I hope that everyone had a great New Year’s Eve and didn’t drink too much. May this year bless you in all you undertake.

Before going into my IED Roll-Up, here is a look at some of the equipment delivered to Iraqi Security Forces in 2005

Assault rifles………………………………………………………………………………….. 95,313
Machine guns………………………………………………………………………………… 4,473
Body armor……………………………………………………………………………………. 94,465
Pick-ups (LUV) ……………………………………………………………………………… 3,060
Sedans ………………………………………………………………………………………… 521
Batons …………………………………………………………………………………………. 83,240
Handcuffs …………………………………………………………………………………….. 105,578

Okay, this one is a little late, but here’s the last IED Roll-Up of 2005 (even though it’s already 2006). For those new to the site, this is where I take all the caches and weapons discovered by coalition and Iraqi Forces that would have been used as IEDs, killing innocent civilians and soldiers. This is a story of success:

December 16 – A concerned citizen in Tissa Nissan led a group of Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 64th Armor to a large mortar cache. The cache was buried and consisted of seven 60-millimeter mortar rounds. The Soldiers investigated the site and discovered another cache in the vicinity, where they found another 19 60-millimeter mortar rounds. An explosive ordnance disposal team was called to the site and the ammunition was destroyed.

December 17 – Local residents caught and detained two men apparently digging around a weapons cache of 12 mortar rounds. The citizens reported the incident to local authorities. They turned the men over to Iraqi Army and Coalition forces responding to the scene. The suspects are being held in a detention facility pending further investigation.

December 17 – Iraqi Army troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force found and cleared two weapons caches. The first cache was found northwest of Husaybah and held six 40 mm rounds, three AK-47s, a single H&K assault rifle and assorted small arms ammunition. The second cache of 50 82 mm fuses was found in a water tank northeast of town. The ordnance was collected for later destruction.

December 20 – Troops from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division found and cleared a cache of nearly 100 57 mm rounds. The site was secured for later destruction.

December 21 – The Iraqi 3rd Public Order Brigade discovered an improvised rocket launcher in east Baghdad. “Although not particularly effective against Coalition forces, rocket launchers have been known to cause great damage to civilian vehicles,â€? said U.S. Army Maj. Paul Reese, operations officer, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. “This discovery shows the professionalism of the Iraqi Security Forces and probably saved some innocent civilian’s life today,â€? he said. A search is ongoing to capture the owners of the improvised rocket launcher.

December 21 – Troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force discovered a cache near a vehicle control point they were manning north of Karabilah. The cache consisted of two 122 mm artillery rounds, one 100 mm artillery round, nine 57 mm rockets, two rocketpropelled grenades and one 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. An explosive ordnance team destroyed the munitions in place. The machine gun was handed over to the authorities.

December 21 – A local citizen tipped Coalition forces off about a home in east Baghdad being used as a factory to make improvised rocket launchers. Soldiers raided the home and discovered 15 rocket launchers in the process of being built and one complete 57 mm rocket ready to be fired. No one was present in the home at the time of the raid.

“It is encouraging that the Iraqi citizens are continuing to choose the side of the new government over the terrorists,� said U.S. Army Col. Joseph DiSalvo, commander of Coalition forces in east Baghdad. “The Iraqi citizens know that providing information against the terrorists to Coalition or Iraqi Security Forces will help to improve the security situation in their neighborhoods.�

All equipment in the home was seized and will be used as evidence against the homeowners when they are caught. Iraqi Security Forces are continuing the search.

December 22 – Troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division discovered a weapons cache while on a patrol along the north shore of the Euphrates River north of Ar Ramadi. A mortar tube and base plate as well as an outboard motor were discovered by the patrol. A further search yielded a cache of seven 60 mm mortar rounds. When an explosive ordinance team was called to destroy the cache, the team discovered an improvised explosive device 200 meters from the cache. The cache and IED were safely destroyed with no injuries or damages reported.

December 22 – Iraqi Army troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force discovered a weapons cache north of Karabilah. The cache consisted of 12 anti-tank mines, two 82 mm mortar rounds and one 120 mm mortar round. The cache was destroyed in place by an explosive ordinance detail.

December 22 – Troops from the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force detained two men north of Al Khalidiyah. While manning a vehicle check point, the troops stopped the men’s vehicle and discovered two 82 mm mortar tubes in the back of the truck. The tubes were seized and the suspects were detained pending further investigation by authorities.

December 22 – Members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force discovered a weapons cache just north of Karabilah. The cache consisted of two 130 mm artillery rounds, one 82 mm mortar round, three rocket-propelled grenade boosters, two anti-tank mines and two 120 mm mortar rounds. An explosive ordinance detail destroyed the cache in place.