The Foreign Service Journal, March 2007

tended to be very focused on the capital. PRT members would like to see more Baghdad-based FS members con- centrating on keeping up with the provinces as well as providing assistance to the teams. Difficulties with communications and transportation have also left civilian PRT members fairly cut off from their home agencies. Because travel anywhere in Iraq depends on security conditions and military air transport, it can take days to get out of a PRT locale, even to reach Baghdad. And then, it can take days to get back to the PRT. According to the State Department, support and com- munication links are improving significantly, however. A new training course is in development, according to the DG’s office, to “help newly assigned PRT employees to manage successful progress in their unique and challeng- ing circumstances.” Civilian Surge: The Expanded PRT Mission On Jan. 10, 2007, in his address to the nation on Iraq policy and the “New Way Forward,” President Bush declared that the number of Provincial Reconstruction Teams would be doubled in an effort to speed up recon- struction of Iraq. The “civilian surge,” to accompany the much more publicized military surge, has been announced with an expanded mission that still emphasizes capacity building but also includes a counterinsurgency component. Phase I of the expanded PRT program is to be completed in March, with new PRTs to be established in Anbar and Baghdad. Phase II is scheduled for June and Phase III for September. The objectives of the “Expanded PRT Mission” were laid out in the testimony Secretary Rice presented to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 11. The mission is defined as follows: “Build Iraqi capacity and accelerate the transition to Iraqi self-reliance; help the Iraqi government expand its reach, relevance and resources beyond Baghdad; and decentralize U.S. gov- ernment efforts to expand our reach in support of strate- gic priorities to promote reconciliation, bolster moderates through political engagement and targeted assistance, and support counterinsurgency efforts.” F O C U S 34 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 7 It’s time to prepare for my meeting with the governor. Put notebook in book bag, don body armor and helmet, climb into the Humvee with angles my hip surgeon said would never be possible again, put on eye protection, put on ear protection, say a short prayer … Wait a minute! Diplomats don’t pray. Or if they do, they don’t talk about it in public. I now understand the power of that statement, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Let’s resume. Short prayer for the safety of my team. On with the warlock, machine gun swiveled to three o’clock, and we roll through the gate. Out of the wire and on to the road to Baquba. Our PRT is on Forward Operating Base Warhorse so we depend on the Army for protection. They do a good job, al- though the RSO would have kittens if he saw what we do, or if I drew his attention to the fact that we have been in convoys hit by IEDs [improvised explosive devices] seven times and found ourselves in two firefights. The question isn’t, though, as many think, as much our safety, but the safety of those we deal with. What we do isn’t traditional diplomacy. It is using diplomat- ic skills and techniques to do the things USIA used to do and USAID gives contracts to do, but all of it is hard to do in a war zone. It is difficult to work with a provincial council that hasn’t managed a quorum in two months. There is no economic development when everyone is busy moving out of town. It is heart-wrenching when your locally-engaged staff member weeps over the telephone because his brother has just been killed. We roll into the government center, and there is a collective hidden sigh of relief. Off with the armor, on with the headscarf, as much to hide the mussed-up hair as to respect Muslim sen- sibilities. Helmets don’t do much for hair. “Salaam alei kum, peace be with you.” The governor and I sit down to talk. “Now about the Project Coordination Center …” Outside there is an explosion and the rattle of machine-gun fire. “… I’d like to sug- gest we think of …” What we think of is peace. Security. We pretend that it will happen soon and forge ahead. “… having a meeting with the directors general and others involved.” Outside there is sudden silence. On the Ground in Diyala Province By Kiki Munshi, Team Leader