

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North soldiers have a new place to kick

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up their feet will miss these stories

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and more on today's that day .

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I

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hello , I'm Air Force Sergeant Greg

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Bluesman . Welcome to this edition of

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Freedom Girl . A rock on her way to

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bahrain for meetings with several gulf

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states Secretary of State Condoleezza

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Rice made an unannounced stop in

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Baghdad to meet with several government

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of Iraq officials . Stephen Aaron

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Hotchner reports on her visit ,

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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

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arrived in Baghdad for a surprise visit .

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The secretary met with Iraqi Prime

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Minister Nouri al Maliki and the

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President of Iraq , Jalal Talabani

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during a press conference of Talabani's

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Residents . Condoleezza Rice said , now

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is the time for Iraq to prosper . It is

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indeed a moment of opportunity in Iraq

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thanks to the courageous decisions

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taken by uh the Prime Minister and a

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unified Iraqi leadership . After the

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press conference , Rice went to the U .

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S . Embassy in the International zone

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to meet with military and State

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Department Personnel Secretary Rice

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will be heading to bahrain to meet with

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the Gulf Cooperation Council to discuss

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regional issues with the leaders of

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Egypt Jordan and Iraq reporting from

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Baghdad . I'm Stephen erin either

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questions during this week's press

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conference in Baghdad were directed

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toward the continuing operations and

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cyber city between us and Iraqi

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security force seven nickels updates .

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Us on plans for cider city . Us and

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Iraqi forces are implementing a

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security plan . Insider city , a

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district of Baghdad , just five miles

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from the international zone and the

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scene of clashes between US and Iraqi

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forces and militia fighters were

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Admiral Patrick Driscoll , A spokesman

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for multinational Force . Iraq says

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that the Baghdad security plan is not

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only to keep the city safe but to

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eventually start supplying humanitarian

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relief to get to the larger

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reconstruction projects . Uh all the

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other things , you know , fixing and

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building hospitals , electrical power ,

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water and things like that . That's

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going to take time . But you've got to

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have security first before you can get

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the people in uh in order to do those

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things . Otherwise , if you don't get

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the security first , there will be

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construction workers will come in and

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be subject to intimidation and

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extortion . Uh their supplies will be

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stolen . Uh they'll be they'll be

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threatened and they won't be able to

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get the job done . The reconstruction

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efforts will further enhance

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neighborhood security in order to

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provide opportunities for jobs ,

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education and proper health care in the

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future . Air Force Sergeant Kevin

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Nicholls , Baghdad , Part of the

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Baghdad security plan is setting up

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concrete blast walls to section off

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part of cedar city . U . S . Army heavy

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equipment , transportation trucks

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carrying t wall barriers arrived in the

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southern portion of cider City last

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week . Multi National Division Baghdad

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engineers helped set up the barriers

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while soldiers from the Third Special

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Troops Battalion , Third Brigade Combat

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Team , Fourth Infantry Division

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provided security . The barrier will be

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a kind of dividing line between the

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areas patrolled by coalition forces and

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the militia strongholds in the northern

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part of Cider city . Another purpose of

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the walls is to prevent insurgents from

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entering and leaving neighborhoods that

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will Cider City is the stronghold of

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the Mahdi militia . Indirect fire

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attacks on the green zone recently have

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been launched from that part of Baghdad .

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Once the walls are completed ,

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government reconstruction efforts will

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begin in the area coming up , we'll

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take you to the grand opening of

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freedom west north here is your

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raid report having on a tip from a

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citizen of bahsrah Iraqi soldiers

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discovered weapons caches in two

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vehicles . The cash is included RPG

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rounds with launcher and explosively

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formed projectile device and various

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other munitions during operations in

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Mosul coalition forces targeted

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individuals believed to be conspiring

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with Al Qaeda in Iraq . Senior leaders ,

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three suspected terrorists and a wanted

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individual with close ties to a senior

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AQ I leader were detained also in

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bahsrah Iraqi soldiers discovered a

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large cash . During a routine search .

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The cash consisted of a large number of

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weaponry with Iranian markings . US

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soldiers discovered 14 bricks of high

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explosive in southern Baghdad . The

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explosives were transported by an

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explosive ordinance disposal team to a

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secure location and that's your raid

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report . I'm Petty Officer Michael

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Heckman ,

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Here's your O I F weather forecast .

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Beginning in Baghdad expect clear skies

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with highs climbing up to 103 in the

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low going down to 72 in the north Mosul

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will see sunny partly cloudy skies high

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reaching 101 and the low dipping down

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to 65 because we can expect sunny skies

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high climbing to 105 degrees in the low

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of 74 . That's your O . I . F . Weather .

