MORE NEWS FROM IRAQ

In this Houston Chronicle story

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/3626714.html
Jan. 31, 2006, 8:14PMOn a 'great day,' U.S. hands over part of Iraq's Green Zone
Shiite protests about a Sunni commander had delayed transfer by a month.

This is some pretty big news when you get right down to it. The Green Zone is the fortified center of the city. It’s where all the high paid reporters sit rather than go out into the country to get their stories. For some reason, the best news is saved for the Last paragraph:

The dispute about Taha, now nearly resolved, came as ever greater swaths of the country are being handed over to the Iraqi government by a U.S. military still intent on retaining influence of strategically vital regions, even as it prepares to draw down forces.
More than half of Baghdad is now under the control of Iraqi troops, said Col. Michael Beech, commander of the 4th Infantry Division's Baghdad-based 4th Brigade Combat Team.

More territory is handed over elsewhere as well. See the map to get an idea where it is. A few months ago, the Mosul was a “hotbed” of insurgent activity.

Iraqis Take Control South of Mosul; Operations Net Weapons, SuspectsAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2006 – An Iraqi unit has taken control of an operational area, and Iraqi and coalition forces have seized more weapons and detained terrorism suspects, military officials in Baghdad reported.
The 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, took control of its own battle space south of Mosul in a Jan. 28 ceremony. The unit's commander, Iraqi Brig. Gen. Ali Mullah, accepted responsibility from a unit from the U.S. 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
The unit's area, about 150 square kilometers, is west of the Tigris River east of the Mosul-Baghdad highway and between the villages of Aitha in the south and Munirah in the north. The battalion grew out of an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps company and now has more than 800 trained and ready soldiers.
"The terrorists are taking their last breaths and the end is near. ... There is no place for them (to hide)," Ali said. "My soldiers and I will ensure that security and stability are maintained."
The unit was certified ready to assume the frontline in the counter-insurgency fight after conducting more than two dozen major, battalion-level missions. Thirteen of the unit's soldiers have been killed in action.
In other news:
Iraqi soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition forces discovered three weapons caches near Ramadi yesterday. The caches included high-explosive and white phosphorous rounds, mortar tubes and rounds, a rocket, sticks of explosive, a radio base station with batteries, a timed fuse and a detonation cord.
Iraqi police and coalition troops found a cache of mortar rounds with fuses, wires, timers and radios southeast of Baqubah yesterday.
Iraqi soldiers, joined by members of the U.S. Army's 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, planned and conducted several raids yesterday to capture terrorists behind mortar and rocket attacks on coalition bases. Three targeted terrorists and 15 other suspected enemy fighters were detained. The units also seized a weapon, several hundred rounds of ammunition, and a roadside bomb triggering device.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq news releases.) http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2006/20060131_4057.html