Thanks Tony: A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq

[Naidoo]

AFTER THE WAR

Thanks, Tony
A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq.

BY ARTHUR CHRENKOFF
Monday, May 9, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

Presidents and Prime Ministers every day receive countless letters, both
from their own citizens and from overseas. In most cases, such
correspondence is a vehicle for complaint and indignation; anger and
frustration motivate more people to communicate with leaders than hope and
gratitude. All this makes the recent letter written by Iraq's new president,
Jalal Talabani, to Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair all the more
memorable:

I cannot begin to explain my emotions, after over five decades of
personally fighting for and promoting democracy and human rights, to witness
a nation take its first steps towards a dream.
Now the democratically elected parliament has honoured me, a Kurd, with
the post of Presidency. This is a symbol of the promise, integration and
unity of the new Iraq.

So writes Talabani, reminding Blair to remember the past:

Let nobody mislead you, the Iraq that we inherited in April 2003,
following the British and American led liberation, was a tragedy. The
Ba'athist criminals had starved the country of an infrastructure and the
people of their freedom. Apart from the Kurdish safe haven, Iraq was a
playground for thugs and a prison for the innocent.

But just as important, according to Talabani, is to keep the present in
focus:

Building a democratic federal Iraq is a difficult, and slow, but rewarding
process. Those who doubt the swiftness of transition must keep in mind that
a state such as Iraq is a cultural, ethnic and linguistic mosaic that was
only ever held together by brute force, thus, political speed can kill.

Talabani's message is to keep things in perspective, that while
concentrating on the numerous challenges we shouldn't lose sight of the
other narrative: one of slow and often painful change unfolding across the
country. Below are some of the stories from the past two weeks of Iraq's
journey.

. Society. Iraq's democratic institutions are slowly taking shape. On April
27, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his proposed cabinet,
consisting of 36 members:

The Cabinet . . . would have 17 Shiite Arab ministers, eight Kurds, six
Sunni Arabs and one Christian, fulfilling promises by leaders of the Shiite
majority to share power among ethnic and religious groups.

These Cabinet numbers quite faithfully reflect the size of various ethnic
and religious groups in Iraq. The cabinet also includes six women:

Suhaila Jaafar as Minister of Migration and Displacement, Jwan Massoum as
Minister of Communications, Nasreen Berawari as Minister of Municipalities
and Public Works, Narmin Othman as Minister of the Environment, Azhar
al-Sheikhli as Minister of State for Women's Affairs, and Bassima Boutros as
Minister of Science and Technology.

The Cabinet (with some vacancies still outstanding) was approved by the
National Assembly the following day--which, as many reports noted, was
Saddam Hussein's birthday. If you want more information about the
composition of the cabinet, you can read this profile of its key members.

The new regulations for Iraq's Parliament are also now in place:

The National Assembly has finished drafting a legal regulation which
defines the way its members work, the role of its speaker, and its oversight
and control of the executive authority. Deputy speaker Hussein
al-Shahrestani said the draft was unanimously approved by assembly members.
Lawyer Maryam al-Rayes said that under the rules, parliament has the right
to question the presidency board (the president and his two deputies),
cabinet ministers and any other official in the executive.

With the formation of the new government, the previously obstinate Sunnis
are now starting to change their tune. Their two major political parties,
the Iraqi Sunni Accord and the Iraqi Islamic Party, have recently announced
that they will contest any future elections. Also this:

Sunni Endowment head Adnan al-Dulaimi has called a conference of
reconciliation, to be attended by political and religious leaders from all
parts of the spectrum. The objective is to secure an agreement to end
bloodshed and to work towards dialogue. Al-Dulaimi also told media outlets
they should not contribute to sectarian conflict by biased and exaggerated
reporting.
Meanwhile up north, the rationalization of the Kurdish political and
administrative landscape continues:

Iraqi Kurds will hold separate elections to choose a president for their
self-rule region, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said.
Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said the elections for
the president will be part of the parliamentary vote expected to take place
once the regional Kurdish governments merge.

The region is administered by two governments, one in Sulaimaniya, where
Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan holds power and the other in
Arbil, a territory run by Barzani's KDP.

With Talabani elected the President of Iraq, observers believed the
presidency of the Kurdish region will automatically go to Barzani. But
Barzani, in his latest interview with the newspaper, showed little interest
in becoming the first leader of a unified Kurdish autonomous region.

More rationalization is under way: Five left-wing Kurdish political parties
are merging into one political entity.
As for the whole of Iraq, the growing cooperation between the United States
and the European Union will hopefully bear more fruit in the future,
starting with this coming gathering:

The U.S. and European Union conference on coordinating the Iraq rebuilding
effort will take place in Brussels in the latter half of June... The
conference was planned during President George W. Bush's visit to Brussels
in February as part of the U.S. and EU rapprochement over Iraq.
It will focus on three issues: bolstering democracy, strengthening rule of
law and integrating Iraq into the world economy. . . . The two-day
conference would include 60 to 70 participants, including those from the
United States and European Union. . . . The meeting would not seek to raise
new aid money but look to coordinate existing aid.

European countries are already assisting in many ways. Officials at the
Iraqi Human Rights Ministry have received some valuable training from the
Human Rights Center in Nottingham University in Britain. And the U.S. Agency
for International Development (link in PDF) continues its support for
building Iraqi democratic institutions and civil society. Among most recent
activities:

a.. From April 9-16, trainers and international consultants from the State
University of New York's Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) led
an in-depth Basic Parliamentary Skills training program for 22 senior staff
members of various Transitional National Assembly (TNA) departments
including Personnel Affairs, Protocol, Accounting and Auditing, Media, and
Coordination. . . .

b.. A USAID partner is finalizing its Constitutional Information Packages
that will be distributed to all civil society organizations interested in
understanding and contributing to Iraq's constitutional process. . . .

c.. After a careful review of all micro grant applications, USAID's
partner providing support to the Transitional Government finalized the
selection of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) ready to implement
proposed projects, all related to civic education and input into the
national constitutional process.
Speaking of foreign ties and assistance, moves are under way to make
Sulaymaniyah and Tucson, Ariz., "sister cities":

Qubad Talabany looks at Tucson and sees much to remind him of his native
city in northern Iraq. "There are many similarities between Tucson
and--Sulaymaniyah--the elevation, the climate, a city surrounded by
mountains, the size of the population. Sulaymaniyah also borders another
country," said the son of newly elected Iraqi president Jalal Talabani.
But Qubad Talabany, the representative of the Kurdistan Regional
Government in Washington, D.C., plans to see his hometown mirror Tucson in
more culturally significant ways and is working to make it happen through
the federal "Partners in Peace" program. . . .

"This partnership is something that has raised a lot of excitement in
Sulaymaniyah and Iraqi Kurdistan," said Talabany, a 27-year-old
British-educated diplomat. "We call it planting the seeds for a stronger
partnership that covers all aspects of life--a political partnership to an
economic partnership and most importantly a cultural partnership where
people in Arizona and Tucson can learn a little bit about Sulaymaniyah,
Iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq." . . .

The Tucson-Sulaymaniyah link is one of three partnerships announced last
year between U.S. and Iraqi cities. Other partnerships are being created
between Denver and Baghdad and Dallas and Kirkuk.

The program will begin with efforts to link the University of Sulaimani's
agricultural school with its counterpart at the University of Arizona when
two Kurdish professors visit June 10, said Sharon Hekman, who is working
with the project.

Read also this story of ingenuity and necessity, as "Kurds build homes and
make tools with remnants of weapons Saddam once used against them."
Cultural life is reviving, too. One year in the making, a conference for
Iraqi intellectuals and artists has been held in mid-April under the
auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Unesco:

A number of workshops were held during the conference in the Babylon
Hotel. They dealt with book publishing, archaeology and heritage, the
national theatre, cinema, fine arts, architectural heritage and the
relationship between culture and the media. The security situation aside,
conference participants described this meeting, as a golden chance for the
rebirth of Iraqi culture as all sectors of Iraqi society and culture were
represented. Book fairs and concerts were held in conjunction with the main
event.

Read also this report on how women in conservative Karbala are getting
liberated through the city's Internet cafes.

And in a cinematic achievement, "an Iraqi film will compete at the Cannes
Film Festival for the first time, vying for the top prize against veteran
directors and past winners." Iraqi Kurd Hiner Saleem's "Kilometer Zero,"
which looks at Kurdish-Arab relations in Iraq, is among 20 movies from 13
countries selected for the competition.

Meanwhile, for the first time in 30 years, an Iraqi film has won a major
prize: "Gheir Salih" ("Of No Use"), directed by Udei Rasheed, was the
favorite at the 18th Cinema Festival in Singapore.

. Economy. Good news for the Iraqi economy, as inflation keeps falling:

Inflation rates declined in March in comparison with rates in the
preceding month, according to Planning Minister Mahdi al-Hafidh. The
headline rate inflation, which includes the cost of fuel, transport and
consumer goods, had fallen by 6% in March, Hafidh said. . . .
The plunge is widely believed to be the result a substantial drop in fuel
prices following huge imports from neighboring countries. Hafidh said fuel
prices had dropped by 48.6% in March in comparison to April.

