Reconstruction Team Launches Dam Project

24 Jun 07
By U.S. Navy Ensign Christopher Weis.

KHOST PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Through a $1.5 million project launched earlier this year, the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Khost is finding that providing water for drinking and irrigation can be an effective weapon against terrorism.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. David Adams, who took over command of the 120-member joint team in April, said that by providing the funding and oversight necessary to empower local governments throughout Khost to decide where and how diversion dams will be built, the Provincial Reconstruction Team helps connect the people to their government -- which is the key to defeating the insurgency.

In a country held back by more than 30 years of war, ineffective water use has made life even more difficult in this already-barren country. Managing water is life or death for farmers like Haji Mazdigar Gul, 56, who explained that without a diversion dam, flooding often causes him to lose his fields, jeopardizing his family’s survival. His village of Koza Bokhana is one of 30 that will benefit from dams, which will redirect water from rivers to the fields of more than 80,000 farmers and families.

Villagers throughout Khost testify to the diversion dams’ ability to bring economic prosperity to the largely agricultural region. In roughly three weeks, the first of these dams will reach completion, helping local Afghans to better control flooding, irrigate their fields, grow crops and feed their families.

“We appreciate America. We are poor people and they are helping us,” said Khost farmer Mumin Khan, 70, speaking through a Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost translator. “They are the only ones helping us rebuild our country. We love the Americans because they send their sons far away from home to help us.”

“Each of the diversion dams, which take roughly six weeks to complete, has the capacity to irrigate 45,000 jerubs, or roughly. 25,000 acres of land,” said Khost Provincial Director of Irrigation Abdulmer Khan Lama

With a relatively peaceful May tempered by al-Qaeda threats of increased violence in Afghanistan, security for the projects is a top priority.

“We have not seen any problems with security for these projects because the people would not accept attacks on dams that go to the core of their livelihood,” Adams said.

While coalition forces have constructed other diversion dams, water retention walls and aqueducts in the border region, the Provincial Reconstruction Team’s efforts are by far the largest in Khost to date, according to the governor, Arsal Jamal. Although the 30 dams will impact one in 10 “Khosties” directly and many more indirectly, Adams said additional funding would be required to meet all of the region’s irrigation needs.

The local governments are involved in every step of the process. They select the building sites based on need, design the dams, monitor quality and ensure the safety of workers, Adams said. The villagers also take ownership of the projects by completing initial excavation and closely monitoring the project to assure the highest quality.

Adams explained that more dams is a top request he receives from villagers throughout the province. The diversion dams project furthers the Provincial Reconstruction Team’s mission.

The diversion dams project furthers the Provincial Reconstruction Team’s mission by “enabling security, promoting good governance and facilitating reconstruction, development and economic growth,” Adams said. These efforts allow the team to make life better for the people of Khost and help transform what was once a hotbed of terrorist activity to a more prosperous region that will no longer tolerate terrorists.

“Sept. 11 started here,” Adams said. “Only by strengthening the government and reconstructing Afghanistan can we ensure that the conditions for another 9/11 will never again take root here in Khost.

Photo - U.S. Navy Cmdr. Dave Adams, 2nd from left, the governor of Khost and the provincial Director of Irrigation offer a prayer before the cornerstone is laid in the Matun district of Khost, Afghanistan, May 8, 2007. The dam will provide irrigation and drinking water for nine villages in the area. U.S. Navy photo.

Reconstruction Advisory Team working with Iraqis in Baghdad

Thursday, 14 June 2007
By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs.

BAGHDAD - When President George W. Bush ordered troops to “surge” into Baghdad he was not just sending Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, he was also sending little-known teams of reconstruction experts as well.

One of those teams operates out of Forward Operating Base Falcon with the 4th “Dragon” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, in the southwestern Rashid District of the Iraqi capital.

These small teams, known as Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams, are made up of workers from the U.S. military, State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Timothy Zuniga-Brown, who heads the EPRT in the Dragon Brigade, said his team serves as advisors to the Iraqis.

“We are a small team that works at the brigade and regimental levels,” said the Carson City, Nev., native. “This gives us better visibility and better understanding of what the Iraqi government can do to bring peace and stability to their own country.”

The team, comprised of seven people with technical expertise in various areas such as governance, security and economics, has been on the ground for almost two months.

