Chrenkoff

"Two years after war dramatically changed Iraq's political landscape, the former ruling minority Sunnis are developing plans to participate in a government formed by elections they boycotted.

"In a significant shift, several Sunni groups that hitherto shunned the political process met last weekend to create a unified front and set of demands that they will present to the Shiite and Kurdish leaders now hammering out a new government.

"The meeting was a reversal for Sunni leaders who have supported insurgents and urged US troops to leave Iraq immediately.

"The new effort, observers say, appears to be an admission that their strategy - to stop Iraq's election and denounce the formation of a new government - has failed. Bringing the former ruling class into Iraq's emerging power structure, they add, could help quell the insurgency."

"The elected members of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) were inaugurated on March 16, signaling the beginning of the transitional governance period. Through its Program to Support an Iraqi National Government and Iraqi Transitional Government, USAID and its implementing partners and sub grantees have been providing training and logistical support to TNA members and staffers. Key efforts in preparation for the inauguration included:

"- Working with parliamentary staff in charge of supporting inauguration and orientation activities for the 275 Assembly members
- The procurement of audio and translation equipment (Kurdish and Arabic) to be used in the parliamentary chamber
- The production in Kurdish and Arabic of a manual on parliamentary procedure
- Trainings for staff on departmental responsibilities
- Outreach specifically targeting women members of the TNA.
- Advisory assistance to the TNA's legal advisor in the drafting of new bylaws.

"Over 80 staff members have undergone training and participated in the assessment of technical and skill-development needs. The program aims to fully develop the staff capacity of the TNA so that it is institutionalized in preparation for a permanent legislative body."

"The Minister of State and Provincial Affairs and USAID's [Local Governance Program] held a National Conference on Federalism and Decentralization from March 13-14, 2005 in downtown Baghdad. The conference was intended to generate fruitful discussions on laying the groundwork for Federalism in Iraq as part of the national referendum process and drafting of the Iraqi Constitution. Approximately 580 participants attended.

"LGP sponsored the printing of all conference materials. Staff members from LGP's Policy Reform Team presented on the second day of the conference which was devoted to the formation of Local Government Associations (LGAs). This presentation was well received by conference participants and LGP staff members fielded many questions about institutionalizing LGAs. LGP will submit a comprehensive report on the conference with a more detailed overview of groups in attendance, conclusions, and recommendations."

"The newly elected Iraqi Transitional National Authority (TNA) will write a constitution this year and it is essential that women be involved in the process in order to guarantee their rights. USAID's partner implementing the project to support the TNA and the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution hosted a meeting in late February with 26 women leaders to discuss an initiative to ensure that women's rights are included in the constitution. Over the next year, the implementing partner will work with women elected officials and civil society representatives to educate Iraqis on the importance of constituting women's rights, and to train them in the necessary advocacy and education skills they will need to promote their rights with the Iraqi Government and the society at large."

"The head of the country's corruption-busting body, the Commission on Public Integrity, says he is determined to clean up widespread back-handers, bribery and embezzlement that are undermining Iraq's chances of a better future.

" 'Next week, we will distribute a form for the declaration of assets to all senior officials in Iraq. They should declare everything,' [said] Radhi Hamza al-Radhi... 'Governors, ministers and those above them should state their assets, shares and any expected inheritance. If anything is seen to have changed, we will ask where it came from and how. If it was legal then okay but if not we will send him to court to get his punishment'."

"One year after its founding, Al-Sharqiya satellite channel has become Iraqi households' most favorite television.

"Transmitted over three satellites, the channel has created a remarkable niche in the Arab world, particularly in Iraq. Baghdad University polls have shown the channel's rating soaring and a recent survey saw it grabbing 53% of the highly competitive television market share in the country.

"The channel's success is mainly due to its independence and integrity. Unlike its major rivals, Al-Sharqiya is the country's only independent television that is not associated to any particular group, faction, sect or religion inside or outside Iraq.

"The 24-hour news and entertainment channel is beamed from two locations, one in Dubai and the other in Baghdad. It employs 250 reporters, cameramen, editors and administrators."

"Even in the face of continuing violence, there's a palpable sense of optimism in Iraq these days. The country's post-war election, held in January this year, appears to have boosted commerce and sales in the country - one of several signs that Iraqis are hopeful about their future.

"Baghdad's heavily commercial Karrada Street, for example, has its hustle back. Fala Hassan, a shop keeper on Karrada Street, thinks his customers have turned a corner. Before the election, many of them were fearful and sales were slow, he said. But these days his customers are back, he notes, and their cash is flowing again. 'People were so worried before the election... Now they are less worried about the future,' Hassan said.