This report, meanwhile, takes another look at the unsung success story that
is the Iraqi Stock Exchange:

As the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) continues to add new companies and
generate interest throughout the world, we take a few moments to look back
at the humble beginnings of the ISX, and analyze just why and how the ISX
has become a symbol of economic hope in a tumultuous Iraq.
Given the nature of the Iraqi insurgency, with attacks on foreigners and
Iraqis alike, and targeting almost every institution, every beacon of
liberalism, prosperity and freedom--the fact that the ISX remains fully
operational, and in fact has expanded ten-fold in terms of the number of
companies being traded, is nothing short of remarkable.

Kurdistan continues to boom as a result of its investment-friendly climate:

Differences between the way Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq promotes
investment is prompting businesses to snub Baghdad and turn to the northern
region of the country.
In a sign of the apparent preference for the north, the Iraqi-American
Chamber of Commerce and Industry is holding a conference in October in Iraqi
Kurdistan for 240 firms interested in investing there.

Analysts say that there are a number of reasons why firms are presently
turning their backs on the Iraqi capital.

The Sulaimaniyah administration of Iraqi Kurdistan has an Investment
Promotion Board that guides and facilitates projects for investors. But in
Baghdad, there is no central agency to which investors can turn.

Furthermore, Iraqi Kurdistan's investment law was drawn up following an
examination of similar laws in 23 Arab and foreign countries, said Shilan
Khanaqa, media director of the Investment Promotion Board. The law,
implemented in March 2004, exempts companies and contractors from paying
customs for five years and also provides free land for business projects.

In oil news, according to the Iraqi ambassador to Iran, Mohammad Majid
Alsheikh, "following formation of the new Iraqi government, an oil pipeline
will join the southern Iraqi city Basra with Abadan, located south of Iran."
The ambassador added that "the Iranian government has already approved the
plan for construction of the pipeline carrying 350,000 barrels per day (bpd)
of crude oil from Iraq to Iran."
In other news of foreign cooperation, the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co.
"says it has inked a one-year technical cooperation agreement with Iraq's
oil ministry. Under the deal, the resource development company will search
for oil in Iraq and train local personnel."

USAID is working to improve the prospects of Iraqi economy:

USAID's Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) program supports
the development of a competitive and efficient private sector in Iraq
through a package of training, technical assistance, consulting, and
business entrepreneurship services. Recent activities in support of VEGA
objectives have included:
a.. Grant activities. VEGA recently approved 16 grants for a total of
$111,160, including six grants ($36,950) in Baghdad and 10 ($74,210) in
Arbil. Grants were provided to a broad variety of businesses, including a
private dental clinic, a sewing workshop, a bakery, a beekeeping operation,
a printing press, and an art production venture.

b.. Training of trainers. VEGA advisors conducted a "training of trainers"
(TOT) workshop for field staff from a non-governmental organization that is
working with USAID's Community Action Program. The TOT session in Arbil
provided instruction on basic business skills development to 12 NGO staffers
from Kirkuk, Samarra, Tikrit, Balad Ross, and Diyala.
Economic ties with neighbors keep expanding: "In a fresh sign of improving
economic relations, Iran has begun export of cement and iron beams to the
war-torn Iraq for the first time."
Increasing movement between Jordan and Iraq calls for improved
infrastructure:

Jordan and Iraq are to establish a new border center to facilitate the
flow of passengers and goods between the two countries. . . . The new center
will be located at 4 km inside the Jordanian territory to make more rooms
for trucks to enter the country, Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yervas was
quoted as saying. He said the proposed new center will be able to do its job
smoothly for the next 50 years, adding that the new center is necessary
because of the increasing traffic across the current Karameh border.

Meanwhile, a major Jordanian bank is returning to Iraq:

Arab Bank is currently recruiting employees and preparing to resume
operations in Iraq. The bank ran five branches in Iraq and six in Syria from
1947 until 1964 when the banking sectors in the two countries were
nationalised.
As part of its expansion plan, a branch in the Iraqi capital will be
reopened before the end of this year. . . . The license for reestablishing a
branch in Baghdad was obtained a year ago from the Central Bank of Iraq...

Arab Bank seeks to link the Jordanian and Iraqi economies, advance
commercial and trade activities between the two countries and facilitate
banking transactions.

Passenger flights between Britain and Iraq are set to resume in November,
after 15 years.
. Reconstruction . According to the Iraq Project and Contracting Office, in
less than one year, over 2,100 Iraq reconstruction projects have commenced,
349 of which are now complete. Projects run by the PCO directly employ
40,416 men and women, and across the country nearly 170,000 Iraqis are
working on American-funded reconstruction projects.

Foreign assistance continues to play an important role in rebuilding Iraq.
This report discusses some of the Japanese contribution:

Japan is now providing grant aid totaling $1.5 billion to Iraq to rebuild
the foundations of public life covering such areas as power generation,
education, water supply and sanitation, health, and employment, as well as
to improve security. Up to $3.5 billion in aid will be provided for
medium-term reconstruction. Japan has also been providing and will continue
to provide cultural and sports assistance. Furthermore, Japan is providing
humanitarian and reconstruction assistance through the dispatch of the
Self-Defense Forces.

Copenhagen, too, is increasing its contribution:

Denmark's government has decided to increase aid for Iraq's reconstruction
by an additional 100 million kroner (17 million dollars, 13 million euros).
The additional aid brings Denmark's total contribution to the rebuilding
effort in the war-torn country to 600 million kroner [$102 million] for the
five-year period from 2003 to 2008.

In recent reconstruction projects:

a.. Money keeps pouring in to reconstruct Fallujah, with another $28
million recently donated to the Iraqi authorities by an international aid
agency.

b.. "A Directorate of Municipalities in northern Iraq renovated and
procured equipment for ten municipal offices through an $83,000 Iraq
Transition Initiative (ITI) grant."

c.. Basra will receive a face-lift, with street redesign and extension
program, assisted by the experts from the Czech Republic.
Speaking of urban renewal:

The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), together with the Iraqi
Ministry of Municipality and Public Works and the Construction and Housing
Ministry, is holding a two-day round-table meeting beginning tomorrow in
Amman, Jordan, on a "Slum Upgrading Strategy for Iraq."
The meeting, to be attended by more than 60 participants including
high-ranking officials, international experts and representatives from many
UN agencies, aims to draw up a strategy paper for policy reforms in housing
and urban development that will contribute to improving the livelihoods of
up to 1 million people, about 25 per cent of Iraq's urban poor.

Here's a similar program in action:

Iraqi villagers outside Erbil, in the Kurdish northern part of the
country, have more to look forward to than just a new home as Spring
approaches.
In a country with a 70 percent unemployment rate, the 800 families who
helped build their own homes in a recent housing reconstruction effort may
be able to turn these valuable skills into much needed value, such as jobs.
A year ago, Counterpart International met with local leaders, elders, and
community representatives to identify needs in the war-torn Qushtapa
sub-district. Finding themselves without adequate houses, water and
sanitation systems, wells, or schools, the communities had a lot to talk
about.

Counterpart worked closely with these leaders and other community members,
guiding them through a participatory appraisal process. The organization was
able to complement the communities' decision to construct houses and their
corresponding infrastructure of water and sanitation systems and primary
schools, by providing technical expertise and training in self-built home
construction and community infrastructure development.

Through its country office, Counterpart also regularly monitored and
evaluated progress to ensure the quality and sustainability of the program.
Today, these 800 families from 39 villages are completing their new homes
thanks to technical support that was provided by Counterpart through some
$5.4 million from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Families also added local roofing materials to complement UNHCR's building
guidelines, making their houses more energy efficient in this colder
northern region of the country.

And the Ministry of Trade is helping Iraqi newlyweds:

Couples are being offered building materials for homes at a reduced cost
to local market prices, as well as the chance for them to pay in
installments. This comes at a time when rents are double, or in some cases
triple or more, what they were during Saddam Hussein's regime.

In education, USAID funding is also repairing some of the recent damage
(link in PDF):

Several school buildings destroyed by Coalition Forces during the 2003
conflict are being rebuilt under the Assistance to Civilian Victims of the
Conflict initiative of the Community Action Program (CAP).

In other education news, 2,100 teachers and other education employees who in
the past lost their jobs for political or other reasons, have been
reinstated in Baghdad and eight other provinces. Also, the authorities in
Baghdad's Sadr City have recently finished renovations of 49 schools,
construction of 16 new ones, and complete rebuilding of six others.

