The Arizona Republic (May 16, 2004)

Who would have thought two public relations executives from Phoenix would draw an assignment like this. We and a colleague from Washington, D.C., office have been working in Iraq since mid-February for the Strategic Communications Department of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Our job is to provide event production and communications services to Ambassador L. Paul Bremer and the provisional authority through the transfer of Iraqi sovereignty June 30.

With headquarters in the presidential palace in on the Tigris River in downtown Baghdad, the Strategic Communications Department (Stratcom, as we call it) is a tight-knit group of public relations professional from the United States and Britain. We live a stone’s throw from where we work, sharing four-man trailers and meals provided by an American contractor, KBR. While the “Green Zone” is relatively safe, our work has taken us all over the country. Wherever we go outside the Green Zone we are accompanied by top-notch security teams from South Africa and the United States. There job is to keep us from becoming a statistic, or worse yet, a hostage who could compromise the mission of the provisional authority.

After the initial occupation, the authority was created to ease the transition to democracy. The organization is impacting Iraqi lives immensely, and in the end, that is what it is all about.

You can argue all you want about weapons of mass destruction and the threat that Saddam’s regime posed to the United States and the free nations of the world. The truth is, there were 25 million Iraqis who were held hostage by the whims of one man. And whether or not it was the United States’ job to intervene or not, most Iraqis have better lives now and are well on their way to a fee and democratic society.

Witnessing the rebuilding of this country has been such an honor and eye opener for both of us. Our everyday concerns hardly compare with the fears Iraqis had under Saddam. AT home in Phoenix, we never worry if there is electricity to turn the porch light on at night of if we have potable water to drink. One never fears having his hands removed because of some alleged offense to the government, Most of us have to invent something to really worry about.

Our work has taken us to cities such as Tikrit, Ar Ramadi, Ba’Quabah, Kut, Mosul and Muntheria, or the Iraq-Iran border. We have personally seen the mass graves and the torture chambers in which Iraqi Olympians and other athletes were brutalized.

In Halbaja, we visited with families of those killed when Saddam used gas on his o0wn people in the early 1990s, and toured the solemn museum commemorating the horrific attacks.

We have met such extraordinary people, such as seven Iraqi businessmen who each had his right hand cut off for trading with foreign currency without being members of the Ba’ath Party. The men were on their way to Houston to be refitted with prosthetics and undergo rehabilitation, donated entirely by US medical and business people.

We also speak nearly every day with ordinary Iraqis. While monumental events continue to happen around them, most are worried about the simple things: their children’s education, their jobs, their neighborhoods, their homes and their security.

Paying Bills, feeding kids

Sounds like the same issues families are facing all over the world, not what you would expect from Iraq. Some worry about politics and religion, but most spend their day living their lives like everyone else in the world. Some want to lead, but most want to be led. Almost all want just what we want. They are not worried about borders, political issues or the price of oil. They do not have political aspirations. They are just like you and me. For 24 years Saddam and his band of thugs controlled every aspect of Iraqi life. Where you worked where you lived, where you went to school and prayed, what you saw on TV, heard on the radio and read in the newspapers, was al; dictated by Saddam’s regime.

Today, the provisional authority is working with the Iraqi Governing Council and Iraqi Ministries to provide them with much better tools to care for their people. Form waste to management to a stronger judicial system, the dedicated people of the authority are helping tom build it all. One cornerstone in all of this process is the Bill of Rights, which was instituted in the Transitional Administrative Law. The Law was signed by the Iraqi governing council on March 8. It guarantees the rights of all Iraqis, a concept that is completely foreign but one that the Governing Council insisted upon having.

Now, suddenly, Iraqis have choices; they can voice their concerns without fear of reprisal. They can see anything they want on TV or listen to anything they want on the radio, there are now more than 200 newspapers free to write whatever they want. There’s no more fear their tongues will be removed for criticizing the government. They can complain about the quality of their children’s’ education they can express their concerns about the direction their new government will take.

They have freedom.

For Omar, a barber in his mid-20s who works in a shop at the Al-Rasheed Hotel, the personal freedoms he has gained since Saddam’s fall have meant a lot. Although he admitted he had not particularly suffered under Saddam’s rule, he said he was basically not allowed “to do anything,” such as be seen in public with his girlfriend. Now, he has the choice to take his girlfriend for a walk and other activities we consider part of a normal life.

