June 6, 2008Volume 1, Issue 5 Serving Task Force Mountain

TheMountain View

Once he and his fellow Sol-diers returned back to their home base at Kalsu, they made a trip to the Post Exchange for a pen resupply.

It was the start of “Operation Pen Mista,” he said.

“We bought every last pen and pencil in stock, which probably caused a FOB-wide pen shortage for a week but we didn’t care,” Flanagan said.

After returning from another patrol in Diyarah, Flanagan e-mailed his aunt and told her there was something she could do for the children of Diyarah.

She contacted Rev. Chuck Huffman of United Methodist Temple, in Port Arthur, Texas, and his parishioners rapidly or-ganized a school supply drive for the kids of Diyarah.

Within weeks boxes of sup-plies began arriving in support of “Operation Pen Mista.”

“I was overcome by the pas-sion these people had for helping

others,” Flanagan said. “The next step was delivering the supplies to the children.”

The supplies were loaded onto a truck and a group of Iraqi Police along with the Soldiers began handing out the supplies.

“As we began our march to the middle of town within a few feet out of the drive-way, the first two children approached us,” Flanagan said. “We waved them over and much to their surprise the IP began handing them crayons and paper.”

The word spread immediately, and Soldiers and IPs were swarmed with chil-dren the rest of the day.

Ironically, Flanagan ran into Saddam, the child who first asked him for a pen.

“This time I reached into the truck and pulled out a whole pack of pens and gave them to him,” he said.

Soldiers, IPs provide pens, smiles to local children230th MP CoMPany4th BCt, 3rd Inf. dIv.

FOB KALSU – After being asked by Family members what he or his fellow Soldiers of the 230th Military Police Company needed for their deployment, one Soldier felt the unit didn’t need anything, but local Iraqi children could use some assis-tance.

“Fortunately we are pretty blessed, living well here on FOB Kalsu, Iraq,” said Spc. Jonathan Flanagan, a native of Lumberton, Texas. “We (have) pretty much everything a Sol-dier needs to survive and we live rather comfortably consid-ering we are in a war zone.”

While at the Diyarah Iraqi Police Station, the idea for the a new project came to him when a child approached him cau-tiously, calling out: “Pen mista? Mista, mista, pen?” Flanagan recalled.

“I reached into my sleeve and pulled out a pen and thought ‘what an odd request, what does a 6-year-old want with a pen?’”

Puzzled by the question, Flanagan asked his interpreter for assistance. The interpreter told him the children needed pens, pencils and other school supplies.

“Some kids had back packs, some just carried a half-used spiral (note-book) and a pencil, some had shoes and some didn’t,” Flanagan said. “It was rather upsetting … some of the kids are so under-equipped they don’t have a fighting chance at an education.”

What started with one pen quickly es-calated.

“He told his friends that I had pens and before you knew it I was swarmed by

children chanting, ‘pen mista,’” Flanagan said. “It wasn’t long before not only was I out of pens, but my entire squad was out of pens.”

As the children learned of the pen give-away, Flanagan said soon he and fellow Soldiers were surrounded by the out-reached hands of needy children.

Courtesy PhotoA little Iraqi boy shakes hands with Spc. Jonathan Flana-gan after recieveing pens and paper from Iraqi Police and Soldiers from 230th Military Police Company in Diyarah.

“I reached into my sleeve and pulled out a pen and

thought ‘what an odd request, what does a 6-year-

old want with a pen?’”– Spc. Jonathan Flanagan

230th Military Police Company

4

The Mountain ViewPage 2 • June 6, 2008

TASK FORCE MOUNTAIN PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICECommanding General - MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL L. OATES

Command Sergeant Major - COMMAND SGT. MAJ. JAMES W. REDMORE

The Mountain View is an authorized pub-lication for members of the U.S. Army. Contents of The Mountain View are not necessarily official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or the 10th Mountain Division. All editorial content of The Mountain View is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the Task Force Mountain Public Affairs Office.