“It is premature to see noticeable changes,” Zuniga-Brown said. “But we have seen changes for the better.” He said the district council holding its own meetings and the Doura Market revival are two examples of Iraqi growth in the area.

In December 2006 there were three shops open in the Doura Market, while today there are more than 250. More than $100 million has spent so far on rebuilding projects throughout the Rashid District, which the team is responsible for.

While the work was started by the military, Zuniga-Brown said the civilian teams would eventually help the Iraqi government stand on its own.

“Brigades have lots of knowledge and understanding at this level, but their main task is to fight and help the Iraqis win this war on the military side,” he said. “But, it’s clear in this conflict, especially when dealing with counterinsurgency, a lot of components are civilian – the Iraqis sending supplies to their own people, listening to their own people and putting together the requirements for a civil society to be stitched back together.”

The military was there to help address the security problems, but they needed help addressing their other problems, as well, Zuniga-Brown added.

“We are in an advisory role, a helping role,” he said. “Bottom line – the Iraqis need to do it themselves and they understand it.”

Photo - Lt. Col. Joeseph Birchmeier (standing) commander 4-1 Brigade Special Troops Battalion, gives a briefing on the ongoing service projects in the Rashid District of Baghdad.

Surge improves security, quality of life

2-Jun-07
By Master Sgt. Dave Larsen
1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.

CAMP LIBERTY — The surge of Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces into Baghdad neighborhoods is aimed at improving the security situation in the Iraqi capital. Yet, there are other programs benefiting by having more boots on the ground during Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon.

“The surge has assisted civil military operations by putting more coalition eyes on the environment, so that we get a more responsive analysis of what essential services and economic development services are needed by the populace,” said Lt. Col. John Rudolph, the assistant chief of staff of civil military operations for Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

Rudolph said civil military operations in MND-B’s area of operation, which run the gamut from governance to agriculture to infrastructure to economic improvements, have already dedicated more than $163 million of Commander’s Emergency Relief Project (CERP) funds to projects all aimed at improving the quality of life for Iraqis living in and around Baghdad.

“This really is about improving the quality of life for the Iraqis,” said Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commanding general for support with MND-B. That “support” role not only touches the lives of the 50,000-plus troops working under MND-B, but also the Iraqi people. He said it’s challenging to move ahead with quality of life initiatives in the face of extremist efforts to stop them.

“There is a perception that I’ve seen in every sector of this region we have responsibility for - when I talk to the Iraqis - that the Americans have the ability to put a man on the moon, and yet they can’t provide us with electricity,” Brooks said. “That whole idea of an expectation that we promised and haven’t delivered causes a great deal of problems.”

Most westerners and Americans, for sure, cannot conceive flicking on a light switch on the wall and having it click with no effect. But, Baghdad has never had electricity flowing to its six million residents 24 hours a day. Electricity, or the lack thereof, was also tool used by the Ba’athist regime to reward or punish the population.

“You saw areas favored by Saddam and his regime see power longer throughout the day, but they still didn’t get power 24/7,” Rudolph said. “They still had to use what they called the ‘generator men,’ who were entrepreneurs who had their own generators and supplied power to local neighborhoods for the ‘off power’ periods - even during Saddam’s period.”

Rudolph said that providing power to Baghdad residents remains a priority, as witnessed by the 62 projects accounting for more than a quarter of the civil military operations funds dedicated this year – more than $44 million. The challenge to get the lights on throughout the Iraqi capital remains an ongoing issue.

“It was an inefficient system to begin with and what we have done is by our electrification projects, in general, we’ve improved distribution so that the power that comes in is distributed more efficiently,” Rudolph said. “However, the level of available power goes down. It goes out to more places, but it doesn’t last as long.”

Brooks said the provision of power to Baghdad neighborhoods remains a function of governance, and it will be the Iraqi government that will need to illuminate the Iraqi capital.

“Our effort here has to be more than a physical one - to not only find ways to improve those systems physically, but also have to work back through that governance effort to ensure that people who are in positions of responsibility in government are not sectarian and are not biased in the delivery of essential services to all people,” Brooks noted.