"Growing consumer confidence is a small, but critical economic step for Iraq - a country that needs to take many to get back on its feet.

"There is a ripple effect: Iraqis are enjoying higher salaries and buying big-ticket consumer products, like washing machines. And the growth in sales is leading to more jobs in commercial districts like Karrada Street. The job growth is small, but in a country with 30 percent unemployment, every job counts. And the employment revival is not only seen on Karrada Street. From Baghdad's airport to Sadr City's sewers, more and more reconstruction jobs are now going to Iraqis rather than foreign contractors."

"Traffic jams in the Iraqi capital are caused by new police checkpoints, old, broken-down cars, lines of customers waiting to fill up at the pumps, and, of course, the more than 426,000 new cars registered in the last two years.

"That doesn't stop Iraqis with newly increased salaries from coming in to ogle cars and buy them, said Ahmed Mohammed 37, manager of the Salman Fak Car Trading lot near Baghdad's National Theater.

"More than 900,000 cars have been registered across the country in the past two years, according to data from the Baghdad traffic department -- 426,000 of them from Baghdad. Before the war, about 347,000 cars were registered across the country, said Nejim Abid Jabir, a spokesman for the traffic department under the Interior Ministry."

"Relative stability and oil wealth are drawing jobs and opportunities to the northern city of Kirkuk, which will soon be the first major city in Iraq to take charge of its own defense...

"While much of Iraq struggles with roadside bombs and suicide attacks, Kurdistan -- the northern region where Kurds enjoyed more than a decade of virtual autonomy within a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone -- is prospering.

"Kurds living abroad have begun to return home to set up new businesses. Construction is booming. And with oil fields containing 40 percent of Iraq's reserves nearby, opportunities are plentiful.

"The multiethnic city of nearly 1 million has begun to attract investment from other parts of Iraq, said Maj. Darren Blagburn, intelligence officer for the U.S. Army's 116th Regiment in Kirkuk. 'We're seeing a lot of businesses move to Kirkuk from Baghdad,' he said.

"Local security forces, manned mostly by former members of the Kurdish militia, the peshmerga, are also more capable than those in other parts of Iraq. As a result, the U.S. Army plans within weeks to make Kirkuk the first city in former Ba'athist-controlled areas to complete the transition from foreign to local protection."

"A bus pulled up in front of a restaurant last week and 43 Iraqis got out - but they weren't there to negotiate Cabinet positions. This wasn't politics, it was business. And it wasn't Baghdad, it was Beverly Hills.

"The Iraqis were small-business owners who had come to meet with more than 40 Americans from small to medium-size companies. At Lawry's restaurant, the visitors spent five hours schmoozing with their American counterparts about buying, selling, financing and delivering the goods. Contacts were made, future orders foreshadowed.

"But something more important than deals was in the air: a sense of the future of a country - and an economy that can be built anew only if thousands of ordinary family-owned companies can get on with the construction.

"Big contracts to rebuild oil and electric power industries are essential, of course. But progress will come to Iraq only if private businesses replace the old state monopolies of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship.

" 'The successful way to change economies is not to reform state companies but to get a lot of small companies started,' says Robert Looney, an economist with long service in the Middle East who now teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

"The U.S. government now seems to understand this. The U.S. is playing a more useful role, experts say, after the first postwar year when the Coalition Provisional Authority issued a lot of rules that further gummed up Iraq's crippled economy.

"The gathering was co-sponsored by the U.S. Commercial Service, an arm of the Department of Commerce that helps small and mid-size firms with contacts and exports around the world. The goal was to provide a boost for Iraqi and U.S. companies.

"The other sponsor was the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a phenomenal example of the new Iraq. Founded in Los Angeles only two years ago after the fall of Hussein's regime, it already has 5,700 members, including 300 in the U.S."

"This year, the US government will help more than 100,000 American small businesses obtain access to capital through SBA loans. Now it wants to help grow small and medium-size businesses in Iraq.

"The Overseas Private Investment Corp., a federal agency that backs investments in developing countries, teamed with Citigroup to establish a $131 million loan program in Iraq. Iraqi financial institutions will tap these funds to make loans to small and medium-sized businesses.

" 'This facility is critical as a first step toward rejuvenating the private sector of Iraq as it strives to tap the capital markets,' says Ross Connelly, OPIC's acting president and CEO.

"OPIC provides political risk insurance, loans and loan guarantees to American businesses that invest in new and emerging markets. Fees cover the costs of its programs."

"A joint Kuwaiti-Iraqi commission is studying ways to regulate production from a large oilfield that extends into the two neighbouring Arab nations... The oilfield is known as Rumaila in Iraq and Ritqa in Kuwait. Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein accused the emirate of stealing oil from the Iraqi field and used that as a pretext to invade and occupy Kuwait in August 1990."

