Chrenkoff

"After a heroic election day comes the practical business of forming a stable government. And in that sense, the new Iraq is proving to be no different from any other democracy. Iraqis are talking about politics this week, rather than suicide bombers. The political elite is bargaining over who will get what job in the new government, rather than who will get killed by the insurgents. The public mood, at least judging from conversations with Iraqis here, is much lighter than when I visited Baghdad two months ago."

"Eighty-six women will be appointed to the 275 member New Iraqi Assembly to be formed following the first free democratic elections that were held in Iraq on January 30th.

"The female candidates will make up 31 percent of parliament, according to a quota system outlined in the Iraqi temporary constitution stipulating that one in four candidates must be a woman.

"According to the final results, female ministers will fill 46 seats of the 146 seats of the conservative United Iraqi Alliance. On the other hand, 27 female candidates will b among those 75 ministers of the Kurdish Alliance."

"Some 200 Sunni figures in Iraq called on the sides which took part in the recent legislative elections to consider the Sunnis as real partners in the process of formulating the constitution and the current political process in the country.

"Chairman of the Sunni Waqf court Adnan al-Duleimi, in conclusion of a conference held in Baghdad in the presence of tribal chiefs and representatives for the Sunni parties and commissions in 6 governorates, said that Iraq is for the Iraqis. He added that if the Sunnis in Iraq did not take part in the elections, this does not mean they do not want to take part in the political life, stressing the need to work for maintaining the unity of Iraq, its independence and sovereignty, until the day when the American forces will leave the country.

"Al-Duleimi called on the Sunni parties to unify their ranks in order to take part in the next elections in a united list."

"Whether or not to include 'sharia,' or religious law, in the constitution is expected to be a part of the discussion, said Adnan Ali al-Kadhimi, an adviser to Ibrahim Jafaari, an interim vice president and a moderate Shiite Muslim now considered to be the top candidate for the post of prime minister...

"The constitutional conference was largely kept under wraps because of security concerns, but it includes foreign constitutional and legal experts, al-Kadhimi said.

" 'Where do religion and civil law intersect?' al-Kadhimi said Sunday. 'Foreign countries are worrying to see the outcome, but we don't see that religion will play a big part in this constitution.'

"Most Iraqis feel they should not impose their personal religious beliefs on others, al-Kadhimi said. In addition, the new assembly's mandated 25 percent female members will serve as a moderating force, Jafaari said. Six interim ministers are women, Jafaari pointed out -- a higher percentage of the 30 ministers than any other public job in Iraqi society.

" 'We need to be a government that represents all groups, all voices, and has justice and respect for basic human rights,' Jafaari said.

"Sunni Muslims who boycotted the election but now want to join in writing the constitution should be invited to help, Jafaari said."

"Building a credible judicial system is just one of the many tasks facing the United States and its allies in Iraq. William Jewell College graduate Steve Hemphill is trying to help. A lawyer and former county prosecutor in southwest Missouri, Hemphill has been in Iraq for more than a year...

"A main challenge in his work, Hemphill said, is bringing Iraq's prisons, which he described as 'medieval torture chambers' under Saddam Hussein, up to international standards. It is not even clear how many prisons Hussein had, he said, because detention centers were spread all over the country."

"For example, some of the ministries that will be responsible for investment and development in Iraq are already up and running. 'These ministries will stay,' says James Loftis, an attorney in Houston who has studied the potential problems of investing and contracting in Iraq. 'It's a situation where the creation of a bureaucracy is a good thing. People are beginning to realize that the government they have there will stay.'

"Then there's Iraq's stock exchange, opened this past June in a former Italian restaurant in Baghdad. For the moment, trading in the 70 listed companies is limited to Iraqis. But demand is growing - trading over three recent sessions reached 50 billion Iraqi dinar (about $34 million) - and there's talk of opening trading to foreigners...

"One factor that should work in Iraq's favor is its people, says Mr. Loftis, who is cochairman of the international dispute resolution practice at his law firm, Vinson & Elkins LLP. Until 1979, when Saddam Hussein took full power, Iraqis were among the most highly educated people in the Middle East, he notes."