In higher education, USAID explains the rationale behind its HEAD program
and updates on progress achieved so far (link in PDF):

Iraq's universities are leading efforts to increase stability and advance
democratic progress. Universities provide jobs and opportunities for sound
intellectual development to the important demographic of 18-25 year old
youth. . . . USAID's Higher Education and Development Program (HEAD) helps
Iraqi universities build strong links with U.S. academic counterparts,
creating a campus environment that favors prodemocratic thought and actively
involves professors and students in rebuilding the country.
The HEAD program is designed to have an immediate impact in constructively
engaging youths and intellectual leaders. HEAD builds the capacity of Iraqi
universities to act as forces for secular, pro-democratic thought and to
provide practical education to the generation of Iraqis now entering the
workforce. HEAD is implemented through five partnerships, each including
several Iraqi and American universities. The five partnerships include:

a.. DePaul University's International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI)
is working through HEAD to strengthen legal instruction at three Iraqi law
schools. Two law libraries at universities in Baghdad and As Sulaymaniyah
have so far been restored with assistance from IHRLI; one more library will
be restored at a third university.

b.. The Al Sharaka project, led by the University of Oklahoma, works with
five universities in Iraq to strengthen research capabilities. More than
10,000 books were delivered to five Iraqi Universities through a "Books
Beyond Borders" within the Al Sharaka partnership.

c.. The Jackson State University-led Mississippi Consortium for
International Development is working with Iraqi universities to improve
access to international academic resources and strengthen research
capabilities. A local area network was installed to link buildings at one
northern Iraqi university through an intranet and to provide faculty and
researchers access to international counterparts through a high-speed
Internet connection.

d.. University of Hawaii support enables Iraqi universities to connect
farmers with international best practices and modern farming methods. About
150 faculty attended a series of seven workshops at ICARDA and the American
University in Beirut (AUB) on topics such as Statistics and Experimental
Design, Soil and Water Resources, Forestry Sciences, Agricultural
Engineering and Technology Transfer.

e.. The State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY/SB) is
strengthening the quality of education at four Iraqi partner universities in
archaeology, Assyriology, and environmental health. Fifty-six faculty and
graduate students attended 10 weeks of intensive lectures, IT instruction
and field trips in Amman, Jordan.
In electricity news, "The Ministry of Electricity has signed two contracts
with private sector to build electricity generators stations in the northern
region; the capacity of each one is 200 MW."
USAID, meanwhile, updates on the progress of one of its projects in Baghdad
(link in PDF):

Work is continuing on the expansion of the electrical generation capacity
of the Baghdad South Power Plant. The scope of work for the project involves
the installation of two new 120 MW turbines and accompanying skids, modules,
switchyard, busduct, transformers, and embedded conduit systems. Currently,
45 Iraqi electricians working extended shifts are preparing the necessary
power cables for the first new turbine and installing low and medium voltage
switchgear. Work on the fire fighting system and the exhaust stack sound
muffler has been completed. Work is continuing on grounding, fire protection
piping, acoustical enclosures, and gas piping to the main unit breakers.
As the report notes, "the first turbine to be installed should begin light
fuel operation in June 2005, with the second turbine scheduled for July
2005. The turbines will be ready for heavy fuel operation and be substantial
completed by November 2005. When completed, 212 MW will be added to the Iraq
grid. All work at the site is expected to be completed by December 2005."
In water and sanitation, work continues on numerous USAID projects around
the country ("An anticipated 11.8 million Iraqis will benefit from USAID's
$600 million in water and sanitation projects"):

In Karbala, the work is focusing on "placing prefabricated reinforcement
systems, formwork, and concrete for compact unit foundations. Installation
of a new low lift pump and refurbishing of piping and valves is ongoing at
the intake works"; the project will be completed in September 2005;
in Baghdad, the Baghdad Water Distributions Mains project is "modeling the
distribution system to collect data and conduct a survey of major water
mains in the city and the extensive repair and replacement of mains,
distribution pipes and valves"; some 32 kilometers of pipe have already been
laid and the project is scheduled to be completed by December this year;

in Diyala governorate, "civil and electrical work is underway at water and
sewage treatment plants serving... [the] governorate which require
rehabilitation and expansion to better serve the region's 60,000 residents";
the project is 70 per cent complete and will be finished in May.

Meanwhile in the north, one project was recently completed:

USAID and the US Army have completed work to rehabilitate Mosul's water
treatment and sewer systems. In support of the Army's efforts to install
diesel generator systems and rehabilitate Mosul's six water treatment plants
and eight pump stations, USAID worked to clear the city's sewer and
storm-drain systems and provided trucks and other equipment including pumps
and pump control systems, valves, penstocks, pipes, spare parts, tools, and
electrical equipment. USAID also provided welding training to water
treatment plant operations and maintenance staff. With the completion of
this project and the re-commissioning of the elevated tanks, Mosul will have
24 hours of water available.
In agriculture, this from USAID:

The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and USAID's Agriculture Reconstruction
and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program are working to improve productivity
in Iraqi orchards. Preparation has begun on 24 farms in Dahuk governorate
participating in an olive orchard improvement project aimed at enhancing
olive production and improving the skills and income of beneficiary farmers.
To increase earning potential, MOA/ARDI will provide seedlings from
nurseries in the region, using popular varieties that have a large domestic
market. When field preparation is complete, each farmer will receive 300
olive seedlings.

USAID is also working to improve the standard of agricultural education
throughout Iraq:

USAID is strengthening agricultural research and education in Iraq through
a partnership between agriculture colleges at the University of Hawaii and
Iraqi universities. The Higher Education and Development (HEAD) partnership
is training faculty and students, improving laboratories and other
facilities, and equipping libraries.
Eleven professional development and planning workshops were recently held
for 250 Iraqi university faculty members. The workshops, taught by leading
agriculturalists around the world, provided faculty with training in
agricultural statistics, experimental design, technology transfer, soil and
water sciences, field crops, animal sciences, agricultural engineering and
forest science.

Six Iraqi graduate students participated in study abroad programs at an
American University. The students improved their English language skills,
visited research centers and conducted advanced research projects. The
students also participated in a three week library skills training class
which will allow them to teach others how to utilize the electronic
resources being integrated into their universities at home.

The program is also supporting the rehabilitation of greenhouses,
libraries and computer facilities that are critical for conducting modern
agricultural research. In addition, $205,500 in small grants has been
awarded to 18 faculty from Iraqi agriculture and forestry colleges to
conduct research in priority areas such as pesticide and fertilizer use.

A joint project between the United Nations and the Japanese government is
now under way to save Iraq's ecologically most significant area:

United Nations efforts to help restore the marshlands of southern Iraq,
considered by some to be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, after they
were massively damaged by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, have moved a
step closer with the identification of six pilot project sites.
At all six sites environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) will be used to
see how they perform in restoring the environment and providing clean water
and sanitation to 85,000 people living there, UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) official Monique Barbut told a meeting yesterday held on the margins
of the thirteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
(CSD) in New York.

The $11-million project, funded by the Government of Japan, aims to bring
wetland management skills to local people and communities, heirs to the
5,000-year-old civilization of the Babylonians and Sumerians, with "low
tech" less polluting ESTs which include restoration of reed beds and other
marshland habitats that act as natural, water-filtration systems.

By 2003 some 93% of the marshland had disappeared; but a year later, around
one-fifth has already been reflooded (or two-fifths according to the Iraqi
authorities).
Here's more, including the details of an ambitious proposal to power up the
rewatering operation.

. Humanitarian aid. Spirit of America is starting a new initiative to build
ties between two educational systems:

Spirit of America announces the successful launch of the America-Iraq
School Partners Program pilot. The program creates partnerships and
friendships between American and Iraqi schools.
The America-Iraq School Partners Program pilot features 13 American
schools in Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, New Hampshire, Illinois, California
& Germany and 17 schools in Basrah, Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. More
than 1500 elementary school children are participating in the pilot. The
America-Iraq School Partners Program is designed to build understanding and
friendships between Iraqi and American children, assist the development and
improvement of education in Iraq and to demonstrate that the Iraqi people
are not alone in their struggle to establish a free and peaceful society.

The core purpose of the School Partners program is to establish
connections and communication between the participating schools.
Communication includes student-to-student, teacher-to-teacher and
principal-to-principal communication. American schools may provide gifts of
friendship to their partner schools in Iraq such as supplies, books or
equipment. This is at the discretion of the American school and would be
expected to be funded privately by the school's parents, students, local
businesses and community.

USAID is helping the victims of recent, and not so recent, fighting (link in
PDF):

The Community Action Program (CAP) will supply 206 wheelchairs and 50 sets
of crutches for disabled people in a Salah Ad-Din governorate city where
some of the fiercest street battles outside of Fallujah took place. Thirty
civilian victims of Coalition fighting were identified in need of
wheelchairs in addition to other persons with disabilities (PWDs) who had
lost limbs or limb functions due to disease, previous wars, or accidents. An
Iraqi NGO partner did a survey of all PWDs in the city, noting the type of
disability and any special needs.

An Iraqi boy is returning home after a successful surgery:

It was an emotional day of goodbyes, and a day of surprises, for an Army
Ranger from West Liberty [Iowa] and the Iraqi boy whose life he helped save.
A farewell reception for Rebaz and Subhi Shamsadeen was held Saturday at
University Hospitals. Rebaz, 5, a Kurdish boy from northern Iraq, was born
with a hole in his heart, a genetic defect that killed an older brother. He
and his father have been in eastern Iowa since Dec. 30, 2004, when they
secured their visas, found the doctors who could perform the life-saving
operation and the money to help pay for it.

