Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Ellen Ratner
I realize that many of you think I pontificate from an ivory tower and sip $5 cups of coffee in the morning and $50 bottles of wine at night and whine about the ills of the world from the nation's largest gated community, the Washington Beltway. In reality, I just returned from my second trip to Iraq. Granted, I did not put in a year or more like our men and women in uniform, but I have spent more time there than our president, secretary of state and any senator or member of Congress I assure you.

I thank the U.S. military for my trip. They provided transportation, shelter, food, clothing and, most importantly, security into and throughout Baghdad and Fallujah. My respect for our men and women in uniform has never been in question. I do, however, question the wisdom of those who place them in harm's way. In the words of our troops, I think it is fitting to simply provide a "sit report" on Iraq, April 2005, two years after the fall of Saddam.

The Iraqi insurgency

First, "insurgent" is not a politically correct term. The Iraqis prefer the term "former regime element." Even this term is not popular as it implies that the insurgency is home grown. The Iraqis are convinced that most of the violence is caused by third-party jihadists from Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Sudan and Chechnya. They believe that the jihadists are well-funded. The U.S. military claims the insurgents rely on their ability to get media coverage for recruitment. Two simultaneous car bombs is a wonderful recruitment tool. While their improvised explosive devices are getting more innovative, their ability to replace those who are captured or killed is waning.

Corruption

This is an enormous concern given the past record of graft. Also the Iraqi Security Forces have been compromised by the insurgents. This is the largest concern of the Iraqi governing body. There has been talk of amnesty for insurgents, but there is nothing in writing. The U.S. military's response to the problem of corruption is, "Corruption is an issue we deal with in America, an opportunity to make a dollar." They have a TV show called, "Confessions." I watched it. It's aired in Mosul by Mosul Regional Television. Insurgents have tried to bomb the TV station. The people on the show confess their crimes. I watched a guy confess that he was paid $200 (U.S.). He needed the money, so he planted a bomb. The show is wildly popular.

Health and welfare Issues

Oddly enough, the Iraqis do not have much more electricity than when I was there in June of 2003. Power is available anywhere from four to eight hours a day. This is a big negative in terms of winning hearts and minds. I attended an Iraqi city council meeting (20 Iraqis, including two women). There are 16 district councils in greater Baghdad. Their main concerns are electricity, sewage, water and jobs. This meeting was the highlight of the trip. Despite the fact that I disagreed with the prosecution of the war, it was encouraging to see Iraqis as I would see any city council conduct business in a free city.

Oil production

They said oil production was 1.8 million barrels per day. The problem is in refining the oil. Yet, when I visited the Midlands oil refinery two years ago, the plant manager said the problem was getting the oil to him due to security issues and that he had the capacity to refine much more. They currently have 7,000 miles of pipeline and 11,000 miles of electricity to guard. This is an enormous task given the poor state of security.

Unemployment

The 21 percent figure given to me by the military is laughable. I question their polling methods. The majority of non-U.S. held jobs are given to non-Iraqis. These individuals are called "third-country nationals." Only 25 percent of the town of Fallujah has returned after the U.S. offensive. I can't imagine that these 150,000 people found jobs elsewhere. The United States is focusing on hiring "military age males" in Fallujah, but it is a slow process. Of course, I'm not sure how many males want to show up for duty in the Iraqi Security Forces when they are forced to do patrols in little white cars like slow moving ducks. This compares to their U.S. counterparts in armored vehicles. I'm not saying we need to give up our hardware to the Iraqis, but this disparity does seem painfully unfair even to the most conservative of observers.

U.S. military presence

Despite what our president says, it is clear that what the president means when he says, "we are going to be there as long as we need to be there" is that we will maintain a huge presence in Iraq for as long as oil is the mainstay of the world's economy. The bases are enormous and housing up to 20,000 personnel per base.

In summary, I am grateful to our military for hosting me and my fellow talk-show hosts in Iraq. My trip further illuminated the complexity of our policy in Iraq. I came away with a renewed respect for both the U.S. military and the Iraqi people. It is my hope that our government and their government will be worthy of the people who serve them.