"No comment": An interview with a mukhtar

"The “build” portion of the counterinsurgency doctrine of “clear, hold, and build” is a vital portion of current strategy in Fallujah; as local civilians see improvement in their daily lives, they are becoming more involved in maintaining the new status quo of security and reconstruction momentum. A regular citizen now getting 14 hours per day of electricity -- roughly equivalent to prewar levels -- in the heat of August will have huge self-interest in reporting insurgents planting IEDs that could destroy generators or power lines, for example. And as US aid is distributed through Iraqi Police, the government, and local contractors, those institutions are empowered in the eyes of the people, thus diminishing insurgent hold on the city."
The Forth Rail