The Foreign Service Journal, March 2008

F O C U S 40 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 8 strongly worded diplomatic note, I suppose that telling the person on the ground from overhead what I thought of his antisocial behavior constituted returning fire with the authorized weapon. The other way to get around is to fly with Blackwater in a Huey (HU-1). Personally, I think they got the pilots from the same museum as the helicopters. One pilot showed me the air frame tag indicating that it was seri- al number 7. But if you are into roller coasters, then the trip can be a real blast. They fly those things at 120 knots, about 50 feet above the ground and any direction other than the one they are currently going in. They have to do pop-ups to get over power lines and always kick in a turn on the way back down on the other side. On one 45-minute trip, a contractor not only filled a barf-bag; he filled his helmet, as well. Travel in Iraq outside of the international zone is def- initely a unique experience. Gary C. Benack Information Management Technical Specialist/Telephone Embassy Sofia T IPPING THE S CALES T OWARD S TABILITY Restoring Baghdad to its former status as a center for education and commerce will be a long struggle, one not designed for Western calendars. Re-knitting its cultural fabric requires that its physicians and lawyers, professors and technocrats, entrepreneurs and clergy come back home and again form a society with security, with citizens rebuilding their civic culture. Serving as an Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team leader, I recall the lessons of my Peace Corps past. These emphasize supporting community devel- opment, building human resources, facilitating project planning and implementation, and allowing people to decide their own priorities. Our work, carried out by State, USAID and Department of Defense personnel, melds the strengths of our respective agencies as we jointly employ our skill sets. In short, it is expeditionary diplomacy combined with conflict zone development. We are the civilian surge, designed to complement the military efforts of the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, the unit in which we are embedded and rely on for life support, transportation and security. Our E-PRT, which includes specialists in city plan- ning, industry, governance, business and finance, and civil affairs, engages local officials and members of the country’s nascent civil society. As catalysts for devel- opment, we pursue objectives that reflect the various spoken needs of Iraqis: strengthening local gover- nance, promoting economic development and job cre- ation, providing basic public services and infrastruc- ture, and addressing the needs of vulnerable popula- tions, such as women, ethnic minorities and internally displaced persons. Projects — from start to finish — are most effective when they reflect the priorities of the Iraqi people. We are also working in the area of reconciliation, which is any activity that steers the country toward cooperation and away from further conflict. We engage both Sunnis and Shias, holding meetings throughout city districts to build a common under- standing of neighborhood issues and agreeing on tac- tics to address them. Security and services go togeth- er; we identify win-win situations and implement solu- tions. Squeezed between Islamic extremists and legit- imate government structures, traditional authorities seek political space, with sheiks engaging us in dialog to improve neighborhood security and create employ- ment opportunities for their people. Baghdad is filled with the dispossessed: the inter- nally displaced, widows and orphans, Palestinians, Christians, the unskilled and the unemployed. Even a small return of Iraqis from abroad, with their capital and know-how, would mark a turning point. Anchors for economic growth and improved governance, they could tip the balance toward stability. Over time, Iraq will put its gas and oil reserves increasingly to work to rebuild its infrastructure, educate and provide health care for its people and fashion the political and eco- nomic underpinnings of a successful, middle-class soci- ety. We recognize the complex nature of this process, and do what we can to support it. This is not only in the interests of Iraq, but our own national security interest as well. Eric P. Whitaker E-PRT Leader, Baghdad Editor’s Note: Eric Whitaker and his wife, Jonita, also an FSO, represented the Foreign Service at the State of the Union address on Jan. 28. They sat in the first lady’s box at White House invitation.