A chance for small time insurgents to surrender

” We are seeing many insurgents come forward to reconcile and promise their support to the central govenrment,” said Maj. Gen. Hertling, commander of Multinational division North in Iraq. Hertling referred to a new week long cease fire by the provincial government of Diyala to give insurgents a chance to turn themselves in, as a “tactical pause.” Hertling said that this was a chance to give those who were “gang members’ or “just along for the money” a chance to turn themselves in. Hertling said that these less hardcore insurgents are seeing “the power of the vote overcoming the power of the gun.”

Hertling is the commander of northern Iraqi provinces where about 80 Georgian infantry soldiers have been serving These soldiers are now being centralized with the rest of the Georgian brigade serving in Iraq so that they can be redeployed back to T’blisi to support Georgian defense efforts in the conflict with Russia. In a past assignment Hertling served in Europe training Georgian soldiers. Hertling said that while the Georgians were able soldiers the coalition is able to adjust top their absence because there were so few of them.

Hertling also announced the attempt his area is making to reduce the number of “sons of Iraq” who are on the U.S. payroll. He said that they are working to place neighborhood security volunteers in Iraqi army or police unites as well as train them to take other jobs in the private sector. The process is taking time, Hertling said because job opportunities in northern Iraq are not readily available.