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I'm airman first class shale and Jordan .

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Here

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are the latest operation Iraqi freedom

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headlines . Shia leader Muqtada al

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Sader issued a statement threatening to

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wage an open war . He urged the

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government of Iraq to stop its campaign

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against his followers or he will

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declare a war until liberation .

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Meanwhile , if the conflict between

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Muqtada al Sadr and the G . O . I

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spreads to my job , it could spell

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trouble for the Shia clerical

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establishment and destabilize the

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entire Shia south . Major General rick

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lynch said that the U . S . Military is

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not fighting the Mahdi Army . Rather it

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is combating Shia and Sunni extremism

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and Iranian interference . Meanwhile ,

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Secretary Rice praised the G . O . I

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for moving against criminal militias ,

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Iraqi security forces with us and

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british support managed to gain control

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of Azra from the Mahdi Army facing

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little resistance along the way ,

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according to a Ministry of Interior

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spokesperson and the fear headlines

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from around the region , I'm Air Force

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Sergeant charlie , Lucky , welcome

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back while soldiers continue to make

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progress in the fight against the

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insurgency in Mosul . Members of the

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provincial reconstruction team are

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taking the opportunity to get out into

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the community Specialist Elizabeth

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Conley reports on how the PRT and the

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Ninawa province is helping Iraqi

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farmers , crops flourish , by bringing

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farmers together . The mineral

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provincial reconstruction team is

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bringing Iraqi farmers together to

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reach the benefits of joint farming

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associations . We found some true

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leaders , people and more than one

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person . Each people of various

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communities were willing to cross

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community bounds , ethnic and sectarian

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bounds and work together .

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The PRT donated

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$225,000 purchase new farming

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equipment For the three farming

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associations in the product . There are

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already local investors who encouraged

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by our investments , are putting up

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their money more than matching the

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amount of investment that we've given

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and that's the kind of cooperation that

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we're really looking for . These

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farmers weren't sheepish about showing

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off their new tractors which are

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already being put to good use . Mr

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Hanky says the equipment will not only

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help improve farming for Iraqis today ,

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but for the future farmers to come

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recording for the 1 15 lower public

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affairs attachment and specialists

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Elizabeth Conley . In the fall of 2000

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and three , first armored Division

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commanders turned a former Republican

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Guard officers Club into an oasis in

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the middle of Baghdad for american

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troops . Freedom rest was and still is

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a place for soldiers to go for a much

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needed break from the stresses of

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combat Air Force . Sergeant lee

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Bollinger tells us that for the past

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five years , freedom Rest in the

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international Zone has been the only

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facility of its kind in all of Iraq .

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But that's changing with the opening of

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Freedom Rest North . Brand spanking new

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everything from the furniture to the

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games to the computers . All this

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newness is for the army's second are in

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our facility to open up in Iraq .

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Freedom Rest North located the Cob

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Speicher . So soon it will be filled

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with soldiers on a four day passes .

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This on our site is very important for

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our soldiers , whether they're serving

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on a 12 months or 15 months or everyone

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deserves a break and this facility will

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give those soldiers that break to come

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in here for a few days . Sit down

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unwind relax for nearly five years .

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The only other are in our facility was

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located down in Baghdad . But that all

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changed . With this huge building

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became available . It was the perfect

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sight for Freedom Risk North , Everyone

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in the Volunteers . The extra time off

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through the hours and hard work to make

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this facility what it is today . And

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with the sniff of some giant scissors ,

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the dream became a reality . What's up

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to the visiting soldiers to give the

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place a lived in look , you will see

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the furniture , you have some wear and

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tear . But again , that means that the

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soldiers are coming in and having the

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opportunity to use the facility and

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things are easily replaced . But as

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long as it's being used as well worth

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the effort . So the brand new look of

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the place will begin to fade as the

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soldiers start visiting this new oasis

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in the Iraqi desert Air Force Sergeant

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Lee Bellenger Cob Speicher , Iraqi

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soldiers can spend a total of four days

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that Freedom rest facilities during

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their R and R . Either at the original

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one in Baghdad or the new one at Cob

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Speicher . Next time on Freedom Journal

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of Rock , we'll show you how the Iraqi

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Air Force takes on a challenging

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mission And that wraps up this edition

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of Freedom Journal Iraq . Be sure to

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log on to Mnf dash Iraq dot com where

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you can learn all about the progress

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coalition forces are making throughout

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the country . If you have story ideas ,

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we'd love to hear them . 50 email us at

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Fj I at a rock dot com dot mil from all

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of us here at A F N . And Freedom

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Journal Iraq . Thanks for watching .

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And we'll see you next time