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.
We regret the tardiness of this week's weekly report, but the lack of available electricity (down to as little as an hour a day this past week) has hampered the ability of our program specialists to submit their reports via Internet.
The violence that continues to reign in Baghdad has put a particular strain on our Baghdad staff and their families this week. A cousin of S— (a Baghdad staffer) was assassinated in Mansour district, leaving behind a wife and four children. Six relatives of A— and their driver were kidnapped in Diyala province while driving north to Dohuk from Baghdad. This stretch of road is well known for the criminal gangs that operate temporary "checkpoints" along them. The kidnappers have demanded ransom in the amount of $10,000 each for the safe return of the hostages. A— and his relatives are now engaged in trying to raise the required funds while negotiating with the kidnappers to refrain from harming their loved ones.
These incidents, lifted off the pages of the daily news reports we all read, are increasingly touching the lives of our Iraqi staff members, a measure of how universal their impact has become in Baghdad and throughout Iraq.
