Free Republic

The Shiites of Iraq who want representative government, and who look to the resolutely moderate Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani for religious and political guidance, have endured Baathists, Sunni supremacists and holy warriors. They have seen the shrine of Samarra--the most purely Shiite shrine in the country, which has been for ages the responsibility of Sunnis to protect--horribly scarred. If the Shiite center collapses--if radicals like Muqtada al Sadr and some within the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri) and the Dawa Party can depict themselves as more effective guardians of the faithful--then massive internecine violence, Kurdish secession...

Last August, I participated in a town-hall meeting hosted by the administrative council of Dibis, an ethnically mixed town 22 miles northwest of Kirkuk. Locals complained about everything from sporadic electricity to fertilizer shortages to potholes, and their Iraqi representatives listened attentively. It was an encouraging sight, all the more so because the month before, Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) head L. Paul Bremer had proudly announced, in a televised speech, that "all of Iraq's main cities, and dozens of other towns, now have administrative councils." But there was a problem. Soon after his announcement, Bremer--not wanting to complicate planning for...

Here we go again. Only now it's the "Iraqification" rather than the "Vietnamization" of a quagmire war in another distant and increasingly hostile land. Washington's puppets are once again said to be on the verge of getting their act together, and the American people are daily assured that we are about to turn the corner. Soon we will be able to give Iraq back to the Iraqis, and some distant day the United States will get out. In the meantime, U.S. troops must continue in a "support role" while being maimed and killed with increasing frequency. Sorry to appear so...

Iraq Sub-National Governance Opportunities   [at RTI International] IT Manager - (BM10833) Requisition Number:         BM10833 Location:         Basrah(S) Baghdad(C) al-Hillah(SC) Mosul(N), Iraq Last Updated:         07/25/2003 Job Description: Description: It Manager will be responsible for providing IT support for up to 30 users in a regional hub office. This will include managing a staff of 4 - 10 IT support personnel located in governorate offices. Each office will have 11 to 20 staff members and each will have an IT support person. The manager will be responsible for hiring, training,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 — Anxious to have a stake in their future, more and more Iraqis are entering local politics despite intimidation from opponents of the U.S. occupation, said U.S. officials and a government contractor on Tuesday. They said neighborhood and city councils were being set up across Iraq where locals were taking the initiative in many areas, from creating non-government organizations (NGOs) to negotiating with U.S. authorities on military issues, water and garbage collection. ''From the last time I was there, I saw a big change. Everywhere you go, Iraqis in local government are coming forward. They want to...

Why creating Iraqi government and security can't be done overnight. THOUGH FAR FROM FINE-TUNED, the Bush administration has finally developed an exit strategy for Iraq. The strategy has two prongs. Through the State Department, the administration will seek to "internationalize" the forces of occupation by obtaining a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would "authorize" Turks, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Moroccans, Indians, and even the French to send their troops. Concurrently through the Defense Department, it will strive to create larger all-Iraqi police and military forces that can work together with--and ideally replace--American soldiers who battle former Baathists, militant Sunni fundamentalists, and...