"When a new Iraqi government finally takes office, it will have in its 'in-box' an economic proposal that touches on some of the country's most sensitive questions: How to reduce violence in the Sunni Triangle, how to manage the country's increasingly tense relationship with neighboring Jordan, and how to expand its oil production and exports.

"This hornet's nest of problems could be eased, proponents argue, by building an oil pipeline through western Iraq to the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. This pipeline would carry 1.2 million barrels of crude a day from the existing pipeline junction at Haditha, northwest of Baghdad, to new loading facilities at Aqaba. Building a pipeline through Iraq's nastiest war zone may sound crazy, but read on.

"A leading advocate of the pipeline project is an Iraqi Sunni leader named Talal Gaaod. He heads an engineering company based in Jordan called the Tabouk Group, and he's also a prominent member of the Dulaimi tribe that holds sway in Anbar province, which stretches from Baghdad to the Jordanian border. His tribal credentials are important, because it's through tribal-backed security forces that Gaaod thinks he can safely build and maintain a pipeline in what has been the heartland of the insurgency."

"A huge exposition opened on Monday in Amman, bringing together almost a thousand exhibitors and thousands more participants interested in getting their foot in the door for the large number of reconstruction projects anticipated in Iraq over the coming years.

"The expo, dubbed Rebuild Iraq 2005, has 985 exhibitors from four countries. The range of products on show is huge, from machines that make plastic bags and paper products, to small hand tools such as screwdrivers and drill bits, all the way to at least one group here that is in the business of selling bridges.

"Fadi Kaddoura, the project manager for Rebuild Iraq 2005 said that millions of dollars in sales and contracts will likely trade hands over the next few days. While many smaller businesses and sub-contractors come to make purchases and establish contacts, the big money comes from the Iraqi ministries."

The participants, while mindful of many challenges, seem very optimistic. More here.

Another foreign donors conference will be held in Jordan in May to hurry up foreign governments on their past commitments to Iraq's reconstruction, of which only $1 billion has so far been given to the Iraqi government. In the meantime, the World Bank has made a grant of $480 million to various Iraqi ministries to finance their operations and programs.

According to Mehdi Al Hafedh, Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, Iraq Rebuilding Strategy Authority is currently supervising 121 major reconstruction projects throughout the country, worth $1.8 billion: "20 electricity projects,24 public work projects, 11 education projects, 9 development projects in Baghdad, 8 development cooperation projects, 8 environmental projects, 6 health projects, 6 agriculture projects, 5 water projects, 4 housing projects, 3 higher education projects, 3 labor and social projects,3 industrial projects, 10 transport projects and others."

In another good news for increased Iraqi participation in the reconstruction process: "According to employment figures compiled by the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), the United States Aid for International Development (USAID), Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP), Military Construction (MILCON) and Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I), reconstruction employment has risen to 167,000 in March."

In recent reconstruction initiatives:

As part of its "Toward cleaner and more shining Iraq", the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works is spending 136 million dinars ($93,000) on various projects in Almoseib governorate, including paving roads, constructing additional bridges and building public parks.

Following the recent successful reconstruction programs in Baghdad's Sadr City to provide water and electricity to its previously much-neglected residents, as well as clean up the suburb, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is now conducting further consultation with members of the area's local government to work out plans for the second round of reconstruction projects.

Throughout Bahgdad and other cities, the Ministry of Electricity is starting a program to improve street lighting.

In Najaf municipality, 107 billions dinars ($73 million) will be spent in the current year on reconstruction and service provision. $70 million is being spent on local roads, important for religious tourism in this town.

In the Misan province, a major road building and surfacing program has already finished work on 450 kilometers of roads, with plans for improvements on further 600 kilometers.

In electricity news, the Ministry of Electricity has issued a directive that power stations which employ permanent maintenance staff have to from now on operate 24 hours a day.

In growing energy cooperation with Iraq's neighbors, Iran will be increasing electricity exports to Iraq from 90-100 MWs currently to 145 MW by next June. In that time-frame, "the technical procedures needed for connecting the electricity networks of Iran and Iraq [will be completed]. When this goal will be met, the third stage begins, in which Iraq will be able to import larger amount of electricity from Iran, according to its needs." In recent talks with Turkey, it was also agreed to

"accomplish the second stage of the electrical connection project with Turkey. This stage includes increasing of the electrical energy transformed from Turkey to Iraq to 220-250 Megawatts from the end of next June, up from 150-160 Megawatts, which were provided during the first stage. The two sides discussed also the third stage, in which Iraq will import 700-1000 Megawatt, while this will demand to arrange lines of more than 400 Kilo Volt. The Turkish side also promised to study the possibility of connecting the electricity networks of the two countries, in case of fulfilling the third stage."