"Iraqi counterparts are working closely with USAID's Iraq Economic Governance II (IEG II) program to increase the capacity of the Iraqi electricity and telecommunications industries to adopt international best practices and move towards commercial viability and away from state subsidies.

"Telecommunications - IEG II and its Iraqi partners are opening the telecommunications sector to further private sector involvement, while improving the government's ability to utilize up-to-date information technology (IT) in regulating the sector. To that end, IEG II conducted a two-week governmentwide IT workshop in Amman, Jordan for thirty-seven government information officers, representing all ministries. Workshops discussed the development of a Strategic Information Technology Plan, an e-Government implementation plan and a suitable organizational structure for a Government Information Technology Department. IEG II also recently assisted the Iraqi Telephone and Post Company in studying the costs and benefits of a new billing system and discussed requirements to manage its implementation.

"Electricity - Iraqi electricity regulators are strengthening their ability to bill consumers appropriately. IEG II is supporting this effort and recently conducted research on electrical meters and meter manufacturers in Iraq to explore potential for cooperation with regulators. Meanwhile, Jordanian electricity regulators are cooperating with IEG II and Iraqi officials to provide useful models for Iraqi counterparts and are further discussing potential for crossborder generation and transmission connections."

"The French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported... that foreign investments in northern Iraq are increasing.

"According to this news article, in spite of continued the bombings and kidnappings in Bagdat (Baghdad), northern Iraq is a place where diplomats of Western countries and businessmen from Saudi Arabia are coming to visit. The news article reported that there has been an incredible improvement in the economy of the region. The newspaper wrote that Kurdish businessmen living in foreign countries have started to invest in Northern Iraq and there are also new supermarkets, hospitals, restaurants and milk factories in the region, and that construction of a new American University is continuing in Suleymaniye. The article indicated that administrators in Northern Iraq have handed over areas of land necessary for development to some investors and has offered five year tax breaks to encourage development and investment in the region."

"Like thousands of Arabs from troubled southern and central Iraq, Abbas, who left Baqubah several months ago, has found a more prosperous life in the democratic, free-market Kurdish region. Protected from Saddam Hussein's armies for 12 years by a 'no-fly' zone patrolled by U.S. and British planes, the ethnic Kurds in effect raised a nation within a nation. Their clattering cities represent what many want for the rest of Iraq.

" 'There's a big difference between the south and here,' Abbas said, stepping over metal rods and a pile of rocks on an apartment building construction site. 'The Kurds are rich and educated. We're tired of poverty in the south. I look around at all this construction and see many, many Arabs just like me.'

"Authorities say 2,000 to 6,000 Sunni and Shiite Muslim Arabs have migrated to the Sulaymaniya region since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq two years ago. They are laborers, doctors, waiters, professors. There is even a civil aviation engineer hired from Baghdad because the Kurds lacked the experts to build an airport. Reliable statistics are scarce, but estimates suggest that the number of Arab migrants is steadily rising and may total more than 20,000 across northern Iraq, which is home to between 3.5 million and 4 million Kurds. Recent Kurdish history is a lesson in reversal of fortune. Regimes based in Baghdad brutalized the north for generations. Sunni Arabs, who dominated under Hussein, were taught that Kurds were beneath them; the Kurds' political voice was muted, and hundreds of thousands of them were killed."

"[We will be] drawing up an integrated, comprehensive plan that proceeds in the direction of expanding the volume of oil and gas explorations in Iraq...

"Iraq is one of the oldest oil countries in the region, but it is the least explored country. The western desert, as a mere example, constitutes one third of the area of Iraq. The studies prepared by Iraqi and foreign companies during the 1990s show that this is a promising area and could be rich with light crude oil.

"Furthermore, the Al-Jazirah region, between the Tigris and the Euphrates [rivers] in western Iraq, next to the Iraqi-Syrian border, is also a very promising region... As for the basin of the Tigris and the Euphrates, there is major exploration work that will be carried out, and this will increase the oil and gas reserves."

