Iraqi army creates civil affairs program

BAGHDAD —The woman did not want the Americans to come inside the school.

The soldiers simply wanted to drop off some donated bikes for the children to ride Tuesday. They had just finished doing the same at two other schools in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district without a problem. But the teacher insisted that the Ministry of Education barred soldiers from visiting schools and that her principal wasn’t there to override the order. Posters from anti-American Islamic charities suggested that there was more to her story than simply a bureaucratic desire to follow the rules.

Iraqi army Capt. Hisham Isam Hussein would later say he was embarrassed by the teacher’s refusal to welcome the Americans. Iraqi officers are often unkind to civilians who get in their way. That’s especially true when the obstacle is a woman, an effect of the country’s male-dominated culture. Many officers would have simply ignored her protests and pushed through the school gate.

But Hussein isn’t like other Iraqi officers. He’s one of the Iraqi army’s few civil affairs officers. His job consists, in large part, of winning over intransigent citizens. So he masked his frustration and calmly asked to speak with the teacher away from the Americans. He then talked to her so softly his words could barely be heard from a few feet away.

"The first thing we can do for a person who’s helping us is to say, ‘Thank you,’ " he began.

Then he proceeded to convince her that the soldiers didn’t mean any harm. She eventually relented. The Americans stayed out of the building, but brought the bikes into the courtyard, snapped some pictures with one of the teachers and went on their way. Confrontation avoided. Mission accomplished.

Hussein’s civil affairs job brings a new mind-set to an old-style military whose officers have often acted like a privileged class. Developing this civil affairs capability could help the Iraqi army take over many of the essential nation-building responsibilities still being performed by the Americans even as they transfer security duties over to the Iraqis.

Hussein started his career just like any other Iraqi officer. He still liked helping people whenever possible, but he saw that as a personal rather than professional duty. He was a communications officer two years ago when his commander needed to appoint someone for a new job as a civil affairs officer. Hussein’s commander reasoned that his mass media degree made him a good fit for the newly created position.

Hussein now spends his days bringing essential services to the neighborhoods around Adhamiyah.

American civil affairs soldiers helped him learn how to direct Iraqi government money toward critical projects and identify those who could use some help.

His office is just a two-minute walk from the American team’s office. At a moment’s notice, they can visit him to discuss the various ways to improve Adhamiyah’s neighborhoods, talks that Hussein has come to enjoy.

"Besides being a man in the military, you care about people and humanitarian issues," he said. "Everybody comes to you with their problems."

Well, not everybody. Hussein concedes that some still won’t accept bags of food and other supplies because they don’t like the Americans or their Iraqi partners.

He doesn’t get mad at them, though. He just explains the situation to them quietly, and he’s often able to win them over.

"I always try to explain to people that the army is here not to enforce things on you, but to help you," he said, adding that he realizes he can’t always be the nice guy to get things done. "It needs me talking in a loud voice sometimes and talking in a soft voice sometimes."

Hussein’s American counterparts say he maximizes their effectiveness, too.

He goes out into the community, makes contacts and helps them decide where their efforts can best be directed. He can find out which schools could use some bikes, which businesses could use a microgrant or which families could use an aid package.

"If it wasn’t for him, we’d have a much harder time," said Staff Sgt. Andrew Leiser, a Company C, 404th Civil Affairs Battalion soldier who works with Hussein.

But Hussein, in his characteristically humble way, brushes such compliments aside. In his mind, at least, the Americans taught him everything he knows and that trumps whatever help he can offer.

"It’s not a matter of really expertise, but of bringing problems and solutions to the Americans," he said.

"Sure, I may feel I know better, but Iraqi army civil affairs wouldn’t be here without American civil affairs."

By James Warden
Stars and Stripes
October 21, 2008