Monday, March 28, 2005
Good news from Iraq, Part 24
Note: Also available at the "Opinion Journal" and Winds of Change. Big thanks to James Taranto and Joe Katzman respectively, and to everyone who contributes and supports this series.
Something strange took place a few days ago in Doura, a working-class suburb of Baghdad. So much so that even the "New York Times" had to sit up and take notice:
As the old saying goes, one swallow does not make a spring, even if a very angry one and armed with AK-47, but the indications are that in the new, post-election environment, more and more ordinary Iraqis are standing up to be counted in the fight for the future of their country. Violence, hardship and frustration there are still aplenty in Iraq today, but a lot of positive developments have also been taking place for quite some time now. Below, a round-up of some stories you might have missed over the past two weeks. Maybe the "New York Times" will report on these trends in a few months' time.
SOCIETY: "We are part of history," said Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a candidate for oil minister, as the National Assembly opened for its first, ceremonial, session on 16 March to swear in the 275 members. As one report noted, the timing was quite symbolic, seeing that it comes just after two years since the liberation of Iraq has begun. Fuad Masoum, a Kurdish delegate, has also reminded everyone of another poignant piece of symbolism: it was the 17th anniversary of Saddam dropping chemical weapons on Kurdish cities, including Halabja (on that same anniversary, the Ministry of Human Rights has made a proposal that 5 per cent of all future oil revenues should be set aside to care for the victims of Saddam's regime).
The Sunnis, who because of the boycott and violence have missed out on greater representation in the National Assembly, are uniting politically in order not to miss the boat completely in shaping the future Iraq: "Outgoing interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawir he has formed a committee of leading Sunni Muslim figures to negotiate for posts in an eventual Shia-Kurd coalition government. 'In order to avoid multiple efforts, we have decided to form a committee that would preserve a role for Sunnis in the next government,' he said."
While Iraq's new political structures and arrangements are slowly taking shape, USAID has been providing considerable assistance to prepare the necessary National Assembly infrastructure (link in PDF):
While democracy is being born, a new opinion poll from inside Iraq paints an increasingly optimistic picture for the future:
Civil society struggles to be reborn throughout Iraq. Dyali province has held its first conference for 81 non-government organizations and associations that sprung out since the downfall of the Saddam regime to work for individual rights and public good. Western help is essential to that process. The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University is heavily involved:
Across the Middle East people have a lot to complain about; in Iraq they have the unparalleled opportunity to read and write about it:
USAID is also helping to develop sport and recreation throughout the country through its Community Action Program (link in PDF). Most recently USAID has organized a sports and folklore carnival north of Basra, renovated a sports stadium in At Tamim province, and renovated a gym at a sports complex at a Qadissiyah Teachers College. Speaking of sport, soccer fans in Iraq and Australia are preparing themselves for a friendly clash in Sydney.
Lastly, this good news story:
Meanwhile, in another piece of good economic news, inflation in Iraq is falling dramatically.
Considerable assistance is currently being provided for Iraq's banking and financial system. USAID and Citigroup are providing a grant worth $131 million ($92 million from Citigroup, with the remainder from USAID) to Iraqi medium-size businesses "in order to help them to meet their financial obligations." USAID is also helping Iraq to develop a modern, efficiently administered tax system:
With Iraqi insurance companies free to market whatever products they like, a large number of such companies are now offering a wide range of products to consumers. In addition to the standard life insurance, some of the new products include an insurance program against terrorist activities, looting and theft.
In communications, "according to the latest figures, the number of telephone landline subscribers throughout Iraq is 982,561 and the number of cell phone subscribers is 1,659,638. This combined total of 2,642,199 is 214 percent greater than the number of active landline subscribers before the war. Meanwhile, Internet subscriptions have risen 8 percent to 140,293 over the month of February 2005." The Ministry of Telecommunications has recently unveiled a plan to provide an additional one million telephone lines by the end of 2006, with an extra million new lines being added every year up to 2015 to bring the number of land lines throughout the country to 10 million. In the meantime, the Ministry is reporting on renovation and installation of several phone exchanges throughout the country.
Faced with such growth in the growth, Egyptian telecommunication concern Orascom Telecom is doubling its investment in Iraq to $220 million and is planning to extend its cell phone network to the north of the country.
In good news for trade, "Jordan and Iraq are placing the last touches on an agreement to set up a free trade zone... The Iraqi ministries of trade and industry and transportation have almost completed the draft agreement, which stipulates setting up the free trade zone at the border half inside Iraq and half inside Jordan."
In oil news, the Oil Ministry "is preparing long term plans to increase the level of oil production to 3.5 million b/d [barrels per day]...The cost of implementing of these plans would be US$4 billion, and that the production increase will be gradual. According to the plans, it will be achieved by 2007... The ministry also set plans to increase the production level of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the cooperation of leading foreign companies." Speaking at the 14th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS 2005), held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed Al Shamma has invited 280 companies from 21 countries which are taking part in the exhibition to take part in developing Iraqi oil industry. According to the Deputy Minister,
The authorities have recently signed $50 million contracts with Indian and German companies to transport gas from Basra to Alnaseriya Almoseib, outside Baghdad. Under a three-year, $3.8 million program, the government of Norway is preparing to assist the Iraqi oil industry with "training and education for Iraqi oil officials, setting up regulations for oil field operations and accounting for the income."
In transport news, a major infrastructure project around Baghdad gets a go-ahead:
Authorities at the Irbil airport are confident that their airport will be soon accredited by the experts as an international facility:
RECONSTRUCTION: As reconstruction picks up speed across Iraq, the effort shifts to decentralize the process and bring it to the local level, as this example from the north of the country shows:
Meanwhile, in Jordan, "hundreds of Arab and foreign firms are expected to take part in the largest yet Iraq reconstruction fair in Amman, event organizers said on Tuesday. 'This is the biggest event in the Jordanian capital. We expect 900 companies from 43 countries to participate in the Rebuild Iraq 2005 fair that will take place from April 4-7,' said Fadi Kaddoura, the project manager of the event said." Another report notes that the fair will attract "the largest international support ever extended to any trade event in the region." And speaking of Jordan, "a spokesman for the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced that it had opened its first branch outside Iraq in the Jordanian capital of Amman. He revealed that this branch's main objective is to encourage Arab and foreign businessmen to invest in Iraq."
In some recent reconstruction projects: Tenders and Projects Department within the American Development Agency for the Reconstruction of Iraq is aiming to implement 2,500 reconstruction projects throughout this year, compared to 1,800 in 2004. Roads in the Abu Ghraib districts will be renovated and paved under a new scheme from the Ministry of Municipalities and Works. On top of the reconstruction work on water, power and education in Fallujah, the Iraqi government will be spending $100 million to compensate its residents for damage suffered in recent fighting. Projects are also planned for the Alahwar (Marshland) region, including "paving and asphalting major roads, building and repairing schools, improving health services and providing electricity to the citizens." You can read more about the plans for the marshlands here. South Korean government has donated $6 million worth of machinery and equipment to the Iraqi Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works for various reconstruction projects. In the Wassit province, the authorities are reporting all the reconstruction activities planned for 2004 as completed (including road paving program and construction of a sports stadium and a supermarket).
In electricity news, the Ministry of Electricity has announced that the level of 5,000 MW has been reached and the Ministry plans to provide Iraqis with 18 hours of electricity a day by adding further 1,500 MW over the near future.
In another step towards connecting Iraq to the regional power infrastructure, a 124-mile powerline will link the al-Risheh power grid in Jordan and the Ukashat area in western Iraq. Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Libya have already linked their electricity grids, with Lebanon and Turkey expected to follow soon, and with Iraq also becoming the beneficiary of energy imports from Jordan and Egypt. Within 6 months, Turkey's Black Sea Wholesale Electricity Trade (KARTET) Company will be increasing its exports of energy to Iraq from 200 to 1,000 MW. Turkey will also be helping with the rehabilitation of power lines. And Iran will soon be exporting 100 MW of electricity to Iraq.
The Ministry of Electricity has announced plans to allow foreign companies to operate in Iraq's electricity market. The plan envisages foreign companies building an owning power stations, from which the authorities will be buying electricity. To expand the private sector involvement, the Ministry has also recently signed a contract with a private company for the construction, with the help of Japanese companies and Arab investors, a power station with a capacity of 150 MW.
The dreaded Halliburton, meanwhile, delivers on a significant electricity project: "KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton has announced the completion of its Al Ameen power substation project, the largest substation in Iraq, outside of Baghdad. The Al Ameen power substation, key to Iraq's ability to provide efficient power distribution throughout Baghdad and the rest of the country, is one of three awarded reconstruction projects KBR has received. Work on the Al Ameen substation project, valued at $59.4 million, began in March 2004 . The substation is now under the operation of Iraq's Ministry of Electricity."
In Basra, the authorities have added three power stations (11\33 KV) and are planning to build 5 transformers in other provinces. In Baghdad, the Ministry has allocated $75 million for the renovation of electricity grid in Sadr City.
The Ministry of Water, which looks after Iraq's dams, is reporting on its successful contribution to electricity production around Iraq. Under normal circumstances, hydroelectricity contributed between 15 and 20 per cent to the national power production, but recently that has increased to 40 per cent.
USAID is close to finishing the electrification of a vital piece of Baghdad transport infrastructure: "Work is nearly complete on the restoration of Baghdad International Airport Electrical Substation #1 which controls airstrip lighting on the commercial side of the airport. The power facility was bombed and badly damaged during the war. Switchgear and constant-current regulators were damaged beyond repair. Although the building that houses the substation remains intact the old 500 kVA emergency diesel generator that provides standby power must be removed and replaced." Work is also nearly finished on the expansion of a power plant south of Baghdad (link in PDF).
It's not just physical infrastructure as USAID is providing vital training for the electricity specialists:
In water news, the authorities are working on a new water project in the province of Al Kut, which at the cost of 72 million dinars ($51,000) and after three years will be providing the local residents with 10,000 square meters of water per hour. Part of the project involves replacement of the old water pipes and construction of 13 water reservoirs.
In the province of Wasit, the authorities are spending 28 billion dinars ($19.1 million) on various projects. "The most important of these projects is building 22 water assembly facilities with a capacity of 1 million gallons per facility in different neighborhoods... These projects consist of building a 385-kilometer long water transport system and a 55-kilometer long water pipelines system." Significant proportion of a 3.5 billion dinar program ($2.4 million) has already been implemented, including "the construction of irrigation channels and water dams to prevent the waste of water."
Outside Karbalah, in areas suffering from water shortages, the authorities will be installing 8 pumps, each with capacity of 0.5 mln liters per day, and each servicing 5,000 people. The Iraqi Water Authority has started work on a program to dig 1,500 new water wells in northern Iraq in the districts of Kirkuk, Irbil, Sulaimaniya and Dahok. "Last year, the authority executed 106 wells by $1 million costs in Kirkuk, 21 wells in Irbil, 7 wells in Dahouk and 7 wells in Sulaimaniya."
USAID continues to work on improving access to rural water (link in PDF):
Longer term, people in the most arid areas of Iraq will also benefit from American space technology:
In urban planning news, "[the Ministry of Municipality and Public Works'] Urban Planning Department had allocated ID 7 billion [$4.8 million] to prepare designs and studies for building new cities in different Iraqi districts... The ministry's engineering companies had [also] completed the designs to modernizing the historical, religious and tourist Iraqi cities of Al-Kut, Mosel, Irbil, Najaf, Karbalaa and Basra... $100 million was allocated to finance the design plans for these important Iraqi cities." Speaking of urban development, in Baghdad the authorities are currently engaged in a program to rehabilitate the capital's public parks and to construct new ones.
