thedrifter
10-19-08, 07:34 AM
chicagotribune.com
LETTER FROM RAMADI
Province peaceful, but not happy
Infrastructure woes undermine calm in Anbar, writes the Tribune's Liz Sly
1:49 AM CDT, October 19, 2008
RAMADI, Iraq—Whether the calm will last in this former epicenter of insurgency will depend in large part on whether the Iraqi government manages to provide the electricity, water and other services the war-torn province of Anbar sorely lacks.
So on a sunny morning last week, the deputy prime minister, the electricity minister and the deputy industry minister piled into smoky-windowed sport-utility vehicles for a firsthand look at the area's needs.
In a reminder of the dangers that still lurk, they were accompanied by a phalanx of security guards including Iraqi army Humvees, police pickups and, ominously, two ambulances.
Sirens wailing and guns at the ready, the 33-vehicle convoy brought traffic in Baghdad to a standstill as it hurtled out of the fortified Green Zone before snaking its way down the desert highway leading west—until recently nicknamed the Highway of Death because of the likelihood of calamity for those who drove along it.
The people the ministers encountered insisted the ambulances weren't really necessary, because Anbar, in one of the most astonishing transformations of the war, is now mostly safe.
It is not happy, however, as the delegation soon found out. In Fallujah, reduced virtually to rubble in 2004 after U.S. Marines fought the biggest battle of the war, they heard a litany of complaints from local tribal leaders about the lack of electricity and water.
Fallujah today is a desolate, dust-blown place, still littered with the debris of the war and cut off from the outside world by the rigid entry policy enforced by the U.S. military. Only residents issued with special badges may enter the town, at just one checkpoint, and it can take hours. Receiving visitors is an elaborate, bureaucratic procedure.
On good days, there is an hour of electricity.
"The checkpoints are choking the city and isolating it from the commercial life of Iraq," said Fallujah resident Barakat Yusuf, 28. "There is security but nothing else has been achieved. There are no services, no reconstruction and the government isn't functioning."
The next stop was Ramadi, Anbar's capital and formerly the capital of the insurgency. Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters once openly controlled the streets here, while U.S. Marines said prayers every time they ventured beyond the fortified walls of their bases.
Now the Marines walk freely through the markets without body armor, though they try to keep a low profile because the province was handed over to Iraqi control last month.
Small boys in school uniforms waved as the convoy sped past to attend welcoming ceremonies at the provincial government headquarters, once the scene of pitched battles between Marines and insurgents, now freshly painted and the focus of efforts to kick-start life in the battered city.
The guest of honor was Ahmed Abu Risha, who arrived fashionably late in a red-checkered kefir, a black robe fringed with gold, and dark sunglasses, flanked by bodyguards. He is the leader of the Sunni Awakening movement founded by his slain brother Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, who wrought the transformation in Anbar by leading a tribal revolt in 2006 against Al Qaeda.
There are still pockets of Al Qaeda fighters hiding out in the desert, and from time to time they are caught trying to sneak back into the cities, one reason why the rigid checkpoints are still necessary, said Maj. Gen. Martin Post, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Anbar, who also attended.
There are currently 29,000 U.S. troops in Anbar, including 25,000 Marines, but it is probable many of those will be drawn down next year and perhaps sent to Afghanistan.
Yet Post sees little chance Al Qaeda will ever regain a foothold here.
"They've been marginalized and don't have the capacity," he said. "People realize Al Qaeda's not trying to get them water, electricity. They were blowing up things."
Whether the government can get them water and electricity will be a key test, however.
Electricity Minister Karim Wahid al-Hasan announced a major new project that will give Anbar more than enough electricity for its needs—but not until 2011.
In the meantime, tempers are rising. "There is bitterness and anger," said Sheik Mishan Abbas al-Jumaili, a rosy-cheeked tribal elder in Fallujah. "People believe there is injustice here. And still there are sleeping cells of Al Qaeda."
Deputy Prime Minister Rafi al-Issawi promised action.