"A Texas-based oil company with a potentially lucrative gas processing agreement in Iraq will today announce plans to float on the Alternative Investment Market. Gulfsands Petroleum signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi oil ministry last month to gather and process gas generated by oil fields in the province of Misan. Currently the gas is flared off, an environmentally damaging practice that also wastes a source of natural gas...

"Gulfsands said the construction of a gas gathering system, a natural gas liquids plant and pipelines will be done in two phases over five years. Once completed, the project is expected to produce 46,600 barrels of natural gas liquids a day and 338m cubic feet of dry sweet natural gas a day. Gulfsands said the project is believed to be the largest infrastructure project undertaken by private international investors in Iraq since the war ended in May 2003."

"The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently completed a $4.1 million refurbishment of the Kirkuk Unified Water Treatment Plant, benefiting over one million residents of Kirkuk City and its surroundings.

"Construction of Kirkuk's Unified Water Treatment Plant began in the early 1980s, but was interrupted due to the conflicts with Iran and Kuwait. In 1993, the plant was completed and commissioned. After several years of operation, however, pipe and tank leaks began contributing to foundation and structural problems.

"Prior to USAID's refurbishment project, which began in January of 2004, the plant produced approximately 22 million gallons of water per day. And the plant did not consistently produce potable water because of system failures and operational deficiencies. Following a year of reengineering, the Kirkuk Water Treatment Plant is capable of delivering 95 million gallons of potable water each day."

"From their office in Houston, Subhi and Mohammed Khudairi work closely with their father, Aziz, to coordinate a variety of businesses and projects in their homeland of Iraq. They make frequent visits to Iraq, but carry out much of their work from here. Aziz chose Houston as a base because of the city's many energy companies and because he wanted his sons to be educated in the United States...

"The Khudairi Group recently won a contract from the city of Baghdad to replace 40 kilometers of old, rusty pipe in two mahallas, or zones, where residents had complained of contaminated drinking water. The US Army First Cavalry's Eighth Engineer Battalion is overseeing the work in Baghdad, but Lieutenant Colonel Brian Dosa, speaking to VOA by phone from Baghdad, says it is really an Iraqi project.

" 'The actual work for all projects is actually done by Iraqis, Iraqi contractors and Iraqi workers, and the day-to-day supervision and control is also done by Iraqis,' said Mr. Dosa...

"The $2 million water system restoration should be completed by the first week of April. Subhi Khudairi says he would like to see other Iraqi expatriates getting involved in the vital reconstruction of their homeland.

" 'I just hope that more Iraqis throughout the world have the same sentiment and have the same leap of faith that we do and know that if we all put our efforts and our minds in rebuilding the country, band our talents in rebuilding the country, that Iraq will eventually prosper,' he added."

"Archaeology and Assyriology Program - Funding has been authorized to equip a computer training classroom at a participating Iraqi university with 30 tables, 30 chairs, 15 computers, 11 computer trolleys, and high speed internet. Additionally, three Iraqi students currently studying at SUNY/SB attended the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Boston.

"Environmental Health Program - An Environmental Health Education and Resource Center in southern Iraq received its first shipment of lab equipment and environmental health library material. Also, Forty Iraqi professors, physicians and graduate students are participating in an 11-day environmental health training course to introduce the newly established Environmental Health Education and Resource Centers."

"The Iraq Development Program looks to aid Iraq as an economic force, improving the lives of the Iraqi people as the country establishes itself with the rest of the world. It will play a key role in promoting business in Iraq and enabling the necessary transfer of technology into the country.

"This week saw the formal launch of the Iraq Development Program, which will hold its inaugural summit in Amman, Jordan on 28-30 June 2005. The summit will provide the opportunity for international companies to hold face-to-face discussions with senior Iraqi officials and business leaders. These discussions will facilitate opportunities for improving contacts in the region, the supply of essential goods and services and the undertaking of a number of crucial projects."

"The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) is now available for students and professors at a second university in northern Iraq, thanks to support from USAID's Higher Education and Development (HEAD) Program. The TEEAL CD-ROM library contains over 140 agriculture-related journals from 1993-2003, and will greatly assist research and teaching at these universities.

