thedrifter
12-01-05, 02:41 PM
Col. Jimmie Jaye Wells: We're building a democracy from the ground up
And we're succeeding
06:03 AM CST on Thursday, December 1, 2005
BAGHDAD – Under the crossed sabers that mark the entrance to Saddam Hussein's empire, vendors peddle their wares of small Iraqi flags, trinkets and Saddam-era military regalia. Other Iraqis sell from kiosks along the street.
Not far from the huge statue of King Nebuchadnezzar is the Iraqi prime minister's office. Senior politicos and staffers toil late into the evening to create a new democratic government. I know, as I work with them.
As their confidence in greater security grows, these hardy entrepreneurs and technocrats are putting fear and mismanagement aside and are at the vanguard of the new Iraq.
Flying by helicopter over Baghdad, I see a city aglow with lights and power. I'm filled with bittersweet emotions of pride and remorse.
I am proud to know the light in every home and the power to generate it come from the hard work of U.S., coalition and Iraqi partners. When I made these flights a year ago, the light was not as brilliant.
Not many good Iraqis know that when electrical power is interrupted here, it's likely due to two things: either attacks on the hundreds of miles of electrical lines and towers, or long-neglected maintenance.
Some believe power outages are part of a grand Western scheme to keep them from independence. And yet the fact that the Baathists pillaged the economy and pulled megawatts from regions of Iraq to feed the central government does not make the news, either.
I'm proud to know that Iraq now has more equitable electric power and that its infrastructure is being rebuilt – and not just in Baghdad. Unfortunately, the messages that too often get to my family are that we, the military, aren't guarding the lines well enough, that we have too many troops in Iraq and that we shouldn't be there in the first place.
I'm proud of the accomplishments of the U.S. ministerial attachés I work with in the U.S. Embassy. They are senior executives who have taken time from their families and careers. They risk a great deal to mentor and support the 32 Iraqi ministers. It is through their work that the small things that make a nation whole are becoming a reality.
I regret that stories of success upon success are not reaching my family, friends and co-workers.
Yet, I'm proud that a stable democracy is developing. As the constitution continues to take shape, it appears that political power will flow to governors and provincial leaders. Independent political parties are forming, and projects continue to move ahead. In late October, I examined a water-treatment plant in Nasiriya that will provide water for more than a million people in southern Iraq. It, like democracy, can't be thrown together in a matter of weeks.
Our own history has plenty of examples of positive returns on American investments in reconstruction. None was an overnight success. Reconstruction after the American Civil War took at least 10 years amid vigilantism and extremism. After the Philippine-American War of 1899, the U.S. Army built schools and hospitals and developed democratic institutions there.
After the surrender of Japan, ending the Pacific war, some 190,000 engineer troops went about rebuilding Japan. Again, with U.S. help, this moved from a militaristic, feudal culture into a modern democracy within seven years. In Germany, former Nazi die-hards and Waffen-SS miscreants waged a deadly terrorism campaign against international aid workers, Germans and Allied troops. But under the European Recovery Program of 1948, or Marshall Plan, work continued, and West Germany became a sovereign nation 10 years after the war.
I'm proud of a nation that supports its fighting citizens, and I'm proud to serve in a free society that promotes free speech. As author and retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters commented recently, "If the military fails to speak for itself, fools will gladly speak for it."
As a soldier and not a writer, I can only hope that achievements in Iraq have more than equitable billing with the daily death tolls.
Col. Jimmie Jaye Wells is a longtime San Antonio resident, commander of the 208th Regional Support Group and a U.S. Army War College graduate. He has been deployed two years in Iraq. His current assignment is Deputy for Operations Support in the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. His son just completed a one-year tour with the U.S. Army Reserves in Al Asad, Iraq. Col. Wells' e-mail address is jimmiejaye.wells@us.army.mil.
Ellie
And we're succeeding
06:03 AM CST on Thursday, December 1, 2005
BAGHDAD – Under the crossed sabers that mark the entrance to Saddam Hussein's empire, vendors peddle their wares of small Iraqi flags, trinkets and Saddam-era military regalia. Other Iraqis sell from kiosks along the street.
Not far from the huge statue of King Nebuchadnezzar is the Iraqi prime minister's office. Senior politicos and staffers toil late into the evening to create a new democratic government. I know, as I work with them.
As their confidence in greater security grows, these hardy entrepreneurs and technocrats are putting fear and mismanagement aside and are at the vanguard of the new Iraq.
Flying by helicopter over Baghdad, I see a city aglow with lights and power. I'm filled with bittersweet emotions of pride and remorse.
I am proud to know the light in every home and the power to generate it come from the hard work of U.S., coalition and Iraqi partners. When I made these flights a year ago, the light was not as brilliant.
Not many good Iraqis know that when electrical power is interrupted here, it's likely due to two things: either attacks on the hundreds of miles of electrical lines and towers, or long-neglected maintenance.
Some believe power outages are part of a grand Western scheme to keep them from independence. And yet the fact that the Baathists pillaged the economy and pulled megawatts from regions of Iraq to feed the central government does not make the news, either.
I'm proud to know that Iraq now has more equitable electric power and that its infrastructure is being rebuilt – and not just in Baghdad. Unfortunately, the messages that too often get to my family are that we, the military, aren't guarding the lines well enough, that we have too many troops in Iraq and that we shouldn't be there in the first place.
I'm proud of the accomplishments of the U.S. ministerial attachés I work with in the U.S. Embassy. They are senior executives who have taken time from their families and careers. They risk a great deal to mentor and support the 32 Iraqi ministers. It is through their work that the small things that make a nation whole are becoming a reality.
I regret that stories of success upon success are not reaching my family, friends and co-workers.
Yet, I'm proud that a stable democracy is developing. As the constitution continues to take shape, it appears that political power will flow to governors and provincial leaders. Independent political parties are forming, and projects continue to move ahead. In late October, I examined a water-treatment plant in Nasiriya that will provide water for more than a million people in southern Iraq. It, like democracy, can't be thrown together in a matter of weeks.
Our own history has plenty of examples of positive returns on American investments in reconstruction. None was an overnight success. Reconstruction after the American Civil War took at least 10 years amid vigilantism and extremism. After the Philippine-American War of 1899, the U.S. Army built schools and hospitals and developed democratic institutions there.
After the surrender of Japan, ending the Pacific war, some 190,000 engineer troops went about rebuilding Japan. Again, with U.S. help, this moved from a militaristic, feudal culture into a modern democracy within seven years. In Germany, former Nazi die-hards and Waffen-SS miscreants waged a deadly terrorism campaign against international aid workers, Germans and Allied troops. But under the European Recovery Program of 1948, or Marshall Plan, work continued, and West Germany became a sovereign nation 10 years after the war.
I'm proud of a nation that supports its fighting citizens, and I'm proud to serve in a free society that promotes free speech. As author and retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters commented recently, "If the military fails to speak for itself, fools will gladly speak for it."
As a soldier and not a writer, I can only hope that achievements in Iraq have more than equitable billing with the daily death tolls.
Col. Jimmie Jaye Wells is a longtime San Antonio resident, commander of the 208th Regional Support Group and a U.S. Army War College graduate. He has been deployed two years in Iraq. His current assignment is Deputy for Operations Support in the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. His son just completed a one-year tour with the U.S. Army Reserves in Al Asad, Iraq. Col. Wells' e-mail address is jimmiejaye.wells@us.army.mil.
Ellie