THE Mountain View

Contributing Units

2nd BCT, 3rd Infantry Division2nd BCT, 1st Armored Division3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Division (Air Assault)4th BCT, 3rd Infantry Division3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division214th Fires Brigade7th Sustainment Brigade793rd Military Police Battalion354th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Editorial StaffTF Mountain PAO — Lt. Col. Paul SwiergoszManaging Editor — Master Sgt. Doug SampleAsst. Managing Editor – Staff Sgt. Amber EmeryEditor/Design — Spc. Sophia Lopez

Media Queries please contact TF Mountain Media Relations Officer Maj. Daniel Elliott at daniel.elliott@iraq.centcom.mil

South Baghdad economy booming againSgt DaviD turner2nd BCt, 3rd Inf. dIv.

FOB KALSU– When Capt. Shawn Carbone first took a good look at the south Baghdad area economy, he found it similar to his studies of America during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“Most of the historically strong busi-nesses were gone, said Carbone, eco-nomics team leader for the Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team. “The owners had left; packed up. The businesses were shut down and there was mass unemployment across the board.”

There were many reasons for the eco-nomic troubles of Iraqis in the area which 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, took control of in June 2007. The basic lack of security forces left a gap which al-Qaeda terrorists filled, using the area as a base. Farms and businesses were damaged and violence caused many to flee – some of whom have yet to re-turn. Sectarian strife heated up following the 2005 elections, which left many in the area without a voice in government. Basic service needs, such as electricity and water, went largely unmet. Until se-curity was restored, citizens felt isolated.

Carbone saw an opportunity to help turn things around. His training in eco-nomics at Niagara University, in his hometown of Niagara, N.Y., prepared him for the task of helping the citizens of south Baghdad Province.

“It’s rewarding because it’s an experi-ment in economics,” Carbone said. “This is from the ground up. It’s much like our depression-era economics. I’ve actually sent e-mails to my professors, asking them their opinions on some of these things, and researched books on depres-sion-era economics.”

Photo by Sgt. Kevin StabinskyHussen Jowd, a butcher in Arab Jabour, serves a sandwich at his newly renovated butcher shop and food stand. Jowd received microgrants that enabled him to in-crease his stock and expand his business.

After security was established, the biggest obstacle to economic recovery, said Carbone, was the centralized nature of the economy in the past. Local indus-tries such as a chicken hatchery, a poul-try processing plant and a meat process-ing facility, for example, received inputs from and sold their goods to the Iraqi government at set prices.

“Cooperation is the biggest thing. From where I sit, these businesses are complimentary,” Carbone said. “But they never had a capitalist society, which is all about bringing down costs.”

Now the government is in a state of transition and moving toward free trade.

“Everyone is going through the change,” Carbone said. “Some of the gov-ernment systems are not yet in place, but

that’s where we’re heading.”In an effort to revive the local econo-

my, the Baghdad-7 ePRT worked in con-junction with 2nd BCT Civil Affairs, us-ing money as their main tool. Armed with U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agen-cy for International Development funds, Soldiers and civilians on the Baghdad-7 ePRT looked for projects that would ben-efit the community as a whole. Civil af-fairs Soldiers used their battalion’s bulk funds to stimulate individual small busi-nesses through a series of $2,500 mi-crogrants. Though most of the projects focused on agriculture, which dominates the local economy and employs the larg-est percentage of people, other avenues

See ECONOMY, page 3

SEND ME2

The Mountain View June 6, 2008 • Page 3

“When they start to see these places opening

with the help of Coalition forces, some

of the people have come back and opened up on

their own.”– Capt. Shawn Carbone

2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div..

were explored as well.Major Douglas Betts, commander of

Company A, 415th Civil Affairs Battalion, said Soldiers on the ground identified who could best use the grants.

“The troop commanders and compa-ny commanders are all very smart guys,” Betts said. “They know what they’re do-ing, and they know what’s best for their areas.”

Microgrants were given to businesses ranging from chicken farms to internet cafes. Most recently, a women’s beauty parlor opened up in Arab Jabour, some-thing that would have been impossible in that area until recently.

Betts said Soldiers have found other creative ways to involve women in busi-ness. One example he gave was women’s sewing cooperatives, which grew out of women’s committees looking for ways to employ themselves and raise revenue for their causes.

“Capt. [Trista] Mustaine in the ePRT did a great job with sewing co-ops. That’s a new one to me,” Betts said.

“One [co-op] that I know is basically made up of war widows,” Betts said. “These ladies want to do something for orphans and school children. They are actually making clothes and selling them. I thought that was pretty original.”