The efforts are also being made to involve the whole communities on the grass-roots level in the reconstruction process. This conference, called "New Dawn", is giving Iraqi Non-Government Organisations a chance to network, exchange ideas and gain advice for developing strategies on reconstruction programmes:
Health infrastructure, much neglected over the past few decades continues getting upgraded. As part of its plan to construct 150 new health centers across Iraq, the authorities have recently opened 4 new clinics in the province of Missan. In the province of Diyala, a new 400-bed hospital is under construction and 12 clinics will be built in the province's villages. USAID's Community Action Program team has constructed a health clinic at the university of Karbalah. Under the same program, an intensive care unit has been added to a local hospital in At Tamim governorate (link in PDF). USAID is also providing funding to combat dysentery in northern Iraq. Baghdad's second largest hospital has been recently renovated and resupplied thanks to USAID's assistance (link in PDF).
Alqadeseya University's medical college has established "a unit for Endoscopy surgery for spinal cord. This unit is considered to be the first of its kind in Iraq... The unit will be used for both educational and treatment purposes... One of the Iraqi doctors participated in a special seminar in Europe to understand how the unit works in order to use it appropriately in Iraq." At Kadissa University, meanwhile, a new surgery unit has been opened at the college of medicine.
In education news, the British Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research "has agreed with the Iraqi Academicians Association in the UK to hold a global conference dedicated to discussing means of rehabilitating higher education and scientific research sector in Iraq and ensures its needs." The Ministry of Education has set aside 60.6 billion dinars ($41 million) for the reconstruction of Basra University. This includes "the establishment of the university presidency building, at a cost of 4 billion dinars [$2.7 million], fine arts theatre, historical studies college library, faculties of pharmacy, medicine and law, Basra university location services, a central library, lectures halls complexes, new departments in the faculty of engineering and other projects. The time limit for executing those projects does not exceed 20 months."
The work continues on a 14.5 billion dinar ($10 million) project to construct science and media colleges at Baghdad University. The Ministry of Education has allocated $50 million for the implementation of education projects throughout Basra governorate, including rehabilitation of 29 schools.
In recent examples of foreign assistance for the Iraqi higher education system, this initiative from DePaul University:
The Ministry of Education has recently employed 7,000 university graduates as teachers, guides and librarians. Some of them are former employees dismissed for political reasons under the Saddam regime. In An Najaf province, USAID will be helping local Parents and Teachers associations and communities to replace mud and reed schools with proper concrete buildings.
In agriculture, in Diyala province, USAID's Community Action Programme (link in PDF) is helping local farmers to set up beekeeping and calf fattening cooperatives. USAID is also assisting with the growth of the date palm industry:
HUMANITARIAN AID: British NGO, Baby Lifeline, is organizing training seminars for Iraqi doctors: "The medical training conference will include scientific meetings and discussions with the participation of 90 Kuwaiti doctors regarding mother and embryo health, including several practical exercises. The general manager of Basra health department, Dr. Raed Salman, said that international conferences of this kind contribute to knowledge and information exchange, which is very important for Iraq, which was isolated from the rest of the world during the last 20 years." Says Judy Ledger, founder and chief executive of Baby Lifeline: "Delegates have been telling me that this is the sort of event they've wanted and needed for so long. When the first Iraqi delegates came through they were so excited to be here with colleagues from all over the country. The idea is the people here over the next three days will be able to disseminate what we're teaching them to their colleagues, so we're not just showing how it's done in the UK, we're also educating them so they can educate others." And Dr Ali Kubba, an Iraqi consultant community gynaecologist at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, in London, adds: "Iraq's healthcare system has endured severe challenges in past and present times, and women bore the brunt of the service's degradation. As Iraq emerges from the catastrophes of recent years, the care of women and children must top the agenda here." More about the conference here.
Red Crescent society of the United Arab Emirates is donating $250,000 for the construction of an orphanage in Sadr City in Baghdad. The society is already providing support to some 6,000 Iraqis. The UAE are also providing considerable humanitarian assistance to the residents of Fallujah.
Throughout the United States, private local initiatives are involving whole communities in helping Iraqi people. This, from Pittsburg, as part of the Operation I CAN, Iraqi Children Assistance Network:
This from Arkansas:
THE COALITION TROOPS: In addition to civilian contractors and Iraqis themselves, the Coalition forces continue to play a prominent role in the reconstruction effort. As this report indicates, the pace of reconstruction is picking up:
In Fallujah, "the I Marine Expeditionary Force Engineer Group (I MEG) officially stood down Friday, and was relieved by the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (30th NCR), in a Transfer of Authority ceremony held at Camp Fallujah, in western Iraq." Both the Marines before them and Seabees now are involved in a whole range of reconstruction projects: "Currently, there are 77 reconstruction projects funded with $66 million for the city of Fallujah. Another 52 projects have been identified and are under consideration as well."
In Tikrit, the troops from the 3rd Infantry Division at Forward Operating Base Dagger have donated five new ambulances to the local health service. "Before we had ambulances from the old regime. The ambulances we had were not very fast, making it difficult for us to respond quickly during an emergency. The new ambulances are great. I hope we can get more of them in the future," says Thamer Najim Abdulla, the local ambulance driver.
You can also read this story about the work of one unit in Baghdad:
Other troops help to keep vital infrastructure going:
Sometimes the projects are small and very local. In Abu-Dashir, located in the Al Rasheed province, "soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment and 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, teamed up with a local contractor to clean up the roads and repair a broken sewage pipe... News about the sewage work spread fast and within minutes, more than 60 children surrounded the work site. Soldiers distributed soccer balls and other items to keep the children away from the work."
And sometimes, the soldiers' work is quite ephemeral: "For many in Iraq, democracy is a bitter pill to swallow. For U.S. soldiers, who are trained to fight and win battles, propping up the new democracy while discreetly putting an 'Iraqi face' on events has been a delicate task. For soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 42nd Infantry Divisions Task Force Liberty, practicing diplomacy is one of the main jobs."
The troops are also trying to deal with the consequences of past violence across the country. This is how the Army's "condolences payments" program is working out in practice:
Soldiers are also involved in humanitarian work:
Its not just the American troops, but other allies, too, continue to play important role. USAID's Local Governance Progarm is working with "Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) army groups from Poland and El Salvador to prepare them to better administer infrastructure development projects in South Central Iraq" (link in PDF):
The Iraqi authorities are reporting on successes in the hotspot of Samarra:
In most recent contributions to the growth of the Iraqi forces:
Iraqi military is also receiving non-combat training: "The first class of the new Iraqi Army Support and Services Institute kicked off March 21 with 153 students from the 1st Division of the Iraqi Intervention Force. The students are divided into six classes transport supervisors, wheeled maintenance, armored maintenance, supply supervisor, basic logistic officers for supply and basic logistic officer for maintenance and transport. The 30-day training program is being taught by a Coalition Force team made up of 12 officers and 17 enlisted personnel." The course is designed to give the Iraqi Army logistical self-sufficiency.
You can also read this postcard from the training, as new and improved system kick into gear:
There's training, too, for police special forces: "The Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq Civilian Police Assistance Training Team (CPATT) is approaching the halfway point in training and fielding Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to each governorate. Seven teams are trained and equipped; two others are currently in training. The program is designed to provide a SWAT team for each of 20 major Iraqi cities, with at least one in each governorate. Each team consists Iraqi police officers, including a captain in command."
In recent security successes throughout the country: the arrest of a female member of Al Zarqawi's network in Iraq; the arrest by the Iraqi security forces in the village of Hib Hib of 30 suspected insurgents "including the suspected leader of a bomb-planting insurgency cell and a man suspected of murdering a mayor and plotting the assassination of his successor" ("It was the first battalion-sized operation conducted by the U.S.-trained Iraqis in Diyala province in north-central Iraq"); the arrest of a Saudi national would-be suicide bomber preparing an attack on a military base near Kirkuk; the discovery of three arms caches by an Iraqi unit which has just be trained in the use and supplied with metal detectors; the foiling by Iraqi highway patrol officers in Dhi Qar of a kidnapping and, in two separate incidents, capturing hijackers in Dhi Qar and Basra; the discovery of three weapons caches in Mosul and Tal Afar; the capture by Iraqi security forces of 81 suspected insurgents in the Ninveh province and discovery of a weapons cache in the Missan province; the arrest of one of Saddam's bodyguards and one of his relatives, suspected of financing the insurgency; disarming a road-side bomb and the arrest of suspected bombmakers near Forward Operating Base Kalsu; the dismantling of three roadside bombs in Baghdad thanks to a tip from a local; the capture of a terrorist, Ramzi Hashem, who confessed to assassinating former head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Mohammed Baker al-Hakim, in a car bomb in Najaf more than a year ago, and who was planning the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Sistani; killing of 24 insurgents in a skirmish near Baghdad; the discovery of 24 buried roadside bombs in south Baghdad; killing and arrest of insurgents while planting several roadside bombs in Salah Ad Din province and Baghdad; killing of 17 and arrest of 13 suspected insurgents by Iraqi police anti-terrorism unit in a clash in Mosul; the arrest of nine suspects and recovery of an arms cache following an unsuccessful roadside bomb attack in Baghdad; recovery of arms caches (including one containing 70 land mines) in Miqdadiyah and Baghdad, following a tip from a local; locating and destroying of an insurgent training camp in a joint Iraqi-American operation in southwestern Salah Ad Din province, with reports of up to 85 Baathist insurgents and foreign terrorists killed in the operation ("At the scene, the commandos found documents indicating that there were Syrians, Algerians, other Arabs and at least one Filipino among the insurgents."); recovering by Iraqi troops of two arms caches and foiling a kidnap attempt at a Baghdad bank; and detaining by Iraqi troops around Mosul of some 80 suspects.
And so the struggle for the body and soul of Iraq goes on, from Iyad Allawi down to carpenter Dhia with his AK-47 and masses of other, nameless Iraqis erecting new hospitals, creating free media or setting up new businesses to employ locals; all with a lot of help from people of good will from around the world. On the other side, throat-slashers, saboteurs and suicide-bombers. Regardless of whether we supported or opposed the war, or what we think of the current American policies, for the sake of Iraq let's hope that the Dhias get one better over the masked gunmen.
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Something strange took place a few days ago in Doura, a working-class suburb of Baghdad. So much so that even the "New York Times" had to sit up and take notice:
"Just before noon today, a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming towards his shop and decided he had had enough.The "New York Times" was wrong - this was most certainly not "the first time that private citizens are known to have retaliated successfully against insurgents" (see, for example, this story from January and this one from a few days ago, also quoted below) - but then again, as far as Iraq is concerned, this was far from the first time that the "NYT" has caught onto a trend long apparent to many other observers.
"As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their own AK-47's and opened fire, police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's young nephews and a bystander were injured, the police said.
" 'We attacked them before they attacked us,' Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, said in a brief exchange at his shop a few hours after the battle. He did not give his last name. 'We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen. I am waiting for the rest of them to come and we will show them'."
As the old saying goes, one swallow does not make a spring, even if a very angry one and armed with AK-47, but the indications are that in the new, post-election environment, more and more ordinary Iraqis are standing up to be counted in the fight for the future of their country. Violence, hardship and frustration there are still aplenty in Iraq today, but a lot of positive developments have also been taking place for quite some time now. Below, a round-up of some stories you might have missed over the past two weeks. Maybe the "New York Times" will report on these trends in a few months' time.
SOCIETY: "We are part of history," said Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a candidate for oil minister, as the National Assembly opened for its first, ceremonial, session on 16 March to swear in the 275 members. As one report noted, the timing was quite symbolic, seeing that it comes just after two years since the liberation of Iraq has begun. Fuad Masoum, a Kurdish delegate, has also reminded everyone of another poignant piece of symbolism: it was the 17th anniversary of Saddam dropping chemical weapons on Kurdish cities, including Halabja (on that same anniversary, the Ministry of Human Rights has made a proposal that 5 per cent of all future oil revenues should be set aside to care for the victims of Saddam's regime).