Improved security in some areas of the city has allowed life to flourish for some Baghdad residents. Temporary barriers erected throughout the city have created what military officials call “safe markets” and “safe neighborhoods.” Rudolph said the market areas have benefited from the temporary barriers, keeping suicide car bombers at bay while allowing commerce to continue.

The marketplace in the Rusafa District in what is known as “Old Baghdad,” on the east side of the Tigris River, is one of those success stories.

“Shoppers feel much safer going into the market now and they’ve actually seen an increase in the number of local citizens using that market,” Rudolph said. “It’s a perception, an attitude that the stigma of the random violence has lessened.”

The Doura Market is often a stop for visiting dignitaries to Baghdad in the southern Rashid District. The 1st Cavalry Division’s 2nd “Black Jack” Brigade Combat Team from Fort Hood, Texas, conducted the initial assessment of the area and started the revitalization project there.

Doura Market, Rudolph said, went from an unorganized street market of only a few dozen vendors to a thriving market place with more than 200 sellers now. He said the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., now operates in Rashid, and even more improvements are underway.

“4-1st Infantry is following up in their footsteps with a barrier plan just like Rusafa,” Rudolph said. “The shoppers (there) feel much safer in that environment. They’ve got solar-powered lights to provide security in the area. They have host nation security forces doing random patrols of the area, and because of these security measures more shops have opened up.”

Haifa Street, in the city’s center, west of the Tigris River, was once known as a hot-bed of extremist activity. It was a battleground for the 1st Cavalry Division when they operated in Baghdad in 2004-2005, and again earlier this year.

The battleground is now a model neighborhood.

“We’ve turned that around,” Brooks said. “Now, we have a thriving market area that is starting to grow and a revitalization process that will make the Iraqis really proud and recognize that things have improved.”

All things start with security, Brooks said, but quality of life initiatives have been brought to life in areas of the Iraqi capital where the neighborhood and district advisory councils have worked in harmony for the good of their constituents.

“It’s where people in the neighborhood, people in the district recognize that they have needs and they’re the ones who should represent the people in that area,” Brooks said. “Mansour has a very active district council that is functioning very, very well, and our recent security operations have enhanced that, so they feel more and more secure.

“They still remain periodically threatened, though,” Brooks said. “You have to recognize that people who are performing well, especially in harmony, are often targeted by extremists who don’t want to see good governance to ever form here.”

CERP funds are a “band-aid,” Rudolph said. They are a way for coalition forces to provide immediate aid where needed. But MND-B, in conjunction with the State Department, is looking at long-term solutions to many of the issues facing the residents of the Iraqi capital.

“They use training programs for business practices and they also do micro-grants and micro-loans, but those are ‘payments in kind,’ Rudolph explained. “If a business needed, say, a cash register to be able to transact business activities, they wouldn’t get the money to buy it. They would get a cash register. It’s the items they would need, not the cash. As much as security has improved, we still don’t want cash-flow going into the hands of the wrong parties. That’s the best means of addressing it.”

Brooks said MND-B has shifted its focus to long-term investments, versus short-term “band-aids” over the past three months.

“There’s been progress, but the approach that has been taken over the last several years for divisions like the 1st Cavalry Division was to find problems and fix them, and do it quickly,” Brooks said. “We’ve had success in that. But the reality is that it doesn’t leave an enduring systemic effect; so we’ve shifted our focus here over the last three months to look at the holistic system sewage on the west side of the river, for example, and identifying where the pump stations are, where the lift stations are, where the pipes that may be broken are, where there is standing sewage. Then, applying the resources, within the city of Baghdad and the government of Iraq, where they really matter.”

By looking at the broader picture, and engaging the local, district and provincial governments, Brooks said long-term progress is possible.

“What’s changed, I think over that last few years, is how much the larger infrastructure has been revitalized,” Brooks said. “Water pipes have been replaced, electrical transformers have been installed, but it’s that last 100 meters worth of the service that really still has to become focused. Then people will really recognize a difference.”

While on one hand, extremist elements are attempting to create chaos in the city streets and deter progress and quality of life initiatives, Brooks pointed in the other direction, to the American Soldier, and attributes much of the progress made to date in the Iraqi capital to the dedication of troops putting their boots on the ground to interact with residents and local officials.