"This second library will directly benefit more than 765 students and faculty, and will be made available to visitors from other agricultural colleges. Through this library, agricultural departments at all Iraq’s universities will have access to the most important papers published in the agricultural sciences.

"The TEEAL library installation is part of a HEAD partnership between the University of Hawaii, Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and two northern Iraqi universities. The HEAD Agricultural Sciences partnership is helping Iraqi universities revitalize academic programs and rehabilitate research infrastructure such as critical online resources."

"One of the world's greatest marshland habitats - and home of an ancient culture - is beginning to show the first signs of recovery after decades of systematic destruction under Saddam Hussein.

"An international scientific assessment of Iraq's drained wetlands, the first since they were partially reflooded after the downfall of Saddam, has found that the giant reeds are growing once more and the water birds and otters are returning. However, ecologists told the American Association for the Advancement of Science yesterday that some parts of the Iraqi marshes may never recover fully because of a build-up of salt in the soil during the time when they had been artificially dammed or drained."

"Miller, 31, works to make that happen every day as a project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Stationed at Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq, the 1991 Crystal Lake South High School graduate helps to rebuild transportation and communication infrastructure by overseeing projects and giving contracts to
local workers.

"For each project, Miller travels to the site and meets with local government officials and engineers. He talks with them about the project they need completed, which building codes apply, how much it will cost, and how their needs have changed since assessments were done more than a year ago...

"One month of Miller's six-month stay in Iraq is complete, and he already has seen the benefits of his work. 'Congress appropriated all this money, and I actually put the money in the people's hands,' he said. 'You see the fruits of your labor in the construction they're doing. You see life coming back to it. You see stores opening.'

"Miller also saw progress through the Iraqi elections Jan. 30. He met with Iraqis on a project site the day after the elections. 'It was truly one of those experiences that will stay with you forever,' he wrote in an e-mail. 'We entered the room and shook hands. They all had purple fingers from voting the day before. They couldn't thank us enough for allowing them the opportunity to vote. To be a part of history like that was something else'."

"Capt. Scott Southworth took his soldiers to a Baghdad orphanage in 2003 to befriend the children.

"Immediately, a small boy with cerebral palsy befriended him, crawling across the floor to sit next to him. Within a few weeks, Southworth knew he had to bring the boy, Ala'a, home to Wisconsin.

"More than a year later, Southworth returned to Iraq to pick up the 11-year-old and take him back to Mauston, where Southworth now works as Juneau County district attorney.

"The single 32-year-old knew the alternative for Ala'a was life in a government orphanage with little chance of adequate medical care or an education."

"Corey Johnston, a native of West Liberty and an Army Ranger and medic with the 519th, set up an Iraqi border-patrol aide station in northern Iraq. While he was working there, he heard about a five-year-old Kurdish boy who needed heart surgery. The boy's uncle shoved some medical records at Corey and from there, the Iowan felt a responsibility to see what he could do for the child. It took more than a year of work by Corey and his mother, Cindy Yerington to convince the military, the hospital and financial supporters to bring the boy to Iowa."

"LTC Robin J. DeLeon, M.D., a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician at the Boise VA Hospital who is currently serving in Iraq, also sees his deployment as an opportunity to do more than tend to the troops whose health needs are his primary duty. He and other U.S. medical people in uniform are applying their skills and exercising compassion in outreach to the Iraqi people.

"Currently stationed with the Texas National Guard at Talill Air Base in Iraq, DeLeon runs a small Troop Medical Clinic for the troops in his brigade. In addition to this, he says that he, his medics and PAs participate in small missions for the local Iraqi people."

"As of Monday [21 February], the 28 coalition forces killed from hostile fire or roadside bombs in February represented the lowest fatality rate since last March, according to iCasualties.org. The daily average of 1.33 soldiers killed in hostile actions after the election compares to 2.42 during the previous 10 months, based on Philadelphia Inquirer calculations."

"Senior clerics in the restive city of Mosul have pledged to oust elements seeking violence from their mosques. They also denounced killing of innocent Iraqis whether Muslims and non-Muslims and all attacks targetting local security forces.

