Sign of progress in Khadra

[unhappycamper]

Sign of progress in Khadra
By Vince Little, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, January 17, 2008

KHADRA, Iraq — U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police handed out toys to kindergarten students here Tuesday in a charitable outreach that seemed unthinkable six months ago.

“This is why I came to Iraq,” said Sgt. Erik Neal, a squad leader for 3rd Platoon, 401st Military Police Company, 716th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade.

“This is what I came here to do,” said Neal, 30, of Morgantown, W.Va.

But the area’s notorious past almost wouldn’t allow it.

The company — which deployed from Fort Hood, Texas, eight months ago — is responsible for cultivating the Khadra police station, among others. But when the unit arrived in Iraq, the locale was a magnet for mortars, rockets, grenades and small-arms fire.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51693