The Sunnis, who because of the boycott and violence have missed out on greater representation in the National Assembly, are uniting politically in order not to miss the boat completely in shaping the future Iraq: "Outgoing interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawir he has formed a committee of leading Sunni Muslim figures to negotiate for posts in an eventual Shia-Kurd coalition government. 'In order to avoid multiple efforts, we have decided to form a committee that would preserve a role for Sunnis in the next government,' he said."
While Iraq's new political structures and arrangements are slowly taking shape, USAID has been providing considerable assistance to prepare the necessary National Assembly infrastructure (link in PDF):
"In anticipation of the Transitional National Assemblys (TNA) inauguration, USAIDs implementing partner, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), has been working with Iraqi parliamentary staff in charge of supporting inauguration and orientation activities for the 275 Assembly members. Following recent training sessions in Baghdad and Amman, NDI continued last week to provide ongoing advice and materials on parliamentary procedures and staffing models and sample organizational charts.There has also been more assistance for the newly elected women members of the National Assembly (link in PDF). On a lower level of governance, USAID's Local Governance Program is working with local governments throughout Iraq to improve service-delivery, train staff and build the necessary expertise (link in PDF). Among recent initiatives: renovating Tax Office, producing payroll database at the Education Directorate, developing accounting system for the Health Directorate, and building databases for the Municipality in Basra governorate; training agricultural staff in Wasit governorate; and providing management training for the Kurdish Regional Government staff.
"A sub-grantee, the State University of New York, Center for International Development (SUNY/CID), prepared studies on parliamentary rules and procedures and NDI completed the handbook orientation manuals for Members of Parliament. Once translation into Arabic and Kurdish is completed, the manuals will be provided to each member of the Assembly during upcoming NDI orientation seminars. A team of SUNY/CID trainers also came to Baghdad last week to follow up on staff training activities. By the time the TNA is inaugurated, over 80 staff members will have undergone training and participated in the assessment of future technical and skill-development needs."
While democracy is being born, a new opinion poll from inside Iraq paints an increasingly optimistic picture for the future:
"The survey of 1,967 Iraqis was conducted Feb. 27-March 5, after Iraq held its first free elections in half a century in January. According to the poll, 62% say the country is headed in the right direction and 23% say it is headed in the wrong direction. That is the widest spread recorded in seven polls by the group, says Stuart Krusell, [International Republican Institute] director of operations for Iraq. In September, 45% of Iraqis thought the country was headed in the wrong direction and 42% thought it was headed in the right direction. The IRI is a non-partisan, U.S. taxpayer-funded group that promotes democracy abroad.For a general comment on the state of the Iraqi psyche, you can also read this extensive report from the "Boston Globe": "In land of fear, hope takes root". Young people, too, are committed to democracy and better future, albeit still somewhat confused as to many details:
"Pollsters did not survey three of Iraq's 18 provinces because of security and logistical concerns. Two of those omitted, Anbar and Ninevah, are predominantly Sunni Muslim. A third, Dahuk, is mostly Kurdish. Krusell said that even if those areas had been included and 100% had expressed negative views, the poll would still have shown that most Iraqis believe that the situation in their country is improving...
"The poll showed that Iraqis are almost evenly split over the role of religion in government, with 48% favoring a 'special role' for religion, but 44% saying religion and government should remain separate. A plurality of 47% say religious leaders should have the greatest input in writing the constitution.
"Krusell said that is not surprising since Iraq is predominantly Muslim but that 'it doesn't translate into support for Sharia,' or strict Islamic law. Of those polled, 22% say the constitution should ensure 'the Muslim identity of Iraq' but only 4% say Sharia should be the most important element."
"The poll, conducted by the Iraqi Prospect Organisation among more than 800 university students and published on Monday, said many of Iraq's youth had a poor understanding of democracy, coloured by their experience of Saddam Hussein's rule and today's widespread instability...However, another recent poll in Baghdad showed that almost 84 per cent of respondents were against implementing Sharia and instituting an Islamic government. As a curious aside, a latest study of 1,000 Iraqi adolescents in 10 Baghdad neighborhoods has found that - counter-intuitively - "the more the teenagers felt that their country and city were unsafe, the more frequently they reported strong self-esteem."
"Conducted at universities in the capital Baghdad, Basra in southern Iraq and Mosul to the north between December 1 and January 29, the poll showed 60 percent of those interviewed thought that democracy was preferable to any other kind of government. Democracy could give better education, jobs and wages for more of the population, they said. Ninety-one percent said living without fear was essential to democracy, but freedom of speech and political participation ranked lower.
"There was strong support for women in government and 68 percent rejected a one-party state. But only 55 percent opposed army intervention in politics and 56 percent were against parliament being abolished in favour of the president...
"The majority of young Iraqis did not support the separation of religion and state, the report showed."
Civil society struggles to be reborn throughout Iraq. Dyali province has held its first conference for 81 non-government organizations and associations that sprung out since the downfall of the Saddam regime to work for individual rights and public good. Western help is essential to that process. The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University is heavily involved:
"The Legal Education Reform project has been conducted in Iraq for the last 18 months and involves 11 law schools. Its main focus is to assist in training law professors in rule of law principles within a country seeking to rebuild basic institutions following decades of a brutal, authoritarian regime. The program highlights a central role of rule of law -- human rights and democratic ideas -- within the country by establishing close working relationships with a broad array of Iraqi legal professionals.USAID is also helping through its transitional grants for Iraqi NGOs (link in PDF). Among recent initiatives: helping two NGOs in northern Iraqi to improve services for local senior citizens, funding training and outreach activities for women, supporting women's newspaper, and helping to equip a human rights NGO.
"IHRLI's work in Iraq also includes a project in cooperation with the American Bar Association and the National Democratic Institute, a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. The partnerships' collaborative work will help the new Iraqi legislature draft a constitution. IHRLI will prepare a briefing book in Arabic on major legal issues facing the drafters. The institute also will soon sign a new contract with the U.S. Department of State to develop a comprehensive program for human rights education in Iraq."
Across the Middle East people have a lot to complain about; in Iraq they have the unparalleled opportunity to read and write about it:
"Iraq's National Assembly adjourned within about 90 minutes of opening to great fanfare Wednesday.The new Iraqi media is already among the most diverse in the region, but it can benefit from a lot more foreign assistance and expertise, such this initiative from Canada:
"A day later, Iraqi newspapers poked fun at what many of the new publications called a hasty retreat of the country's political leaders after they had heralded a new era of democracy.
"Al-Sabah, one of Iraq's leading newspapers, featured a photograph of puffs of smoke rising from the mortar blasts outside the assembly during its opening ceremonies. The tongue-in-cheek headline: 'They met, but they did not agree to meet again.'
"Such headlines would not have been tolerated under Saddam Hussein. Their brashness in bold type is among the surest signs of the country's new freedoms."
"The federal government has hired a Vancouver-based agency to train people for one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq - journalism.Meanwhile, USAID is training journalists through its Iraq Civil Society and Media Support Program (link in PDF).
"It's part of Canada's contribution to building democracy in the volatile country. The Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society will begin training Iraqi journalists next month in Lebanon, where it says the security situation is much less volatile...
"Three days of intensive training for 30 people is scheduled in Beirut in mid-May, when an election campaign is underway in that country."
USAID is also helping to develop sport and recreation throughout the country through its Community Action Program (link in PDF). Most recently USAID has organized a sports and folklore carnival north of Basra, renovated a sports stadium in At Tamim province, and renovated a gym at a sports complex at a Qadissiyah Teachers College. Speaking of sport, soccer fans in Iraq and Australia are preparing themselves for a friendly clash in Sydney.
Lastly, this good news story:
"It is hard to imagine how startled Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of Basra, Iraq, has been to discover that she is the hero of two American children's books.ECONOMY: "Christian Science Monitor" has recently published a reasonably balanced profile of the situation in Iraq two years after liberation. You can read all about the security problems, slow pace of reconstruction, the frustration and nostalgia for the "good old day", but below are a few things that are going well:
"Ms. Baker, who rescued 30,000 books just days before the city's main library was burned during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, has sent e-mail messages recently to thank the authors for 'showing us Iraqis as an educated people' and says she was surprised but also happy that the books 'describe the truth.'
"Both books - 'The Librarian of Basra: A True Story From Iraq' by Jeanette Winter (Harcourt), for children in the lower grades, and 'Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq,' a graphic-novel account by Mark Alan Stamaty (Knopf) for the middle grades and junior high schools - were inspired by a July 2003 report of the rescue by Shaila K. Dewan of The New York Times.
"Mr. Stamaty sets up his version of the story with a character saying, 'It's not necessary to see through walls or fly or have any superpowers at all to be a real-life superhero.'
"The newspaper article told of Ms. Baker, a 50-year-old librarian, who saw government officials using the Central Library in Basra as offices for war preparations, making the building vulnerable to attack. She began quietly removing books. After British forces entered the city and the officials fled, the library was left undefended. With the help of workers from the Hamdan restaurant next door, she, along with shopkeepers, friends, neighbors and co-workers, managed to save 70 percent of the collection. The library mysteriously burned a few days later and Ms. Baker subsequently had a stroke."
"While unemployment is about 48 percent, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Labor and Social Affairs, salaries are higher for the jobs that are available, typically ones linked to the government. Salaries of teachers, bureaucrats, and policemen, have gone up, as have pensions. The starting salary of a policeman is about $220, enough for a family to live on and, to many Iraqis, worth the risk of being targeted by insurgents. Some pensioners and teachers have seen their income grow tenfold.The Iraqi government has revealed its investment priorities for the near future: "Iraq has allocated 7,550 billion Dinar [$5.17 billion] from the current budget to investment. This amount accounts for 21.4 percent of the total Iraqi budget. A report issued by the Iraqi finance ministry showed that the private sector got the highest percentage of allocations, i.e. 937 million Dinar [$0.64 billion]. It was followed by the service, construction and transportation sectors. The report also indicated that the allocations for the public sector distributed as follows: 59.6 percent for oil, 8.5 for electricity and 7 per cent for high education."
"As a result, many families say they can now afford meat with most meals and a wider variety of fruits and vegetables. This, despite prices that have spiked by about a third on some food items, including meat, fruits, and vegetables, according to merchants in Baghdad. But canned foods, soft drinks, and bananas, virtually taxed out of existence before the war, are now available at a fraction of their Hussein-era prices.
"Electronic equipment has also been flying off the shelves since the war opened borders once shuttered by sanctions.
"Many Iraqis can also afford a mobile phone, a modern convenience banned under Saddam Hussein. Egyptian-owned Orascom Telecom, which provides mobile-phone service to Baghdad and central Iraq, had 82,000 subscribers at the end of 2003, the year the company began operating in Iraq. By November 2004, it had signed up 480,000 subscribers and is now planning to reach 1 million subscribers by the end of this year by spreading its services to southern and northern Iraq, according to the company's website."
Meanwhile, in another piece of good economic news, inflation in Iraq is falling dramatically.
Considerable assistance is currently being provided for Iraq's banking and financial system. USAID and Citigroup are providing a grant worth $131 million ($92 million from Citigroup, with the remainder from USAID) to Iraqi medium-size businesses "in order to help them to meet their financial obligations." USAID is also helping Iraq to develop a modern, efficiently administered tax system:
"USAIDs Iraq Economic Governance II (IEG II) program is continuing to work with Iraqi government counterparts to build their capacity to implement tax and customs reform. Recent activities in support of this objective have included:There's more hope for the Iraqi banking system with this infusion of foreign capital:
"- Customs reform. Six customs officials completed training in Jordan on the operation of a new automated Reconstruction Levy system. The levy is a 5% tariff on nearly all imports, helping to finance Iraqi government reconstruction efforts.
"- Financial Management Information System. IEG II recently completed an orientation and computer skills training course in Amman, Jordan for 18 officials from various governorates and ministries that will be using a new Financial Management Information System.
"- Tax administration. IEG II advisors are assisting the Iraqi Tax Commission (ITC) in creating new tax forms. Advisors recently completed a final draft of an upgraded tax return form and a draft guide for the income tax return. Both the guide and the return form are now being translated into Arabic."