The only condition that comes at-tached to the microgrants is that busi-ness owners attend business training

and meetings of their local business as-sociations, Betts said. The formation of local business associations has been vital in helping citizens to help themselves, he said. The focus now is in getting business owners weaned off of Coalition force funding and to get them working with their own government.

Basil Razzak, a bilingual, bicultural adviser with the Baghdad-7 ePRT, said that it took some adjusting for local farmers and businessmen to get used to the new economic model.

“Up until now, it was all supervised by the government. Everybody belonged to the government,” Razzak said.

“I remember at one business associa-tion meeting, the chairman said, [to Car-bone] ‘You are our boss.’ He said, ‘I’m not your boss. I’m here to help you and support you, but it’s your organization and you can conduct your meeting as you like,’” Razzak said.

Razzak, a Canadian citizen who grew up in Baghdad and holds a degree in administration and economics from the University of Baghdad, said the capital-ist spirit is slowly but surely taking hold here.

“They are open to new ideas, Razzak said. “They realize the era of state-owned business is gone. They are willing to work and cooperate.”

Carbone said the stimulus Coalition forces provided to the local economy has already produced unexpected results. As more businesses reopen and new ones appear, local entrepreneurs have taken

From previous pageECOMOMY

Photo by Sgt. Jason StadelBruce Bailey, Baghdad-7 ePRT, administers a microgrant to a local metal fabricator in Hawr Rajab, November 14, 2007. In addition to growing his business, the fabrica-tor received an order to build an aluminum table for Hussen Jowd, an Arab Jabour butcher who also received an ePRT microgrant.

it as a sign that it’s okay to open shop again.

“When they start to see these places opening with the help of Coalition forces, some of the people have come back and opened up on their own,” Carbone said.

“That’s something we didn’t expect,” he added.

One business owner who received sig-nificant Coalition help has been encour-

aged to invest even further in his busi-ness. The owner of a meat-processing plant in Arab Jabour received a grant to get his facility running again after shut-ting down operation in 2006. Prior to that, the factory employed more than 90 people.

“Even though we gave the kupa factory a grant, the owner pitched in $200,000 of his own money. The money is out there,” Carbone said. “The biggest thing was that when the owner came back to the area and saw that the security situ-ation had changed progressively, he was more willing to re-invest and start over,” he said.

Betts sees signs that businesses have returned to stay in the area.

“I’ve noticed it in the short time that I’ve been here,” Betts said. “When we first went out, there were some shops, but there weren’t that many. But I’ve noticed in the past several months, in Sayafiyah especially, a lot more of those businesses. They look better and they’re repainted. People are repairing their shops and re-stocking supplies.”

Betts said the greatest benefit of the renewed prosperity was a population that was employed and able to meet their needs.

“That’s the key to security. People that are able to take care of themselves and their families are not out there planting bombs and killing people for money,” Betts said. “I want to see a strong econ-omy, because that’s the cornerstone of stability.”

The Mountain ViewPage 4 • June 6, 2008

479th Engineer Battalion receives new commanderStaff Sgt. amber emeryMnd-C Pao

CAMP STRIKER – The 479th En-gineer Battalion, from Watertown, N.Y., received a new commander during a change of command cer-emony here June 5.

Major Jason J. Wallace, of Os-wego, N.Y., replaces Lt. Col. Aaron T. Walter, of Denver, Colo. Walace will lead the battalion through its final weeks in Iraq and upcoming transition back home.

“We’re not done here. The most important mission is ahead of us,” Wallace said. “Our job now is to turn over our mission to the 54th Engineer Battalion … and to make sure they are set up for success. (It) will be our most challenging and our biggest success.”

Though their most important mis-sion is still to come, the 479th Engi-neer Battalion has completed many vital duties throughout its tour in Iraq. Indicators, such as declining attack levels and casualty counts, clearly illustrate this fact, Col. Peter A. Deluca, 20th Engineer Brigade commander, said.

“I believe the history books will say that you and the Soldiers of this rotation turned the tide of this war. Bringing hope and the dawn of a new day to … people who yearn for peace

Photo by Staff Sgt. Amber EmeryColonel Peter A. Deluca, 20th Engineer Brigade commander, passes the guidon to Maj. Jason J. Wallace, 479th Engineer Battalion commander, completing the transfer of command and symbolizing Deluca’s entrusting Wallace with the responsibility and care of the unit.

and prosperity,” Walter said. “Don’t ever forget the vital contributions you have made on this battlefield.”

