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When President Donald Trump signed an executive order that imposed a temporary ban on travelers entering the U.S. from Iraq and six other predominantly Muslim nations, the move reminded Alex Almanza of another presidents fateful decision.

In 2008, five years into the Iraq War, President George W. Bush declared U.S. forces would withdraw from the country by the end of 2011. The news came during Almanzas second tour in Iraq with the Army and elicited a bemused reaction from Iraqi soldiers.

I remember them feeling a sense of betrayal, said Almanza, 48, who retired from the military in 2013 and lives in Edinburg. You could see it in their eyes: Everything weve been doing is for nothing.

Military veterans in South Texas who trained Iraqi troops warned of similar and potentially lasting effects from Trumps actions, even after a federal judges ruling last week suspended the travel order. (An appeals court heard arguments Tuesday and will decide whether to keep or lift the injunction.)

Those who served in Iraq contend the ban and the presidents anti-Islamic rhetoric could erode the resolve of Iraqi troops, deter civilians from cooperating with government forces and supply fresh recruiting fodder for terror groups.

Almanza, who first deployed to Iraq in 2003, recalled the early efforts of U.S. troops to build up the countrys military during the eight-year war. The Americans taught Iraqi soldiers how to fire artillery, set up checkpoints and conduct raids, and the daily interaction forged a kinship born of common purpose.

The Iraqis who fought beside us were just as important to me as my guys, he said. They were willing to die right beside us. Thats the kind of commitment that can only come from hope. But if were now telling them that theyre not welcome in our country, it gives them more reason to doubt our commitment. It will dampen their hope.

Messing with their trust

The U.S. military has 5,000 troops in Iraq to assist the countrys armed forces fighting Islamic State, or ISIS, with most acting as advisers.

Cesar Gutierrez, a Marine veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, asserted that Trump has disregarded the sacrifices of Iraqi soldiers, interpreters and civilian personnel and the hazards they continue to face working with U.S. troops.

They chose to fight alongside us to defeat the enemy, said Gutierrez, 31, who lives in San Antonio. They were very nervous about patrols not because they werent willing to fight, but because they were alongside Americans. That alone put a price on their heads.

Training Iraqi forces required Americans to confront cultural and language barriers. Discussions with soldiers and local civilian leaders gave Gutierrez an understanding of the country and its people, and he criticized Trumps travel order as rooted in ignorance.

You have to earn their trust and respect. Once you do, theyre with you all the way, he said. But what the ban does is label all Iraqis as the same. Were now messing with their trust with an entire nations trust, a nation that weve fought for for many years and thats going to undo a lot of what weve been trying to accomplish.

A desire to bridge the divide between Americans and Iraqis motivated Ibrahim Eesa, a native of Baghdad, to serve as an interpreter for U.S. troops from 2007 to 2009. He received refugee status a year later and arrived in San Antonio, where he now works as a medical support assistant at the Audie Murphy Veterans Affairs Hospital and belongs to the Texas National Guard.

I wanted to educate Americans about the Iraqi people, and I wanted to explain to Iraqis what the soldiers were doing so they would know what was happening in their neighborhoods, said Eesa, 29, who became a U.S. citizen four years ago. I wanted to be that connection.

Given that he risked his life on behalf of Americans in Iraq, Eesa finds Trumps harsh attitude toward Muslims at once insulting and frustrating.

I feel betrayed. Not by the American people; by the new president, he said. Muslims are tired of being labeled terrorists. We want the same things as everyone else: a safe life, jobs, a good economy.

Makes us go backward

The U.S. military invoked a Vietnam-era mantra of winning hearts and minds in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mike Allen served two tours in Iraq during a 20-year Army career, and he insisted that the perils of the mission remain unchanged under Trump.

Theres no way to make the job any more difficult, said Allen, 44, the coordinator of the Crossroads Area Veterans Center in Victoria. Terrorists are driven by ideology, not some silly policy the U.S. puts in place.

But Eddie Rodriguez, who deployed to Iraq with the Marines in 2007 as part of the troop surge that reversed the gains of insurgent groups, faulted Trump for further endangering American forces in combat zones.

Its easy for politicians to do this kind of thing because theyre not the ones who are shaking hands with the people who live in these countries, said Rodriguez, 30, a social worker and veterans advocate in San Antonio. The troops have to do that. What hes doing is contradicting everything weve been trying to do, and it feeds into the propaganda of radical terrorist groups.

Trumps blunt statements about Islam, as much as his executive order, stoke a perception of Americans as hostile toward Muslims. Navy veteran Jeff Hensley, who deployed to Iraq in 2006 as part of a civil affairs team, predicted the presidents tone will dissuade civilians there from aiding U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The biggest effect may be on the ordinary people who have been watching the war for years, said Hensley, 53, who runs an equine therapy program for veterans in Wylie. They may not become jihadists. But theyre definitely not going to trust us or work with us.