"In its first major investment in Iraq's banking sector, the World Bank's private-sector lending arm said on Thursday it would buy a minority stake in Credit Bank of Iraq in partnership with Kuwait's biggest bank, National Bank of Kuwait.USAID, meanwhile, continues to assist with capacity building in the banking industry:
"The International Finance Corp, which has $18 billion invested in private-sector projects in developing countries, said the acquisition was critical to revive Iraq's banking sector, which for years was under state control and in dire need of fresh capital.
"In 1991 Saddam Hussein allowed private Iraqi banks to operate but were prohibited from conducting international transactions. A crippling economic embargo and over-regulation inflicted huge damage on the banking system, which includes 17 private banks and two main state banks."
"USAIDs program advisors work with the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) to improve its ability to conduct macroeconomic policy and supervise banking within the country. Recent activities in support of this objective have included:USAID is also assisting with the development of micro-finance industry (link in PDF). The Housing Bank for Trade and Finance in Jordan is also providing training for Iraqi bank employees in the field of credit services. And "eight representatives of the CBI Bank Supervision Department are receiving training in accounting and financial reporting standards. A course in credit analysis will include representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the Central Bank of Jordan, Banc du Libon and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York." USAID is working in cooperation with Iraqi authorities to improve training infrastructure:
"- Bank Supervision. Eight representatives of the CBI Bank Supervision Department are receiving training in accounting and financial reporting standards. IEG II advisors also developed a course in credit analysis that will include representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the Central Bank of Jordan, Banc du Libon, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
"- Government Securities. The CBI, with IEG II support, is taking the first step toward the development of a secondary debt market by recapitalizing its negotiable treasury bills.
"- Macroeconomic Policy. Advisors finalized a briefing for the CBI Board of Directors on the status and composition of Gross Domestic Product for the final two months of 2004.
"- Inter-bank Payments. IEG II staff working with the U.S. Department of Treasury developed a position paper on the infrastructure necessary to support a fully functional inter-bank payment system. Contractors working for the Department of Treasury will implement the inter-bank payment system."
"The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) is working with the Vocational Training and Employment Services (VTES) program to improve vocational training and employment services in Iraq.The executive manager of the Iraqi stock market, Taha Ahmad Abedelsalaam, informs that the volume of trade is increasing, with 151 billion shares of 85 listed companies currently being traded. Foreign investors have now been allowed to enter Iraqi market and buy up to 49 per cent of shares in any listed Iraq company.
"Under this United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program, VTES will build the capacity of MOLSA to operate a network of training and employment centers. Although the centers already exist, the services they provide do not currently meet these needs.
"The training centers will develop vocational training in the job skills most needed in Iraq today, such as wood working, metal working, English language and other skills, according to USAID.
"Employment centers will help connect Iraqi workers with companies that are hiring, and help ensure that MOLSA is aware of the current needs of the private sector."
With Iraqi insurance companies free to market whatever products they like, a large number of such companies are now offering a wide range of products to consumers. In addition to the standard life insurance, some of the new products include an insurance program against terrorist activities, looting and theft.
In communications, "according to the latest figures, the number of telephone landline subscribers throughout Iraq is 982,561 and the number of cell phone subscribers is 1,659,638. This combined total of 2,642,199 is 214 percent greater than the number of active landline subscribers before the war. Meanwhile, Internet subscriptions have risen 8 percent to 140,293 over the month of February 2005." The Ministry of Telecommunications has recently unveiled a plan to provide an additional one million telephone lines by the end of 2006, with an extra million new lines being added every year up to 2015 to bring the number of land lines throughout the country to 10 million. In the meantime, the Ministry is reporting on renovation and installation of several phone exchanges throughout the country.
Faced with such growth in the growth, Egyptian telecommunication concern Orascom Telecom is doubling its investment in Iraq to $220 million and is planning to extend its cell phone network to the north of the country.
In good news for trade, "Jordan and Iraq are placing the last touches on an agreement to set up a free trade zone... The Iraqi ministries of trade and industry and transportation have almost completed the draft agreement, which stipulates setting up the free trade zone at the border half inside Iraq and half inside Jordan."
In oil news, the Oil Ministry "is preparing long term plans to increase the level of oil production to 3.5 million b/d [barrels per day]...The cost of implementing of these plans would be US$4 billion, and that the production increase will be gradual. According to the plans, it will be achieved by 2007... The ministry also set plans to increase the production level of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the cooperation of leading foreign companies." Speaking at the 14th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MEOS 2005), held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Iraqi Deputy Oil Minister Ahmed Al Shamma has invited 280 companies from 21 countries which are taking part in the exhibition to take part in developing Iraqi oil industry. According to the Deputy Minister,
"there is a need to drill 200 new wells this year to maintain Iraq's 3.6 million barrels per day production of oil... There are also 13 storage tanks which need rehabilitation. Export facilities in the Gulf must also be upgraded and expanded... Two gas fields are to be developed soon and they will be followed by two others later.""The biggest project in the upstream industry is the development of 10 oil fields with a total output of 2.5m barrels per day, which is expected to be initiated in the near future. 'In refining, a proposed large refinery with an output of 200 to 300 thousand barrels per day is being discussed with international companies and GCC contractors', [said the Deputy Minister]." Speaking of that refinery, it is to be situated in Al-Masib area of southern Iraq and should be completed within two and a half years. A number of international companies from the USA, China, Italy, the UK, Czech Republic and Canada are competing for the project. More on this $2 billion project here. The talks with interested companies have already begun in Jordan.
The authorities have recently signed $50 million contracts with Indian and German companies to transport gas from Basra to Alnaseriya Almoseib, outside Baghdad. Under a three-year, $3.8 million program, the government of Norway is preparing to assist the Iraqi oil industry with "training and education for Iraqi oil officials, setting up regulations for oil field operations and accounting for the income."
In transport news, a major infrastructure project around Baghdad gets a go-ahead:
"The Iraqi ministry of transportation announced the start of the implementation of the ring railway project around Baghdad. Engineer Faris Mahmoud Hamndi, the head of the engineers at the General Company Of Railways, said that the project will be connected to main railroads in the country.With improvement in security around Mosul, work is resuming on the railways in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, down south, the renovations of Uum Qasr port have been completed: "All channels leading to the seaport were cleaned and deepened so they can allow the passage of large ships... Fours quays were constructed and a number of special cranes were repaired. In addition, deck number 10 was rehabilitated and is operational. Deck number 12 was also repaired in order to be able to absorb ships that transports grains. The source indicated that a special operation room was established to facilitate the communications process with the ships."
"He revealed... that the project requires the building of 112 km double railroad around Baghdad. According to him, transportation trains will not be allowed in Baghdad. The passenger trains, however, will go into Baghdad via special tunnels.
"Engineer Hamndi expressed his hope that this project will be beneficial in alleviating the traffic jams inside the capital, reducing car accidents, minimizing environmental pollution and increasing the capacity of goods transportation."
Authorities at the Irbil airport are confident that their airport will be soon accredited by the experts as an international facility:
"The authority responsible of the airport implemented what is needed to meet these requirements by building special taxiways and building modern control tower at the cost of US$9 million...Iraq is also getting a new airline, Tiba Aviation, which will be shortly recruiting Iraqi pilots and engineers and acquiring a new fleet.
"Irbil airport is considered an important airport for the Kurdish areas. [The authorities] expect it will attract investors and it will ease the export and import activities... Irbil airport has signed many agreements to launch flights to Dubai, Amman, Baghdad and European destinations.
"The expansion of the airport is expected by the end of 2006 with a total cost of US$105 million. This will enable the airport to handle with 4-5 million passengers annually. In addition, the authorities hope to establish a Kurdish military college with the assistance of the Jordanian Airlines."
RECONSTRUCTION: As reconstruction picks up speed across Iraq, the effort shifts to decentralize the process and bring it to the local level, as this example from the north of the country shows:
"A new organisation, the Agency for Reconstruction & Development for Sulaimani, has been set up by the authorities in northern Iraq to promote economic development in the Sulaimani region. It has a broad remit, mostly reconstruction, with a strong focus on water and sewage projects, residential, school and hospital construction, and mining (the region is rich in marble and minerals).Baghdad Municipality will be now supervising all the USAID projects in its area in order to provide for better coordination between various agencies and bodies involved. An United Nations project also aims to streamline the administration of reconstruction work:
"The agency has already identified a number of priority projects and is looking for contractors to implement the work. It is also keen to have contact with companies interested in investing in the region, and have also developed a series of incentives that include land and tax concessions. Over the longer term, it is looking at developing the regions privatisation and economic development policies.
"Ideas currently being looked at include developing the regions rail and other transport networks, developing power generation and developing export orientated manufacturing including textiles, agriculture and agri-business."
"With help from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funding from the World Bank International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI), a dozen Iraqi civil servants are taking a 10-day training session in tracking donor aid.You can read more about this initiative here.
" 'The Iraqi administration needs a clear picture and understanding of where rehabilitation projects are being implemented, who is the funding source, what sectors are involved, in which region, and how they link to other aspects of reconstruction such as the National Development Strategy,' said Annie Demirjian, UNDP focal point for the project launched today in Amman, capital of neighbouring Jordan."
Meanwhile, in Jordan, "hundreds of Arab and foreign firms are expected to take part in the largest yet Iraq reconstruction fair in Amman, event organizers said on Tuesday. 'This is the biggest event in the Jordanian capital. We expect 900 companies from 43 countries to participate in the Rebuild Iraq 2005 fair that will take place from April 4-7,' said Fadi Kaddoura, the project manager of the event said." Another report notes that the fair will attract "the largest international support ever extended to any trade event in the region." And speaking of Jordan, "a spokesman for the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced that it had opened its first branch outside Iraq in the Jordanian capital of Amman. He revealed that this branch's main objective is to encourage Arab and foreign businessmen to invest in Iraq."
In some recent reconstruction projects: Tenders and Projects Department within the American Development Agency for the Reconstruction of Iraq is aiming to implement 2,500 reconstruction projects throughout this year, compared to 1,800 in 2004. Roads in the Abu Ghraib districts will be renovated and paved under a new scheme from the Ministry of Municipalities and Works. On top of the reconstruction work on water, power and education in Fallujah, the Iraqi government will be spending $100 million to compensate its residents for damage suffered in recent fighting. Projects are also planned for the Alahwar (Marshland) region, including "paving and asphalting major roads, building and repairing schools, improving health services and providing electricity to the citizens." You can read more about the plans for the marshlands here. South Korean government has donated $6 million worth of machinery and equipment to the Iraqi Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works for various reconstruction projects. In the Wassit province, the authorities are reporting all the reconstruction activities planned for 2004 as completed (including road paving program and construction of a sports stadium and a supermarket).
In electricity news, the Ministry of Electricity has announced that the level of 5,000 MW has been reached and the Ministry plans to provide Iraqis with 18 hours of electricity a day by adding further 1,500 MW over the near future.
In another step towards connecting Iraq to the regional power infrastructure, a 124-mile powerline will link the al-Risheh power grid in Jordan and the Ukashat area in western Iraq. Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Libya have already linked their electricity grids, with Lebanon and Turkey expected to follow soon, and with Iraq also becoming the beneficiary of energy imports from Jordan and Egypt. Within 6 months, Turkey's Black Sea Wholesale Electricity Trade (KARTET) Company will be increasing its exports of energy to Iraq from 200 to 1,000 MW. Turkey will also be helping with the rehabilitation of power lines. And Iran will soon be exporting 100 MW of electricity to Iraq.
The Ministry of Electricity has announced plans to allow foreign companies to operate in Iraq's electricity market. The plan envisages foreign companies building an owning power stations, from which the authorities will be buying electricity. To expand the private sector involvement, the Ministry has also recently signed a contract with a private company for the construction, with the help of Japanese companies and Arab investors, a power station with a capacity of 150 MW.