"The Water Department in the restive city of Mosul implemented 31 projects last year, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Municipality and Public Works.

"Mohammed Ahmad, the department's head, said more than 19 kilometers of new pipes were extended in Mosul, the northern city which sees almost daily attacks against U.S. and Iraq forces. Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province which also includes other sizeable towns and districts.

"Ahmad said old pipes were replaced in several towns, new water projects executed and numerous buildings constructed to house officials ensuring 'an uninterrupted flow of water supplies' to the province's nearly 3 million people.

"He said drinking water was available to the whole city and a large portion of villages in the province. Small-scale water purification projects were constructed in several areas inside Mosul and outlying districts, he said.

"The town of Telaafar, where U.S. troops battle insurgents regularly will soon have a new water project along with Zammar. Ahmad said more than 15,000 kilometers of pipes were extended in provincial towns and villages last year."

"Essential health care equipment arrived in emergency rooms and supply houses throughout Iraq to help Iraqis strengthen their health services. This project is being implemented by UNICEF with the support of a $36 million USAID grant. Recent emergency health equipment deliveries include 300 Emergency Health Kits, intravenous fluids and 29,332 tubes of Flamazine cream, a medicine essential in managing burns.

"To contribute to combating malnutrition, UNICEF supplied 405 clinical scales for infants and newborns. Since the project commenced, a total of 2,300 scales have been delivered to maternity wards, pediatric wards, and delivery rooms where they are used to register and manage low birth weight infants. To reduce the prevalence of micronutrient deficiency disorders, 76 feeders have been also delivered to wheat flour mills throughout the country. These feeders will allow mills to enrich wheat flour with iron and folic acid, nutrients deficient in diets throughout Iraq."

"Nine Iraqi students have arrived at Education City to take up scholarships granted by Qatar Foundation. The group, which has studied together for the past six years at Baghdad's School for the Gifted, will begin their university career with a one-year course at the Academic Bridge Programme. Alongside other high-potential students, they will have intensive coaching in the core skills required for admission to Education City's top-flight universities, including maths, computer skills and English language. Eight of the scholarship students hope to study medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College-Qatar, while the ninth is seeking entry to the prestigious petroleum engineering programme at Texas A & M University-Qatar. The students' tuition and living expenses will be entirely met by Qatar Foundation for the duration of their academic programmes."

"In a hot and dusty village near Bayji, Iraq, surrounded by miles and miles of desert, at least 50 Iraqi kids are wearing new sandals that were bought right here in Bucks. The springtime chill doesn't lend itself to thinking about open-toe weather just yet, but a month-old goodwill project that's collected 250 pairs of sandals has got Northampton residents doing just that.

"The project, Brad's Sandalmania, was the brainchild of Council Rock graduate Brad Raudenbush, 22, who was sent overseas in June for service in Iraq. The Temple University criminal justice major wrote in a recent e-mail that he thought of distributing sandals to promote goodwill among Iraqis after checking out some Army photos of the region he was heading to."

"Beanie babies can save a soldier's life. In fact, they can save a number of them, said Denise Rozell and her 10-year-old daughter, Destiny Fulsom. A few weeks ago, Rozell and Fulsom, a fifth grader at Westwood Elementary, were watching the evening news when they saw an interview with a soldier in Iraq. The soldier told how their convoy spotted an Iraqi girl on the side of the road and they recognized the girl because one of the soldiers had given her a Beanie Baby a few days earlier. The Iraqi girl proceeded to point out to the soldiers where all the land mines were located, Rozell said.

"The news sparked an idea in both Rozell and Fulsom's minds. 'We started thinking about all the beanies in the house and thought "Why don't we send them to soldiers",' Rozell said. Rozell got in touch with Barbara Luttmer, who works at the Morrison American Legion Auxiliary. Luttmer knew how to send the beanies to the soldiers because the auxiliary had sent supplies to troops in the past. Starting March 21, Rozell and Fulsom began to collect the Beanie Babies by putting a drop-off point at Westwood Elementary. A mother of three children, Rozell has also received help from co-workers who have volunteered to help with the process."

"A new programme to assist the poorest and most disadvantaged members of Iraqi society was launched recently by the Minister of Public Works and Social Affairs, Leila Abdul Lattif.

"The project employs a team of six psychologists who travel the streets of the capital under police guard, searching for the destitute, orphans, the elderly and disabled homeless. Most have no means of support other than begging. They are offered refuge at a centre called 'The Mercy House'.