The duo will return to Iraq Monday, but Subhi Shamsadeen said he was
grateful for everything he and his son had received while in Iowa.

"For me, it's like a dream," he said through an interpreter, Iowa City
resident Faramarz Shahsar. "I couldn't believe we could come to the United
States for the surgery. I love these people."

The Shamsadeens' journey began in August 2003, when Sgt. Corey Johnston
was working his second tour of duty in Iraq as an Army Ranger medic. Based
near Mosul, which is in predominantly Kurdish territory in northern Iraq, he
worked with First Lt. Farook Khalid Shamsadeen, Rebaz's uncle.

"He told me about this kid and asked me if I could do anything," Johnston
said, citing a list of questions the Iraqi gave him in English, Farsi and
Kurdish.

Johnston, who will return to Iraq on May 7, made some inquiries and told
the story to his mother, Cindy Yerington, back home in West Liberty.
Yerington spoke with others and soon, the pieces started coming together for
bringing Rebaz to Iowa for the operation.

Then there is the story of this Iraqi girl:

The changes in Eman Hashim are easy to spot. One year after the marathon
surgery that transformed her face--and her life--the 14-year-old Iraqi girl
has an upper lip and can close her mouth. Her brown eyes, once so wide apart
that she had trouble seeing straight ahead, are more centered on her face.
She has the beginnings of a normal nose.
Eman still has a major deformity, which doctors hope to fix during a
second operation next week. But newfound confidence and hope are already in
her smile and voice, once just a meek whisper.

"I am more comfortable with myself," Eman said Monday, the morning after
flying into Norfolk. "I am more happy." She and her father, Khalid Hashim,
spoke through a translator.

Eman is a patient in the World Care Program run by Operation Smile, a
Norfolk-based nonprofit that helps children all over the world. Eman spent
two months here last year and will stay for about a month this time. Her
surgery is scheduled for a week from Wednesday at Children's Hospital of the
King's Daughters.

Doctors hope to build Eman a new nose, using a small amount of bone from
her skull and skin from her arm. They also plan to create a lid for her left
eye. The operation should take about 10 hours, about half as long as last
year's surgery, said Dr. William Magee, Eman's plastic surgeon and the
founder of Operation Smile.

Meanwhile, the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Bahrain has offered free medical
treatment to some Iraqis who couldn't receive required medical attention
back home:

Mr Teaney and Mrs Weller, who are husband and wife, sponsored the
patients' travel expenses, as well as their accommodation costs in Bahrain.
The money was raised by Mr Teaney and Mrs Weller when they took part in
the New York Marathon in November 2003.

The couple raised $140,000 (BD52,920) and initially this was to be used to
re-build and provide facilities for a school for the hearing impaired,
nursery and affiliated orphanage in Iraq.

But because of logistic difficulties, they were unable to go ahead with
the project.

They later found out about the Hope and Support Fund for Iraqi Cancer
Patients campaign and were able to get involved.

Sometimes the gestures may seem small, but they come from the heart:

Trainee beauticians at a Scottish college have been pampering an Iraqi
teenager who was badly burned during an air attack in her home country.
Students at Telford College in Edinburgh invited Hannan Shihab, 17, who has
been undergoing plastic surgery, to their training salon. . . .
The students and staff offered Hannan, from Baghdad, the treatment after
reading about her situation in newspapers.

Hannan was at home with her parents, two brothers and sister on 7 April,
2003, when a bomb from a US military aircraft exploded nearby. The vibration
from the blast knocked a kerosene lamp onto her bed, setting it alight.

The teenager suffered horrific burns but there was a limit to what doctors
in war-torn Iraq could do.

Katrina Turner, from Bonnyrigg, became aware of her plight and persuaded
experts to treat her at St John's Hospital in Livingston.

Hannan recently underwent reconstructive facial surgery at the hospital
and students invited her for treatment to boost her confidence and
self-esteem.

Throughout the United States, local grass-roots efforts continue to assist
the people of Iraq in many different ways. This from Louisiana:

We can think of no better example of the caring nature of the people of
Acadiana than the extension of Operation Care Bear to the war-torn country
of Iraq. A group called Acadiana Women set out to brighten the lives of
Iraqi children after Sgt. Jeanne Crochet of Lafayette, member of the
Louisiana National Guard's 256th, 199th Charlie Med, based out of St.
Martinville, asked for help for the needy young ones. Next came a request
from Spc. Andrew Malaxonis, also with Charlie Company, for Care Bears he
could give to ambulance drivers, medics and Marines to distribute on patrol,
to help them reach out to Iraqi children.
Acadiana Women is a group known for sewing and stuffing bears for Acadiana
children who are ill. Following requests from the 256th members, they have
sent about 120 bears to Iraq each month since December, giving of their time
and making a significant investment in postage and other costs of shipping.

From Michigan:

A story indicating that a Beanie Baby may have saved the lives of members
of a convoy of U.S. Marines in Iraq has encouraged a Roscommon merchant to
continue her campaign to send the toys to deployed U.S. servicemen.
Mary Lou Bryce of Sandbar Designs said she planned to send two boxes of
Beanie Babies to Iraq Wednesday. She already had shipped seven boxes since
last fall. . . . Among the dolls in this week's shipment is the entire
Beanie collection of 16-year-old Roscommon resident Sara Brigham. Bryce said
Brigham and other recent donors were inspired by a story reported by CNN
last month.

And Louisiana again:

Americans take for granted a lot of little things: toothpaste, toys,
shampoo and candy. Those are the kinds of items U.S. service personnel
serving in Iraq write home asking for--not for themselves but to give to
Iraqi civilians.
Sabrina Jagneaux, a receptionist at Acadian Ambulance Service Inc. in
Lafayette, said employees pack care boxes filled with simple items such as
toiletries, small toys and stuffed animals about every two weeks to send to
co-workers who have been deployed .

About 30 employees of Acadian Ambulance are serving abroad as paramedics.

. Coalition troops. In addition to their security work, soldiers are also
trying to assist Iraqi people in many different ways, most notably in
reconstruction.
The troops are reporting successes in the Salah ad Din province--and this
report offers an excellent snapshot of efforts that are being replicated
every day on the ground across Iraq with the assistance of the coalition
personnel:

Visible signs of progress are everywhere--most notably the Bayji gas
turbine upgrade, renovated schools, transportation projects and new health
clinics.
The Bayji project places an additional 260 megawatts of electrical power
on the national grid. The rehabilitation project totaled $54 million.

School renovations top the list of reconstruction efforts in Salah ad Din.
Last month, 31 schools were completed, with 10 of those in the Samarra
District. April projections are for another 44 schools to be completed.

The renovation projects in Salah ad Din will affect over 13,000 Iraqi
students and boost the local economy in the form of labor, materials and
subcontracts. The use of local contractors and local labor has been
instrumental in inspiring pride in the local communities and injecting money
into the local economies, according to Multi-National Forces.

Two transportation projects, the train stations in Heliwat and Al'Fat'ha,
were completed last month. The transportation infrastructure improvements
include reconstruction of over 26 kilometers of village roads in remote
areas of the province, creating all-weather roads to support the reliable
transportation and delivery of goods and services to hundreds of local
Iraqis. The projects include replacement of failed drainage structures,
repair to the road sub-base and placement of an asphalt concrete road
surface.

Two primary health clinics in Salah ad Din province were started in March.
Seven additional planned clinics are nearing their start date. The clinics
are being sited in local cities and villages to provide Iraqis with direct
access to health care.

Two electrical substation projects have started in the province, the
beginning of a $20 million contract for five substations and one feeder
line. These projects will upgrade the existing distribution network of power
throughout the province.

There are more than 475 projects in progress, with over 180 projects
forecast completed, and 99 projects forecast to begin this month.

Around Baghdad, troops of the Third Infantry Division are also involved in
numerous local programs:

An Army task force composed of engineers and civil affairs personnel have
spearheaded the rebuilding of Iraq's economy by working hand in hand with
Iraqi people. Together they are making substantial progress in the
reconstruction of the new Iraq.
The Essential Services Team for the 1088th Engineer Battalion, 256th
Brigade Combat Team is composed of the civil affairs personnel from 2nd
Brigade, 10 Mountain Division, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and C Co.,
443rd Civil Affairs Battalion.

Project Payment and Management Sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Carl Griffin, from
Denham Springs, La., with 1088th Eng. Batt., tracks the weekly progress of
each project and assesses projects managed by local contractors. Since
April, EST has started 54 new projects that range from running water lines
to a house in a village to cleaning up trash that has built up over the
years. With a purpose to help the Iraqi people rebuild its economy, the
256th EST and its counterparts are providing a way for this nation to get
back on its feet. While these projects are helping to rebuild Iraq, they
have provided 3,142 jobs to the locals within their area of responsibility.
. . .

