Yusufiyah

Yusufiyah (also transliterated as Yusafiyah, Youssifiyah or Yusifiyah, occasionally prefixed with Al-) is a regional township in the country of Iraq, located in Baghdad Province, approximately 25 km southwest of the capital, Baghdad. It is approximately 21 km east of Fallujah, 10 kilometers west of the large city of Mahmudiyah, and 15 kilometers northwest of the town of Latifiyah. Together, Yusufiyah, Mahmudiyah, and Latifiyah form an area known as the "Triangle of Death" due to the high numbers of IEDs, sniper, and mortar/rocket attacks.

Yusufiyah is similar in name to the area known as Sadr al Yusufiyah, which is a larger, more urban area near a Russian thermal power plant, approximately 25 kilometers west-northwest of the town of Yusufiyah. A major canal, known as the Yusufiyah canal, runs from Sadr al Yusufiyah in the west, through Yusufiyah, and south to Latifiyah.

Yusufiyah is an area of interest to Sunni insurgents because it is along the route of travel between North Babylon and Al Anbar Province, with its control allowing the free movement of Sunni insurgent forces south of Baghdad.

It is hard to track events in Yusufiyah in the news, as the press often just refers to "Baghdad," "Southwest Baghdad," "Mahmudiyah" (a small nearby city), and so on. Army press releases are often just as vague on location.

Architecture

The town of Yusufiyah has around one hundred buildings, with less than ten buildings that are over five stories tall. There are at least three mosques within Yusufiyah itself, and at least one in each nearby village. The vast majority of buildings in Yusufiyah are one or two story brick and cement structures with shops on the first floor and apartments on the second or third floors.

Demographics

The populace within the semi-urban area of Yusufiyah is predominantly Sunni, with a number of Sunni tribes (including the Sunni Qarghouli clan, near the Jurf Sukr Bridge) located in the smaller villages to the south and west. The smaller villages nearby include Mulla Fayad (approximately 2km southwest of Yusufiyah) and Rushdi Mullah (approximately 8km west of Yusufiyah). Agriculture is the main form of employment, with some retail and industrial shops within the town itself.

Events during the Iraq War (2003-present)

War Crime Incident

Yusufiyah is the site of one of the most notorious war crimes of the Iraq War, often referred to as the Mahmudiyah Killings. On March 12, 2006, in a house located to the southwest of Yusufiyah, five US soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment (101st Airborne Division) gang-raped and murdered a 14-year-old Iraqi girl named Abeer Qasim Hamza, after murdering her mother Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34; her father Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45; and her sister Hadeel Qasim Hamza, aged 5. ["US soldier admits murdering girl". BBC News (2007-02-22). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.]

The leader of the group, US Army Sergeant Paul E. Cortez, was complicit in allowing one of his Soldiers, US Army Private First Class Steven D. Green, plan and execute the crime, with the assistance of several other Soldiers, including US Army Specialist James P. Barker, Private First Class Jesse V. Spielman, and Private First Class Brian L. Howard.

On November 15, 2006, Specialist Barker pleaded guilty to rape and murder as part of a plea agreement requiring him to give evidence against the other soldiers to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to 90 years in prison, and must serve 20 years before being considered for parole. He wept during closing statements, and accepted responsibility for the rape and killings, saying the violence he had encountered in Iraq left him "angry and mean" toward Iraqis. [8]

On January 22, 2007, Sergeant Cortez pleaded guilty to rape, conspiracy to rape, and four counts of murder as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. [9] SGT Cortez was sentenced to 100 years in prison for the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family last year. He will be eligible for parole in 10 years. Cortez, 24, also was given a dishonorable discharge. Cortez wept as he apologized for the crimes, saying he could not explain why he took part.

On August 3, 2007, PFC Spielman, 23, was sentenced to 110 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. He was convicted of rape, conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts of felony murder. Spielman had earlier pleaded guilty to lesser charges of conspiracy to obstructing justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking.

PFC Howard was sentenced by a court martial under a plea agreement to dishonorable discharge and 27 months imprisonment for obstruction of justice and being an accessory after the fact. The court found that his involvement included hearing the others discussing the crime and lying to protect them, but not commission of the actual rape or murders.

PFC Green will be tried in federal court in Kentucky, with the trial scheduled to be tried beginning April 27, 2009. Green has pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of murder and sexual assault. [15]

Mahdi Army occupation

The Mehdi Army (known locally as "Jaysh Mahdi") was notably absent within Yusufiyah until October 2006, when a well-armed contingent of approximately 50 men showed up, armed with AK47 (7.62x39mm) assault rifles and PKC (7.62x54mm) machine guns. They identified themselves as members of the Mahdi Army, aligned with Muqtada Al Sadr. They have been an active presence in Yusifiyah since then.