Here, a variety of support services are offered by professional and volunteer workers, including doctors and psychologists. Each person who accepts assistance is given an individual psychological assessment and their difficulties are analysed. An individual programme is then worked out to help them cope with whatever issues have resulted in them being on the streets."

"Shiites and Sunnis sat side byside as blood filled bags through plastic tubes, hoping their donation will help whoever needs it.

"Dozens of Iraqis, from all walks of life with different sectarian and ethnic backgrounds, lined up Sunday outside a blood donation station set at the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party which initiated the blood donation campaign.

" 'The goal of such a blood drive is to achieve the unity of the Iraqi people, under humanitarian actions,' [said] doctor Alaa Maki, also a member of the party... 'The donated blood will be distributed to all Iraqis no matter who they are and we also call for other Iraqi parties and humanitarian institutions to do the same to save the lives of Iraqi patients and wounded people while living together in peace,' said Maki while busy helping the donors.

"The Iraqi National Center for Blood Donation is facing an acute shortage of blood since the tide of violence in the already war-ravaged country sees no sign of easing away. The Iraqi hospitals are also in need of medicine and medical appliances. The blood donation campaign, designated to help address the problem, is expected to last for several days. 'Nothing can better fraternize the divided Iraqis than blood,' [said] doctor Abdul Wadod Khaled."

"According to Mike Mitchell, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project engineer, sewage backups into the streets and homes of the residents of Baghdad create a hazardous environment.

" 'Particularly hazardous considering the Baghdad sewer systems harbor hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane, unexploded ordnance and fecal born-diseases, among numerous other hazards.'

"The intent of sewer line cleaning is to remove foreign materials from the lines and restore the sewer to a minimum of 95 percent of the original carrying capacity or as required for proper seating of internal pipe joint sealing packers."

"As March draws to a close, temperatures in Iraq are on the rise. Getting more electricity on the national grid is of foremost concern as the summer months draw near. An international team of engineers and technical professionals at the Bayji power plant has spent the past nine months working to get an additional 270 megawatts of power on the grid, which is enough energy to power more than 200,000 Iraqi homes and businesses.

"In April 2004, a $64 million contract was awarded to Odebrecht-Austin, Joint Venture to rehabilitate two gas turbine units, each capable of generating 135 megawatts of power. After months of hard work, the units had 'first fires' Feb. 25 and March 11 and started applying power to the national grid March 3 and 16. Final reliability tests are being performed, and the project will be transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity this month, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said."

"Iraq's Ramadi Barrage, on the Euphrates River, is to be repaired at a cost of $3 million. 'The repair work is scheduled to begin mid-April or May, pending SPCO approval and contractor selection, with a completion date of mid-April 2006,' said Brian Anderson, US Army Corps of Engineers project engineer. 'Repairing the barrage will provide jobs for the Iraqi people and ensure that it will operate properly for its designed purposes, which are irrigation and flood control,' Anderson said.

"Barrages in Iraq are of critical national importance and key infrastructure significance for its people. The Ramadi Barrage is part of a sensitive system designed for flood control and irrigation storage that consists of the Warrar Inlet Canal structure, Al Duban Regulator and the Habbaniyah Reservoir. During the 1991 Gulf War, seven of the barrage's gates were damaged by air-to-ground missiles. The damaged gates were left in the down position resulting in a loss of performance, particularly during floodwater periods."

"Millions of dollars in Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Funds are being spent to repair and reconstruct schools throughout Iraq. The majority of the reconstruction work is being done by local Iraqi companies.

" 'The future of any country lies with its children,' said Linda Carter, construction representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Kirkuk area office. 'Schools are instrumental in the proper development of our children. It's difficult to learn in buildings that are overcrowded and in disrepair.'

"Currently, over $2 million is being spent on 38 school renovations in the province of Kirkuk. There is an additional $1.4 million available that is expected to be used on eight more schools. That contract is currently out for bid. So far, three schools have been completed, and an additional eight are scheduled for completion this month.

"The schools being reconstructed were selected from a priority list provided by the province's Director General of Education. The DG provided a list of 80 schools in need of renovation and repair. The plan is to do as many schools as possible with the available $3.4 million."

"The four Humvees rumbled down the street and turned into an empty lot. The soldiers dismounted, scrutinized the dirt and rocks for hidden bombs, and scanned windows and rooftops for hidden gunmen.

"Then, one Humvee pulled up to a driveway and backed up to a building where some men and boys were waiting. The building was a clinic, and inside the Humvee were boxes of medical supplies.

" 'They go through 100 syringes a day,' said Dr. (Capt.) Mike Tarpey of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment.

