Courtesy Photo | Capt. Ryan Sweet, from Saranac, Mich., a foreign claims attorney for 3rd Brigade...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
PATROL BASE YATES, Iraq - Rakkasan Soldiers handled claims from residents of Qarghuli village, 18 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, at Patrol Base Inchon, April 24.
Addressing claims Iraqi citizens submit for damaged property and personal injury is a process that takes many visits and a lot of work to resolve, but it is work that pays off, said Capt. Ryan Sweet, a foreign claims attorney for 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, from Saranac, Mich.
"I think first and foremost, from a moral and ethical standpoint, it's the right thing to do," Sweet said. "It's also an invaluable tool in building relationships in the community."
Doing the right thing is not always easy, however. Attempts to file fraudulent and duplicate claims cause delays in getting reparations for legitimate claims. Though Sweet has the authority and position of a single-person claims commissioner, he said he needs quite a bit of help to do his job.
"My staff spends a lot of hours helping go through claims, filing them and making recommendations which are ultimately approved or denied," Sweet said.
Sweet also gets help from sheikhs in Qarghuli village in weeding out illegitimate claims for the area's residents. Having good relationships with the sheikhs takes quite a bit of the workload off him and his staff, he said.
"It streamlines the work and gets rid of a lot of the bogus claims,"Sweet said.
Local sheikhs agreed with the leadership at PB Inchon to form a council that validates or nullifies each claim.
"It would be difficult for me to quantify the man-hours the sheikh council's participation has saved us, but it is a significant help in getting the legitimate claimants handled faster and more fairly when the illegitimate claims are removed from the workload," he said.
The sheikhs are happy to help, said Sheikh Yalkub Yasif Jasim of the al-Qarghuli tribe.
"I can't begin to express how good I feel that the coalition forces chose me to help them on this committee," Yalkub said. "I hope I've helped." Yalkub said it just makes sense for the sheikhs to be involved with the process.
"We are from this area and we know everybody," he said. "When we look at a claim we already know which ones are good and how much damage was caused because we live here and know everything that happens here."
Claims continue to be submitted due to damages done during ongoing operations in the area, but Sweet said the ability of the coalition forces to do the right thing is becoming easier thanks to good relationships in the community.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2008 16:21 |
| Story ID: | 18913 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 381 |
| Downloads: | 320 |
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