Other Events

The Jurf Sukr Bridge, known in military shorthand as the JS Bridge, is located on the Euphrates River, approximately 15 kilometers southwest from the center of Yusufiyah. This key bridge was one of the key objectives of the 2003 invasion, as it allowed rapid ingress to Baghdad and its geographically remote location made it unlikely to be occupied by Iraqi forces.

In November 2004, The press reported that Marines in Yusufiyah were attacked by approximately 120 insurgents and killed as many as 40 of them.

On August 5th 2005, dozens of insurgents launched a coordinated assault on coalition forces in Yusufiyah. No American soldiers were killed or wounded, but official army estimates are that 6 insurgents were killed.

In April 2006, U.S. Army raids narrowly missed capturing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, but they killed several of his supporters and captured intelligence that led to his ultimate killing. Members of Task Force 121, a combined element of US Army Delta Force and other Special Operations Forces, later reported that Zarqawi was wounded in the engagement and had fled to Baquaba to seek medical treatment.

In June 2006, US Army Privates First Class Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Lowell Tucker were captured and US Army Specialist David J. Babineau was killed near the JS Bridge, allegedly in retaliation for the rape/murders of a few months prior. The Soldiers were members of the same platoon as those that perpetrated the war crime but had no knowledge or participation in the crime itself. The two captured Soldiers were eventually found near the town of Shakaria, approximately 20 kilometers northeast of where they were last seen. Their bodies had been mutilated and booby-trapped, apparently after they had been tortured and killed.

Units

Since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Yusufiyah has been continuously occupied by various US forces. Since 2004, this includes Fox Company of 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment US Marine Corps, 4th Marine Division, replaced in February 2005 by US Army Alpha Company, 1-41 Infantry (attached to 2-70 Armor, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division), replaced in June 2005 by C Company, 1-108th Armor Battalion from the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, replaced in October 2005 by Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). They were relieved by B Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment. According to information provided by icasualties.org, Coalition Forces have experienced at least 50 killed and several hundred wounded in operations in the Yusufiyah area since March 2003.

The original US patrol base in Yusufiyah was named FOB Saint Joseph, in keeping with the theme established by FOB Saint Michael in Mahmudiyah. The majority of the patrol base was within the five story school near the canal which runs east-west along the northern edge of the built-up portion of the town; the roof offered a bird's eye view of most of the local checkpoints, and the Russian Thermal Power Plant was visible to the west on clear days.

In June 2005, FOB Saint Joseph was closed down and US and Iraqi Security Forces moved to a collocated FOB on the edge of town, known as the "Potato Factory" or "Camp Richardson" which was named in honor of A/1-41's Corporal Dean Richardson who died in a firefight in the vicinity of Yusufiyah on 4/03/2005. On February 5th, 2006, a massive fire (caused by faulty wiring in an air conditioner) caused the "Camp Richardson" side of the FOB to burn to the ground, resulting in a massive loss of equipment and infrastructure for US forces. US forces were forced to move into tentage or co-locate in rooms with Iraqi Army soldiers inside the remaining building of potato factory complex. The complex is now known simply as "Patrol Base Yusufiyah" or "FOB Yusufiyah".

FOB Yusufiyah is home to 4th Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Division Iraqi Army. They are a light motorized infantry battalion with approximately 600 Soldiers, commanded by two Lieutenant Colonels. 4/4/6 IA is known to be composed of Shiite Muslims, most of whom live in Babil province. This has often placed the Battalion at odds with the predominantly Sunni tribes (Carghouli, Janabi, etc.) to the southwest. American intelligence suspects that there are many active members of the Medhi Army within 4/4/6 IA, as well as members of Shia death squads and Badr corps sympathizers.

As of November 2007, Yusifiyah and its surrounding enclaves are occupied by 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (US Army). As of November 2007, 3/187th Infantry (Iron Rakkasans) currently occupy the Russian Thermal Power Plant, which is called FOB Dragon to the southwest of Yusufiyah, near the Euphrates river. This was formerly (2003 to late 2006) a terrorist stronghold, but a massive air-and-ground mission by the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, and other units of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, cleared the area and secured it as a patrol base.

ee also

* Triangle of Death (Iraq)

External links

* http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/resources_files/This_is_now_the_most_dangerous_place_in_Iraq.html
* http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-29196.html
* http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2006/06/map-of-triangle-of-death.html