The dreaded Halliburton, meanwhile, delivers on a significant electricity project: "KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton has announced the completion of its Al Ameen power substation project, the largest substation in Iraq, outside of Baghdad. The Al Ameen power substation, key to Iraq's ability to provide efficient power distribution throughout Baghdad and the rest of the country, is one of three awarded reconstruction projects KBR has received. Work on the Al Ameen substation project, valued at $59.4 million, began in March 2004 . The substation is now under the operation of Iraq's Ministry of Electricity."
In Basra, the authorities have added three power stations (11\33 KV) and are planning to build 5 transformers in other provinces. In Baghdad, the Ministry has allocated $75 million for the renovation of electricity grid in Sadr City.
The Ministry of Water, which looks after Iraq's dams, is reporting on its successful contribution to electricity production around Iraq. Under normal circumstances, hydroelectricity contributed between 15 and 20 per cent to the national power production, but recently that has increased to 40 per cent.
USAID is close to finishing the electrification of a vital piece of Baghdad transport infrastructure: "Work is nearly complete on the restoration of Baghdad International Airport Electrical Substation #1 which controls airstrip lighting on the commercial side of the airport. The power facility was bombed and badly damaged during the war. Switchgear and constant-current regulators were damaged beyond repair. Although the building that houses the substation remains intact the old 500 kVA emergency diesel generator that provides standby power must be removed and replaced." Work is also nearly finished on the expansion of a power plant south of Baghdad (link in PDF).
It's not just physical infrastructure as USAID is providing vital training for the electricity specialists:
"Another round of trainings has recently begun under the Power Plant Operations and Maintenance Training program of USAIDs Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction program. The goal of the program is two-fold. First, it is meant to be a short-term source of spare parts and technical support services to alleviate some immediate problems within the Ministry of Electricitys power plants. Secondly, for long-term improvement through training, it will establish a tradition of best operational practices and modern management techniques.More training for Iraqi electricity workers is being conducted with the assistance of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency.
"The total electrical generation capacity for Iraqs thermal and combustion power infrastructure is nearly 10,000 MW although it has generally performed at 35%-50% of rated capacity (3,500 to 5,000 MW). Classroom training has begun for 239 Iraqi staff in tiers corresponding to their O&M management level in the Ministry of Electricity (MoE). Tier 1, for five senior ME staff, imparts leadership and strategy training at General Electrics Center for Excellence in the United States. Tier 2 trains 36 plant managers in leadership, advanced plant management and electrical business development at the University of Georgia in the US. Tier 3, train-the-trainer instruction, teaches combustion plant and thermal plant operations to 83 senior power plant staff - foremen and other plant supervisory personnel - at the University of Jordan in Amman. Finally, Tier 4 for 115 plant operators and technicians includes training on calibration and boiler and water chemistry at the University of Jordan. On-the-job-training at several Baghdad thermal plants is also included. The first Tier 3 class has already completed its four week training at the University of Jordan. A second Tier 3 class began training in late February 20. This Tier will also be receiving 'Train the Trainer' instruction."
In water news, the authorities are working on a new water project in the province of Al Kut, which at the cost of 72 million dinars ($51,000) and after three years will be providing the local residents with 10,000 square meters of water per hour. Part of the project involves replacement of the old water pipes and construction of 13 water reservoirs.
In the province of Wasit, the authorities are spending 28 billion dinars ($19.1 million) on various projects. "The most important of these projects is building 22 water assembly facilities with a capacity of 1 million gallons per facility in different neighborhoods... These projects consist of building a 385-kilometer long water transport system and a 55-kilometer long water pipelines system." Significant proportion of a 3.5 billion dinar program ($2.4 million) has already been implemented, including "the construction of irrigation channels and water dams to prevent the waste of water."
Outside Karbalah, in areas suffering from water shortages, the authorities will be installing 8 pumps, each with capacity of 0.5 mln liters per day, and each servicing 5,000 people. The Iraqi Water Authority has started work on a program to dig 1,500 new water wells in northern Iraq in the districts of Kirkuk, Irbil, Sulaimaniya and Dahok. "Last year, the authority executed 106 wells by $1 million costs in Kirkuk, 21 wells in Irbil, 7 wells in Dahouk and 7 wells in Sulaimaniya."
USAID continues to work on improving access to rural water (link in PDF):
"Work is in progress at 48 sites on USAIDs rural water initiative, which extends water for drinking and irrigation to mid-sized communities that had previously lacked reliable sources. Contracts have been awarded for reverse osmosis units and water treatment plants and USAID is considering a proposal to add a hygiene training program to the original work plan. Site investigations for unit installation are being conducted in Wasit, Karbala, Dahuk, Tamim, and Kirkuk, and the security situation is being monitored in areas that are not currently accessible. The initiative will install 110 units in remote locations throughout Iraq, filling the gap in water service for approximately four million rural Iraqis who live in regions where water is either scarce or of poor quality."USAID is also involved in a whole range of other water-related projects. Among them: the rehabilitation of the Rustimiyah North Wastewater Treatment Plant in Baghdad, which is about 80% complete; modeling the distribution system and repairing, replacing and installing new water pipes in Baghdad's Sadr City; as well as work in Babil province to connect local residents' potable water network to the city's water system.
Longer term, people in the most arid areas of Iraq will also benefit from American space technology:
"There are plenty of wells in Iraq, but Saddam Hussein's regime contaminated them with dead animals... How do you quench someone's thirst when there is plenty of water, but not a drop of it is drinkable?It's not just the physical infrastructure that is getting reconstructed - the human capital is also being slowly rebuilt, thanks to expert assistance from overseas. The Jordanian Environment Association is launching training courses for the employees of Iraqi Ministries of Environment and Municipalities to train them in the best recent practice in the fields of public health and environment. Japanese government, in conjunction with the National Electric Power Company, is organizing training for 30 Iraqi electrical specialists "to introduce practical skills such as cable jointing and optical fiber splicing to facilitate smooth rehabilitation and reconstruction work in the field of electricity." Domestically, the Iraqi National Center for Administrative Planning and Development is now playing important role in training government officials, offering last year 94 courses in IT and management to improve efficiency and productivity of the public sector. And Iraqi firefighters, too, have benefited from training:
"It's a question NASA researchers have pondered for nearly two decades, but villagers in Iraq and tsunami victims in Asia will get a taste of their answer as early as this fall - before any astronaut in space does.
"Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has been testing a device intended for the space station that would recycle an astronaut's own sweat, respiration and even urine into drinking water purer than any found in a tap.
"It could be two years before the water system - as large as two refrigerators - is loaded onto a shuttle to serve an American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut living in space. But smaller and simpler versions will soon be put to use on earth. Reno, Nev.-based investment firm Crestridge and the charity Concern for Kids are developing the systems for humanitarian purposes in nations lacking a reliable water supply, starting with Iraq and southeast Asia."
"Iraq's firefighters are better off today than they were under the regime of Saddam Hussein when fire service was largely ignored.As the report notes, "thanks to Iraqi Ministry of Interior and Coalition Forces, Baghdad will benefit from 35 new or rehabilitated fire stations that will accommodate approximately 25 firefighters and 11 daytime administrative staff members."
"Because firefighters received little or no training, they merely contained fires. When called on to fight fires, they lacked the basic equipment their stateside brothers take for granted. Fireproof gear, hardhats, oxygen tanks and mask, even an ax were rare or nonexistent.
" 'Originally, firefighters during Saddams time were given all the odd jobs,' said Bruce Edwards, a firefighter trainer with Skylink. 'Whatever anyone didnt want to do, they got the firemen to do it.' Skylink has instilled a lot of pride in the Iraqi firefighters and is training them extensively to operate as a qualified fire department, he said."
In urban planning news, "[the Ministry of Municipality and Public Works'] Urban Planning Department had allocated ID 7 billion [$4.8 million] to prepare designs and studies for building new cities in different Iraqi districts... The ministry's engineering companies had [also] completed the designs to modernizing the historical, religious and tourist Iraqi cities of Al-Kut, Mosel, Irbil, Najaf, Karbalaa and Basra... $100 million was allocated to finance the design plans for these important Iraqi cities." Speaking of urban development, in Baghdad the authorities are currently engaged in a program to rehabilitate the capital's public parks and to construct new ones.
The efforts are also being made to involve the whole communities on the grass-roots level in the reconstruction process. This conference, called "New Dawn", is giving Iraqi Non-Government Organisations a chance to network, exchange ideas and gain advice for developing strategies on reconstruction programmes:
"Local NGOs in Iraq recently took part in the second conference held in the country on reconstruction ideas, agriculture, water resources and security.On the agenda this time: education, agriculture, natural resource development, as well as human rights, input into drafting the constitution and the fight against corruption.
"The event gave NGOs a chance to meet with the few international counterparts left in Iraq, due to insecurity, and exchange information on reconstruction and programme ideas.
"The conference, which took place in the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, was hosted by Iraqi officials from four provinces; Salah al-Din, Diyala, Kirkuk and Sulymaniyah, along with 30 Iraqi NGOs and some International NGOs such as Mercy Hand, the US Institute of Peace and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
" 'This conference is periodically held every six months where Iraqi NGOs from the north, middle and south gather to share in the reconstruction of the country through acquaintance of other countries progressing in different fields such as agriculture, security and even administration matters,' [said] Maj. Loyed Navarro from the 24th Infantry Division of the US army."
Health infrastructure, much neglected over the past few decades continues getting upgraded. As part of its plan to construct 150 new health centers across Iraq, the authorities have recently opened 4 new clinics in the province of Missan. In the province of Diyala, a new 400-bed hospital is under construction and 12 clinics will be built in the province's villages. USAID's Community Action Program team has constructed a health clinic at the university of Karbalah. Under the same program, an intensive care unit has been added to a local hospital in At Tamim governorate (link in PDF). USAID is also providing funding to combat dysentery in northern Iraq. Baghdad's second largest hospital has been recently renovated and resupplied thanks to USAID's assistance (link in PDF).
Alqadeseya University's medical college has established "a unit for Endoscopy surgery for spinal cord. This unit is considered to be the first of its kind in Iraq... The unit will be used for both educational and treatment purposes... One of the Iraqi doctors participated in a special seminar in Europe to understand how the unit works in order to use it appropriately in Iraq." At Kadissa University, meanwhile, a new surgery unit has been opened at the college of medicine.
In education news, the British Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research "has agreed with the Iraqi Academicians Association in the UK to hold a global conference dedicated to discussing means of rehabilitating higher education and scientific research sector in Iraq and ensures its needs." The Ministry of Education has set aside 60.6 billion dinars ($41 million) for the reconstruction of Basra University. This includes "the establishment of the university presidency building, at a cost of 4 billion dinars [$2.7 million], fine arts theatre, historical studies college library, faculties of pharmacy, medicine and law, Basra university location services, a central library, lectures halls complexes, new departments in the faculty of engineering and other projects. The time limit for executing those projects does not exceed 20 months."
The work continues on a 14.5 billion dinar ($10 million) project to construct science and media colleges at Baghdad University. The Ministry of Education has allocated $50 million for the implementation of education projects throughout Basra governorate, including rehabilitation of 29 schools.
In recent examples of foreign assistance for the Iraqi higher education system, this initiative from DePaul University:
"The law library at Baghdad University in Iraq has been restored with assistance from the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University. This is the first of three law library renovations that the institute has undertaken as part of its Raising the Bar: Legal Education Reform in Iraq program, which focuses on rebuilding legal education in Iraq and which is funded by a $3.8 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The libraries of the universities of Sulaimaniya and Basra soon will be inaugurated as well."Meanwhile, a consortium of five universities led by the University of Oklahoma is delivering the equipment for a Global Information System/Global Positioning System (GIS/GPS) laboratory and a child nutrition laboratory at Iraqi universities (link in PDF). You can also read how the University of Hawaii and the State University of New York are helping Iraqi academics, students, and faculties in the areas of agriculture, forestry, environmental health, archaeology and library services (link in PDF).