“We wouldn’t have any of these successes; we’d have no progress if it weren’t for the contributions of our troops who are out there,” Brooks said. “We ask an awful lot of our Soldiers who are deployed over here. Certainly, we know we put them into harm’s way to accomplish whatever mission we set out to do. But their energy, their passion, their willingness to keep trying in the face of deliberate set backs at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of sometimes the Iraqis themselves - they’re out there every day and they keep moving forward.

“In all these areas, not only security, but in governance, it may be that the first, best way for people to come together is because an American Soldier encouraged a district council member to sit in the same room with another,” Brooks added. “And governance begins, then, with the passion and the heart of the Soldier in this country.”

Photo - An Iraqi vender works on setting displays of fresh vegetables on Haifa Street in Central Baghdad. The area had been a hot-bed of violence and extremist activity, but is now returning to a peaceful normality of day-to-day living. Photo by Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl.

Security in northern Iraq aids economic opportunities

29 May 2007
U.S. Army story by Maj. Juanita Chang
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

IRBIL — International businessmen representing more than a dozen companies continued traveling through northern Iraq in search of economic opportunities Friday.

In northern Iraq economic promises have boosted confidence in the population, international businessmen and investment potential.

The group traveled the stable northern region of Iraq and met with local business leaders, members of chambers of commerce and key government officials as some arranged for return trips to begin projects.

“I was very impressed with the enthusiasm, zeal and passion of the Kurdish people and their government,” said Subhas Sircar, regional vice president of Marine Middle East, Mediterranean and South Asia Insurance Company Ltd.

A lot of work needs to be done in a short amount of time, but we look forward to supporting them in their endeavors and being partners in their progress, Sircar added.

Irbil is the capital of the Kurdish region, Iraq’s fourth largest city and was seen by investors as a secure and economic hotspot with a 400-store mall, world-class hotels, amusement parks and a zoo.

“Projects such as this are our response to the destructive activities of terrorists,” said Nechervan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish Regional Government. “Whatever they do, the terrorists cannot stop our progress.”

Along with the economic boom in the area, an international airport with high level security measures lands flights daily with direct routes to popular hubs such as Vienna, Stockholm, Amman, Dubai and Amsterdam.

According to the businessmen, a huge potential for investment dwells in Iraq’s northern region.

Some apartments in the area were selling at $130,000 per apartment.

The business executives also stopped in Dahuk and Salaymaniyah, Iraq, to be greeted by provincial governors and given a tour of their respective cities in hopes of luring investors to the area.

The Iraqis in this northern region have come together and worked as a unified group to achieve these common goals. Leaders of business and industry praised the KRG for setting the conditions for future prosperity.

Photo: A view from the tenth floor of the new Naz City Apartments in Irbil, located near the new state-of-the-art convention center and Irbil International Airport. A group of international investors traveled the stable northern region of Iraq and continued to meet with local business leaders, members of chambers of commerce and key government officials as some arranged for return trips to begin projects Friday. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Juanita Chang, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.

Improving Fallujah’s Quality of Life

22 May 2007
By Norris Jones
Gulf Region Central.

FALLUJAH, Iraq – Maj. Angel Ortiz says he and his staff have the job of rebuilding Fallujah, despite the ongoing threats. He’s working in one of the most challenging areas in Iraq.

“Our hope is to do some good so that residents there see things are getting better,” said Ortiz. Ortiz is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division Fallujah Resident Office officer in charge and supervises a staff of 22 people including eight Iraqis. “Those local nationals are risking their lives every day going out and visiting the projects to ensure our contractors are providing quality construction in a safe manner,” he explained.

"We’re managing 87 projects in Fallujah and the surrounding area valued at $195 million. We’re working on rebuilding Fallujah’s entire electrical distribution system, constructing four primary healthcare centers each capable of providing medical care to 150 patients daily, and expanding the city’s water treatment capabilities,” Ortiz continued.

“My favorite project is the wastewater treatment system that will replace the city’s reliance on septic tanks. That $80 million effort includes pump stations, trunk mains, and a modern sewer treatment plant. It will get the sewage off the street and out of the Euphrates River, benefiting this area for decades to come.”

All these projects have meant a boon to the local economy with hundreds of local residents now part of the work crews. “They have good jobs and know they’re helping their community,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz and his staff work in partnership with local community leaders including those on the Fallujah Reconstruction Committee, the Fallujah City Council, and Director Generals from the various Ministries. “We see them on a weekly basis to ensure our efforts are meeting their expectations.”

