PVCC Puma Press: December 2004

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	Photo courtesy AP.
	Iraqis work to rebuild their country after the initial bombing, using U.S. taxpayer money that was appropriated by Congress in Dec. 2003.
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Editor’s note: Due to the sensitive security concerns included in the article the source’s name and official job title has been withheld. The information in the story was gathered in a public forum at an undisclosed location.

“Love and war are very much alike…easy to start, very difficult to end.”

In March 2003 the United States led a coalition force into the nation of Iraq and toppled the ruling Ba’ath Party and its political leader Saddam Hussein. What soon resulted was chaos, looting, a rapidly declining security situation and the birth of the Arab world’s first democracy.

This is Nation Building 101 under the most horrific of circumstances during one of the greatest struggles of the modern age.

The source of this story spent nearly a year in Iraq working for the Coalition Provisional Authority. What follows is the lesser known accounts of daily life through the eyes of an American. These are the untold stories of Iraq.

Baghdad is a once beautiful city with modern buildings, wide boulevards and active commerce. Streets resemble seas of cars with gas tanks made full for a staggeringly cheap amount of six cents a gallon. Despite the violence that encapsulates the city, business continues.

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	Photo courtesy AP.
	Iraqis work to rebuild their country after the initial bombing, using U.S. taxpayer money that was appropriated by Congress in Dec. 2003.
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Markets are filled with people selling everything and anything they can get their hands on. Televisions, padlocks, fruits and vegetables for sale may deceive observers, keeping them unaware of Baghdad’s 30 percent unemployment rate.

The overriding factor in Iraq’s joblessness is that the many factories that were under operation during Saddam’s rule are no longer active. Idleness of young workers and lack of money have led them to join the insurgency as it is willing to hire fighters for $500 a month.
After the fall of Baghdad in the early days of the war, the seeds were planted for a chaotic landscape.

As the American led invasion moved deeper into the country, the Iraqi military began to abandon their guard posts at government buildings and palaces. People tore their way through each structure scrambling for anything of worth. Metal items, tile, even the most mundane of objects that had the potential of value were taken.

When the buildings were cleared, they were torched to the ground. The same scenario repeated itself hundreds of time over as it became clear to the citizens that for the time being there would be no law and order. The years of oppression under Saddam’s rule had finally erupted.

Under Hussein’s strict dictatorship corruption echoed loudly throughout the halls of power. For decades Saddam diverted funds from the infrastructure that was in desperate need of repair and poured millions into his luxurious lifestyle.

For example, to save money Saddam had water pipes and sewage lines buried next to each other in shallow trenches. Roads were paved over the trenches and heavy vehicles constantly applied pressure to the lines just below street level. Over time, the pipes would crack, and cross-contamination occurred. Cases of cholera and hepatitis became increasingly common as this practice continued.

Saddam, at the same time, would waste thousands of pounds of food to avoid a long-targeted coup. Each of the 70 presidential palaces across Iraq, 40 in Tikrit alone, prepared full course meals just in case Saddam decided to stop by unexpectedly.

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Idleness of young workers and lack of money have led them to join the insurgency that hires fighters for $500 a month.
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Another way Saddam wielded his power and maintained control of his regime was through supplying free food to anyone who wanted it. Distribution centers would provide families with rations at no cost. Even with Saddam gone, this ritual is carried out to this day in Iraq.

While some things remain the same, dramatic changes have taken place as well. The early stages of a democratic Iraq are beginning to take hold as the date of the January approaches.

The Iraq experiment is unique in terms of United States foreign policy for a couple of reasons. The Provisional Authority that was established shortly after the fall of Baghdad was given a lot of latitude. The initial government would invent procedures to deal with day-to-day challenges. It was a very “free wheeling organization.”

The Provisional Authority controlled Iraq by dividing power into four sections of the country. There was the largest sector known as Baghdad Central, and then there was the North, South Central and South region.
The headquarters for the ethnically and religiously complicated Baghdad Central was run out of a former Saddam palace deep inside the Green Zone. Various departments were created to fit the needs required by the government for rebuilding security.

Among the responsibilities that the Provisional Authority was forced to undertake was the establishment of a modern sewage treatment system. Until recently, Baghdad would dispose of human waste through a series of rickety pipes that eventually ended in the Tigris River. This practice has ended under the rebuilding program in Iraq.

However, the media was unable to cover the event for security reasons. The Provisional Authority felt that if they advertised what they were doing, it would attract terrorist and lives would be put on the line unnecessarily.

History of Saddam’s reign is being preserved in museums in Iraq through the Ministry of Culture. In the basement of the former palace a treasure trove of the past was found: A car from 1904, a royal coach, a 1932 Bentley or Rolls Royce and newer cars that were driven by Saddam and his sons.
A dozen pure bread Arabian horses were found, wandering the desert.

Initially, the new mayor of Baghdad wanted to sell them to Iraq’s neighbors. However, the Provisional Authority was able to convince him to sell the frozen sperm of the horses instead of the horses themselves, so that a national treasure could be preserved.

There are thousands of cases like this happening all over Iraq every day that most people never hear of. Significant progress has been made on many civic fronts.