In addition to Iraq, Trumps executive order named Syria, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, a former undercover CIA officer assigned to the Middle East and South Asia, pointed out that American forces need the support of local populations to combat radical Islamist groups.

Trumps order makes us go backward, and it erodes trust, said Hurd, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. And you need trust in your friends and allies, especially against a threat like Islamic terrorism.

Postings on pro-ISIS social media accounts in the wake of Trumps order called it a blessed ban and suggested it would bolster the groups recruiting. Paul Miller, associate director of the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin, noted the fallout could complicate U.S. intelligence gathering in the seven countries.

Virtually anything the U.S. does is twisted for jihadist propaganda, said Miller, a former Army and CIA intelligence analyst. In this case, the Trump administration made the jihadists job a little easier by announcing a poorly written and hastily developed policy with obvious and glaring flaws and rolling it out in an especially hack-handed way.

During his two tours, Almanza recalled, Iraqi troops withstood pressure from insurgent groups to shed their uniforms. He expects the coercion to intensify even if the travel ban remains suspended.

The soldiers we worked with got recruited by terrorist groups, but they did not turn, partly because they trusted us, he said. But now, al-Qaida and ISIS and other groups will come after them harder than ever. And if they go to the other side, then in a sense well have been training ISIS fighters.

mkuz@express-news.net

Twitter: @MartinKuz

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Iraq War veterans see Trump's travel ban as harmful to US, Iraqi troops - mySanAntonio.com

HABBANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi soldiers have discovered two shallow graves containing the bodies of people executed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the western desert town of Rutba, officials said Thursday.

"The Iraqi army found two mass graves in Rutba containing the bodies of members of the security forces and of civilians," a captain in the army's 1st division told AFP.

He said the first indications suggested the victims had been executed by ISIS when the jihadist group took control of the town in mid-2014.

Rutba, a small town of significant strategic value, lies on the road to Jordan, about 390 kilometres west of Baghdad.

The mayor of the town, which was retaken from ISIS in May last year, said one grave was found on a plot in a central neighbourhood that had been used to dump hospital waste while the other was located on Rutba's southern edge.

"The bodies we have seen have bullet impacts... We don't know the exact number of bodies because we are leaving this work to a forensic team but we expect there are about 25," Imad Meshaal said.

Rutba is very isolated in the desert of Anbar, a vast western province that has long been a Sunni insurgent stronghold and has borders with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria.

ISIS militants have attacked the town several times since the security forces retook control of it.

Dozens of mass graves have been found across areas of Iraq that ISIS seized in 2014 and have since been retaken by the security forces.

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Mass graves found in western Iraq: Officials - The Straits Times

A couple in El Cajon who met and fell in love while fighting the war in Iraq now fear that the President's travel ban may keep their families apart.

Amanda Matti was working as a U.S. Navy Intelligence Analyst and her husband was working as an Iraqi Interpreter, when the two met in Baghdad in 2005. Nowher husbands family fears the proposed travel ban will keep them separated from loved ones still in the Middle East.

It was love at first sight for both of us, it was pretty amazing, Amanda Matti told NBC 7.

Matti had been in Iraq for only three days and needed an interpreter to help with her work. She said she knew things would never be the same after meeting this man.

For months the pair worked side by side and spent several weeks on the front lines in Iraq near the Syrian border.

His work was dangerous, serving alongside members of the Marine Corps and Army in battles, including the first Battle of Fallujah and in Ramadi, said Matti. He was injured in combat several times, and there were many close calls.

"He was shot in the chest, luckily he was wearing body armor," said Matti.

Interpreters in Iraq also lived under the constant threat of being captured by insurgents.

"They were being systematically targeted -- they were being kidnapped and executed and dumped in street alleys. They were considered traitors to their country," said Matti.

The people of Iraq lived in chaotic fear at that time.

"They've had to sleep you know with AK-47s, and they've watched as their neighbors -- for years and years were good friends with -- suddenly turn on them," Matti told NBC 7.

The U.S. military was quick to question the couple's relationship, which was confusing for Matti because some of the men she worked with in the Navy had relationships with foreign women without any scrutiny.

Their affair resulted in a nine month investigation that kept the pair separated. At one point investigators even looked into whether Matti could be a possible spy, she said.

Matti eventually left the Navy. She said it was all because she fell in love with an Iraqi man.

She returned to the U.S., eventually followed by the Iraqi translator who is now her husband. It took two years of undergoing an extensive vetting process before her husband was able to immigrate to the U.S., where the two married and have two daughters together.