"We currently have 162 projects that we are tracking that are spread
throughout the 3rd Infantry Division's Area Of Responsibility," said
Griffin. "These projects consist of electricity, water, health, government,
agriculture, humanitarian assistance, fuel, transportation, sewage, trash
and academics. Even though all issues are important and are being addressed,
our main concern right now is the lack of electricity, water, sewage removal
and trash collection in our areas," said Griffin.

Read also this firsthand report from a Seabrook, N.H., police officer
Michael Cawley, currently with an Army Reserve unit in Iraq, as he describes
progress being made in the town where he serves.
The troops in central Iraq have also contributed to improving the fuel
situation of ordinary Iraqis:

New gas pumps and gas stations, repairs and increased security have now
eliminated long lines at Iraqi Government gas stations in Task Force
Liberty's area of operations in central Iraq.
Begun last December, the improvements were coordinated and supervised by
the 42nd Infantry Division's Oil Team. The 42nd Infantry Division is the
command and control element for Task Force Liberty, and Multi-National
Division, North Central Iraq.

"Now Iraqis don't have wait six to 12 hours to get fuel," said Maj. Brian
Paolillo, 411th Civil Affairs Battalion, who is in charge of the 42nd
Infantry Division's Oil Team.

The team is responsible for oil security and infrastructure development in
Task Force Liberty's Area of Operations, Paolillo said--coordinating $15
million worth of oil security and infrastructure projects at any one time.

This includes the recent gas station and security improvements. The team
coordinated with Iraqi contractors to repair and replace existing pumps,
replace tanks and build four new gas stations.

The team also coordinated with the local Iraqi government agencies to
provide Iraqi police escorts for fuel tankers--protecting them from
hijackers and black-marketers, and as Paolillo put it, ensuring the "tankers
get from the depot to the station."

Meanwhile, another valuable water project is nearing completion:

The near-term completion of a project in the Al-Rasheed district will
provide more than 100,000 villagers with fresh water.
The $500,000 project began six months ago and employed 36 people,
including 30 from the local area.

In the 2nd Kurtan village, which has roughly 5,000 residents, there hasn't
been a source for purified water since it was formed, according to Capt.
Christian Neels, the civil-military operations officer for 3rd Battalion,
7th Infantry Regiment.

Sheik Alwan Kartan, a local tribal leader who has participated in the
project since the beginning, said that the villagers who had cars could go
to the adjacent areas to get water. Those without vehicles had to get their
water from the canal that connects to the river, putting them at risk for
disease.

The troops continue to support the Iraqi school system. In Fallujah,
renovations have been completed and official opening held at Children at the
Palestine Primary School:

The $28,000 project started in March. Repairs were made to the damaged
walls, doors and classrooms and electrical wiring. The money also went
toward new doors, exhaust fans, six water tanks, a water pump and toilets
for a student bathroom.

In other recently completed projects:

a.. The Aabid and Nahda Schools also were refurbished for $28,000 in early
April. The repairs included installing new doors, water tanks and a water
pump and repairing electrical wiring and removing of broken glass.

b.. Repairs to the Mina Primary School for Girls and the Janeen Secondary
School for Girls were completed in March for $24,000.
Assistance to schools also continues on an ad hoc basis:

The mayor of Balad Ruz delivered school supplies to students in two
schools within Balad Ruz April 27 in Diyala Province. He was escorted by
lraqi police and Soldiers from Task Force Liberty's 278th Regimental Combat
Team. The supplies were donated and mailed by Soldiers' family members in
the United States.

Task Force Liberty Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 278th Regimental Combat Team,
were recently distributing school supplies to students at Al Ferzdaq School
in Diyala Province, which teaches 1,000 students.

In addition to their normal work, the troops also try to help Iraqi schools
of their own initiative:

School supply drives are common in August and September, but this is
April. Of course, these students aren't in a typical situation. Members of
the 224th Engineering Battalion are putting together a school supply drive
to help Iraqi students. The supplies will go to students in Ramadi, a town
close to the 224th's main base. Capt. Dan Maeder is in charge of the drive.
It's an appropriate selection since Maeder's civilian job is principal of
Pekin Middle School.

And from Minnesota:

Relatives of soldiers serving in Iraq with an Austin National Guard unit
are reaching out to the Iraqi children. The Family Readiness Group was
formed to support the families and relatives of members of Austin's 434th
Transportation Company. The group has begun 'Operation Yellow Ribbon' to
collect items to be donated to children in Iraq. The group is looking for
donations of clothing, sports equipment and money to help ship the donations
to Iraq.

The troops are also helping with medical needs of Iraqi people. In Najaf:

The Najaf Teaching Hospital renovations, performed by local Iraqi
contractors, are part of a major rebuilding project overseen by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division.
Rehabilitation efforts focus on the main hospital building and consist of
repairing damaged floors, walls and ceilings; improving mechanical,
electrical and plumbing systems; and upgrading emergency power and sewage
treatments, for an estimated cost of $15 million.

The seven-story Najaf Teaching Hospital, built in 1982, features 420
patient beds and 13 operating theaters, and is part of a campus used to
train physicians and healthcare personnel throughout Iraq. Currently, the
facility educates 250 undergraduate students--50 of whom are pharmaceutical
students.

Rather than waiting until the May 2006 proposed project completion date,
the Corps split the hospital renovation project into three phases.

Phase one has already been completed. In Thineeyah:

Armed with school supplies and multivitamins, Soldiers from 2nd Battalion,
156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
sponsored a medical civil affairs project held at Al Nassir School here
April 12.
The team provided basic medical assistance to children and adults as part
of the ongoing effort by multi-national forces to help rebuild Iraq.

Once the patients were seen by the physician or physician assistant, they
received various gifts or a care package containing toys for the children
and dental hygiene products and toiletries. School supplies and treats were
freely given out to the delight of young Iraqi children; additionally,
several pairs of shoes were given along with apparel.

Read also this story of a reluctant "doctor":

Brad Banks has no aspirations of becoming a doctor. The Army Reserve
second lieutenant is content being a respiratory therapist at Mayo Clinic
Scottsdale and serving his country. The man whom Baghdad residents call
"Captain" is their doctor figure--whether he likes it or not. . . .

Because of his medical background, Banks was approached by a sergeant to
work with the Iraqi people to find solutions for their medical needs. Banks
created the volunteer position on Sundays that no other soldier has taken
on.
After word of Banks' presence spread, he became a modern-day pied piper.
People kept showing up on Sundays. Banks tried to connect them with what
goods or services he might be able to. That's more than enough for the poor
who gather at the Al Rasheed district advisory council building. Banks sets
up a makeshift clinic in a conference room of the structure once used as a
hunting lodge by Saddam Hussein's son Uday.

There are also other, often less tangible, ways in which the troops are
having an impact on Iraqi people. In Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, the locals
get an unusual experience, an opportunity to share a radio station with the
U.S. troops and engage in talkback with the local commander:

One caller wants to know why she can't attend the trials of her family
members. The next claims his house was robbed of 3 million dinars after a
raid, and he wants it back. A third asks about Western medical attention for
a critically ill child.
On the live call-in radio show, the main guest is the head of the U.S.-led
occupation in Tikrit, the callers are local residents, and the questions
they ask tell the story of the occupation in Iraq.

"There's just so many ways that we can defeat the insurgency," says Lt.
Col. Todd Wood of the 3rd Infantry Division after the show last week. "One
of the ways is to change perception. If we can do that, the people will
change."

Wood, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 70th Infantry Regiment, deals daily
with infantry patrols, bankrolls local improvement projects and directs
raids on suspected insurgents.

But he thinks one of the most powerful tools at his disposal is the live
radio show on FM 96.5, on which he stars each Thursday afternoon.

He arrives early in a heavily armored convoy. Soldiers enter the radio
station on the edge of Tikrit ahead of him. When he walks in, he is armored
and helmeted but also cheerful. The unscripted hour that follows can be
congratulatory or combative.

Wood loves it either way.

The armed forces radio station, called "the Rock of Tikrit" by American
troops in town, allows several hours of local break-in programming each day.
Wood's show is one of the most popular, for Iraqis and Americans, and is
rebroadcast two to three times each week.

It is hosted in Arabic by Mushir Hassan, and Wood takes calls with the
help of his translator, talking to callers about the American presence in
Tikrit as well as the complexities of the military bureaucracy and nascent
Iraqi justice system.

Another officer, further north, is performing valuable services:

Back in Idaho, Lt. Col. Anthony Wickham works as the Army National Guard
liaison to the state government. His primary responsibility is to develop
disaster plans for emergencies such as fires, blizzards and floods.
Here in Iraq, however, Wickham, 45, of Boise, is a military liaison of a
different sort. His primary responsibility is to mediate among the various
ethnic factions battling for control of Kirkuk. He is working to help
prevent the ultimate man-made disaster: civil war.

In Hamrin, meanwhile:

Task Force Liberty's 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry, and the town of Hamrin
celebrated the opening of a new soccer field with an inaugural game between
two local teams in early April in Diyala Province. When Hamrin's existing
soccer field flooded, the town's twelve adult soccer teams had nowhere to
play. With unemployment at an estimated 60 percent, it was vital that the
men of Hamrin had somewhere to play. In addition to providing a recreation
facility, this project also employed eight local men for 10 days and gave
Coalition soldiers the opportunity to interact with local Iraqis in an
informal setting.

