European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 stars and stripes sunday March 18 2007 a bigger surge 2600 gis to go to Iraq Early by Jeff Schogol stars and stripes Arlington a about 2600 sol Diers with the 3rd infantry divisions combat aviation brigade will deploy Early As part of the Iraq surge a senior defense official said Friday based in fort Stewart a the unit originally was supposed to deploy in june but defense Secretary Robert Gates on thursday approved a request to Send the unit downrange 45 Days Early the official said the aviation brigade has a mix of Heli copters including Black Hawks and Chi nooks to support the five brigade combat teams expected to arrive by May in Iraq As part of the temporary troop increase the official said right now there Are three combat aviation brigades in Iraq the soldiers in the brigade would come in addition to the roughly 2200 military police and supporting elements that the us commander in Iraq has requested for Detainee operations and the 2400 sup port troops included in the surge bring ing the total troop increase to about 28700 the official said originally the plan estimated adding about 21500 troops to Iraq defense officials told the associated press that Gen David Petraeus the new us commander in Iraq wanted the buildup to move As quickly As possible this was requested Over a month ago As part of the surge col Steven Boylan Public affairs officer for Petraeus told the news service these Are what we Call the enablers army spokesman Paul Boyce would not confirm if the aviation brigade is head ing to Iraq earlier than expected saying it would be inappropriate to speculate on troop deployments until All soldiers and families had been informed soldiers and their families deserve to be told first Boyce said the process of notifying troops and their families about upcoming deploy ments does not always work smoothly in november the defense department announced the 173rd airborne brigade combat team based in Vicenza Italy would be heading to Iraq As part of the 20072009 unit was later or dered to Afghanistan instead but initial news of the deployment caught the units soldiers and their families by Surprise at the time Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said deployments Are supposed to be made Public Only after units have been told i wish that was perfect and every individual would know before it was made Public and i dont know in this particular Case at what level in the Chain of com Mand that might have knowledge of this he said currently about 142000 us troops Are stationed in Iraq email Jeff Schogol at British Coroner Calls Friendly fire incident criminal by Thomas Wagner the associated press London a Coroner ruled on Friday that a us Friendly fire at tack that killed a British Soldier four years ago during the Iraq War was unlawful criminal and not an honest mistake Oxfordshire assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker concluding an inquest also criticized the us military for failing to Cooper ate with his investigation into the incident i believe that the full facts have not yet come to Light said Walker who has complained that he did not get All the evidence he needed about the us a10 tank Buster plane that killed Lance Cpl Matty Hull 25 in an at tack on his armoured vehicle con Voy four other British soldiers were wounded in the March 282003 at tack in Southern Iraq the attack on the Convoy amounted to an assault Walker said it was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it and in that respect it was Crimi Nal Walker also said i dont think this was a Case of honest mistake there is no evidence the pilots were acting in Sel defense the coroners verdict is not binding on the United states which is not subject to British Law reacting to the verdict hulls widow Susan said i feel we have been badly let Down by the americans on thursday she appealed to president Bush to release the full text of a military report on the Inci Dent she said 11 lines of the us Mili Tarys Friendly fire investigation Board report into the incident had been blacked out in a copy sup plied to the inquest the Hull family says the deleted lines relate to an interview with the ground controller codenamed Manila hotel in charge of the two a10 planes that attacked hulls Convoy staff Cpl Stuart Matthews who was serving As a British Forward air controller with coalition ground troops in the area of the at tack told Walker that Manila hotel had not Given permission to open fire on the British tanks which the pilots had mistaken for iraqi vehicles the Coroner and the British government have repeatedly criticized the us military for failing to cooperate with the inquest talk is cheap How cheap try free softback like to talk with soft Banks new White plan you can talk All you want from 1am to 9pm for that 20 hours a Day of free talking for just but its Only Between softback customers so be sure to bring your friends on Board and 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