The Foreign Service Journal, March 2008

Luckily, several people at our U.N. mission had served in Iraq, not only in Embassy Baghdad but out in the field, as well. Each of them had a wholly unique experi- ence to relate, but the common threads running through all their stories were that Iraq service would be completely different from anything else in the Foreign Service (except perhaps Afghani- stan), and that everything over there is constantly changing. As of this writing, I am the public diplomacy officer for the Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team, based in the northern city of Mosul. Before continuing, let me offer several caveats. Though I have traveled extensive- ly within Ninewa province, I have very limited direct experience of the rest of the country, including Baghdad. Second, though we are not an “e-PRT” (i.e., embedded directly into a combat brigade), we are colocated with both the regimental and deputy commanding general’s headquarters, and we work hand-in-hand with our mili- tary colleagues. Finally, I am not an expert in either the Arab world or post-conflict situations, but am a Foreign Service generalist in the truest sense of the word. All that said, this has been one of the best years I have spent with the State Department. Many of the chal- lenges faced by earlier colleagues, primarily isolation and lack of support, were largely absent. I have access to a full range of communication technology, both classified and unclassified. The three phones at my desk easily allow me to make commercial, DSN and secure calls to the embassy, Washington and friends or family back in America. Three computers give me access to high-speed commercial Internet, the military’s unclassified NIPR- NET and the classified SIPRNET. Additionally, we have the APO for reliable and quick two-way mail. As the oldest and second-largest PRT in Iraq, Ninewa has developed a robust institutional culture. There has been a continuous State Department presence in Mosul going back to 2003, and it shows. Our relationships are strong across the board, whether with the provincial gov- ernment, a prominent sheik, the American regimental commander or the Nepalese contractors who work in the base laundry. My experience with everyone here has been one of mutual respect. We are working hard to infuse operations with a sense of normali- ty. We dress as diplomats, even if that means a slightly wrinkled suit coat after a ride in a Blackhawk. We take to heart the fact that we are dealing with a new sovereign government that is emerging from a decades-long dictatorship and a war. Our Iraqi partners are risking their lives every single day for their country and deserve full recogni- tion for their courage. The govern- ment here is similar in capability and ambition to those I dealt with in Zimbabwe and the Dominican Republic. Clearly, this is not always a normal posting. We travel out to meetings with our contacts in highly-armored Humvees topped with high-caliber weapons. The PRT compound is on a Forward Operating Base on the edge of an ethnically diverse and often violent city. We live and work in temporary structures, and one-fifth of the team’s members wear military uniforms. But the daily work is remarkably similar to that of any diplomatic posting, albeit to the nth degree. Though I am excited to be going into long-term Arabic training and then serving in Beirut, I will never forget Mosul. Working in the field is extremely gratify- ing. If I have a chance in the future to do a similar assign- ment in Afghanistan or elsewhere, I would not hesitate. Joshua W. Polacheck Provincial Reconstruction Team Mosul T HE I MPORTANCE OF R ISK M ANAGEMENT I have been serving on the Regional Reconstruction Team in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government, since last November. In many ways, this is an ideal assignment: a fairly new post in a region that is both undergoing transition and eager for U.S. contact. Since 2003 there have been no U.S. casualties within KRG territory. The threat of extremist violence exists (the most recent bombing in Erbil was in May 2007), but this is a part of Iraq that attracts non-official Americans: teachers at schools and universities, business executives, even tourists. Nevertheless, before my arrival in November, my pre- decessor warned me that one of the factors limiting his ability to function here was the security restrictions under F O C U S 36 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 8 The question of whether we are effective in Iraq should be replaced by a more urgent issue — how we can become more effective.