Soldiering On To Rebuild Iraq (Washington Post)

[diamond14]

Soldiering On To Rebuild Iraq
Civil Affairs Takes On Tough Task
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 21, 2004; Page A13

-snips-

BAGHDAD -- James Sosnicky, a floppy-haired U.S. Army captain, is the public face of the U.S.-led occupation for much of Iraq's business community. He has had tea with everyone from the guy with a brother who wants to start a construction company to the old-money oligarchs. He has hosted business delegations from India and South Korea. And he has negotiated with CEOs from multinational companies on initiatives to involve Iraqi workers in their projects. "Pretty heady stuff," as he put it, for a guy who a year ago had never heard of many of the big U.S. contractors leading reconstruction efforts, is more comfortable wearing fatigues than suits and whose last long-term private-sector job was selling ads for the Village Voice tabloid in New York.

......With no staff and no funding.......

.....Last week, he was awarded a Bronze Star for his work.


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Staff Sgt. Jay Bachar, 46, a former Subway sandwich chain franchise owner from Chesapeake Beach, Md., was given the task of setting up a registration system for humanitarian assistance organizations. Sgt. Jacek Orzol, 28, a security guard and gas station manager from Hyattsville, was put in charge of what until recently was the largest employment center in the country. And Capt. Mark St. Laurent, 36, an ambulance driver and firefighter from Leesburg, was told to coordinate emergency payments to civil servants and assess the state of the banking system.

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Soldiers doing reconstruction work have been granted more leeway than their civilian counterparts. They make up the rules as they go along. They improvise. And they are not afraid to use force. One soldier said that when he was helping with a bank assessment and could not find the keys to a locked room that appeared to contain ledgers, he took a 12-pound sledge hammer and knocked down the wall. Some soldiers say their take-no-prisoners attitude allows them to work faster and more efficiently than civilians. Some civilian workers argue that the military workers are not qualified and don't follow proper procedure. Both sides grumble about mismatches between a soldier's skills and the assigned task.

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"A guy would stand up and point to himself and say, 'I am the police chief,' and we'd send him money to pay his people," St. Laurent said.

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The occupation authority convened a meeting of about 300 Iraqi businessmen and women this month to talk about how the $18.6 billion that Congress allocated for reconstruction would be awarded. The speakers were important people by any measure: Michael Fleischer, the brother of former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer and the deputy for private sector development; and Col. Anthony Bell, head of contracting for the occupation authority. But the Iraqis didn't applaud.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58991-2004Feb20.html

[JoFerret]

1. Lawlessness on behalf of

Halliburton and its ilk, paid for with our money, and at the risk of their blood and lasting psychological damage.

[diamond14]

2. it's insane really....OUR soldiers with NO background in banking

and contracts, setting up whole country's banking system and contracts...

I guess big BOSS-man Cheney just calls over there and tells OUR soldiers who to write checks to.....and they dutifully comply like good soldiers should....

it's grand THEFT of OUR taxes at the highest levels...no wonder there is NO rebuilding going on and no recontruction....this all is just a great BIG huge bush* money-laundrying operation...modeled on enron and for the benefit of halliburton and other campaign donors to the bush* re-selection effort...

lord knows what the banking system/contracts/government systems look like, when set up by a Subway guy, an ambulance driver, a ad salesman for the Village Voice tabloid....with NO business experience, no STAFF, and no BUDGET....

bush* and his minions are WAR-profiteers and WAR-criminals of the highest level.....

[diamond14]

3. and Ari's brother, Michael Fleischer right there stealing like the rest

of them....how did Michael Fleischer get qualified to be the DEPUTY FOR PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT in Iraq? what is going on over there, with OUR money?

[diamond14]

4. kick.....

:dem:

[JoFerret]

5. Bush leaves important role for the UN