"The clerics made the pledge during a meeting with Mosul's governor Duraid Kashmoula who told them that there will be no let-up in the fight to clean Mosul of what he described as 'the stray and corrupt gang.'

"The clerics distanced themselves from violent factions and insurgent groups that have terrorised Mosul's nearly 1.7 million inhabitants... 'We call on all the citizens of Mosul to remain steadfast in the face of terrorist and criminal elements and cooperate with the authorities and security services to put an end to violence,' the clerics said in a statement following the meeting."

"Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government is stepping up its propaganda war with insurgents by broadcasting videotaped interviews with suspects who appear to confess to killings, rape and theft on the orders of guerrillas.

"The offensive was launched in recent weeks on state-run Iraqiya television, which broadcast lengthy interrogations of Iraqis it said had carried out terrorist acts under the direction of 'Abdullah', described as a criminal with close ties to Syria."

"- On Jan. 6, the traditional Iraqi Army Day, U.S. officials stood up nine divisions across central and northern Iraq, from Tikrit to Kirkuk to Sulimaniyah. Under the Iraqi army structure, a full division is about 15,600 men, and a battalion is 896 soldiers, similar to the U.S. Army...

"- As of January, there were about 56,000 Iraqis in military forces organized into 90 battalions across Iraq...

"- In the 1st ID's area of responsibility, the number of battalions increased to 20 from eight or 10 when the division arrived a year ago...

"- At a facility near Tikrit, between 300 and 350 Iraqi soldiers graduate every 28 days, or about three battalions in one year.

"- Smaller training centers in Iraq and Jordan graduate from 50 to 100 soldiers a month."

"The tanks lined up on a huge expanse of concrete are painted the color of sand. Iraqi soldiers stand in front of each tank, with their U.S. trainers nearby, all in their desert camouflage combat uniforms.

"Their Iraqi commanding officer, sporting a beret and a graying mustache, beams with pride. 'This project, I think, is the most successful that we have in the Iraqi army right now, because we combine together the American offer of their help and our, let's say, experience that we had before,' he said.

"The officer, Staff Brigadier Bashar Mahmoud Ayoub, served 27 years in the Iraqi army, before retiring in 1994. He came back last year. 'I have the experience and the power,' said Brigadier Ayoub. 'I want to create once again a new army. I want to give them all my knowledge. I want to give them all my experience. After that, we can retire.'

"Staff Brigadier Ayoub was given command of the new Iraqi army's only tank unit in mid-January. Just two weeks later, the unit rolled dramatically into Baghdad to help secure the national election. In a country where foreign tanks and other military vehicles are everywhere, it was the first time the Iraqi armor had been on the streets since the fall of Saddam Hussein, nearly two years ago. 'We went inside Baghdad for three days,' he added. 'And the people were so proud and happy to see the Iraqi army once again, especially the tanks and the armored vehicles'."

"An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 men arrived by foot, bus, and other vehicles by sun up Feb. 14, at an airfield outside an Iraqi army base in an effort to join the Iraq’s army, officials said.

"Of that, close to 5,000 made it through a screening process that led them onto the base, which is home to several thousand Iraqi soldiers and a contingent of U.S. service members. Most will be transferred to other bases in Iraq to supplement existing units, officials said...

"During the screening process, potential recruits were given a literacy test, physical condition check, and questioned about prior military service. Once inside the base, they went through a medical screening and received uniforms, boots and other military-related clothing...

"Many recruits showed up with proof that they were serving when Saddam Hussein's regime fell and they were subsequently released from duty. Former Iraqi army Maj. Hussien Ali Kadhun, 48, traveled about an hour and a half by bus to rejoin. 'I want to serve my country and fight the terrorists,' he said, through a translator. Ali Kadhun said he graduated from a military college in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in military science. He returned to school to study law shortly after his release from the army in 2003."

"To confront the daily images of violence, Iraq has launched a new media war - trying to win Iraqi hearts and minds and battle insurgents with the power of American-style advertising.

