Business as usual for 2nd Brigade in Iraq

In Basra, June 30 was just another day for most soldiers with Fort Carson's 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division.

The day marked the pullout of American troops from urban settings in Baghdad and other cities and the end of unilateral U.S. offensives. But Col. Butch Kievenaar, the brigade's commander, said his soldiers have been letting the Iraqis take the lead in Basra for months, with the Americans acting as trainers and occasionally backing their allies up in firefights.

"It didn't mean much of a change for our soldiers from what we have been doing," Kievenaar said of the new agreement that paves the way for American withdrawal. "It is another milestone in which we see the security forces and people of Iraq taking charge."

Kievenaar's brigade went to Iraq last fall and was first assigned to Diwahniyah, south of Baghdad, before replacing British troops in Iraq's port city of Basra, near the Kuwaiti border.

While sectarian attacks in Baghdad have been on the rise, the insurgency in Basra has faded since a 2008 offensive crushed a Shiite uprising there.

Kievenaar said the enemies who remain in Basra are more like a mafia than Al Qaida, more interested in lining their pockets through crime than pushing any political agenda.

The Iraqis have been keeping insurgents in check in Basra, and attacks against American forces are measured in incidents per month rather than incidents per day.

"They have been pretty effective in picking up those who threaten the security here," Kievenaar said. "The pace of Iraqi operations has kept the enemy on its heels."

The brigade has a 900-soldier battalion augmenting other Americans in the northern city of Mosul. That city has been far more violent than the placid south, with multiple attacks targeting Americans daily.

There, the June 30 deadline marked a radical change in the daily lives of soldiers, Kievenaar said.

The security agreement reached last November forbids U.S. troops from engaging in unilateral offensive operations and mandates that they leave urban areas unless requested to assist the Iraqis. It also turns over U.S. bases to Iraqi control, sets trade agreements and mandates a timetable for full U.S. withdrawal.

Rather than fighting in Mosul as they have for months, Kievenaar's soldiers are patrolling the city's outskirts as Iraqis work to quell the insurgency in its narrow streets and crowded markets.

"There's plenty of work to be done up there in the areas outside the city," Kievenaar said.

Part of the 2nd Brigade's work involves more moving. Soldiers are consolidating their bases in southern Iraq in anticipation of the draw down of American forces.

Its soldiers also are working to wrap up a host of civic improvement projects including improving water supplies in Basra.

"We've got to get ready for the unit coming in behind us," Kievenaar said.

The 3,800-soldier brigade is scheduled to return to Fort Carson in two months.