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7/4/2008
Rep. Gundrum: From Iraq
Hope everyone back home is enjoying the beautiful Wisconsin summer (minus the terrible flooding of course) and all the great family and community activities that go with it. Depending on what thermometer you are looking at, the temperatures here have begun edging into the 120 degree range; but it is bearable.
The soldiers over here from the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion in Green Bay are doing some pretty amazing things for our country. Most are in different locations around the Baghdad area. The level of danger varies from time to time and location to location but is always present, so please keep all these great soldiers and their families in your prayers.
Work on Rule of Law and Governance matters here continues. Next to Security, these are some of the highest priority issues for stabilizing Iraq long-term.
Rule of Law work here is definitely interesting. As an example, a few weeks ago we were on a mission to evaluate the conditions at a maximum security prison as well as the progress being made on an addition being built there and whether the addition conforms to international standards. (Wisconsin prisons are like Club Med compared to these.) When we saw the gallows at the prison, one of the men pointed to a spot on the platform and said "if you are wondering exactly where Saddam was hung, that's it right there."
Other Rule of Law missions are less morose - like helping to develop and improve the quality of law schools and legal education in Iraq; or trying to get Iraqi judges to improve their work ethic and output, and increase their sophistication to rely more on physical and other corroborating evidence, rather than so heavily relying only on confessions; or assisting a special judicial panel appointed by the chief justice of Iraq with its inquiry into whether corruption influenced the outcome of a trial of high ranking government officials.
Because of my background as an elected lawmaker, I have had the opportunity to work directly with members of the Iraqi national parliament (called the Council of Representatives) and present seminars to many of the members on good governance concepts - like open government, developing good legislation, effective use of committees, serving constituents, avoiding corruption, etc. After decades of dictatorship and in an embryonic democracy, these are new concepts.
Most of my time is spent in Baghdad, though I occasionally travel to other locations as well, such as a recent mission to Diyala Province. From the local base there, we convoyed into downtown Baqubah to meet with the Governor and members of the Diyala Provincial Council about governance issues. Baqubah is still a bit of a hotbed for al-Qaida, but has improved significantly over the past year. A year ago the Provincial Council was not even meeting due to security concerns. Now they are getting rolling and it was exciting to be a part of it.
Security concerns, however, do remain in places like Baqubah. For example, a suicide bomber detonated herself, killing 15 Iraqis and wounding 40, outside the same building where we had been meeting with the Governor just one week earlier. And in the middle of my talk with the Provincial Council, a suicide car bomber detonated a car bomb nearby the building we were in, killing an Iraqi policeman and injuring 19 others. The explosion was apparently such a commonplace experience for the PC members that they did not flinch a bit, so we just kept right on going with the talk. They had some excellent questions which demonstrated just how new the idea of democracy is for them, but also showed their commitment to making it work.
It has been impressive to see how members of the Council of Representatives and Provincial Councils "get it" and are taking advantage of their newfound freedoms with press conferences, public debate on issues, building coalitions, working together, and compromising as necessary to advance legislation important to Iraq. While it is not all pretty or sophisticated, it is encouraging to see such healthy signs in a new democracy.
Corruption is still a significant concern here, and is on a scale and of a nature that is hard to fathom. This will remain one of Iraq's biggest challenges to overcome if its citizens want the nation to succeed long-term.
Security is steadily improving in most areas of Iraq. The important and exciting part is watching the Iraqi security forces take over responsibilities that used to be handled completely by Coalition Forces. Again, it is not always pretty or sophisticated, but it is steadily occurring. What we need to remember is that, at this point, we do not need Iraq to have the type of security you would find in America or Canada, or even European countries like England, Germany, or Italy. While that level of security would certainly be ideal and should remain a long-term goal for Iraqis to work for themselves, it will not happen anytime soon nor should that be our measure of success. The goal should be for Iraqis to be able to sustain - with very minimal assistance from other countries, and eventually by themselves - the radical transformation that has occurred here thus far, so Iraq can continue on its slow but steady path of improvement.
A stable, secure, functioning democracy in Iraq that has transparent government and embraces the Rule of Law is not only critical to Iraq's future, but at this juncture is very important to America's future as well.
Thank you so much to everyone for keeping all service members in harm's way and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Photos from Iraq
Mark Gundrum is a Republican and represents residents of the 84th Assembly district.
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