"One slick commercial, used to recruit police, conveys the message: It's safe enough to join, even though insurgents attack every day. Another ad shows police as heroes - the chance to save a school from a bomber seen as an incentive for police who earn only $200 a month.

"Broadcasting the messages is Saddam Hussein's old TV station, rebuilt with an initial $100 million grant from the Pentagon. The station is now run and funded by the Iraqi government, assisted by American advisers who want to build on optimism following last month's elections...

"The ads, mostly U.S.-produced and Iraqi-funded, run every half-hour, calling on Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis to unite and rebuild. Because Iraq is still so chaotic, there's no real data to indicate whether these positive broadcast messages are having any impact, but new studios and equipment mean they're reaching at least 85 percent of Iraqis.

"So far, people seem receptive to the ads, such a contrast to the images of violence and to the insurgents' own cruel media campaign, often featuring footage of hostages. 'It's encouraging,' said one student in Baghdad. 'They provide needed role models'."

"I... noticed that Iraqi soldiers on other checkpoints started friendly conversations with the people and this is a good indication; searching isn't enough alone, bridging the gaps is what really matters. Security will not be achieved if the people do not cooperate with the authorities and I think now it's due the time for the people to take bigger role in a nation-wide action against terror.

"A few days ago a coalition convoy was patrolling our district and they were stopping every other hundred meters talking to the people and distributing key chains and leaflets that carry secure phone numbers for the people to use in reporting criminal activities and this is a smart idea as key chains are always in one's hands or pocket and phones are a reliable contact route and I think using the internet and e mails for the same task is another option that can be helpful as it's untraceable and people, especially the educated segment use the internet very often and they would feel more secure comfortable that way than with the phones.

"I have no estimations about how many people will provide information that way but I feel that the rate has increased after the elections. Moreover, the Iraqi media is also playing a good role in exposing criminals and there are some local channels that broadcast the confessions of arrested terrorists.

"I think that the local TV station in Mosul has done a good job recently and the people are now even more disgusted from the doings of the terrorists and the terrorists reaction by attacking the station's HQ more than once in the past days indicates that they're really pissed off from this station's shows."

"A team of US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents has been deployed inside Iraq to train border security staff enabling them to control entry points into the country and improve security, which remains problematic. One thousand five hundred border guards attended the first day of training at the new camp...

"A camp has been built inside Iraq so that trainers from the CBP can offer their knowledge and support to those who have not had a chance to receive tuition outside Iraq. The new facility is designed to complement the efforts of a similar scheme run at the Jordanian International Police Training Centre (JIPTC) camp in neighbouring Jordan. More than 2,100 Iraqi border control officers have already been trained there since August 2004."

"For Mahmoud, danger is a part of everyday life. The 27-year-old Iraqi policeman still remembers one September day with absolute clarity. He was part of the motorcade accompanying Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Nakib through the streets of Baghdad when a car suddenly pulled into their path. As Mahmoud and his men jumped out of their Jeeps, the car's driver opened fire. Returning fire with their machine guns, the bodyguards killed the attacker. The interior minister was unharmed...

"Flash forward five months later. Mahmoud's in a different place but faces a similar situation. This time, two heavy sedans are stopped by a road block in a parking lot. With tires squealing, the drivers jerkily reverse, hit the brakes, the cars spin out and race off at full speed. Then a loud whistle blows. 'Well done,' a brawny man yells, 'next!' The cap he's bearing sports Germany's official symbol, the eagle, and the initials of the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA), Germany's equivalent to the FBI. He's working with the Iraqis as a police trainer, and he's set up the road block as part of a training simulation. But instead of conducting the training somewhere in terror-shaken Iraq, this time it's on a heavily guarded military base in the United Arab Emirates.

"Mahmoud is one of 30 Iraqi policemen currently participating in German's training project for the Iraqi security forces... So far, the German BKA officers have provided training to more than 400 Iraqi policemen over the past several months, equipping them with the know-how they'll need to do their jobs once they return to Iraq."

"The authority responsible for de-mining has cleared 34,890,527 square meters from mines and other explosion devices. The source added that 473,158 tons of war materials were destroyed... The destructed equipments reached 218,866 pieces."