Photo By Spc. Leith Edgar | Governor of Baghdad, Hussein Al Tahan, meets with the Abu Ghraib Qada (District)...... read more read more
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By Spc. L.B. Edgar,
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq – The war against the almighty clock challenged the guest's entourage all day. Though nothing about the man at the center of attention signaled anything remarkable, he had many places to go and even more people to see.
This was not just another visitor to the formerly embattled county of Abu Ghraib, located to the west of Iraq's capital. Rather, the VIP was the first politician from Iraq's capital to step foot in the now relatively secure region.
More than just a media day for the governor of Baghdad, Hussein al-Tahan, the event was loaded with signs of significant reconciliation between once fiercely opposed sect members.
Meeting in the morning inside the Nasr Wa Salam Iraqi police station with local leaders, sheiks, Iraqi security and coalition forces, al-Tahan was receptive to information from those in attendance.
Citing security as the most dramatic improvement in the county, Lt. Col. Kurt Pinkerton, the officer in charge of the areas al-Tahan visited, said coalition and Iraqi security forces were partnering with volunteers from local communities, who were tired of living in fear.
"We have volunteers here and we're starting to employ them," said Pinkerton, the commander of 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment.
Many leaders attended the meetings, including Abu Azzam, the leader of Abu Ghraib's volunteers. His attendance demonstrated the volunteers' sincere desire to partake in the political process, said Maj. Geoffrey Norman, executive officer for the battalion.
Most of the volunteers are unemployed laborers and struggling farmers, who survived an occupation by al-Qaida in Iraq and a limited presence by coalition and Iraqi security forces, Norman said.
Now the formerly oppressed citizens are looking for any chance to defend their villages. They provide tips and valuable information to coalition and Iraqi security forces, Norman said.
Numerous volunteers even enrolled in the Biometric Automated Tool Set system, or BATS. The system ensures Iraqis enlisting as volunteers are not known criminals, extremists or insurgents by comparing their fingerprints and iris scans to databases of known enemies of coalition forces and the government of Iraq, he said.
Of the approximately 2,000 Abu Ghraib residents who enrolled, so far only 50 turned up as having hardcore-criminal records, said Norman, a native of Killeen, Texas.
"They know who doesn't belong there," Norman said of the volunteers who patrol the communities. "They're taking a stand and providing a future to their families."
As a result of volunteers policing their communities — an effective counter-insurgency measure — Abu Ghraib improved by leaps and bounds over the last few months. Up until May no one could walk the streets for fear of attack. The rule of law had been superseded by that of the Kalashnikov rifle, Pinkerton, a native of San Jose, Calif., explained.
"Anything they couldn't get away with they destroyed," Pinkerton said, referring to members of al-Qaida in Iraq, a terrorist group sworn to the principles set forth by Osama Bin Laden.
Yet there are still challenges facing Abu Ghraib, which is transitioning from improving security to providing essential services to its residents. Employment is one critical area, Pinkerton said.
"Reconciliation for us out here is not only about security," Pinkerton said. It also encompasses projects, as well as stimulating the local economy.
After the briefing, the governor of Baghdad walked through the streets of the Nasr Wa Salam market, without wearing body armor, but accompanied by a formidable security detail. He then visited the Nasr Wa Salam Primary Health Clinic, located in Khandari, a district within Abu Ghraib.
During the visit, eager residents ready to voice their concerns swarmed al-Tahan. He spoke with numerous sheiks in attendance representing their tribes. The governor called for peace, greater nationalism and cooperation in rebuilding Iraq.
"We need the pencil more than the AK(-47)," al-Tahan said, adding the Iraqi government is the peace-making force necessary to subdue sectarian divisions throughout Iraq.
Al-Tahan's final stop was probably his most important; a meeting with the Abu Ghraib Qada (Council), the county's governing body.
Jam packed into a modest room, the town-hall style gathering took place over a variety of soft drinks.
The all-male council members read from prepared remarks and asked rehearsed questions, but many spoke from the heart, frequently raising the pitch of their voices for emphasis and gesturing with their hands to communicate non-verbally.
Council members and sheiks expressed the everyday concerns of their constituents, such as agricultural challenges, fuel shortages and educational deficiencies. On the latter issue, al-Tahan was most adamant. He said improving the education system was vital to bettering Iraq as a whole.
One attendee raised the issue of missing residents, who had not been heard from since detainment; estimating over 10,000 citizens still unaccounted for. Another spoke of the need for communal sacrifice, having lost a son to a vehicle borne improvised explosive device during an Iraqi police recruitment drive. Facing a myriad of issues, al-Tahan pledged to rise to the diverse and numerous challenges facing the community.
Yet he told those in attendance they had to meet him half way by making an honest effort to document inefficiencies. The governor of Baghdad said the bureaucracy of government required supporting documents and pictures, before improvements could be made on the local level.
Over the chatter of masked interpreters, al-Tahan addressed the residents of Abu Ghraib in search of answers, and promised to return later in the week with officials from the government's ministries.
"Our heart is open to anyone regardless of sect," al-Tahan said in an animated closing speech, as Col. Paul E. Funk II, the commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, tapped his watch, signaling the end of the day's battle with father time.
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2007 10:56 |
| Story ID: | 11882 |
| Location: | ABU GHRAIB, IQ |
| Web Views: | 333 |
| Downloads: | 236 |
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