"Supporting health care is a priority for the 42nd Infantry Division, which began its one-year deployment to Iraq in February. While U.S. troops provide most of the muscle and means, they also try to bring local Iraqis into the mix. The men at the clinic were local officials and clinic workers, who it is hoped will get some credit for the delivery."

"Once the Basrah firm, Mott McDonald, completed its assessments of 13 police stations throughout Maysan Province, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South, or GRS, awarded contracts to local Iraqi construction firms to implement the planned renovation reconstruction. These 13 stations represent only the beginning of the program as additional stations undergo assessments in the future...

"Based upon the size of each station and the renovations required, individual station reconstruction costs will range from $65,000 to $180,000.

"Renovations to the initial 13 stations will directly improve the security and working conditions for approximately 1500 police in Maysan Province. However, the construction upgrades will serve to have a ripple effect, thereby delivering benefits that extend far beyond the police station walls.

" 'Approximately 800-1200 Iraqis will be put to work in conjunction with the renovation program,' said [construction manager Ken] Derickson, 'thereby stimulating the local economies throughout Maysan Province'."

"When villagers saw the cloud of dust from an approaching U.S. convoy, they hoped Iraq's new powerbrokers had come to solve problems: a broken well, a dilapidated school. But the U.S. soldiers, mindful that their eventual departure hinges on robust local governments, directed villagers to local officials and elected representatives - a mind-bending concept for Iraqis formerly accustomed to all power flowing from Saddam Hussein in Baghdad.

"In modern Iraqi history, local governments have hardly been the place to solve problems. Other groups - the former dictator's Baath Party, the Iraqi army, tribal leaders, clerics - have been far more relevant to daily life. 'In Saddam's Iraq, everyone was encouraged to look to the center - and to a lesser degree the party - for action,' said Phebe Marr, author of 'The Modern History of Iraq.'

"The United States is now using millions of reconstruction dollars to repair the capabilities and image of local governments, a central component to an Iraq free of strongmen or bureaucrats who cater to segments of a diverse and fractured society. 'Everything we do, we try to put the Iraqi army, Iraqi police, and local government at the forefront and give them the credit,' said Capt. Chris Chang, a native of Los Angeles and a civilian affairs officer in the 278th Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division.

"City councils have emerged as a new power, channeling U.S. funds for reconstruction projects that pay local residents to build schools, hospitals and other public facilities."

"One day last year, while driving a Humvee along the dusty roads of Baghdad's Green Zone, Capt. Steve Lindsley spotted two young Iraqi men, both amputees and tottering on makeshift crutches.

"And so, Lindsley found the first two patients for Operation Restoration, his makeshift prosthetics clinic for Iraqi civilians funded in part by Plymouth, Minn.-based Otto Bock HealthCare.

"Ali, 14, had lost his right leg above the knee in a hit-and-run traffic accident seven years earlier. And Taleb, 20, was a child when his leg was amputated below the knee, because of complications from a cancerous tumor. Neither had ever received proper prosthetic care.

"Lindsley, of Monroe, La., was deployed to Iraq as a logistics officer with the Mississippi Army National Guard's 112th Military Police Battalion. But his civilian job as clinical manager at the prosthetics and orthotics clinic at Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center was never far from his mind.

" 'While in the Green Zone, I started seeing Iraqis walking around; some of them didn't have limbs. That was where I decided that I needed to try to help,' he said.

"So Lindsley and his friend, Sgt. Chris Cummings, set up a free clinic in the huge basement kitchen of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. 'The palace has been bombed and wasn't in very good condition, the lighting was poor, the electrical substandard,' Lindsley recalled. 'We made do'."

"When Joseph Yorski was serving a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq, he noticed Iraqi police had little protection compared to his peers in the New Britain Police Department. Upon his return, the officer decided to help fellow law enforcement officials by spearheading a movement to outfit Iraqi police with old, surplus equipment instead of following regular procedure, which calls to destroy it.

"Yorski, a member of the 143rd Military Police Company and an 11-year veteran of the Police Department, oversees property. He said he took matters into his own hands when asked by acting Chief William Gagliardi to destroy surplus police equipment, which ranges from riot gear to reflective vests.

"Teaming up with America Supporting Americans -- a nonprofit organization that encourages law enforcement agencies and individuals to donate used police equipment -- Yorski collected an extensive amount of gear that will be shipped to Baghdad."

"The rate of U.S. deaths in the Iraq war has fallen sharply since the historic January elections as American military leaders tout progress against the insurgency but warn of a long road ahead.

"March is on pace for the lowest monthly U.S. military death toll in 13 months, and the rate of American fatalities has fallen by about 50 percent since the parliamentary elections in which millions of Iraqis defied insurgents to cast ballots...