Wallace has been with this battal-ion almost his entire career, hold-ing positions ranging from platoon leader to battalion executive officer and now battalion commander.

“Major Wallace has been a part

of this family for 13 years. He is a mainstay of this battalion and clear-ly a pillar of its strength,” Deluca said.

“It has been a privilege to work for such an outstanding organiza-tion,” Wallace said. “I can honestly say I love this battalion and I love my Soldiers.

Opet’s Odyssey Karaoke

Starts June 8th (Round 1)Round 2 – June 15th

Final Round – June 22nd

ContestTakes place at MWR 214.

All rounds will start at 2000.

Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.

Entertainment provided by the 10th Mtn. Rock Band during the

final round.

The Mountain View June 6, 2008 • Page 5

(Left) Workers at the the Dar Al Dowla Lilbaraum Orphanage inspect food supplies delivered by El Salvadorian soldiers in al-Kut, Iraq.

(Above) Capt. Hayder Ali Adnan greets a child at the Dar Al Dowla Lilbaraum Or-phanage in al-Kut, Iraq.

(Right) Children at the Dar Al

Dowla Lilbaraum Orphanage

watch El Salva-dorian soldiers

and Iraqi police-men during a visit in al-Kut,

Iraq. Soldiers of the 214th Fires Brigade’s Civil-

Military relations section and

representatives of El Salvador’s Cuscatlan Bat-talion and Iraqi

Police visited the center to

assess future needs and to

deliver food and supplies.

(Below) Capt. Hayder Ali Adnan greets children at the Dar Al Dowla Lilbaraum Orphanage in al-Kut, Iraq, June 4.

(Below) Iraqi children wait for El Salvadorian soldiers and Iraqi policemen to hand out supplies at the Dar Al Dowla Lilbaraum Orphan-age in al-Kut, Iraq.

Photos by Sgt. Daniel T. West

Special DeliveryEl Salvadorian, Iraqi Army

Soldiers deliver food and supplies to Iraqi orphans.

The Mountain ViewPage 6 • June 6, 2008

Construction at IA command site BASRAH, Iraq – Construction has

started on the Iraqi Army’s new Shai-ba Location Command in Basrah. The $42.7 million project will include doz-ens of structures providing office space, warehouses, fuel and ammunition sup-ply, a dining facility for 1,000 people, barracks, laundry, barber shop, medi-cal clinic and fire station.

The facilities are to be sited on a mil-itary installation 15 kilometers south of

Operational Roundup

Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

More security, less violence WASHINGTON, (AFPS) – Last

month marked the fewest attacks in Iraq in four years, a reduction one military official today attributed to im-proved security tactics and personnel and an increase in tips from Iraqi citi-zens.

The number of bombing attacks in-volving deadly, armor-piercing charges and homemade explosives decreased in May and continues to fall, Army Brig. Gen. John Campbell, deputy director for regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pen-tagon news conference.

“Both EFP and IED numbers con-tinue to go down; the trend is looking very well,” Campbell said, referring to armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators and the more conventional roadside bombs known as improvised explosive devices, the two most com-mon weapons used by militants in Iraq.

Campbell said coalition and Iraqi security forces are more aggressively seeking weapons caches, which often contain completed bombs or the ma-terials necessary to manufacture them. Seizing these weapons and bomb-making ingredients depletes enemy re-sources, he added.

Meanwhile, coalition forces are plac-ing greater emphasis on training police along Iraq’s eastern border with Iran. These border police are the first line of defense against smugglers sneaking EFPs into Iraq, where Iranian-backed “special groups” employ the shaped charges against coalition and Iraqi forces, Campbell said.

Iraqis also are taking seriously the issue of border security, he said, add-ing that Iraqi officials have held talks about improving checkpoints by field-ing more X-ray machines and other sophisticated technology to help stem

bomb smuggling. Campbell acknowledged that enemy

fighters tend to lay low or flee sections of the country where coalition and Iraqi forces increase their presence, as in Sadr City, Mosul and Basra, three areas that have received increased se-curity focus recently. But the general did not concede that such tendencies alone explain last month’s downtick in bombing attacks.