It's not just American troops helping Iraqis with security and
reconstruction. Australian troops in Taji, for example, have been training
Iraqis in transport and logistics:

A team of Australians in Taji, Iraq, graduated the first class of Iraqi
soldiers, April 18, in an Iraqi Army supply, transportation and maintenance
schoolhouse they helped complete in March. The team implemented a five week
course at the Iraqi Army Support and Services Institute, with lessons for
both Iraqi officers and noncommissioned officers. . . .
When the team arrived in Taji to set up the institute, they had to start
from the ground up. The buildings on the training grounds were empty and had
no power or water. They repaired the buildings that were still structurally
sound, then did everything necessary to get the school off the ground, from
building cement walls to ordering post-it notes.

So far, so good for the Australians: "Venturing out for the first time in
numbers, Australian troops have been greeted on the streets of the Iraqi
city of Samawah with smiles, waves and official word they are welcome."
And recently, among the Romanian troops in the Dhi Qar province:

The transfer of authority ceremony was held in Camp Mittica between 812th
Infantry Battalion "Carpathians Hawks" and newly arrived 2nd Infantry
Battalion "Calugareni" from Bucharest. . . . Starting with 10th of February,
Romanian 2nd Infantry Battalion "Calugareni" was involved in several CIMIC
operations distributing furniture, equipment and appliances to 4 primary and
secondary schools located in Suq ash Shuyukh si Al-Ukaika. The materials
worthing aprox. 10.000 USD were donated by the Italian Foreign Ministry. A
few days later, a primary school in Al-Chabaish received furniture and
teaching equipment worthing aprox. 3000 USD. The materials were also donated
by the Italian Foreign Ministry.

. Security. The Pentagon notes one positive overall trend:

There are more than 155,000 "trained and equipped" members of the Iraqi
security forces, and trends are clearly positive. . . . Between 1,500 and
3,000 more soldiers and police are joining the country's forces weekly. . .
. Some of the Iraqi units are doing quite well. The Iraqis have far better
human intelligence than the coalition does. . . .
What's more, U.S. troop strength in Iraq went under 140,000 this week with
the completion of the rotation of forces in and out of the country. . . .
This is down from the 170,000 American troops in Iraq in January. In Kuwait,
the number of U.S. troops is also down to 14,000.

In fact, "the American military has set a target of December for handing
over responsibility for security to Iraqi army and police units, says a
classified document being circulated among senior officers." Iraqi security
sources are predicting that large-scale American troop withdrawals should be
taking place by the middle of next year.
The struggle against the insurgency and terrorism goes on. A raid in late
April, which killed five and captured three suspected members of Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi's network in Baghdad, also netted a letter allegedly written by
Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni, a member of al Qaeda:

The letter advocates jihad and praises "the sheik" for being "a thorn in
the mouth of the Americans," the military said.
But it also speaks of low morale, weakening support for the insurgency,
and the incompetence of many militant leaders, the statement said. The
author also reportedly admonishes the sheik for abandoning his followers
since Fallujah--an insurgent stronghold that was the subject of a major
US-led assault in November.

More on the letter here.
Increasing "Iraqization" of security is paying off:

The Iraqi platoon slips in darkness down a path from an abandoned rail
yard to a cemetery in Haifa, a Baghdad district long notorious for insurgent
ambushes.
Wearing mismatched uniforms and carrying old Kalashnikov assault rifles,
the soldiers step nimbly along a street that runs between a clutter of stone
tombs. Watching for attackers down every alley, they halt approaching cars
and scan rooftops with flashlights. A beam of light sweeping over one wall
reveals some unusual but welcome Arabic graffiti: "The ING is strong."

It's a reputation the soldiers of the 302nd Battalion seek to solidify in
Haifa, now their turf. A former Iraqi National Guard (ING) unit that U.S.
officers consider one of the most capable units in the Iraqi army, the 302nd
formally took charge early this year in Haifa, part of a growing swath of
central Baghdad being turned over to Iraqi forces. . . .

Haifa offers a window on the benefits and risks of the U.S. push to shift
responsibility for security to Iraqi forces.

In 15 months of street fighting here, the 1,000-man battalion has lost 26
men to assassinations, suicide bombings and block-by-block combat, a higher
fatality rate than the U.S. military has suffered here or in all of Iraq.
But in recent weeks, attacks have fallen off sharply. Insurgents still
sometimes throw grenades down narrow alleys at the soldiers or fire a few
rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle and run. But they're attempting little
else here, at least for now.

Iraqization is also paying off in Fallujah:

Calm is returning to Fallujah courtesy of the residents of this one-time
haven for insurgents who are helping Iraqi security forces keep the city
safe. Police and National Guardsmen are now able to walk freely in Fallujah,
and inhabitants say they are finally enjoying peace after months of living
in fear.
Security officers credit the city's citizens for the change. "The people
help us and provide us with information about the terrorists," said Abbas
Yousif, a National Guardsman. "The Iraqi police and National Guard carry out
their duties easily, and they are in full control of the city."

Muhsin Ali, a fellow National Guardsman, agrees that with the people's "
said Ali. "Our relationship with them is good." . . .

Reconstruction is happening at a slow pace and militants still operate on
the outskirts of Fallujah, but residents say peace has returned to the city
centre.

Thair Mustafa, who sells electrical equipment, said life has returned to
normal. "Before the terrorists would kill any member of the Iraqi police and
National Guard," he said. "But now [they] roam around and people are happy
with them coming, as they organise fuel distribution."

Omer Sami, a taxi driver, said before the American assault on the city,
residents "endured terrible days at the mercy of murderers." He said the
insurgents prevented men from having their facial hair removed or having
western- style haircuts. "Thank God the heroic Iraqi army saved us from
those murderers, and we now live in peace and stability," said Sami.

Musafir Sood, a civil servant, said life under the insurgents was similar
to the Taleban regime, the Islamic government that once ruled Afghanistan.
"We were afraid to talk or have discussions with those armed men as they
might kill us," said Sood. "Thank God we got rid of them."

Read also this profile of Iraq's toughest counter-insurgency commander:

In a country of tough guys, Adnan Thabit may be the toughest of all. He
was both a general and a death-row prisoner under Saddam Hussein.
He favors leather jackets no matter the weather, his left index finger
extends only to the knuckle (the rest was sliced off in combat) and he
responds to requests from supplicants with grunts that mean yes or no.
Occasionally, a humble aide approaches to spray his hands with perfume,
which he wipes over his rugged face.

General Adnan, as he is known, is the leader of Iraq's most fearsome
counterinsurgency force. It is called the Special Police Commandos and
consists of about 5,000 troops. They have fought insurgents in Mosul,
Ramadi, Baghdad and Samarra.

As the report concludes, "The successes that the counterinsurgency has
enjoyed are in no small part because of Adnan's commandos. With American
forces in an advisory role, the commandos, as well as a few other well-led
units, inflicted more violence upon insurgents than insurgents inflicted
upon them."
Despite constant dangers, Iraq's new policemen are standing firm:

At least four policemen died and 22 were wounded when insurgents bombed a
police academy, the latest victims in a campaign to cripple US-backed
efforts to set up new Iraqi security forces.
But as the death toll from almost daily attacks on Iraq's fledgling forces
continues to mount, those who have the daunting task of facing down
insurgents remain resolute.

"Give us the weapons the American troops have, and we'll do better than
them," said Baghdad police officer Ayad Abed Mehdi, 45. "We are stronger
than the terrorists. We have to fight them face to face." . . .

Despite the risk, new recruit Mohammed Jazel, 22, likes the generous
175-dollar monthly salary which allows him to buy pricey items such as fruit
and soft drinks. "I have my eyes open 24 hours in case there's an attack,"
said Jazel, who joined Baghdad's police force in March 2004. "I want to help
make the country peaceful, and I like the salary," he added.

"We feel we are strong now, but the government needs to trust us," said
Haidar Sendan, 32, another new police recruit who served in the army under
former president Saddam Hussein. "Saddam remained in power for 35 years
because he had a strong security force," he said.

"It's dangerous when we leave our jobs at night to go home," said Saad
Hamid, 34, another Baghdad officer. "We are suffering. Our friends have been
kidnapped or killed. But now we have an opportunity to work as police."

The training of new security forces continues. In April, the Iraq Police
Service graduated 2,872 police officers:

There were 320 police recruits from the Sulaymaniyah Regional Academy; 138
from the Basrah Police Academy; 1,488 from the Jordan International Police
Training Center; and 926 from the Baghdad Police College. The Baghdad class
included five female police students.

So far, "more than 30,800 police recruits have completed the eight-week
training course developed for new recruits. An additional 36,000 police
officers have completed the three-week Transitional Integration Program
course that provides officers with prior police experience a condensed
version of the longer basic police training course."

