Leaders in Baqouba Meet and Plan for the Future

IN a first of its kind meeting local leaders in Baqouba met to discuss issues affecting the residents and their city. About 30 local leaders including Mayor Abdullah, Iraqi Army Soldiers, Iraqi policemen and neighborhood leaders, participated in a town hall meeting held in western Baqouba August 2:

BAQOUBA, Iraq – It is the first time such a meeting was held and initiated completely by Iraqi leadership in the city. U.S. commanders and leaders from various Baqouba neighborhoods, called muqtars, were present.

The muqtars discussed key issues that affect the city’s residents, such as the youth of Baqouba, availability of food and drinking water, civic services, security and unemployment.

One muqtar at the meeting said, “It was good to have this meeting because it allowed leaders to come together and discuss things that needed to be discussed.”

Another muqtar brought up the issue of Baqouba’s youth: “Why don’t we get the youth involved with the IA or the IP?” he asked. “Don’t let the youth sitting around doing nothing,” he suggested because if they do they will be recruiting targets for
al-Qaida.

“This was an incredible success in many ways,” said Lt. Col. Fred Johnson, deputy commander for 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash. “This meeting was a success because the Iraqi Army is here to support not only with security, but also by providing services to the citizens.

“(Lt. Col.) Smiley and I have been all over Iraq. I think he will agree with me that there’s no better Iraqi force than the 5th Iraqi Army to provide services for the people,” said Johnson. Smiley is the commander of 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, part of the Stryker brigade.

Johnson also commended Mayor Abdullah, saying that he is confident in the mayor’s ability to address the concerns of the muqtars and ISF leaders.

Since July 29, humanitarian efforts in the city continued as well. IA and U.S. Soldiers have distributed 70,000 kg each of rice and flour since July 29 as part of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. This brings the total amount of staple foods distributed during the 44-day-old operation to 284,000 kg rice and 285,000 kg flour.

This is a significant step forward for Baqouba and we can only hope that in other areas of the country the local municipal governments and mugtars are able to come together such as these eladers in Baqouba have. As we saw in the Al Anbar region, when the locals banded together and began to turn against al Qaeda and the insurgents, daliy life for the locals improved dramatically.

Meetings like this are the future of Iraq and the news of this developmetn is encouraging. There is still a long way to go, but Iraq is finally on the right path.