The Ministry of Education has recently employed 7,000 university graduates as teachers, guides and librarians. Some of them are former employees dismissed for political reasons under the Saddam regime. In An Najaf province, USAID will be helping local Parents and Teachers associations and communities to replace mud and reed schools with proper concrete buildings.
In agriculture, in Diyala province, USAID's Community Action Programme (link in PDF) is helping local farmers to set up beekeeping and calf fattening cooperatives. USAID is also assisting with the growth of the date palm industry:
"Representatives from the Agricultural Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program met with the Director General from the State Board for Date Palms of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to discuss four proposals to improve date production and date palm breeding.In Nasiriyah and Al Sadr district of Baghdad, the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs, and of Agriculture, in conjunction with World Food Organisation and Italian Onedo Organisation, are planning a series of initiatives aiming at reducing unemployment and generating growth in the areas of palm tree, livestock and tomato cultivation.
"In 2004, ARDI provided $250,000 to assist the MOAs National Program for the Improvement of Date Palms (now the State Board for Date Palms) to establish 21 mother orchards in the 13 date-producing governorates in order to preserve varieties, create a gene bank and produce new offshoots for regeneration.
"Now the MOA wishes to expand the area of 16 of the 21 mother orchards already established and to add additional mother orchards to increase available plant stock with ARDI assistance."
HUMANITARIAN AID: British NGO, Baby Lifeline, is organizing training seminars for Iraqi doctors: "The medical training conference will include scientific meetings and discussions with the participation of 90 Kuwaiti doctors regarding mother and embryo health, including several practical exercises. The general manager of Basra health department, Dr. Raed Salman, said that international conferences of this kind contribute to knowledge and information exchange, which is very important for Iraq, which was isolated from the rest of the world during the last 20 years." Says Judy Ledger, founder and chief executive of Baby Lifeline: "Delegates have been telling me that this is the sort of event they've wanted and needed for so long. When the first Iraqi delegates came through they were so excited to be here with colleagues from all over the country. The idea is the people here over the next three days will be able to disseminate what we're teaching them to their colleagues, so we're not just showing how it's done in the UK, we're also educating them so they can educate others." And Dr Ali Kubba, an Iraqi consultant community gynaecologist at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, in London, adds: "Iraq's healthcare system has endured severe challenges in past and present times, and women bore the brunt of the service's degradation. As Iraq emerges from the catastrophes of recent years, the care of women and children must top the agenda here." More about the conference here.
Red Crescent society of the United Arab Emirates is donating $250,000 for the construction of an orphanage in Sadr City in Baghdad. The society is already providing support to some 6,000 Iraqis. The UAE are also providing considerable humanitarian assistance to the residents of Fallujah.
Throughout the United States, private local initiatives are involving whole communities in helping Iraqi people. This, from Pittsburg, as part of the Operation I CAN, Iraqi Children Assistance Network:
"Karissa Dougherty was excited about shopping for school supplies in January -- not for herself, but for children in Iraq. Karissa, 5, of Forest Hills, is learning about giving in Teresa Thompson's kindergarten class at St. Maurice School through a project that distributes educational supplies to children in Iraq...Another report explains: "The project consists of a nonprofit charity put together by the 411th Civil Affairs Army Battalion, which solicits school supplies and other items that soldiers distribute to school-age children. Operation I Can has gathered 20,000 tons of school supplies and raised $10,000 dollars as a nonprofit charity."
"The effort to get school supplies for Iraqi children was started by 1st. Lt. William Diefenbach of the 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery, after he met with teachers and students at five schools while serving in the Tikrit area of Iraq, according to the network's Web site.
"Thompson estimates the five boxes stacked in her classroom weigh 50 to 60 pounds each after the school's two kindergarten classes brought in donations for two months. The packages will be mailed in the new few weeks."
This from Arkansas:
"To some children, a pencil can mean the difference between being rich and poor. That's the lesson students at Goza Middle School recently learned through a project to gather school supplies for the children of Iraq.Meanwhile, this good-will action for Iraqi children in proving a huge success:
"According to Officer Steve Escalante, the school resource officer at Goza, the idea for the project came from Officer Don Cleek, a fellow school resource officer who recently concluded a year-long tour of duty in Baghdad, Iraq.
"Arkadelphia Police Chief Al Harris said the project's inception came from a package he had sent to Cleek which contained a few pencils with the police department's logo on them. 'They were the kind we give away at the fair. I had a few left over,' Harris said.
"Cleek told Harris the pencils were very popular with the children. 'Word got out that he had pencils and the kids just mobbed him,' Harris said.
"Since re-establishing schools is one of the duties of American soldiers in Iraq, Harris and Cleek came up with the idea to get Escalante and the students at Goza involved in the project. Competing as home room classes, the students at Goza began collecting school supplies to be sent to the children of Iraq. More than 600 items were collected."
"Melissa Capone was busy Saturday, packing teddy bears and writing letters for Iraqi orphans, when she realized the children might not read English. 'I tried to draw teddy bears, but I'm not so good at drawing teddy bears,' the 10-year-old said. 'I wrote to some little boy, and I told him my name, and I made a picture of me and him, and I did that for a little girl. ... If we sent them teddy bears, I thought it would make them feel a lot better.'And Don Harding from Spokane Valley, Washington, has so far collected 60 soccer balls to send to his son serving in Kirkuk for the distribution to Iraqi children.
"For four hours Saturday, 12 girls from the Girl Scouts of Palm Glades Council packaged teddy bears to send to orphans in Iraq. Robert Gordon, director of the Boca Raton-based American Health Association, usually collects about 15,000 teddy bears to distribute in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities during winter holidays.
"Last year he decided to solicit more for orphans in Iraq. He received 50,000 stuffed animals from around the United States, and sent 5,000 over last year to a U.S. military officer who uses them to spread good will."
THE COALITION TROOPS: In addition to civilian contractors and Iraqis themselves, the Coalition forces continue to play a prominent role in the reconstruction effort. As this report indicates, the pace of reconstruction is picking up:
" 'We didnt realize how badly the infrastructure had decayed under Saddam Hussein,' said a senior U.S. Central Command official. 'Iraqs infrastructure its oil, water and electricity were rubber-banded and glued together.'At the forefront of the reconstruction effort and interaction with Iraqis are civil affairs units. This story profiles the work of one of them:
"Today, restoring Iraqs infrastructure has become a critical component in the path to success in Iraq, and the United States has committed $18.4 billion to the reconstruction effort.
"Under the Gulf Region Divisions supervision, more than 1,500 reconstruction projects are under way throughout Iraq, with another 650 already completed, Kosich said. Ultimately, the Army Corps of Engineers expects to oversee a projected 2,900 projects -- a 'phenomenal increase' over late June, when contractors were 'turning dirt' on just 200 projects, he said.
"Projects range from large infrastructure projects -- power plants and wastewater and water treatment facilities, and oil projects, for example -- and small-scale projects such as street repairs, new or improved health clinics, schools, and police and fire stations.
"Other projects provide vital facilities for Iraqs security forces: military bases for the new Iraqi army and Iraqi National Guard, police stations, ports of entry and border forts, among them, Kosich said.
"Examples of the reconstruction projects run the gamut. In Baghdads Al Ameen district, a new $2.7 million sewage and wastewater project replaces open trenches and malfunctioning lagoons and moves sanitary waste from the neighborhood.
"Throughout Iraq, the Corps Gulf Region Southern District is putting $4 million to work building and furnishing new schools to replace mud-and-reed huts used as schoolhouses for poor children of the countrys rural areas. And more than $10 million is being invested in rebuilding and paving almost 200 kilometers of rural village roads in four northern Iraq provinces.
"As these and myriad other projects proceed, theyre bringing the Iraqis another tangible benefit: jobs and the opportunity to provide for their families. More than 170,000 Iraqis are employed in reconstruction jobs, up about 40,000 from just last month, Kosich said."
"Since the onset of the war in Iraq, stories about explosions, gunfire, terrorism and the loss of American troops have regularly permeated the news. Less publicized is the work of civil affairs units whose role is critical to the success of Operation Iraqi Freedom. These reservists bring to the combat environment not only their military skills, but also their expertise in city planning, law enforcement, teaching, carpentry and business.From Basra, Lieutenant Colonel Norman Grady reports on the success of reconstruction work:
"One such 'peacemaker' is Spc. Judy Aiksnoras of Oxford. A member of the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, an Army Reserve unit based in Danbury, Spc. Aiksnoras was deployed to Iraq last September. She currently is engaged with her unit in projects geared towards stabilizing the province of Diyala.
"The 20-year-old resident of Perry Lane... noted that the goal of the Civil Affairs Battalion is to help civilians by rebuilding schools and recreational facilities, creating a government, teaching them new skills and helping them establish a better way of life.
"Spc. Aiksnoras' responsibilities include building soccer fields, chess halls, wedding halls, small amusement parks and weight-lifting facilities - not with hammer, nails and physical grit, but by contracting the projects and seeing them through. Her job entails collecting information - photographs, financial estimates and blueprints - on the various projects, which she then assembles into packets and submits to superiors for approval. Once a project is sanctioned and underway, she follows its progress until it is complete."
"When Lieutenant Colonel Norman Grady got to Basrah, Iraq, over a year ago, it was a dry and barren wasteland. Now, thanks to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, progress is being made by leaps and bounds.In Najaf, the US forces have so far overseen a completion of $10 million-worth of reconstruction projects, "including water pumping stations, maintaining electricity power stations, building and maintaining a large number of schools, organizing the internal parks in the city, building and overhauling a large number of medical centers, purchasing many vehicles for the security authorities, using the money in overhauling all institutions of Najaf province and purchasing various furniture."
" 'In a little over a year plus, we've helped bring their electrical production back up to pre-war levels and beyond. We've helped do the same thing with the oil infrastructure program, bring it back up to pre-war levels and beyond,' said Grady, a deputy commander for the Southern District in Iraq...
" 'Because we were able to migrate to where we employed more Iraqis in the construction side, they also associate that with greater opportunities for employment,' Grady said.
"Grady says his camp was constantly hit with mortar rounds and rockets attacks, but they refused to let insurgents stop the rebuilding process. 'They found that they just didn't slow things down,' said Grady. 'The program was so huge that we could just move the effort some place else and keep building.'
"Some of the construction projects they've accomplished in months would have taken years over here, and that's helping Iraq get back on its feet."
In Fallujah, "the I Marine Expeditionary Force Engineer Group (I MEG) officially stood down Friday, and was relieved by the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (30th NCR), in a Transfer of Authority ceremony held at Camp Fallujah, in western Iraq." Both the Marines before them and Seabees now are involved in a whole range of reconstruction projects: "Currently, there are 77 reconstruction projects funded with $66 million for the city of Fallujah. Another 52 projects have been identified and are under consideration as well."
In Tikrit, the troops from the 3rd Infantry Division at Forward Operating Base Dagger have donated five new ambulances to the local health service. "Before we had ambulances from the old regime. The ambulances we had were not very fast, making it difficult for us to respond quickly during an emergency. The new ambulances are great. I hope we can get more of them in the future," says Thamer Najim Abdulla, the local ambulance driver.
You can also read this story about the work of one unit in Baghdad:
"Riding through the streets of Mahalla, a crowded neighborhood on Baghdads east side, Army Lt. Col. Jamie Gayton and his soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Divisions 2nd Brigade Troops Battalion are carrying out a quiet mission but one Gayton believes is going a long way toward winning the peace in Iraq...The troops continue to contribute to building Iraqi security infrastructure. "The 127th Military Police Company has spent more than $3 million on infrastructure and force-protection improvements during the past 10 months at the 19 Iraqi police stations it monitors in northwest Baghdad, said Army Capt. Kevin Hanrahan, the units commander. An effective, stable Iraqi security force is key to a withdrawal of U.S. forces, he added... During the year, the MPs made steady progress developing and training the Iraqi police, Hanrahan said. He credited the progress to upgrades in facilities and equipment delivered by the U.S. Army. Fortifying those 19 stations was a top priority. The buildings had to be capable of withstanding terrorist attacks so the Iraqi police could conduct business."
