.US Teams Seek Progress in Iraq Provinces
QARRAYA, Iraq (AP) - The head of an Iraqi electricity plant ranted about lack of help from officials in faraway Baghdad. The local governor grumbled about being ignored on project planning.
The four-hour meeting at a U.S. military base in northern Iraq was full of gripes, bitterness and blame trading.
But it was just the sort of encounter Washington hopes will eventually jump-start jobs and public works to regions long neglected by Baghdad - and, along the way, possibly undercut the insurgency by showing that better days could be ahead.
With Iraq's national leadership moving slowly - if at all - on political and economic reforms, the United States is carving out a higher profile for a network of little-heralded groups, known as provincial reconstruction teams, that serve as a mix of business matchmakers, political counselors and deep-pocket donors.
The teams offer an easy way to bypass the political logjam in Baghdad and - in Washington's view - can work on local levels to spark economic growth and bridge Iraq's ethnic and sectarian divides on common issues such as schools, roads and water.
The timing also is right for the groups, called PRTs. As violence ebbs around the country, more attention is shifting to rebuilding and reconciliation.
"Nobody is under the illusion that a single meeting can achieve complete and lasting organizational change. But it can be one step," said Michael Hankey, the economics section chief for the PRT branch in the northern Nineveh province, whose capital, Mosul, is considered the last major urban stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq and its backers.
Hankey received a firsthand lesson in the frustrations and challenges of grass-roots outreach. He was the pointman on a meeting last week to bring together the provincial governor and heads of local industries. Because of security concerns, the gathering took place at a base on the outskirts of Qarraya, about 45 miles south Mosul.
The session - which also included about a dozen Iraqi officials, along with U.S. soldiers and diplomats - opened with energy plant manager Abdulwahid Ahmed Sulaiman complaining bitterly about the lack of government support to build a new power station. Without it, he said, there's little chance to expand the industrial base in Nineveh, about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad.
As Sulaiman made his case - growing more animated and agitated with each breath - the governor of the province, Durayid Kashmoula, did not even bother to look up. He was clearly uncomfortable being told what was wrong in his province by someone far lower on the pecking order.
Instead, he picked his teeth with a toothpick, twirled a foam coffee cup around on the table, chatted with aides and rested his chin on his hands, eyes upward.
After 10 minutes of listening to Sulaiman's lament, the governor finally turned to him and spoke up loudly.
"What do you want me to do?" Kashmoula said.
"To put pressure on the central government to help build the plant," Sulaiman responded.
"Why are you blaming us?" Kashmoula said. "You've never explained to us what is going on. You only talk to the Americans and to Baghdad. You never talk to us. If you talk to us, we could solve the problem."
Coordination between the military and the 25 PRTs around Iraq also is being strengthened as part of a broader strategy to battle insurgents. U.S. commanders acknowledge - some critics say belatedly - that military might must be joined with political and economic incentives to chip away at insurgent support.
The teams are becoming one of the "most important" elements to stabilize Iraq, said Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq, where al-Qaida in Iraq retains its strongest presence.
"Having interagency coordination is the way we should always do things," said Hertling.
"We didn't plan or coordinate that very well" in Iraq until recently, he added
But it takes more than just piles of economic development schemes and flow charts. The Nineveh PRT leader, Jason Hyland, said it requires a break from old habits formed under Saddam Hussein.
"Iraq went through decades of dictatorship and a lot of these connections between the provincial and central government, or between provinces and local authorities, really didn't exist," he said. "A lot of this is developing those connections, those ways of solving problems, for the first time."
After the gathering in Qarraya, the plant manager Sulaiman was unconvinced that any breakthrough occurred. But he called it a nudge in the right direction - the first time he had met directly with the governor.
The PRTs also have the money to step in and help local officials directly, without interference from the central government.
In Nineveh, for example, Hankey said the U.S. had purchased some equipment for three agricultural cooperatives. The equipment will be rented to members, with the proceeds being reinvested to buy seed and other farm supplies.
A lot is riding on the success of such efforts.
Lt. Col. Nathan Hines III, a barrel-chested regimental deputy commander for the 3rd Armored Cavalry out of Forward Operating Base Marez outside Mosul, said political and economic progress are among the best tools for weakening the insurgency.
"The bottom line is, like any man in the world, an Iraqi wants his family to have a place to live, food to eat and a future. That's just basic," said Hines, the military's liaison with the Nineveh PRT. "So I believe the people here, if you give that opportunity to them, they'll be like any other people in the world."
