Page 236 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

738 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

the 1st Battalion, 2d Iraqi Brigade, established a patrol base in Muhalibiya on 21 January to
interdict insurgent traffic. 63
The Brave Rifles transferred authority for western Nineveh to 1st BCT, 1st Armored
Division on 19 February 2006. The unit most responsible for Tall ‘Afar, the 2d Squadron,
lost 8 of its troopers along with another 12 Soldiers serving alongside the cavalrymen. A total
of 59 Soldiers received the Purple Heart. One Soldier was decorated with the Silver Star,
28 received the Bronze Star with V device, 72 received the Army Commendation Medals
with V devices, and 740 received the Combat Action, Combat Infantry, or Combat Medical
Badges. Thirty-eight Iraqi soldiers were killed and 15 wounded; insurgents killed 6 Tall
‘Afar policemen and wounded 24. On 4 September 2006, a year after the start of Operation
RESTORING RIGHTS, the Federal News Service noted that “all of the Iraqi Army battalions
in Tal Afar have taken the lead in security operations.” There was no standard solution by
which 2d Squadron accomplished its mission in Tall ‘Afar. Overwhelming firepower enabled
the squadron to defeat the insurgents militarily, and an especially high troop density allowed
it to secure Tall ‘Afar, gain the people’s trust, and set the stage for the city’s reconstruction.
Whether that degree of success can be replicated remains to be seen. 64

63 Ibid., 49–51.
64 Ibid., 51; U.S. Federal News Service, “IA Takes Lead Security Role in Tal Afar,” 4 September 2006; Sabrina
Tavernise, “Suicide Bomber Kills 17 in a Shiite Marketplace in Northern Iraq,” New York Times, 10 May
2006; Oppel and Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedi, “Suicide Bombers Kill at Least 23 in Iraq,” New York Times, 10
May 2006.