Photo By Master Sgt. Jerry Saslav | An Iraqi man talks to "Alan", an Iraqi employee of the Iraqi assiastance center, in...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Jerry Saslav
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
BAGHDAD - It was a grand opening without any grandeur; no ribbons were cut nor speeches given, but an Iraqi assistance center opened, Sept. 1, 2008, in Baghdad's Sadr City District nonetheless.
The center, housed in a trailer near the Sadr City District Advisory Council building, is where Iraqi citizens go to file damage and condolence claims for losses suffered due to combat between coalition forces and special groups elements in this northeastern Baghdad district.
The second client for the IAC at its new location was a father seeking help for his son. The father was going over documents with "Alan." Alan was showing the documents to "Sara," when Staff Sgt. Brendan Piper stopped in to check on the newly opened IAC.
For the past four months, Piper, a native of Milwaukee, has processed these claims at the IAC established at Joint Security Station Sadr City. He and his team of Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers trained the Iraqi IAC team that took over operations in the new complex. Upon seeing him, Sara quickly asked for Piper's advice.
"It's your decision now. What do you want to do?" asked Piper, who serves as the Iraqi assistance center non-commissioned officer in charge with 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion, which is attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B.
"The people, when they went to the Americans, felt kind of afraid, intimidated. When they go to Iraqi's, Iraqi to Iraqi, they are not afraid because they are from his culture," said Muhanned Abdul Ridha, a lawyer who manages the IAC.
This new location, Muhanned said he believes, will help more residents of Sadr City to feel more willing to make a claim.
When an Iraqi decides to make a claim, he is first interviewed by the IAC staff. The claimant must describe the details of the incident in question, the damage that occurred and bring any photo's he may have as evidence of the damage. The team collects this and other related information, processes the paperwork and pass it on to Muhanned.
Coalition forces are still involved in the process. Every two to three days, the IAC will send recent claims to JSS Sadr City to be checked against coalition forces reports.
"We're still reviewing the claims," said Piper. "It's our American tax dollars, so we have the final say as to who gets approved."
The IAC at JSS Sadr City started taking claims, April 24, and finished taking claims, Aug. 31. In those 129 days, the IAC processed more than 1,500 claims worth approximately $1.1 million for the residents of Sadr City.
For its first day, the new IAC filed no claims, but had 10 residents, including the father, walk in seeking information.
Eventually, the Iraqi government will replace the U.S. government as the source of the funding for paying claims.
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2008 11:15 |
| Story ID: | 23163 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 86 |
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