MyWay
You just have to wonder, what took them so long? Then you realize it's not a dream, Bush really is the president.
The four-hour meeting at a U.S. military base in northern Iraq was full of gripes, bitterness and blame trading.
But it was just the sort of encounter Washington hopes will eventually jump-start jobs and public works to regions long neglected by Baghdad - and, along the way, possibly undercut the insurgency by showing that better days could be ahead.
With Iraq's national leadership moving slowly - if at all - on political and economic reforms, the United States is carving out a higher profile for a network of little-heralded groups, known as provincial reconstruction teams, that serve as a mix of business matchmakers, political counselors and deep-pocket donors.
The teams offer an easy way to bypass the political logjam in Baghdad and - in Washington's view - can work on local levels to spark economic growth and bridge Iraq's ethnic and sectarian divides on common issues such as schools, roads and water.
The timing also is right for the groups, called PRTs. As violence ebbs around the country, more attention is shifting to rebuilding and reconciliation.
"Nobody is under the illusion that a single meeting can achieve complete and lasting organizational change. But it can be one step," said Michael Hankey, the economics section chief for the PRT branch in the northern Nineveh province, whose capital, Mosul, is considered the last major urban stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq and its backers.
Hankey received a firsthand lesson in the frustrations and challenges of grass-roots outreach. He was the pointman on a meeting last week to bring together the provincial governor and heads of local industries. Because of security concerns, the gathering took place at a base on the outskirts of Qarraya, about 45 miles south Mosul.
The session - which also included about a dozen Iraqi officials, along with U.S. soldiers and diplomats - opened with energy plant manager Abdulwahid Ahmed Sulaiman complaining bitterly about the lack of government support to build a new power station. Without it, he said, there's little chance to expand the industrial base in Nineveh, about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad.
As Sulaiman made his case - growing more animated and agitated with each breath - the governor of the province, Durayid Kashmoula, did not even bother to look up. He was clearly uncomfortable being told what was wrong in his province by someone far lower on the pecking order.
Instead, he picked his teeth with a toothpick, twirled a foam coffee cup around on the table, chatted with aides and rested his chin on his hands, eyes upward.
After 10 minutes of listening to Sulaiman's lament, the governor finally turned to him and spoke up loudly.
"What do you want me to do?" Kashmoula said.
"To put pressure on the central government to help build the plant," Sulaiman responded.
"Why are you blaming us?" Kashmoula said. "You've never explained to us what is going on. You only talk to the Americans and to Baghdad. You never talk to us. If you talk to us, we could solve the problem."
Coordination between the military and the 25 PRTs around Iraq also is being strengthened as part of a broader strategy to battle insurgents. U.S. commanders acknowledge - some critics say belatedly - that military might must be joined with political and economic incentives to chip away at insurgent support.
The teams are becoming one of the "most important" elements to stabilize Iraq, said Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq, where al-Qaida in Iraq retains its strongest presence.
"Having interagency coordination is the way we should always do things," said Hertling.
"We didn't plan or coordinate that very well" in Iraq until recently, he added
But it takes more than just piles of economic development schemes and flow charts. The Nineveh PRT leader, Jason Hyland, said it requires a break from old habits formed under Saddam Hussein.
"Iraq went through decades of dictatorship and a lot of these connections between the provincial and central government, or between provinces and local authorities, really didn't exist," he said. "A lot of this is developing those connections, those ways of solving problems, for the first time."
After the gathering in Qarraya, the plant manager Sulaiman was unconvinced that any breakthrough occurred. But he called it a nudge in the right direction - the first time he had met directly with the governor.
The PRTs also have the money to step in and help local officials directly, without interference from the central government.
In Nineveh, for example, Hankey said the U.S. had purchased some equipment for three agricultural cooperatives. The equipment will be rented to members, with the proceeds being reinvested to buy seed and other farm supplies.
A lot is riding on the success of such efforts.
Lt. Col. Nathan Hines III, a barrel-chested regimental deputy commander for the 3rd Armored Cavalry out of Forward Operating Base Marez outside Mosul, said political and economic progress are among the best tools for weakening the insurgency.
"The bottom line is, like any man in the world, an Iraqi wants his family to have a place to live, food to eat and a future. That's just basic," said Hines, the military's liaison with the Nineveh PRT. "So I believe the people here, if you give that opportunity to them, they'll be like any other people in the world."
MyWay
You just have to wonder, what took them so long? Then you realize it's not a dream, Bush really is the president.
posted by madtom at 10:16 PM
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