"Since the election, the rate of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq has been about 1.7 per day, compared to about 3.4 per day from November to election day -- a 50 percent drop. It is also about one-fifth lower than the rate experienced from the start of the war until the election."

"The Iraqi resistance has peaked and is 'turning in on itself', according to recent intelligence reports from Baghdad received by Middle Eastern intelligence agencies.

"The reports are the most optimistic for several months and reflect analysts' sense that recent elections in Iraq marked a 'quantum shift'. They will boost the government in the run-up to the expected general election in May.

"Though the reports predict that violence against coalition troops and local forces is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, at least two Middle Eastern intelligence agencies believe that recent 'backchannel' initiatives aimed at persuading Sunni Muslim tribes in western Iraq to cease their resistance are meeting with some success.

"The talks are aimed at driving a wedge between so-called Iraqi nationalist elements of the resistance and radical Islamic militants."

"A Pentagon official said there are questions about how many insurgents are hard-core fighters as opposed to 'fence sitters' who might participate in an attack but then lie dormant for weeks at a time. 'There are many part-timers who will quit fighting under the right conditions,' the official said.

"Officials now think that criminals make up more of the insurgents than first thought, meaning many are driven by money, not ideology. And commanders are seeing more foreign fighters because fewer Iraqis are willing to commit themselves to attacks.

"The suspicion that there is a large number of semicommitted insurgents was bolstered by the enemy's failure to disrupt the Jan. 30 elections, when 8 million Iraqis went to the polls."

"Looking cowed and frightened, a bruised young man looks into the television camera and stammers replies to questions from an unseen interrogator. Yes, he says, he was paid to kidnap foreigners in Baghdad. No, he was not a mujahid (holy warrior); just a common criminal cashing in on Iraq's climate of fear.

"The man, described as a captured insurgent, is making a public confession on a TV program on Iraq's government-run al-Iraqiya television station called 'Terror in the Hands of Justice.' Twice daily, Iraqis watch fascinated as a procession of alleged Islamist guerrillas reveal the details of terrorist operations on what can be described as an Iraqi variation on 'America's Most Wanted.' One man said he had stalked 10 college girls who were translators for the U.S. Army, then raped them and killed all of them. Another described how he had beheaded several hostages after first practicing on animals.

"The program has a double aim of showing Iraqis their tax dollars at work: in other words, Iraq's security services making headway in combating the mainly Sunni Muslim insurgency. The second aim is to undermine the mystique of a sinister force that had spread terror among ordinary Iraqis, and to embolden people to come forward with information.

"In the early shows the prisoners were non-Iraqi mujaheddin from other Arab countries who claimed to have crossed into Iraq from Syria to fight in the insurgency. But more recently 'Terror in the Hands of Justice' has focussed on Iraqis, showing mostly petty criminals who claimed to have been lured into the insurgency with promises of payment for taking part in kidnappings and guerrilla operations.

"A report in Thursday's Financial Times said the television program has discredited the mujaheddin and their professions of religious fervor by showing captured insurgents who said they were homosexuals -- still not a socially acceptable group in much of the Middle East. As a result, the word mujahid 'once worn as a badge of pride by anti-American insurgents has become street slang for homosexuals,' the paper reported. Some of the captured guerrillas confessed to holding gay orgies. Recently, Abu Tabarek, a preacher, confessed that insurgents had held morally deviant parties in his mosques.

"Few Iraqis seem to doubt the program's authenticity. Iraqis have actually recognized individual prisoners as their attackers, or even as former friends and acquaintances."

"Although the Iraqi army and elements of the Washington state-based 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, have managed to prevent major attacks locally since the Jan. 30 elections, their success depends on residents' cooperation, said Capt. Mike Yea, 29, from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment...

" 'We rely heavily on town leaders to find out about terrorist activities,' Capt. Yea said, adding that his unit has had particular success acting upon local tips in As Shura, a town that recently had a reputation as an insurgent haven.

"Now, U.S. forces at As Shura get as many as six tips per night, said 1st Sgt. Darren Kinder, 40, from the Delta Company, 52nd Infantry. Sgt. Kinder's unit, attached to the 2nd Battalion, maintains round-the-clock presence at an outpost downtown. 'Some tips pay off, some don't,' Sgt. Kinder said. 'We've asked the local populace to step up, and they've been responding fairly well'."

"Fatma peeked out the window of her Mosul home and saw masked men lobbing mortars at a nearby Iraqi army base for the third time. She decided it would be the last.

"As she telephoned to report the men, Fatma became one of an increasing number of Iraqis tipping off the authorities. Officials say it's a sign the country's fledgling security forces are winning the trust of citizens, turning them against the insurgency.