" 'I have the best job in the world,' said Gayton, whose battalion oversees a wide variety of infrastructure projects under way in the 2nd Brigades operating area in eastern Baghdad. 'I go where the projects are happening, so people are ecstatic.'
"While much of the brigades focus is fixed on battling insurgents who threaten Iraqs security, Gayton and his battalion are countering the threat in a different way: by winning the Iraqi peoples support for the coalition...
"They work through local sheiks, neighborhood advisory councils and municipal authorities to identify local needs which are many in what he called the have-not neighborhoods in eastern Baghdad who received little more than promises from Saddam Hussein.
"After identifying needs, the soldiers coordinate with potential funding sources, including the Iraqi government, the $18.4 billion in reconstruction funds committed by the U.S. government and overseen by the Defense Departments Program Contracting Office, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Office of Transition Initiatives and nongovernmental agencies among them.
"Most contracts awarded require that the work be done by Iraqis from the local community being served. This, Gayton explained, helps ensure much-needed jobs for Iraqis, while making local community members active players in the improvements."
Other troops help to keep vital infrastructure going:
"If there was one day during his deployment that Army Master Sgt. Ray Puckett knew that he was making a contribution here, it was when the lights shone in Baghdad on election day, Jan. 30.Read the whole thing.
"Puckett, an Army reservist with a Roanoke, Va.-based 80th Training Division unit, is a member of the Emergency Reaction Pipeline Repair Organization, a five-member task force poised to respond immediately to sabotage against Iraqs pipelines.
"The oil and gas lines, which keep Baghdads lights burning, its heaters pumping and its vehicles moving, are considered a strategic target by terrorists committed to disrupting progress in Iraq.
"An estimated 250 attacks have blown apart pipeline infrastructure, causing the electrical grid to sputter and eroding the Iraqis confidence in the reconstruction effort under way. Dealing with the aftermath of the attacks has also eaten into funds earmarked for reconstruction projects and deprived Iraq of desperately needed export revenues.
"One major attack, during the last week of January, threatened to leave Baghdad in the dark during Iraqs national elections Jan. 30. But thanks to a quick response by the Emergency Reaction Pipeline Repair Organization and its partners here, the voting proceeded without disruption."
Sometimes the projects are small and very local. In Abu-Dashir, located in the Al Rasheed province, "soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment and 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, teamed up with a local contractor to clean up the roads and repair a broken sewage pipe... News about the sewage work spread fast and within minutes, more than 60 children surrounded the work site. Soldiers distributed soccer balls and other items to keep the children away from the work."
And sometimes, the soldiers' work is quite ephemeral: "For many in Iraq, democracy is a bitter pill to swallow. For U.S. soldiers, who are trained to fight and win battles, propping up the new democracy while discreetly putting an 'Iraqi face' on events has been a delicate task. For soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, part of the 42nd Infantry Divisions Task Force Liberty, practicing diplomacy is one of the main jobs."
The troops are also trying to deal with the consequences of past violence across the country. This is how the Army's "condolences payments" program is working out in practice:
"Every other Wednesday and Thursday, the bereft and the aggrieved form a long line on the dusty roadway outside the fortified U.S. military compound in Baqubah...Some aren't placated by such gestures, but many are: "Ibrahim Makoter, 43, who said his car flipped over and was badly damaged when it was hit by a U.S. armored vehicle in Baghdad in August, said he was gratified by the U.S. response. He said a U.S. military policeman righted the car, apologized and told him where to file a claim. A month after filing, he was paid in cash. 'This is something we aren't used to seeing,' Makoter said." As the report notes, "for all its shortcomings, the program seems to pay tribute to the tribal tradition of 'blood money' for loss of life or property... The program is so informal and decentralized that total payout figures are difficult to obtain. An Army spokesman said about $2.2 million was paid from mid-2003 to mid-2004, but he said he could not find current figures or the number of claims filed or approved. An officer with the Army comptroller's office in Baghdad said about $450,000 had been paid in greater Baghdad since June."
"Iraqi men and women, and occasionally children, wait in blinding sunshine or dreary rainfall to present damage claims to the U.S. military. Their cases range from the tragic to the mundane: A widow says her husband was killed during an American combat operation. A father reports his young son lost an arm in American gunfire. A farmer's cows were killed, a house was damaged, a car was wrecked, windows were broken.
"A determined complainant with enough perseverance might wait several hours to be searched and then escorted inside the barbed wire and blast walls to speak to a military legal officer. In more than half the cases nationwide, legal officers say, a cash payment is made up to $2,500 for a death, $1,500 for an injury and $500 for property damage.
"Under the informal 'condolence payments' program launched in mid-2003, the U.S. military does not claim to compensate Iraqis for their losses. It does not admit guilt or acknowledge liability or negligence. It is merely saying, in effect, 'We sympathize with your loss,' as one judge advocate general officer put it.
"Military legal officers say a condolence payment is a gesture that expresses sympathy in concrete terms. 'The program is designed not to make up for anything but to acknowledge that there has been a tragedy or some sort of damage,' said Capt. Emily Schiffer, chief of administrative law for the Army's 1st Cavalry Division. 'It's an expression of sympathy and condolence to a family. Obviously, it's the right thing to do to kind of bridge the gap between the two parties'."
Soldiers are also involved in humanitarian work:
"A parade of human tragedy awaits Lt. Brad Banks every Sunday at the Al Rasheed district advisory council building. Little boys in urgent need of heart surgeries he cannot perform. A boy whose withered legs he cannot straighten. An older woman facing the wrath of her family because she cannot bear children. They come to see Banks every Sunday at a makeshift health clinic he sets up in a conference room in a building once used as a hunting lodge by Saddam Hussein's son Odai.But it doesn't stop Lt Banks from trying to help - read the whole story. Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Jessica Kelly, from Lafayette, Louisianna, and her unit are trying to help an Iraqi boy paralyzed at the start of the war in an explosion. "When his mom kisses me and praises Allah that Im here, I cant think of a more noble cause to be away from my own family, than to be doing this," says Sgt Kelly.
"Banks is not a doctor. And he makes that abundantly clear to the people who come to see him. It doesn't matter. For the desperately poor people in this rundown Baghdad neighborhood, the 38-year-old civil affairs officer is the only hope they have. His job description is simple enough: Help people who need medical attention get it. Most of the people have been diagnosed by a local doctor but are either unable to afford the treatment or the treatment for their condition is not available in Iraq.
"But after four months working in a society with only the most rudimentary medical establishment, Banks has begun to realize that his job only sounds simple on paper. 'People come here thinking that we're going to have a magical cure or give them a pill to pop and it will be all better,' Banks says. 'If only it were that easy.'
"Banks is a medical service corps officer and his military training is limited strictly to hospital administration, not the practice of medicine. He speaks only a few Arabic phrases and uses a translator to communicate with his patients."
Its not just the American troops, but other allies, too, continue to play important role. USAID's Local Governance Progarm is working with "Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) army groups from Poland and El Salvador to prepare them to better administer infrastructure development projects in South Central Iraq" (link in PDF):
"LGP specialists are meeting with Basrah governorate officials to prepare over 30 projects for proposal to the Polish Multinational Division's CIMIC. The LGP council trainer met with 10 Basrah council leaders to identify projects to propose to CIMIC. The Polish CIMIC has significant funds and the will to invest in the governorate but has few engineers on staff. LGP has many engineers but no money to fund infrastructure projects so bringing the two together for short, defined purposes is beneficial for both organizations.SECURITY: One of top American officers in Iraq notes an improving security environment:
"Specialists also recently completed the construction of a database of contractors who have worked with LGP for the benefit of the newly rotated El Salvadoran Battalions CIMIC unit which is now responsible for infrastructure projects in southern Babil governorate. The Salvadoran CIMIC can save time and money by working with proven contractors and tested Iraqi businesses."
"The top Marine officer in Iraq said... that the number of attacks against American troops in Sunni-dominated western Iraq and death tolls had dropped sharply over the last four months, a development that he called evidence that the insurgency was weakening in one of the most violent areas of the country.Experts also note the terrorists' change of tone:
"The officer, Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, head of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said that insurgents were averaging about 10 attacks a day, and that fewer than two of those attacks killed or wounded American forces or damaged equipment. That compared with 25 attacks a day, five of them with casualties or damage, in the weeks leading up to the pivotal battle of Falluja in November, he said."
"It is an all-too-familiar ritual. Hours after an attack on an American convoy or an Iraqi police patrol, a brief statement begins appearing on Islamist Web sites claiming the attack was carried out by fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man.Read the whole thing. Meanwhile, the televised confessions of alleged terrorists and insurgents continue to be a big hit on Iraqi TV:
"But in the past two weeks, something has changed.
"Every day now, new messages appear on the Web offering encouragement to resistance fighters, and last week, al-Zarqawi's group started an Internet magazine, complete with photographs and 43 pages of text. Other Islamist groups are joining the effort, including one calling itself the Jihadist Information Brigade.
"The recent flurry of propaganda from Iraq has a distinctly defensive sound.
"The violence here has not let up, but the relatively peaceful elections, and the new movements toward democracy in other Arab countries, appear to have had a dispiriting effect on the insurgents, terrorism analysts say.
" 'I think they feel they are losing the battle,' said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, an American nonprofit group that monitors Islamist Web sites and news operations. 'They realize there will be a new government soon, and they seem very nervous about the future'."
" 'This is a hot one and comes with a special recommendation from the interior minister himself,' says a man with a prosthetic arm tossing videotape on Karim Abdul Jabbars desk.Things are improving on Baghdad's dangerous Haifa Street:
"In a cramped room filled with rows of archived tapes at Iraqs state-owned television station Al-Iraqiyah, Jabbar and two other technicians are busy formatting and editing taped confessions of alleged insurgents and criminals for the nightly show 'Terrorists in the Grip of Justice.'
" 'Saddam cut off Bassems hand because he was a money changer,' says the thin and greying Jabbar, 42, as he lights up a cigarette and rewinds footage of a purported Saudi admitting to having come to Iraq for Jihad (holy war). 'This show is therapeutic for people.'
"The programme, which has been on the air for less than a month, has already stirred up Iraqis. Many want the alleged criminals and terrorists parading on the screen to be publicly executed, while a few say it is government propaganda to sully the image of the true resistance fighters and to portray them as a group of psychopaths and criminals beholden to foreign powers, mainly Syria.
"Iraqi officials and those behind the programme say they have a moral duty to the public to show the culprits of the car bombings and killings that plague Iraq two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein."
"Nearly two years after American troops captured Baghdad, Haifa Street is like an arrow at the city's heart. A little more than two miles long, it runs south through a canyon of mostly abandoned high-rises and majestic date palms almost to the Assassin's Gate, the imperial-style arch that is the main portal to the Green Zone compound, the principal seat of American power...The US forces are also getting increasingly better at neutralizing the Improvised Explosive Device threat. With a string of arrests of bomb-making experts, "US soldiers in the Baghdad area have located a larger than ever number of IEDs before they detonate, due partly to what is described by one intelligence officer as 'sloppy ordnance work by second-tier contractors'."
"In the first 18 months of the fighting, the insurgents mostly outmaneuvered the Americans along Haifa Street, showing they could carry the war to the capital's core with something approaching impunity.
"But American officers say there have been signs that the tide may be shifting. On Haifa Street, at least, insurgents are attacking in smaller numbers, and with less intensity; mortar attacks into the Green Zone have diminished sharply; major raids have uncovered large weapons caches; and some rebel leaders have been arrested or killed.
"American military engineers, frustrated elsewhere by insurgent attacks, are moving ahead along Haifa Street with a $20 million program to improve electricity, sewer and other utilities. So far, none of the work sites have been attacked, although a local Shiite leader who vocally supported the American projects was assassinated on his doorstep in January.
