progress in hawr rajab south of baghdad

Reconstructing relationships: Hawr Rajab http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/02/reconstructing_relat.php Hawr Rajab and nearby Adwaniyah are two villages that have not gotten along well recently for a number of reasons. Lieutenant Colonel Solomon, the commander of the 6/8 Cavalry commands the forces that patrol both villages. Solomon chose to prioritize the rebuilding of the canal bridge that links the two communities. Iraqi Army and US forces secured the road, and an Iraqi contractor picked up the job of rebuilding the bridge, hiring labor from both towns. When the bridge was finished, both towns turned out for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration. The sheikhs of the two towns threw a party: all the sheikhs and various dignitaries sat along each side of a long tent, enjoying refreshments and talking to one another -- many for the first time. Sheikh Ali of Hawr Rajab and Said Hazzim, the Adwaniyah representative to the district council in Rasheed, spent the day together. Ali introduced Hazzim to Colonel Hussein, commander of the Iraqi Army unit in the area, and they went together to nearby Forward Operating Base Falcon to receive detainees from both villages released that day.After the meeting, Solomon said: “Were objectives achieved today? Beyond my wildest dreams.” He went on to explain that Sheikh Ali and Said Hazzim barely spoke to each other before the bridge opening, and now they had a relationship that could be nurtured and developed. If al Qaeda in Iraq ever has the chance to surge back into the Arab Jabour region, relationships between disparate villages could be key to survival. Those relationships work many ways. If a slaughterhouse employs 50 people in Hawr Rajab, buys chickens in Adwaniyah from coops that employ 40 more, and sells meat in the Baghdad or Rasheed markets, all areas involved will have economic reasons to help one another. That is what reconstruction in Iraq is all about; providing basic services, jobs, and opportunities for trade, and building relationships at the same time.