North Idaho soldiers deserve kudos for doing a great job

Quietly and without a lot of fanfare, soldiers from the 116th Brigade Combat Team are going about their business.

That means offering support in a number of different ways to Iraqis working to form a new democratic system. Officials with the 116th BCT say the provinces of Kirkuk and Sulaymanniyah continue to be viewed as models for overcoming ethnic, religious and political differences. In part, that success can be attributed to the men and women serving in the U.S. military in those regions.

We all wish they were home, watching their child's baseball games soccer matches. We all wish they were around to help hide Easter eggs, turn the clocks forward, take out the garbage and help with the grocery shopping.

We all wish there was no such thing as war, violence and terrorism — they're hard concepts to explain to adults, much less children.

We can take pride, however, in the achievements realized by the soldiers from the 116th, which includes local soldiers based in armories in Post Falls and Bonners Ferry.

The unit has been training and certifying soldiers of the Iraqi Army on squad-level tasks, including vehicle and personnel searches, and other basic soldier skills. They have also trained the Iraqi Border Patrol on live fire and medical skills and conducted training with the Iraqi Police Services.

And that's just a portion of what they've accomplished.

Our thanks go out to them for doing a tough job far from their homes, and those they love.

Caroline Lobsinger is the managing editor of the Daily Bee.