“It’s no secret that if they stay and fight, they don’t have a chance,” Camp-bell said of the militants. “Whether they wait a time and come back and pick up those caches -- I can’t tell. But just the trends right now for the IEDs and EFPs are continuing to go low.”

The general said the ranks of Iraqi se-curity personnel continue to grow, with an overall force of about 559,000 that, alongside coalition forces, increasingly works among the Iraqi population.

Another element bolstering secu-rity is citizens groups, known as “Sons of Iraq,” that provide Iraqi and coali-tion forces with invaluable intelligence about enemy strategy and tactics, the general said.

Officials are planning to recruit some 15,000 Sons of Iraq members to join the nation’s security forces. At the same time, they seek to help the rough-ly 65,000 group members gain techni-cal or other training, or find jobs.

the Basrah Air Base. Lt. Col. John Bur-gess and project engineer Fred Guese are overseeing the work for the Gulf Region Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Work is scheduled to be completed next year.

“That new base will be providing personnel to help ensure Basrah neigh-borhoods are safe,” Burgess said. “It’s great to be part of the effort.”

Guese, who has 26 years engineering experience with the Defense Contract Management Agency, volunteered last September for duty in Iraq. “We’re in-volved in a variety of projects helping Basrah move forward including a new regional courthouse, water and sewer work, road paving, electrical distri-bution lines, medical facilities, and schools. Hundreds of local residents are on the construction crews and they take pride in helping their community.”

CF round up criminals in Iraq BAGHDAD – Coalition forces cap-

tured an alleged Special Groups lead-er, and the suspected primary Special Groups weapons smuggler and finan-cier for Al Kut in operations south of Baghdad Thursday.

Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces conducted a raid on the residence of a suspected Irani-an-trained Special Groups leader in al-Mahawil, which lies about 70 km south of Baghdad near Hillah.

Coalition forces entered the sus-pected outlaw’s residence where he surrendered without incident.

In a separate operation near Al Kut, intelligence tips helped Coali-tion forces track down the hideout of a suspected Special Groups crimi-nal, who sources allege is the primary weapons smuggler and financier for Special Groups elements in that area.

Coalition forces stormed the sus-pected criminal’s location, about 30 km east of Al Kut, where he and another suspected criminal surren-dered.

“As Special Groups leaders and their criminal associates flee their normal area of operations, Iraqi and Coalition Security Forces will con-tinue to track and disrupt their ac-tivities,” said U.S. Army Capt. Charles Calio, MNF-I spokesperson. “We will continue to deny these criminals ref-uge in any part of Iraq.”

The Mountain View June 6, 2008 • Page 7

Business As Usual

Photo by Spc. Sophia R. LopezAustrailian, Ugandan and U.S. Soldiers pose in front of the renamed Coalition Café June 6. The cafe was renamed June 1 by the DFAC’s managing staff to pay tribute to our Coalition counterparts, said Sgt. Dianara Easterwood, assistant manager. During the 3rd Infantry Division’s deployment, the DFAC was changed from Coalition Café to the Marne DFAC. Easterwood said more than 6,000 people are served each day at the facility.

From the TF Mountain IG: “Communication”

I had a commander who once stated “all good things come from the unit orderly room” - nowhere has this been more apparent than during my time as the Inspector General.

Why am I bringing this up now? Because as we review the current cases and address the phone calls we’ve received, we quickly realize most Soldier is-sues could be solved by the company chain of com-mand.

The majority of our phone calls start out, “my commander did,” (fill in the blank). Most times we determine their claim is true. However, truth-ful as the claim may be, it doesn’t mean what they (the chain of command) are doing is incorrect. More often than not, the claim is a result of a leader not communicating his/her actions.

I’ve been around long enough to realize every-thing doesn’t need an explanation but in most in-stances that’s all a Soldier requests. Knowledge is power and sometimes people have a tendency to not share it well. Some examples include the rationale behind certain awards, punishment, and corrective training. We’ve all heard the adage “fair is not always equal” and that’s where a simple explanation can go a long way. So take the time and listen to your Soldiers; it will make a difference in the long haul.

Your IG Team, – Col. Eric Hesse

Safety Corner: Driving with Limited Visibility Safety Reminders

• During periods of limited visibility or brownouts lower speed and increase intervalsbetween vehicles to allow adequatereaction time.

• Keep the windshield, lights, & turn signalsclean at all times. Lights should be ondepending on the tactical situation. Keepvents closed.