"U.S. and Iraqi officials say they have seen an increase in calls in recent weeks, especially after Iraq's Jan. 30 elections, although there were no overall figures available on how many people have offered information. In a sign the phenomenon is gathering momentum, some Iraqis told The Associated Press that when they called in information, they were told others already had reported the same incident.

"The growing willingness of Iraqis to cooperate with officials is perhaps also a testimony to the insurgency's own mistakes, which have cost it the sympathy of some. Many say they simply are tired of violence that has overshadowed their lives or claimed people they love."

" 'We work hand-in-hand with Iraqi police instructors. They're learning how to instruct their own people,' said Staff Sgt. Gary R. Rigsby, instructor, 411th MP Company, Fort Hood, Texas.

"The Course is eight weeks long and the cadets go through many areas of training. 'Some of the classes the Iraqi cadets go through is a law week; a human rights class on how to treat personnel; a use-of-force class; a weapons training class where they learn how to use a Glock-19 as well as a an AK-47; and an (anti-terrorism) class,' Rigsby said.

"The academy, with the help of MPs, is graduating about 3,000 cadets per quarter. The attrition rate is at around 10 percent, said Capt. Jeffery Withers, commander, 411th MP Co."

Here's more about new police recruits. Read also about the German contribution to training Iraqi army engineering unit.

In other recent security successes:

numerous weapons caches uncovered and insurgents killed in failed attacks on the Coalition forces on March 24;

on March 25, "Iraqi soldiers backed by US helicopters killed several suspected insurgents and seized 121 more in a dawn raid yesterday, capturing tonnes of explosives earmarked for attacks on the holy city of Karbala", or to be more precise, "3 tons of TNT, 624 rifles, 250,000 light ammunition rounds, 22,000 medium ammunition rounds, 193 RPG launchers, 300 RPG rockets, 27 82mm mortar tubes and 155 82mm mortar rounds";

the arrest of by the soldiers of the Iraqi 1st Army Brigade, 6th Division, of an Iraqi police master sergeant "accused of being the leader of a terror cell. The suspect is also believed to be responsible for the bombing of the Al-Baratha Mosque";

destruction by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and an Iraqi Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team of a large arms cache in Al Kut;

between March 17 and 24, the 2nd Marine Division have detained a total of 147 suspected insurgents throughout the Anbar province and has recovered numerous weapons caches;

on March 28, "U.S. soldiers discovered eight weapons caches near a U.S. military supply route south of Baghdad March 27. The soldiers used metal detectors to find the hidden weapons, which included 58 assorted artillery and mortar rounds, 11 rocket-propelled grenade heat rounds and three RPG launchers. The Americans also uncovered six RPG anti-personnel rounds, 1,000 6.3 mm primers, a machine gun, an AK-47 rifle, and more than 400 rounds of ammunition. Other munitions found include 100 time fuses, 39 booster charges of various sizes, 10 blasting caps, five mortar fuses, two armored vests, detonation cord and a wide assortment of electronic equipment."

the capture in late 2004 (and only recently revealed) of a senior aide to Al Zarqawi. The man has a dual American and Jordanian citizenship and is suspected of helping to coordinate and finance terrorist activities throughout several cities in Iraq;

detaining 26 suspects in operations around Mosul and Tal Afar on March 30 and 31. "Meanwhile, U.S. Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion and 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, responded to 15 separate weapons cache sites approximately 12 kilometers southeast of Camp Fallujah March 29" (more here);

detaining of six insurgents after an unsuccessful attack on an US Army patrol near Ad Duluiyah;
"Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained seven people suspected of a rocket attack near a Coalition Forces base near Hawija about 3:30 p.m., March 29. The TF Liberty combat patrol was investigating the suspected point of origin of the attack when it detained five people in a vehicle. They were in possession of a video camera containing footage of terrorists firing mortars, a pamphlet on firing mortars, and mortar and rocket firing data. Two others were detained near the Coalition Forces base and are suspected of observing the impact of the rocket attack";

killing by the Iraqi Army of 17 insurgents in eastern Diyala province on April 4, while sustaining only 1 dead;

detaining 24 suspected insurgents, mostly by the Iraqi forces, around Mosul on 2 and 3 April.

As the Iraqi Minister for Human Rights Bakhtiar Amin said about the proceedings of the National Assembly: "There will be a place in jail for Saddam and the 11 to watch the TV to understand their time is finished, there is a new Iraq and that they are no longer ruling the country; so they can understand that in the new Iraq, people are elected and they are not coming to power by a coup d'etat."

The reaction? "Saddam Hussein watched the televised election of Iraq's new president from his jail cell yesterday and was 'clearly upset', a senior official said."

Well, it was all worth it for that alone.