Salman Pak showing signs of improvement

[unhappycamper]

Sgt. Timothy Butler, a soldier from Ghost Troop, 2nd Brigade’s reconnaissance team, takes a smoke break Sunday during a patrol in the town of Nasif, just outside Combat Outpost Cahill. Once plagued by al-Qaida in Iraq violence and sectarian clashes, Salman Pak has enjoyed months of peace credited in part to a strong Sons of Iraq movement.


Salman Pak showing signs of improvement
By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, May 29, 2008

SALMAN PAK, Iraq — The judges are back, and if the soldiers of Task Force 2-6 Infantry have their way, the courthouse will be busy.

After an absence of nearly three years, Salman Pak’s three judges have returned to the bench at the city courthouse, where security conditions have improved enough that the justices have opted to come out of a self-imposed exile. The judges, one of whom was shot in the face during the tumultuous days when al-Qaida ran the streets, returned to town just three weeks ago.

"It was something that was 2½ years in the making," said Lt. Col. Michael Shrout, Task Force 2-6 commander.

Now, the objective is to establish a stronger rule of law in areas where tribal clashes and spats of vigilantism still flare and, consequently, threaten the security achievements of the past year, Shrout said.

There also are some concerns that certain members of the local "Sons of Iraq" are operating beyond their authority in a portion of 2-6’s territory south of the city limits of Salman Pak, which is southeast of Baghdad. The "Sons of Iraq" are armed civilian groups across the country funded by American forces.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55165