"We wrote down all your complaints and we are going to follow up on them," he said, before climbing back into his convoy and heading back to the Green Zone.
lsly@tribune.com
Ellie
LETTER FROM RAMADI
Province peaceful, but not happy
Infrastructure woes undermine calm in Anbar, writes the Tribune's Liz Sly
1:49 AM CDT, October 19, 2008
RAMADI, Iraq—Whether the calm will last in this former epicenter of insurgency will depend in large part on whether the Iraqi government manages to provide the electricity, water and other services the war-torn province of Anbar sorely lacks.
So on a sunny morning last week, the deputy prime minister, the electricity minister and the deputy industry minister piled into smoky-windowed sport-utility vehicles for a firsthand look at the area's needs.
In a reminder of the dangers that still lurk, they were accompanied by a phalanx of security guards including Iraqi army Humvees, police pickups and, ominously, two ambulances.
Sirens wailing and guns at the ready, the 33-vehicle convoy brought traffic in Baghdad to a standstill as it hurtled out of the fortified Green Zone before snaking its way down the desert highway leading west—until recently nicknamed the Highway of Death because of the likelihood of calamity for those who drove along it.
The people the ministers encountered insisted the ambulances weren't really necessary, because Anbar, in one of the most astonishing transformations of the war, is now mostly safe.
It is not happy, however, as the delegation soon found out. In Fallujah, reduced virtually to rubble in 2004 after U.S. Marines fought the biggest battle of the war, they heard a litany of complaints from local tribal leaders about the lack of electricity and water.
Fallujah today is a desolate, dust-blown place, still littered with the debris of the war and cut off from the outside world by the rigid entry policy enforced by the U.S. military. Only residents issued with special badges may enter the town, at just one checkpoint, and it can take hours. Receiving visitors is an elaborate, bureaucratic procedure.
On good days, there is an hour of electricity.
"The checkpoints are choking the city and isolating it from the commercial life of Iraq," said Fallujah resident Barakat Yusuf, 28. "There is security but nothing else has been achieved. There are no services, no reconstruction and the government isn't functioning."
The next stop was Ramadi, Anbar's capital and formerly the capital of the insurgency. Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters once openly controlled the streets here, while U.S. Marines said prayers every time they ventured beyond the fortified walls of their bases.
Now the Marines walk freely through the markets without body armor, though they try to keep a low profile because the province was handed over to Iraqi control last month.
Small boys in school uniforms waved as the convoy sped past to attend welcoming ceremonies at the provincial government headquarters, once the scene of pitched battles between Marines and insurgents, now freshly painted and the focus of efforts to kick-start life in the battered city.
The guest of honor was Ahmed Abu Risha, who arrived fashionably late in a red-checkered kefir, a black robe fringed with gold, and dark sunglasses, flanked by bodyguards. He is the leader of the Sunni Awakening movement founded by his slain brother Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, who wrought the transformation in Anbar by leading a tribal revolt in 2006 against Al Qaeda.
There are still pockets of Al Qaeda fighters hiding out in the desert, and from time to time they are caught trying to sneak back into the cities, one reason why the rigid checkpoints are still necessary, said Maj. Gen. Martin Post, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Anbar, who also attended.
There are currently 29,000 U.S. troops in Anbar, including 25,000 Marines, but it is probable many of those will be drawn down next year and perhaps sent to Afghanistan.
Yet Post sees little chance Al Qaeda will ever regain a foothold here.
"They've been marginalized and don't have the capacity," he said. "People realize Al Qaeda's not trying to get them water, electricity. They were blowing up things."
Whether the government can get them water and electricity will be a key test, however.
Electricity Minister Karim Wahid al-Hasan announced a major new project that will give Anbar more than enough electricity for its needs—but not until 2011.
In the meantime, tempers are rising. "There is bitterness and anger," said Sheik Mishan Abbas al-Jumaili, a rosy-cheeked tribal elder in Fallujah. "People believe there is injustice here. And still there are sleeping cells of Al Qaeda."
Deputy Prime Minister Rafi al-Issawi promised action.
"We wrote down all your complaints and we are going to follow up on them," he said, before climbing back into his convoy and heading back to the Green Zone.
lsly@tribune.com
Ellie