USIP's Iraq program aims to reduce interethnic and interreligious violence, speed up stabilization and democratization, and reduce the need for a U.S. presence in Iraq. As part of this program, USIP has maintained a small office in the Green Zone in Baghdad since early 2004. Rusty Barber, a former political officer in the Foreign Service, has run the office since March 2007. His regular dispatches offer a lively and sobering insider's view of the promise and peril facing U.S. efforts in that country. We'll update this section each week, making only minimal changes for security reasons.
I returned "home" to the IZ (green zone) last Wednesday from my two weeks in Washington and Boston to find everything as it was before, only more so. More heat, more troops, more opportunities and more challenges. The pleasantly uneventful nature of the trip to Baghdad continued during the ride down Route Irish to the IZ, save for a warning burst from a nearby military convoy that startled me. Once in the IZ, things returned to "eventful" status with incoming rocket fire that shook the building but did little reported damage. At least someone was glad to see me back. Rocket fire days before had, however, taken out several vehicles belonging to our villa and—worse—damaged the laundry service resulting in an unsavory delay in clean clothes until water could be restored.
The staff was most interested to hear about my time spent in D.C., particularly in terms of how folks at USIP and on Capitol Hill viewedour work and how they reacted to descriptions of our daily lives. Most importantly, however, they expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of improved cooperation and coordination between the Baghdad office and D.C. in support of their program activities.
As I found when I first arrived in Baghdad, one is immediately plunged into things. A brainstorming session with USAID's governance team produced a number of ideas about how to directly integrate USIP's conflict management resources with the PRTs (Provincial Reconstruction Teams) around Iraq. A recent request by a district mayor in the so-called "Sunni Triangle" has evolved into a tribal reconciliation initiative in which USIP and its facilitators may play a key mediation role. In addition, the Baghdad PRT has requested help with mediation/reconciliation in a particularly restive neighborhood in the Rusafa district. Planning for a SENSE training for Iraq's 18 Provincial Councils continues to churn along despite ongoing security challenges. Finally, the civic lesson plan for Iraqi youth, drafted by an Iraqi USIP staffer, is being vetted by Baghdad educators for eventual rollout in selected schools later this fall. This is just a sampling of our current activity roster.
Despite the heat and the tension, it is good to see familiar faces, to feel myself no longer a stranger to a strange place. Tomorrow is July 4th, and though there are no official fireworks scheduled, I have no doubt that we'll be sufficiently supplied with them. The embassy is festooned with red, white and blue streamers so that Saddam's former reception room is starting to look more like an American convention hall at election time; how appropriate.