Ortiz was mobilized as a member of the California National Guard’s Engineer Brigade 40th ID and is concluding his one-year tour this month. “It’s been a great assignment. We’re improving the quality of life for the citizens of Fallujah and I’m proud to be part of these efforts."

He had special praise for his wife, Mariluz, and their three children. “I have great support from them. My wife has done a tremendous job taking care of everything and that’s allowed me to concentrate on the work here. I can’t thank them enough for all they do.”

Photo: Major Angel Ortiz, California Army National Guard, chats with a youngster near one of the construction sites in Fallujah, Iraq. That child, whose father is employed there, says when he gets older he hopes to be involved in the same kind of work helping build Iraq’s future.

Reopened Iraqi Factories Take Aim at Insurgency

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2007 – With straight unemployment running at 20 percent nationwide, there is no wonder that Iraqi men would be sympathetic to violence and insurgency, the Defense Department’s point man for Iraqi reconstruction said today.

Paul Brinkley, deputy defense undersecretary for business transformation, acquisition, technology and logistics, said Iraqis want work, normalcy and security. He is working with the Iraqi government and coalition officials to open factories and create jobs for those unemployed and those underemployed, said during a Pentagon news conference today.

Getting Iraqis back to work, he said, takes groups of people out of the recruiting pool of al Qaeda in Iraq and insurgent factions.

“It is the belief of our command … that this economic factor goes hand in hand with security, and as security is established, it is critical to follow and to restore economic opportunity for the population,” Brinkley said.

The coalition already has helped open three factories in Iraq, and officials plan on opening dozens more in the future. Brinkley said that in 2003, 200 large factories were doing business in the country. For a variety of factors – including security, lack of raw materials, lack of transportation and lack of electricity -- these factories have closed.

DoD has undertaken a comprehensive effort to engage industrial operations -- some idle, some state-owned, some private sector -- across Iraq in an effort to identify potential sources of goods and services, he said. This survey will allow Iraqi factories to reopen and connect Iraq with the rest of the Middle Eastern and international marketplace.

Most of the 200 large factories were state-owned, he said. Restoring these factories will spur growth in other related areas, Brinkley said. Secondary benefits will accrue to the economy not just for large factories, but also for all of the surrounding private businesses.

“This will begin to create an uplift of economic opportunity for the Iraqi people,” he said. And that uplift will take potential recruits out of terrorist or insurgent recruiting pools, he added.

A reopened Iraqi clothing factory is making uniforms for the Iraqi army and Iraqi police. It also is producing goods for export, and Brinkley said some of these clothes should be on shelves in the United States in time for Christmas. “We have major American retail distributors who have engaged in that operation,” he said.

Another reopened factory near Baghdad manufactured buses. It now makes armored vehicles for the Iraqi security forces.

Another reopened factory in Ramadi illustrates a different problem. The factory made bathroom fixtures and ceramic tile, but has no one to sell the goods to.

“It's hard to put U.S. government contracts for ceramic tile; we don't buy a lot of ceramic tile in the DoD,” he said. “These Iraqi factories used to sell to other Iraqis. Sunnis sold to Shiia; Sunni sold to Kurds; Shiia sold to Kurds; businessmen did business with each other. It's the same anywhere in the world.”

As the factories were idle, the commercial ties died, he said. “In this particular case, Kurdish construction firms have committed to buy anything that particular factory can make,” he said. “Why? Because they need these goods, and they're having to import them from outside the country today, and they can get them cheaper.”

Brinkley said this type of success breeds other successes and that he expects to see acceleration in factory opening and concurrent employment.

The Iraqis obviously want this to happen also, Brinkley said. He said that even in areas of the greatest unrest, idled factories have been untouched. “We've gone to factories where literally gunfire has been going off in the surrounding neighborhood, and one would expect the factory to have been looted,” he said. “Yet you go in and there's computer equipment, robotics, brand new production machinery sitting idle.

“The doors are chained and dust has settled over everything and the workers aren't working, and yet the factory hasn't been damaged, which is indicative of the fact that there is a level of control and a level of awareness even in areas of great unrest that future economic prosperity is critical to the population.”