Some of his close family members were also eventually able to immigrate as refugees, but not all.

"A lot of these refugees are simply trying to find a safe haven so they don't have to worry about their children being annihilated by bombs," Matti told NBC 7.

Matti understands the fear of terrorism, but says the country needs to strike a delicate balance between security and liberty.

"The Iraqis and the service members who have served in Iraq have come face-to-face with it," said Matti of terrorism.

Although some people in the community where she lives in El Cajon support the proposed travel ban, she does not.

"It's giving people a false sense of security," said Matti.

"We keep limiting our own liberty here to achieve a sense of safety and there's got to be a balance."

Published at 8:58 PM PST on Feb 8, 2017 | Updated 55 minutes ago

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Couple Brought Together in Iraq Fear Travel Ban Will Keep Families Apart - NBC 7 San Diego

Iraq has been blighted by ongoing conflict since the early 2000s, however the rise of the Islamic State in the northwest of the country in 2014 has caused considerable chaos and loss of life. Since the group gained territory across large swathes of Iraq, more than 3 million people have become internally displaced (IDPs), or have fled to border countries such as Turkey and Jordan as refugees. Almost half of those fleeing have taken refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, including thousands of ethnic Kurds, Yazidis and Syrians escaping the Syrian civil war. The conflict has significantly weakened the health infrastructure in the country, and over 35% of Iraqi doctors have fled the country.

In 2014, Doctors of the World launched operations in Iraqi Kurdistan to provide access to healthcare for displaced people fleeing the Islamic State. Our teams work alongside the Iraqi government to provide medical and psychological assistance to refugees and IDP populations, such as those living in Chamisku camp on the border with Turkey.

We we run mobile health clinic projects in the newly liberated areas around Sinjar, such as Borek village and our teams are also active in the southern governorate of Kirkuk, where we operate 4 mobile clinics. In 2016 we expanded our operations in light of the battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, which resulted in the forced movement of thousands of people trying to escape the fighting between the Iraqi government and IS. We currently operate in once-small towns such as Kalata Farhahn, 12 miles from Mosul, where many have taken refuge.

Several of the displaced Iraqis fled to Chamisku refugee camp the largest IDP camp in northern Iraq. For the 26,000 residents of the camp, access to healthcare is extremely limited. Doctors of the World provides primary medical care, sexual and reproductive healthcare, psychosocial support and nutritional screening to identify cases of malnutrition in babies and children.

We provide 250 consultations a day in Chamisku camp, and many of our team are themselves refugees who live in Chamisku. Ghazwa Breassam, a mother of 2 children who fled Mosul with her family, provides consultations. About one in ten women who come to visit us are pregnant and there are often complications with the pregnancies. Many have undergone tremendous stress due to trauma. Even though they are safe here, its difficult to carry a child and give birth in this environment. We provide advice on family planning and a lot of emotional support, says Ghazwa.

Many of the people we treat have experienced significant trauma, and as a result require critical psychosocial support to help them cope. Most of our patients have witnessed shocking human rights abuses, such as acts of torture, executions and enslavement. In addition to providing individual counseling, our teams also provide group counseling sessions and psychosocial activities for children affected by the violence. We also conduct trainings for local medical and paramedical staff.

One of our psychologists working in Chamisku, Hairan Khalifa, fled with her Yazidi family to escape the Islamic State. Two of her cousins were killed, and the fate of her grandmother is still unknown. She currently lives in two neighboring tents with nine family members: her mother, her four sisters, her brother, his wife and her two nephews. Hairan believes that in her line of work, The most essential thing is to listen to people. I often see patients three or four times and their story is usually similar to mine. I do not prescribe medication, but I try to give advice to reduce stress. I try to be positive, to say the right thing and to bring some comfort. If their condition worsens, then they see a doctor and sometimes go to the hospital.

While the fighting in Mosul rages on, it is likely that more people will flee. Hairan tries not to dwell on the fate of her family too much. I hope one day we can leave this country, we have no future here. But for now, she concentrates on her work in Chamisku helping those fleeing the Islamic State to put the horrors of war behind them.

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Iraq: 12 Miles From the Front Line - ReliefWeb

A Belgian militant had a medical note saying he had back pain and would not join the battle. A fighter from France claimed he wanted to leave Iraq to carry out a suicide attack at home. Several requested transfers to Syria. Others just simply refused to fight.

The documents on 14 problem fighters from the Tariq Bin Ziyad battalion made up largely of foreigners were found by Iraqi forces after they took over an Isis base in a neighbourhood of Mosul last month.