A new elite unit is being formed to combat terrorism:

The i.ct.f (the Iraq counter-terror force) is under formation now as part
of the special operations brigade of the Iraqi army while Iraq will have the
biggest anti-terror training field in the Middle East...
The commander of the brigade said that four consecutive courses are
arranged in order to select the most eligible elements among the applicants
for joining this highly specialized force.

From 809 applicants, only 350 have passed the primary tough tests which
are called (the selection) and it's planned to select only 100 men after
passing through another intensified course of training and this group will
be sent outside the country to receive further training for two month by
trainers from the MNF about handling terror threats and fighting terror
cells.

The remaining 250 who will fail to pass the last course will be joined to
the commandos forces of the army. . . .

The anti-terror training center will be the 1st of a kind in the Middle
East as the source said where members of the i.ct.f will receive training
about urban war tactics and the members of this unit will be equipped with
highly advanced American weapons and equipments. 10 of the best qualified
men from this unit are going to chosen to train other special forces units
for the Iraqi army including commandos, paratroopers and quick response
units.

American troops are playing an important role, sharing their expertise with
their Iraqi colleagues. Soldiers of the Sixth Battalion, Eighth Cavalry
Regiment, Fourth Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division are currently
training 1,000 servicemen from the Iraqi Army's first and third battalions
to enable these troops to take over the security of the Green Zone in the
capital. Meanwhile, soldiers from the Third Forward Support Battalion, Task
Force Liberty, will soon be working with the 202nd Battalion, Iraqi Army to
establish within the Iraqi unit a system comparable to the U.S. Army's
sections of responsibility: personnel, intelligence, operations, supply and
logistics, and communications.
The U.S. Army is also helping with equipment. The Iraqi Border Patrol at
Suleymaniyah received more than 40 new Toyota Land Cruisers with radio
systems on April 12. Meanwhile, "more than 800 protective vests and more
than 350,000 7.62mm rounds were issued to the Iraqi army at a Task Force
Liberty base near Samarra."

German defense minister Peter Struck has also offered more assistance in
training Iraqi personnel, during his visit to a facility in the United Arab
Emirates where German soldiers are "training members of the Iraqi army to
become trainers themselves."

This is merely the tip of the iceberg, but "more than 85,000 mines, cluster
bombs and projectiles left from wars waged by the ousted Baath regime and
U.S.-led forces have been removed in Iraq. The Iraqi Organization for the
Elimination of Mines said an area of more than 4 million square miles across
Iraq has been cleared."

The TV campaign against terrorists is gaining momentum, building on
successes of previous shows:

A crowded market, a suicide bomber with hands chained to the steering
wheel, and, suddenly, in a blare of sirens, police bar his way--a new
television ad tells Iraqis how they can fight the insurgency.
The ad urges viewers to help police catch "terrorists before they kill
innocent people" by phoning a hotline to report anything suspicious.

In a country where deadly car bombs provide daily reminders of insurgent
attempts to destabilize the new government, the ad has struck a chord with
both insurgents and people on the street, said Hussein al-Tajer, advertising
manager for Al-Iraqiya state television.

Since the ad was first broadcast a week ago, insurgents have made
anonymous phone calls and sent e-mails threatening station workers, calling
them "infidels" and "collaborators," Tajer said.

But others have sent e-mails thanking the network, originally set up by
the Americans after the invasion two years ago. "We have received many
threats saying we are agents for the Americans," Tajer said. "But nothing
will improve this country unless we work against the terrorists."

The interior ministry and intelligence services launched the ad campaign
to capitalize on the success of a television show called "Terrorists in the
Grip of Justice," said Iraqiya station manager Ahmad al-Yassery.

There's another useful TV show that is currently hitting Iraqi airwaves:
"The Iraqi Media Network's 'COPS' program aired April 24 in Kirkuk,
allowing local police officials to discuss security issues impacting the
area and local citizens to call in and voice concerns. Traffic during the
day and night-time patrols were discussed during April 24's episode."
As a result, public cooperation against terrorists and insurgents is
increasing. Telephone tip lines are receiving more calls:

Deep in the heart of Camp Liberty, not far from Baghdad International
Airport and situated in an unassuming building on Saddam Hussein's famed
game reserve, is one of the 3rd Infantry Division's strategic weapons
against the insurgency--a hot line for tips. . . .
Television commercials, billboards, business cards and even keychains are
used to promote the telephone hot-line campaign in Iraq.

"It allows Iraqi people, who might not be comfortable with the newly
established Iraqi police or Iraqi army, an avenue to give information. They
want to help. They want to do something," said Sgt. Maj. Jerry Craig. He
runs the Joint Coordination Cell, the official military name of the hot-line
center.

Craig spoke highly of his unit, lavishing praise on his translators. He
said the unit receives 50-60 calls a day. About 15 of those calls deliver
some type of a result. The Joint Coordination Cell launched the first
operational hot line last August. With its success, other bases have
instituted call centers around the country.

The most notable recent instance of civilian cooperation against the
insurgents concerned the group that shot down the helicopter carrying
civilian contractors:

An Iraqi civilian helped Task Force Baghdad soldiers find and apprehend
six terrorists suspected of shooting down a civilian Mi-8 helicopter April
21, coalition officials in Baghdad, Iraq, announced today.
"The Iraqi citizen told the soldiers he knew where the blue KIA pickup
truck the terrorists used during the attack was parked and led them to the
site," a Multinational Force Iraq release stated. "When the soldiers got
there, several other local residents confirmed the first tip and showed the
soldiers where the terrorists lived."

Soldiers started to search two houses at 12:30 a.m. today. At the first
house, they captured three men and confiscated bomb-making material. At the
second house, the unit detained three more suspects involved in making
improvised explosive devices, officials said, adding that all six men were
taken into custody for questioning.

More suspects as well as weapons and plans were seized following days. In
other recent cases of civilian cooperation:
In Diyala province recently, "acting a tip from a local civilian, Iraqi army
and Task Force Liberty soldiers raided a fish farm in Abu Nehal. . . . and
seized a weapons cache." Other recent security successes:

a.. "During a feast hosted by the mayor of As Sadiyah in Diyala Province
April 10, a fisherman told Task Force Liberty Soldiers about mortar tubes
that were hidden at a nearby lake. The Soldiers recovered two half-buried
60mm mortar tubes that are suspected of being used in recent attacks on a
nearby Coalition Forces base and Iraqi army checkpoints."

b.. On April 22, "an Iraqi citizen saved the lives of Soldiers and
civilians in west Baghdad by pointing out an improvised explosive device to
a Task Force Baghdad unit before terrorists could detonate the bomb."

c.. Later in the day, local Iraqi citizens in the Salman Pak area turned a
weapons cache over to Iraqi Police officers. The Iraqis turned in 30
rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 50 mortar rounds, 100 fuses, 100 feet of
detonation cord and TNT to the Iraqi Police.

d.. Based on a local intelligence source, soldiers from the 210th
Battalion, Iraqi army, and Task Force Liberty's First Battalion, 128th
Infantry located a weapons cache in Ad Dujayl on April 21.

e.. "An Iraqi noncommissioned officer led Coalition Forces to the location
of one of his relatives April 24, who turned out to be a high-value target
accused of participating in recent beheadings."

f.. "A tip from a local citizen led Iraqi officers from the Waffa Police
Station to a weapons cache in a field next to an Al Kafal gas station,
according to a multinational forces report. An intelligence unit from the
police station recovered 75 Russian-made Katushya rockets from the field
during the operation. The munitions were turned over to an explosive
ordnance disposal team for disposal."

g.. Baded on a tip from an informant, "the 203rd Iraqi Army Battalion and
units of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, Task Force Liberty, conducted a joint
raid in Ashaki April 26 that resulted in the detainment of four suspected
anti-Iraqi force members."

h.. An Iraqi civilian brought five artillery rounds and wire to a
coalition base near a town of Muqdadiyah, after seeing an insurgent placing
the rounds as a roadside bomb.
a.. "An Iraqi army unit discovered a weapons cache in the Baghdad's Salman
Pak area on April 18. The stockpile included mortars, rockets and two cars
outfitted to serve as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. The Iraqi
security forces-led mission involved elements from the Iraqi army, police
and public order brigades."

b.. Several suspected insurgents were arrested in operations in Kirkuk on
April 19 and 20.

c.. "Task Force Liberty's 278th Regimental Combat Team conducted a combat
patrol of the abandoned railroad southeast of As Sadiyah and found 152
rockets scattered on the ground April 20. Explosive ordnance disposal
personnel were called on to remove the rockets. Rockets like those found
here have been used to create improvised explosive devices."

d.. On April 20, soldiers of the 206th Battalion, Iraqi Army, while on
operation in the village of Imam Monsoor in Diyala Province discovered a
weapons cache and detained five suspects. "The cache was found behind a
false wall under the stairs and consisted of four assault rifles, one
machine gun, one bolt-action rifle, several ammunition magazines and cans of
ammunition for the weapons."

e.. The disarming of two roadside bombs by Iraqi and American forces in
Baghdad on April 21, and discovery of two arms caches; one containing "45
mines, 37 cases of ammunition, eight rockets, guns and rocket launchers,"
and another with "200 mortar rounds, small arms and other explosives."

