ON POINT II: Transition to the New Campaign

The United States Army in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM May 2003-January 2005

Part III

Toward the Objective: Building a New Iraq

Chapter 10
A Country United, Stable, and Free: US Army Governance Operations in Iraq

Conclusion

In the context of the full spectrum operations campaign, Coalition forces accepted the mission of developing Iraqi governance, understanding that their mission included the larger task of attempting to construct local, regional, and national bodies of government that represented the entire population. CA teams and functional experts were instrumental in reestablishing city, provincial, and national governments. Daily interaction with city department managers, provincial directors, and regular citizens afforded CA Soldiers the unique opportunity by virtue of their duties to interact and understand the Iraqi people and their problems. However, as this chapter has shown, CA units were not alone in this effort. Soldiers in a wide variety of units were focused on the establishment of NACs, DACs, and even the provincial-level government. The elections of January 2005 were proof of progress toward the building of a more representative Iraqi state. The insurgent attacks and the large absence of Sunni Arab voters at the polls on that day, nevertheless, served as a reminder that not all Iraqis shared this particular political vision for their country. The challenge for Coalition forces after that joyous election day was to continue to invest legitimacy into the institutions they were growing at the local, provincial, and national levels. Success in this task, more than the momentary victory of the election, would be the real measure of how well the new Iraqi institutions of governance had set down roots.

Chapter 10. A Country United, Stable, and Free: US Army Governance Operations in Iraq

A New Direction for Iraq

Good Governance: Another New Mission

Growing Iraqi Grassroots: The US Army and Governance at the Local Level

The US Army in Kirkuk: Governance on the Fault Lines of Iraqi Society

The Interim Iraqi Government and 30 January 2005 Elections

Conclusion

Notes