Locals compensated for LSA land

Courtesy Photo | Lt. Keith Bishop of the military civil affairs section of the 29th Brigade Combat Team assists an Iraqi farm owner with paperwork to file a compensation claim for land U.S. forces have occupied for Logistical Support Area Anaconda.  

11.08.2005

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

By Sgt. Jason Mikeworth
207th MPAD

Soldiers from the 29th Brigade Combat Team are helping show the ability of the United States to be a good neighbor to residents near Logistical Support Area Anaconda.

Nearly $16,000 was paid out to local farmers who have given up land to expand the force protection of LSA Anaconda through the assistance of the 29th's civil military operations section.

"It is the culmination of a tremendous amount of effort and a lot of patience on the part of the farmers," said Maj. Mark Lawton, the officer in charge of the civil military operations section. "It's the first time they've been paid since this base was secured by coalition forces."

Making the payments was not as simple as cutting a check. Challenges like determining land values, ensuring payments were made in accordance with U.S. laws and Army regulations, and navigating a labyrinth of Iraqi land ownership laws loomed like an insurmountable mountain, Lawton said. The task of climbing that mountain fell to Lt. Keith Bishop, also of the civil military operations section.

"He's clearly an expert on land claims," Lawton said.

While researching Iraqi land ownership laws, Bishop found that the former totalitarian government had nationalized all farmland, and only granted farmers rights to use the land. He also discovered laws preventing the farmers from leasing their farmland for any purpose other than farming had not yet been changed by the new government.

"We found that legally the Ministry of Agriculture is the owner of most of the land," Lawton said. "We didn't want to set up leases with them and have the money go into their coffers and the farmers get nothing."

Bishop was able to find a way to work around the problem of ownership, however, in the U.S. government's Foreign Claims Act. The act allows the government to pay foreign nationals for damages from U.S. forces through non-combat activities. Paying the local farmers for denying them the use of the land versus leasing the land allowed the funds to be paid directly to the affected community.

Bishop said it was very important to make sure the money went to the people who lost the use of some farmland.

"It promotes the Iraqis perceptions of us as law-abiding and fair, and willing to make good on our promises," Bishop said.

Before any money could be paid, the Soldiers had to identify the rightful recipients. Although the farmers knew who used the land, the 29th's civil military operations section needed legal documents to support the claims. The farmers had to gather a collection of court documents showing rights to the land. This not only helped keep everything legal, Bishop said, it fostered more confidence in the Iraqi legal system.

With a method to secure the funds in place and the recipients identified, Bishop embarked on a three step journey to find the value of the land.

Bishop's first step was to figure out exactly how much land the farmers had relinquished. He walked the areas in question with the farmers, marking waypoints to measure precise areas.

The data was then sent to the Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region District, to have land formally measured and recorded.

With the U.S. measurements finished, they needed to be converted to the local measurement of donums.

The size of a donum varies from country to country, but in Iraq a donum is 0.247 acres, Bishop said.

The second step in the equation was to determine how long the land has been used by coalition forces. Lawton said they were able to check the records from the engineers who had implemented the force security measures at LSA Anaconda along with the recollections of the locals to accurately determine when the land was acquired by the military.

The final, and most controversial, step was to figure the value of the land. Lawton said they didn't want to use an arbitrary figure, so they turned to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. The Iraqi governmental agency tracks farm land value based on size of land as well as its distance to water, Lawton said.

Some of the farmers, who declined to be identified, expressed dissatisfaction with the final dollar amounts they received, but acknowledged the benefits of working with the American government over the former Saddam Hussein led regime.

"Before we could not go to a policeman [about losing land]," said one farmer. "He would shoot you. Now, you are helping us and we thank you for this."

Another neighbor of LSA Anaconda felt the money was an important part of continuing good relations between the military and the community.

"It's very good," he said. "It strengthens the relationship and keeps the friendship active."

• Date Taken: 11.08.2005
• Date Posted: 11.08.2005 12:39
• Story ID: 3662