Posted on 08/22/2005 8:15:51 PM PDT by SandRat
The coalition soldiers’ job at city council meetings has been to mentor the Iraqi leaders, but recently local officials have taken the lead to conduct the meetings and resolve local issues.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE GABE, Baqubah, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2005 — Coalition soldiers sat back as local Iraqi leaders discussed issues of concern in the Al-Abarra area Aug. 11.
The meeting, at the Al-Abarra Government Building, brought together the members of the city council, the local Iraqi army commander and the Iraqi police chiefs from the area to discuss topics ranging from water to voting on Iraq’s new constitution.
“Within the six months that we've been here it has been a pretty drastic change. The Iraqis are handling a lot of the problems themselves and it is just us going along with them for mentorship and to guide them in the right direction.”
U.S. Army Capt. Jason Spencer
The coalition soldiers’ job at these meetings has been to mentor the Iraqi leaders and provide advice on how they should run things, but recently the soldiers have taken a back seat, said U.S. Army Capt. Jason Spencer, acting commander of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor and native of Tecunsch, Okla.
“Within the six months that we’ve been here it has been a pretty drastic change,” he said. “The Iraqis are handling a lot of the problems themselves and it is just us going along with them for mentorship and to guide them in the right direction.”
Staff Sgt. Anthony R. Franke, a headquarters noncommissioned officer in charge of civil military operations for 2nd Battalion, 24th Armor agreed that the city council has experienced a lot of growth.
“The city council meetings have progressed from being basically a group of guys who come together and gripe and complain about everything, to having an agenda and getting situations fixed, or raising issues and coming up with solutions to their problems,” Franke said. “It has been very rewarding to watch this happen.”
City council members have come a long way, but one issue they still need to work on is informing the local Iraqis on their council success, said Capt. Todd Van Orsdel, a civil affairs team leader for Company C, 445th Civil Affairs Battalion and native of Minneapolis.
“The city council does a lot of great things,” Van Orsdel said. “The problem is that information is not getting down to the people. The people want that information. People want to be part of the process and they want to here from their personal city councilman.”
Van Orsdel said the coalition soldiers are trying to help the council out by letting the locals know what their leaders are doing for them, but it is something he is encouraging the council members to start doing.
“The next step that we (hope to do) when we go out and meet the villagers is to be able to take their city council leader with us, just as we do a military mission where the Iraqi army is the tip of the spear and we are behind them in a supporting role,” he said. “We need to do the same thing with the local politicians; where they are out there meeting the people and we are behind them in a supporting role.”
The council members still have work to do, but Van Orsdel said he has seen a lot change in Iraq and knows that the Iraqi leaders are working to better their country.
“A year ago today, you wouldn’t have a Iraqi company commander and (city council) working hand in hand and you wouldn’t have a city council that comes to a meeting with a prewritten agenda of what they want to accomplish and what they want to talk about,” Van Orsdel said. “They’re focused on where they want to go and the coalition has been a big part of that. It was through our guidance that they got there, but it is the Iraqi people themselves that have done this and we celebrate all their successes.”
The changes that the Iraqi people and coalition soldiers have endured to better the country and develop their government and military did not happen over night and Van Orsdel said he knows, with continued combined efforts, the Iraqis will be prepared to run their country without coalition help.
“We move slowly sometimes,” Van Orsdel said. “But we constantly move towards them being able to stand on their own in a legitimate and safe secure government, so someday we can all go home.”
Moving towards Iraqi Democracy the same way we moved the Germans and the Japanese to Democracy.
Thanks for the post Sandy
I had to remind impatient folks tonight that it took our own country 11 years to get a constitution in place. then we ammended it for several years thereafter
Another story you won't hear about from the MSM.
"I had to remind impatient folks tonight that it took our own country 11 years to get a constitution in place. then we ammended it for several years thereafter"
Excellent point. We're still amending the Constitution - I think we're up to 24 or 27 Amendments, now, and there will probably be more.
'People want to be part of the process and they want to hear from their personal city councilman.”
Great article; it's good to see the Iraqis investing in their future this way. Thanks for posting.
Ive noticed that in the past week as Iraqi ratification loom ( and I think its going to be a while) The lefties have begun the chant "Its a failure"! because it wasnt ratified the first time around.
Get ready folks. Everytime there is a snag or honest dispute in the process the enemies of freedom will bitch and moan that we have failed and that its time to tuck tail
With all the whining and moaning about "failure" in Iraq on the left, it appears they've forgotten our own history. It not only took us until 1788 to even have a Constitution, we've amended it numerous times since then and have even amended the amendments - recall the Volsted Act? And then the repeal of the Volsted Act? Human, yes; perfection, no; so why do they expect it of Iraqis?
It's really fun to watch them grow in freedom.
Honestly?
I think its because Libs have a utopian view of life. They honesly believe they can bring paradise to the world. I find this unrealistic, most folks recognise that there are powers greatter than themselves and accept that the wold has suffering and evil in it. we dont like it but somethings are beyond our hands. Libs..in thier belief that they can create Utopia replace God with thier own idealism. Worship Mother earth, Worship Mother Sheehan.. etc I may be rambling here, but if there is heaven on earth why is there a need for heaven? I believe that the bible rightly states that the earth is a place of wordly things. It can never be Heaven
BTTT!!!!!!!
The MSM and Dems (Libs) only hope to defeat the republicans in '06 and '08 is to portray Iraq as another 'Vietnam quagmire'. Every step toward Iraqi democratic self governance drives them crazy so they'll ignore it or downright lie. Remember the thunderous silence when thousands of Iraqis walked miles to vote? It was several days before there was grudging acceptance by Liberals that it happened at all.
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