"But the change American commanders see as more promising than any other here is the deployment of large numbers of Iraqi troops. American commanders are eager to shift the fighting in Iraq to the country's own troops, allowing American units to pull back from the cities and, eventually, to begin drawing down their 150,000 troops. Haifa Street has become an early test of that strategy."
The Iraqi authorities are reporting on successes in the hotspot of Samarra:
"In the days since Iraqi forces rolled in to sweep out insurgents, citizens here are showing support for the operation by streaming to local checkpoints to personally deliver information to help the mission along.Even in Fallujah, the situation is slowly improving:
"Citizens also are flooding the telephone lines to the office of Iraqi Gen. Adnan Thabit, security adviser to the Ministry of Interior, to express their gratitude for the show of force and tips on insurgent activity.
"More than 1,500 members of Iraqi police forces -- police commandos, a local public order battalion and local police forces -- arrived in the city March 4. Iraqi-led patrols have netted more than 80 suspects so far, officials said.
" 'The people of Samarra used to be afraid of the anti-Iraqi forces,' said Iraqi Gen. Rashid, commander of the 1st Brigade police commandos. 'They couldnt tell us any information. Now their fear is gone.'
"Rashid said one citizen offered information about 17 targets, and in some cases, citizens personally led force members to suspects. 'Citizens say when we see the commandos work hard, we want to bring information about the terrorists,' Rashid said.
"Of the suspects in custody, officials have confirmed 38 as active anti-Iraqi fighters. Three have been identified as leaders of a terrorist cell in Samarra responsible for the deaths of 11 Iraqi police officers, seven Iraqi soldiers, three interpreters and two contractors, officials said. In addition, two primary leaders confessed their roles in burning Iraqi citizens homes, building two improvised explosive devices that hit U.S. tanks and three other IEDs that hit U.S. Humvees."
"Piles of rubble still line the streets here, but a few shops have opened on the main drag, schools are finally in session and a compensation program to help families rebuild made some token initial payments this month.Iraqi forces are playing an increasingly prominent role in fighting terrorism:
"Four months after the assault on Fallujah, in the center of Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland, American forces working to rebuild the city say they're seeing some progress, albeit limited, in a city that's still blockaded and under a curfew.
"Even a little progress is an important development in a city that's been a major test for the American presence in Iraq."
"Eyes peering through slits in black masks, the commandos creep up the floors of the Baghdad apartment building, ready to pounce. Their target is Omar Tamimi, an insurgent believed to have carried out the January assassination of the governor of Baghdad province. Until recently, the responsibility for such high-profile operations has been shouldered by teams of elite U.S. troops. But on this night, the American commandos are playing a support role to members of the new Iraqi army's Counter Terrorism Task Force, a unit the U.S. is training to take on more counterinsurgent dirty work. The early stages of the operation unfold smoothly. One team of troops stops on the second floor, the other continues to the third, where they place explosive charges against a thin wooden apartment door. Two booms in quick succession echo in the concrete stairwell. The doors shatter inward in a storm of wooden splinters, and the Iraqi and American troops, identically outfitted with US-made M4 carbines, night-vision goggles, boots, uniforms and body armor, burst in.Insurgents are also facing increasing vigiliantism from within the community:
"Inside the troops find children and three women, one of them elderly, cowering on the floor. The Iraqi forces search the apartment and find three men. They turn up Tamimi's identification papers, but not the target himself. After cuffing the adultsincluding the womenwith plastic ties, the Iraqi commander grills them about Tamimi, but gets nowhere. Then an Iraqi officer begins chatting with the children; before long one of them reveals that Tamimi had been in the apartment moments before the troops rushed in. 'He's still here,' the officer tells the Americans. Soon a Green Beret is heard yelling and laughing in the kitchen. Under the sink he'd kicked a thin wall. Behind it was Tamimi, a thin sketch of a man, curled into a ball.
"Operations like the one that netted Tamimi earlier this year provide a glimpse of what U.S. commanders hope will be the future of combat in Iraq."
"When more than 80 bodies were found last week at four different places in Iraq, a fifth gruesome discovery attracted little notice.In the end, however, while the public rage against terrorists is welcome, it will be up to professional security forces to fight insurgency. On this front the news is positive, too, as training of Iraqi security forces continues to gather pace: "The US military has trained and equipped over 145,000 Iraqi security troops, the Army's top civilian official said. The Iraqis trained were organized into 96 battalions, including 52 army and 44 police battalion, Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey told a news briefing at the Pentagon. In addition, some 50,000 Iraqis were either being trained or awaiting training, he said."
"In the violent city of Ramadi, a center of Sunni insurgent activity 60 miles west of Baghdad, the bodies of seven men were found lined up in an unfinished house on the western outskirts of town, according to eyewitnesses.
"Unlike the corpses elsewhere, which were mostly Iraqi police and soldiers, the bodies in Ramadi apparently were foreigners, fighters working for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings, kidnappings and assassinations.
"Each of the seven had been shot in the head or torso. The bodies were secretly buried in a local cemetery, the witnesses said.
" 'My cousins are the ones who killed them,' said Jabbar Khalaf Marawi, 42, a former army officer and Communist Party member in Ramadi. Marawi said the slayings were carried out by members of his Dulaimi clan in retaliation for the Oct. 2 killing of a clan leader, Lt. Col. Sulaiman Ahmed Dulaimi, the Iraqi National Guard commander for Ramadi and Fallujah, by al-Zarqawi's group."
In most recent contributions to the growth of the Iraqi forces:
"With the graduation of nearly 1,500 soldiers at the Kirkush Military Training Base on March 20, all 27 battalions of nine brigades in the new Iraqi army are now operational.Also, over 2,900 Iraqi soldiers graduated from the Direct Recruit Replacements program at the Iraqi Training Battalion at Kirkush Military Training Base. "These graduates, who all have prior military service, spent three weeks in basic skills refresher courses with concentrations in traffic control points, local security patrols, and fixed site security." Subsequently, "several hundred men who showed up at the front gate of an Iraqi Army base in southeast Iraq immediately after the countrys Jan. 30 elections graduated March 17 from basic combat training. The 766 volunteers, who had no prior military experience before seeking to join the Army, went through eight weeks of training conducted by elements of the Iraqi Training Battalion and the 5th Division. In addition, 2,500 Direct Recruit Replacements graduated March 17 at the same base. The DRR soldiers, who have prior military experience, go through a three-week refresher course."
"Graduations last week at Numaniyah sent more than 3,000 new soldiers to units throughout Iraq, officials said, and next week, another 600 soldiers are expected to graduate from the Iraqi Training Battalion adding roughly 5,000 new soldiers to the Iraqi army ranks."
Iraqi military is also receiving non-combat training: "The first class of the new Iraqi Army Support and Services Institute kicked off March 21 with 153 students from the 1st Division of the Iraqi Intervention Force. The students are divided into six classes transport supervisors, wheeled maintenance, armored maintenance, supply supervisor, basic logistic officers for supply and basic logistic officer for maintenance and transport. The 30-day training program is being taught by a Coalition Force team made up of 12 officers and 17 enlisted personnel." The course is designed to give the Iraqi Army logistical self-sufficiency.
You can also read this postcard from the training, as new and improved system kick into gear:
"The scene would have been unremarkable at any training base in the U.S. military: A group was learning squad tactics, and drill sergeants were standing by correcting them as needed.Police force is also expanding. On March 17, "the Iraqi Police Service graduated 156 police officers from advanced and specialty courses at the Adnan Training Facility... as part of the Iraqi governments ongoing effort to train its security forces. The courses consist of Basic Criminal Investigations with 21 graduates, Interviews & Interrogations with 22 graduates, Internal Controls with 25 graduates, Violent Crime Investigation with 40 graduates, Kidnapping Investigation with 15 graduates and Critical Incident Management with 33 graduates." A day earlier, 144 new policemen graduated from the Al Kut Regional Training Academy. "To date, more than 25,000 police recruits have completed the eight-week training course developed for new recruits. An additional 35,000 police officers have completed the three-week Transitional Integration Program course that provides officers with prior experience a condensed version of the longer basic police training course."
"What made it remarkable was they were Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi drill sergeants. Whats more, they were doing it in Saddam Husseins hometown as part of the new Iraqi armys 4th Division.
"The Iraqi drill sergeants learned their craft from the best in the world. U.S. drill sergeants 'trained the trainers' as part of the 4th Iraqi Army Division Training Academy. U.S. Army Maj. Donald E. McArdle, a member of the 42nd Infantry Division from the New York National Guard, is the academys commandant. But as with every other job here, he has an Iraqi counterpart. Iraqi army Lt. Col. Shaker Faris is McArdles opposite number, and he is working to take away the majors job."
There's training, too, for police special forces: "The Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq Civilian Police Assistance Training Team (CPATT) is approaching the halfway point in training and fielding Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to each governorate. Seven teams are trained and equipped; two others are currently in training. The program is designed to provide a SWAT team for each of 20 major Iraqi cities, with at least one in each governorate. Each team consists Iraqi police officers, including a captain in command."
In recent security successes throughout the country: the arrest of a female member of Al Zarqawi's network in Iraq; the arrest by the Iraqi security forces in the village of Hib Hib of 30 suspected insurgents "including the suspected leader of a bomb-planting insurgency cell and a man suspected of murdering a mayor and plotting the assassination of his successor" ("It was the first battalion-sized operation conducted by the U.S.-trained Iraqis in Diyala province in north-central Iraq"); the arrest of a Saudi national would-be suicide bomber preparing an attack on a military base near Kirkuk; the discovery of three arms caches by an Iraqi unit which has just be trained in the use and supplied with metal detectors; the foiling by Iraqi highway patrol officers in Dhi Qar of a kidnapping and, in two separate incidents, capturing hijackers in Dhi Qar and Basra; the discovery of three weapons caches in Mosul and Tal Afar; the capture by Iraqi security forces of 81 suspected insurgents in the Ninveh province and discovery of a weapons cache in the Missan province; the arrest of one of Saddam's bodyguards and one of his relatives, suspected of financing the insurgency; disarming a road-side bomb and the arrest of suspected bombmakers near Forward Operating Base Kalsu; the dismantling of three roadside bombs in Baghdad thanks to a tip from a local; the capture of a terrorist, Ramzi Hashem, who confessed to assassinating former head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Mohammed Baker al-Hakim, in a car bomb in Najaf more than a year ago, and who was planning the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Sistani; killing of 24 insurgents in a skirmish near Baghdad; the discovery of 24 buried roadside bombs in south Baghdad; killing and arrest of insurgents while planting several roadside bombs in Salah Ad Din province and Baghdad; killing of 17 and arrest of 13 suspected insurgents by Iraqi police anti-terrorism unit in a clash in Mosul; the arrest of nine suspects and recovery of an arms cache following an unsuccessful roadside bomb attack in Baghdad; recovery of arms caches (including one containing 70 land mines) in Miqdadiyah and Baghdad, following a tip from a local; locating and destroying of an insurgent training camp in a joint Iraqi-American operation in southwestern Salah Ad Din province, with reports of up to 85 Baathist insurgents and foreign terrorists killed in the operation ("At the scene, the commandos found documents indicating that there were Syrians, Algerians, other Arabs and at least one Filipino among the insurgents."); recovering by Iraqi troops of two arms caches and foiling a kidnap attempt at a Baghdad bank; and detaining by Iraqi troops around Mosul of some 80 suspects.
And so the struggle for the body and soul of Iraq goes on, from Iyad Allawi down to carpenter Dhia with his AK-47 and masses of other, nameless Iraqis erecting new hospitals, creating free media or setting up new businesses to employ locals; all with a lot of help from people of good will from around the world. On the other side, throat-slashers, saboteurs and suicide-bombers. Regardless of whether we supported or opposed the war, or what we think of the current American policies, for the sake of Iraq let's hope that the Dhias get one better over the masked gunmen.
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