• Driver and crew must communicate witheach other and keep a continuous scan. Ensure the gunners wear protectivegoggles.

• Reduce speed or stop moving wheneverthe view of the road, vehicles, andpedestrians are lost due to blowing dustand sand. Slower speeds also reduce theamount of dust in the air.

• At entrances to FOBs and patrol bases,

gravel is a good way to prevent excessdust from kicking up.

File photo

The Mountain ViewPage 8 • June 6, 2008 Headline Highlights

National bird; twin mix-up; leaning tower of PisaIsrael names biblically banned Hoopoe national bird

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – It may not be kosher, but the Hoopoe was chosen on Thursday as Israel’s national bird.

The Hoopoe, or “Duchifat” in Hebrew, is listed in the Old Testament as unclean and forbidden food for Jews.

President Shimon Peres declared the pink, black and white-crested bird the winner of a competition timed to coin-cide with Israel’s 60th anniversary. It beat out rivals such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Palestine Sunbird.

The Book of Leviticus groups the Hoo-poe with birds such as the eagle, vulture and pelican that are “abhorrent, not to be eaten”.

Israel is a main crossroads for birds migrating between Europe and Africa. Some 155,000 Israelis cast ballots in the national bird vote.

Spanish twin sues for mix-up

MADRID (Reuters) – A Spanish twin, separated from her family for 28 years, is suing the Canary Islands for a mix-up at the maternity hospital which led to her being taken home by the wrong mother, media reported on Wednesday.

The woman discovered she had an identical twin when she was mistaken for someone else in a shop in 2001.

The two sisters , who were not named, found they were born in the same hos-pital in 1973 around the same time and a DNA test subsequently showed they

were identical twins.“In 1973 there were two assistants

and one supervisor for 60 babies,” Densi Calero, who worked in the maternity unit of the clinic at the time, told local radio. “It’s not impossible to imagine something like this could happen.”

The woman is suing the Canary Island health services for 3 million euros (2.38 million pounds) for emotional trauma, El Pais newspaper reported. “I wish I’d never found out about it,” her lawyer quoted her as saying.

Her sister was brought up alongside another girl, believing they were twins.

Pisa’s leaning tower said to be safe for 300 years

ROME (Reuters) – The leaning tower of Pisa has been successfully stabilised and is out of danger for at least 300 years, said an engineer who has been monitoring the iconic Italian tourist at-traction.

“All of our expectations have been confirmed,” Professor Michele Jami-olkowski, an engineer and geologist, was quoted as telling Italy’s leading newspa-per, Corriere della Sera.

The tower’s tilt of about four metres off the vertical has remained stable in re-cent years, after a big engineering project that ended in 2001 corrected its lean by about 40 centimetres from where it was in 1990 when the project began.

“Now we can say that the tower can rest easy for at least 300 years,” Jami-olkowski told the paper in an article

published on Wednesday.The tower was shut to visitors for al-

most 12 years from 1990 – when it was sinking about a millimetre a year – and reopened in December, 2001 at the end of the biggest phase of the consolidation and restoration project.

The 14,000-tonne free-standing bell tower, an internationally recognised ar-chitectural symbol of Italy along with Rome’s Colosseum, was built in several stages between 1174 and 1370.

ANCHORED TO CABLESIt began to tilt after completion of

several storeys due to unstable ground. Builders at first used trapezoidal stones to return the structure to the vertical but the tower continued to lean.

During the stabilisation phase of the project which ended in 2001 the struc-ture was anchored to cables while ce-ment was injected to relieve pressure on the ground. The lean of the tower is now considered safe and is about what it was in 1700.

Restorers are now using a specially-designed, light-weight scaffolding made of an aluminium alloy as a base from which to clean the tower’s white and grey marble.

Officials have said over the years that they have no intention of straightening the tower, which would detract from its unique status and tourist draw.

Astronomer Galileo, who was hauled before the Vatican’s Inquisition for his view that the earth revolved around the sun, is said to have used the tower of his hometown for experiments on gravity.

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ArAbic phrAse of the DAy

from Sudoku Easy Presented by Will Shortz

Solution to yesterday’s

puzzle:

5 9 42 9

1

534

1

9

65

28

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No talking. bell-leh kell-lahm.

Sudoku