Freedom does not come easily or without sacrifice. The upheaval that most Americans see on TV and read in the newspaper is not the complete story of Iraq. There is only a minority here who want to stop the progress being made and keep other from having individual freedoms. They have little or no value for human life. They see an opportunity in this time of massive change to take control and dictate the lives of Iraqis.

They are cowards.

Instead, we have seen numerous examples of Iraqi citizens risking their lives to serve their country.

One of the first events we staffed was Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to the Baghdad Police Academy in February, We were going to include one of the female cadets in a camera shot, but she refused because she said she was lying to her family about training as a police officer, instead telling them that she was working at a library.

Despite the obvious danger of serving on the police force, she still wanted the job. Since we arrived in Iraq, the academy, led by an affable 6-5 350-pound Scot, has graduated three classes of officers and more are being trained every day.

Building a new future

Polls show that the majority of Iraqis want the violence to end, and intuitively, you have to believe this. While they want the occupation to end, they also want the coalition to assist in the success of the new government.

Admittedly, the Abu Ghraib prison controversy has not helped. It has been the dominant topic of conversation inn the past few days, not only for the media, but among military and provisional authority personnel here in the Green Zone.

Most people here believe that the accused have humiliated us all, not only Americans, but eh entire coalition. However, we are confident that the justice process will help repair the damage to our country’s integrity.

After nearly three decades under Saddam, most Iraqis don’t understand the concept that these soldiers will be punished for their actions. They are enraged to the same level we are by the pictures.

Too familiar with atrocities

There have been “man on the street” reports on Arabic TV that point to the United States being hypocritical. The protest that you have seen in recent days have been small amounts of people staging them for media consumption. Does that mean they are not justifiably upset? No. From what we have seen during our time here is that Iraqi citizens have e low expectations for government, and unfortunately, our soldiers in this situation appear to have lived down to those expectations.

Next week will hold the trial of the first defendant. It will take place at the Baghdad convention center and will be open to the public. Iraqis will have the opportunity to see firsthand democracy at work. We are already starting to see indications that our efforts to turn the lens on ourselves are paying off.

This week Al Arbaiya, a Pan Arab Satellite Network, is doing a show asking why Arab media can’t oversee and criticize their governments the way Americans can. Change comes in small steps.

While they may have lowered expectations, polls of Iraqi citizens and the local m media coverage show there is great interest in democracy as the provisional authority continues to transfer control of government ministries to Iraqi leaders. This week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became the ninth department to be turned over, another significant step towards sovereignty.

We helped coordinate the formal transfer ceremonies, which are generally well-attended by Arab media and all but ignored by western journalists.

What’s been the most evident at these events is the national pride and joy Iraqis are experiencing, from the words spoken by each minister to the bright, inspiring voices of school children s9inging Mawteni (My Homeland), a stirring nationalistic song akin to America the Beautiful.

Rend Rahim, Iraq’s representative in Washington D.C., said, “We Iraqis have achieved an enormous amount of success so far. We now have the power to set the course toward our own chosen destiny.”

Too far to turn back now

We have made the ultimate sacrifice to help Iraqis join the rest of the free world. We have sacrificed our sons and daughters in the name of freedom. We have invested billions of dollars and countless hours of hard work on the rebuilding effort on projects most people would take for granted in the United States:

We’ve rehabilitated more than 2300 schools; tripled electrical capacity; made major road, bridge, port, and airport repairs; vaccinated 3 million children for common childhood diseases; initiated and completed water and sanitation projects benefiting 14.5 million people; and trained thousands of new policemen and first responders.

Not only the United States, but Great Britain, Poland, Japan, Thailand and all the other coalition members have contributed.

We cannot fail. The price of failure is too high.

June 30 will end the occupation of Iraq by the coalition government. But we will continue to provide security and aid because we know from the experience of the past month that the Iraqis cannot yet entirely protect themselves from the fanatics.

Fortunately, there are a brave few who are willing to lead, and they will be in charge of the government until national elections can be held in January.

They will be ready to take over, and we are ready to let them.