{"id":952,"date":"2008-12-17T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2008-12-17T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=952"},"modified":"2013-04-24T18:43:40","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T18:43:40","slug":"al-qaim-station-returned-to-civil-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/al-qaim-station-returned-to-civil-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Qa\u2019im station returned to civil use"},"content":{"rendered":"

The railway station at Al Qa\u2019im near the Syrian border has been used as a US military base, but was handed back to Iraq in October.<\/p>\n

The Daily Telegraph<\/cite> had an Iraq insurgency: Defending the railroads<\/a> on October 12 2007, describing activities on the railway in the area.<\/p>\n

\n

Warlords Turn Over Camp Al Qaim; Railroad to Open After Five Years of Closure<\/a><\/h3>\n

By Lance Cpl. Joshua Murray
\nRegimental Combat Team 5<\/p>\n

\"Major<\/a><\/p>\n

CAMP AL QA\u2019IM, Iraq \u2013 The Warlords of the Jump Platoon, Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5 arrived, Oct. 13, 2008, to a barren camp. <\/p>\n

The once bustling base, which Marines of the battalion called home for the first five months of their deployment, housed nothing more than a small guard force, stationary train cars rusting on the rails<\/strong> and empty buildings, which is just how the Marines wanted it.<\/p>\n

Major Gen. Martin Post, deputy commanding general, Multi-National Force – West, visited the camp, previously known as Al Qa\u2019im Railway Station 22<\/strong>, to return the base to Iraqi officials following more than five years of U.S. military presence. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good for me to be back at Al Qa\u2019im,\u201d said Post. \u201cNot only are we turning over here, later this year we will also be turning [over] the Haditha Dam facility. We will also be turning over Camp Fallujah to the Iraqis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The railroad here was shut down in early 2003<\/strong> and was used as a camp for coalition forces within the Al Qa\u2019im region. Despite being a necessary base for coalition forces, shutting down the railway here delayed the use of a vital means of transportation for local citizens and slowed the shipment of minerals from nearby factories. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe train station will help to transport materials from a phosphate plant, cement factory and transport passengers,\u201d<\/strong> said Insaief Jaseem Mohammed, the Iraqi Railroad chief of region at the renamed Al Qa\u2019im Railway Station 22. \u201cThis will help the factories and the passengers. The cost to transport passengers will go down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The factories, crippled temporarily by the loss of their reliable and most cost-effective means of shipment, have waited patiently for the return of their railway. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe functioning of the railroad is really being anticipated in this area,\u201d<\/strong> said Paul Schemel, liaison officer in Al Qa\u2019im with the state department\u2019s embedded Provisional Reconstruction Team. \u201cThe phosphate factory employs 4,000 people, and the cement factory employs 2,000 people. They both rely on the railroad to get their supplies and material out to the rest of the country and to get raw materials in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The turn over of the base signifies the accomplishment of one of 2nd Bn., 2nd Marines\u2019 key goals during their deployment: ensuring the self reliance of the people in the Al Qa\u2019im region. Work will continue regarding the improvement of the railway<\/strong> with the hopes of increasing resource trading and industrial prosperity in the region. <\/p>\n

\u201cBringing this railroad back onto line is going to be a key factor in the economic development of this region,\u201d<\/strong> Schemel said. \u201cUltimately it could be a key link between [Al Qa\u2019im], Syria and the Mediterranean<\/strong>, which is something we hope for long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: DVIDS News<\/a>, 2008-10-20<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The railway station at Al Qa\u2019im near the Syrian border has been used as a US military base, but was handed back to Iraq in October. The Daily Telegraph had an Iraq insurgency: Defending the railroads on October 12 2007, describing activities on the railway in the area. Warlords Turn Over Camp Al Qaim; Railroad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12,24,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2637,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/2637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/iraq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}