At its peak, Isis drew thousands of recruits each month and controlled about a third of Iraqs territory, and the foreigners who poured in from dozens of countries have been characterised as the most die-hard fighters. But the group has steadily lost ground and appeal.

The militants are now besieged in the western half of Mosul, once the biggest city Isis controlled and the heart of its self-proclaimed caliphate. But the groups losses have triggered concerns in Europe that disillusioned fighters might find their way home.

He doesnt want to fight, wants to return to France, said the notes on a 24-year-old listed as a French resident of Algerian descent. Claims his will is a martyrdom operation in France. Claims sick but doesnt have a medical report.

He was one of five fighters in the file listed as having French residency, or as originally from France.

More citizens from France have joined Isis than from any other country in Europe since 2011, when Syria's popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad turned violent and fuelled the rise of extremist groups.

A member of the Iraqi security forces removes a banner bearing the logo of Isis in eastern Mosul last month (Getty)

The French government reported a sharp decrease in the number of its citizens travelling to Syria and Iraq to join the group in the first half of 2016 but said that nearly 700 still remain there, including 275 women and 17 minors.

The forms in the file are marked with the year 2015 but appear to have been filled out later as they specify the dates that some of the militants joined, which stretch into 2016.

In addition to each militants name, country of origin, country of residency, date of birth, blood type and weapons specialties, the documents list the number of wives, children and slave girls each had. A photo is also included. It was not possibly to verify the personal information, but Iraqi officers who found the file said they believe it is genuine.

Two men from Kosovo refused to fight and asked to move to Syria. One said he had head pain.

Of the more than 4,000 foreign fighters who have left European Union nations for Iraq and Syria, around a third have returned, according to a report from The Hague-based International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. About 14 per cent have been confirmed dead, while the rest remain overseas or their whereabouts are unknown.

Air strikes destroy Isis drone base in Mosul

People say that they are the most motivated, but there are plenty of foreign fighters that went and found that the Isis experience wasnt what they thought it would be; they thought it would be a great adventure, said Aymenn al-Timimi, an analyst specialising in militant groups who has compiled an online database of Isis documents, some of which indicate similar issues of morale.

The organisation keeps meticulous records, leaving clues to its inner workings as the fighters are ejected from territory.

Iraqi counter-terrorism forces discovered the documents in a house in Mosuls Al Andalus neighbourhood that was being used as an administrative base for the Tariq Bin Ziyad battalion.

The militants were seen removing documents and computers from the building, according to neighbours, before they set fire to the building as Iraqi forces retook the area, said Lt-Col Muhanad al-Tamimi, whose unit found the documents unscathed in a desk drawer.

Those foreign fighters are the most furious fighters we ever fought against, he said. When those fighters refuse to fight it means that theyve realised this organisation is fake Islam and not the one they came for.

This Washington Post illustration shows an English translation of the Isis file

Iraqi troops faced a barrage of suicide car bombs and fierce resistance during the first month of their operations to retake Mosul last year. However, after pausing to reorganise, the forces have made rapid progress on the eastern side of the city this year.

Late last month, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his forces had recaptured all neighbourhoods of Mosul east of the Tigris river and that Isis militants had collapsed quickly.

Edwin Bakker, a research fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism and a professor of counter-terrorism at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said that fighters from Western European countries are largely known to intelligence agencies, but that there is less information on those from countries such as Bosnia and Kosovo.

With open borders in Europe, these fighters might return home and stage attacks on the continent, he said. But warnings of a tsunami of returning foreign fighters are exaggerated, he said.

We shouldnt underestimate the numbers that have gone to live there and die there, he added.

Another 30-year-old French national in the file is noted as having been involved in the departure of Abu Azzam al-Fransi and his wife from the land of the caliphate. Fransi indicates that the fighter he helped leave was also from France.

Lt-GenAbdul Ghani al-Assadi, commander of Iraqs counter-terrorism forces, said there are many foreign fighters in Mosul, and that foreign suicide bombers have been responsible for many of the 350 car bombs launched toward their lines.

In one Isis headquarters in the Dhubat neighbourhood of Mosul, his forces found a stash of passports 16 Russian and four French. There were also 20 blank Iraqi passports taken from Mosuls passport department, he said, speculating that the militants are forging them to be able to leave the country.

Despite the recent rapid advances in eastern Mosul, Iraqi generals still expect a bloody fight ahead. The western side of the city, home to 750,000 civilians, is surrounded by Iraqi forces and the Isis members still there will have little choice but to fight or die.

There are still a lot of people that are motivated, Bakker said. The majority is there to fight.

TheWashington Post

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Isis file reveals 'problem' foreign fighters are refusing to fight in Iraq ... - The Independent