f.. In Diyala province, on April 23, the 204th battalion of the Iraqi army
discovered a arms cache with 88 artillery shells and other materials used in
manufacturing roadside bombs. Two other weapons caches were also located in
the province on the same day; "the 1st contained 15 pounds of TNT, 13 (82
mm) mortar rounds and a small number of 100 mm artillery shells, while in
the 2nd location, 21 shells of 100 mm caliber were found and a large number
of IEDs of different sizes."

g.. "U.S. soldiers nabbed 11 suspected insurgents during an April 18 raid
conducted south of ad Dujayl, in Salah ad Din province. An Iraqi citizen
told the soldiers that suspected insurgents in the area were selling weapons
and making IEDs. A search uncovered eight rocket-propelled-grenade rounds,
two RPG launchers and materials for making IEDs.

h.. "In Kirkuk, a police patrol disarmed an IED [improvised explosive
device] placed near a stadium used a camp for accommodating Kurdish refugees
and in Hawijah (south of Kirkuk) 17 wanted terrorists were detained."

i.. On April 22, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers "detained 13 suspected
terrorists, including a woman allegedly tied to al-Qaeda terrorist leader
Abu Musab-al-Zarqawi."

j.. On April 23 in Mosul, soldiers with the 101st Iraqi Army and Company
A, Third Battalion, 21st Infantry captured Taha Al-Hadidi, an insurgent
suspected in killing three Iraqi army soldiers in February.

k.. The arrest in Samawa of a terror cell that has been carrying out
operations in Baghdad. "The leader of this group Omar Attimimi was arrested
in a previous operation. The members of the group were arrested while they
were trying to purchase weapons and ammunition from a specialized gang of
smugglers that works in Samawa."

l.. "Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained four individuals suspected of
attacking their combat patrol with an improvised explosive device near a
village southeast of Baqubah at about 1:20 a.m. April 24. The Soldiers
searched the area after the IED detonated ineffectively, and found a set of
wires leading into the village of Jasim Abu Habbah. The four suspects were
found with a detonator and all tested positive for high explosives."

m.. The recent interception of Zarqawi's computer and 80,000 euros (about
$104,000): "Finding the computer, said the official, 'was a seminal event.'
It had 'a very big hard drive,' the official said, and recent pictures of
Zarqawi. The official said Zarqawi's driver and a bodyguard were taken into
custody."

n.. "Coalition forces captured 18 suspected terrorists during a
search-and-seizure operation conducted April 22-24 in Babil province."

o.. Raids in Baghdad on April 24-25 netted four suspected insurgents,
including members of an execution cell in Kharnabat Village.

p.. "Iraqi army and Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained two suspected
terrorists in As Sadiyah in Diyala Province during a series of raids the
night of April 25. The individuals are suspected of being members of a
terrorist cell and were detained with equipment used to make identification
cards and terrorist propaganda. Two other individuals were also detained
during the raid."

q.. Two weapons caches discovered in mosques in Musayyib and Najaf on
April 25.

r.. On April 26, soldiers from the 101st Iraqi Army Battalion captured in
Mosul Salim Awfi Al-Zubai, a suspected insurgent commander, and his four
brothers.

s.. "Iraqi police officers stood their ground and captured three armed
insurgents against an attack by anti-Iraqi forces at Mufrek Police Station
April 26.

t.. Iraqi and American soldiers captured two suspected terrorists in As
Sadiyah in Diyala Province in night raid on April 25. "The individuals are
suspected of being members of a terrorist cell and were detained with
equipment used to make identification cards and terrorist propaganda."

u.. The arrest by an Iraqi Emergency Response Unit team with coalition
forces support of three individuals suspected to be involved in kidnapping
in Al Wasity in Kirkuk Province on April 26. "A previous kidnap victim
identified one of the detained suspects as her captor."

v.. "The Iraqi Army's 6th Battalion, 3rd Brigade found a cache in a small
village northwest of Jisr Naft in Diyala Province April 27. After receiving
small-arms fire, the IA lead element cordoned off the area for a search. The
search yielded a book on bomb making, improvised explosive device-making
materials and two weapons,."

w.. On April 28, soldiers from First Brigade, 25th Infantry Division
(Stryker Brigade Combat Team) detained six suspected terrorists and seized a
number of weapons during operations in Mosul.

x.. Five members of Zarqawi's network were killed and three captured
during the April 28 raid in Baghdad. One of those killed was Abu Rayyan, the
Saudi leader of a Baghdad-based car bombing cell.

y.. Fifteen suspected insurgents were detained and 44 assault rifles
seized during a combat patrol by Task Force Liberty soldiers northwest of
Bayji on April 29.

z.. The arrest of suspects implicated in the abduction and murder of the
Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan.

aa.. "Task Force Liberty Soldiers detained two individuals for shooting at
a Coalition Forces base in Hawija at about 9:45 a.m. April 30. Shots were
fired from the suspects' vehicle, which sped off at a high rate of speed
toward Hawija. An unmanned aerial vehicle followed the vehicle to a location
in Hawija, and a combat patrol was dispatched to detain the individuals and
seize the vehicle."

ab.. Discovery by the U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops of multiple weapons
caches in the Fallujah-Ramadi area during the week up to May 1, "including
thousands of mortar rounds, over 600 grenades and 200 pounds of explosives,"

ac.. Unearthing by the Iraqi troops of an old but serviceable antiaircraft
gun buried in the yard of a mosque in Karmah on May 1. The imam was arrested
and some insurgent propaganda seized

ad.. On May 1, a "man exploded his red Kia sedan roughly 15 feet from a
barrier to a coalition base in east Baghdad, Iraq. The car bomb failed to
detonate properly and the vehicle caught on fire. Soldiers manning the gate
reacted quickly and saved the driver. . . . An initial investigation
revealed that terrorists had kidnapped the driver's family and that he was
forced to carry out this suicide-bombing mission to protect his wife and
children."

ae.. "A raid by more than 550 coalition soldiers in western Baghdad netted
16 suspected insurgents armed with five AK-47 assault rifles and another
machine gun with a long-distance scope. Their alleged crimes include
'assassinations, beheadings and kidnappings' of Iraqis, the military said."

af.. U.S. forces killed in a firefight 12 suspected members of Al Qaeda in
western Iraq on May 2. "Nine men killed were heavily armed with assault
rifles and hand grenades. . . . Three more people were killed by a coalition
airstrike on the camp. Coalition forces found fake identification cards,
foreign currency and other things which the U.S. military said linked the
people at the camp and on the truck to Zarqawi's network."

ag.. A raid on the village of Udaim, 70 miles north of Baghdad, by 300
Iraqi soldiers and 260 American troops, led to the arrest of 16 suspects.

ah.. A massive three-day raid on a the town of Karmah (population 70,000),
in which every house and business was searched by the troops, netting 30
detainees and several weapons caches.

ai.. On May 2, "Iraqi police sources have announced the arrest of 28
people suspected of killings and violent acts. United States forces backed
by Iraqi forces, meanwhile, announced the arrest of 84 suspects in a raid in
Baghdad. Shirzad Moofri, chief of police in the Raheem Awa precinct of
Kirkuk, said his forces had arrested two insurgents working for Jihad and
Tawhid, two groups linked to al-Qaida's Iraq operation. He said the
detainees confessed to attacking a US headquarters and killing seven
American soldiers."

aj.. Twelve insurgents killed in a clash with American and Iraqi forces at
a checkpoint in Ramadi on May 3.

ak.. The capture on May 3 of another one of Saddam's relatives: "Iraqi
security forces captured a son of one of Saddam Hussein's half brothers, who
allegedly financed the insurgency, in a raid on suspected militants near the
ousted dictator's hometown, the government said Wednesday. The operation
took place earlier this month near Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, 80 miles north
of Baghdad. Several other suspected militants were arrested in the raid,
which netted authorities a cache of explosives. . . . Ayman Sabawi is the
son of Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a half brother of Saddam's, who served as a
presidential adviser before the U.S.-led invasion. Al-Hassan was captured
Feb. 26 this year."
As Iraq's President Talabani wrote, "We honour those who sacrificed their
lives for our liberation. We are determined out of respect to create a
tolerant and democratic Iraq, an Iraq for all the Iraqi people. It will take
time and much patience, but I can assure you it will be worth while, not
only for Iraq, but for the whole of the Middle East."

[George]

"Naidoo" <nai...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:J7SdnQkwAav...@giganews.com...

<snip>

I appreciate your posts. I really do. But do you have to post 88 KB of text?
Couldn't you have just paraphrased the beginning and then posted a link? Just a
suggestion for future reference.

[Naidoo]

"George" <geo...@wtfiswrongwithyou.com> wrote in message
news:dr_fe.72176$WI3.48737@attbi_s71...

Sorry about that. I didn't look at the size when I posted it.

I will do so from here on out.

Thanks, XN

[O...@oak-invalid.com]

On Tue, 10 May 2005 18:32:22 -0400, "Naidoo" <nai...@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

Thank you Naidoo.

Oak