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04/04/2003
Free Iraqi Forces Called Critical to Building Local Trust
Water, food, medicines are beginning to flow in southern Iraq
A U.S. Army officer says that the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) operating with his civil affairs units in southern Iraq have been critical in establishing the trust necessary to get the water, food and medical distribution networks running again.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon April 4 via telephone from the Iraqi port city of Umm Qasr, Colonel Dave Blackledge, commander of the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade, said the contribution of the FIF has been invaluable because they once lived in or around the city and many have local family connections. As a result, he said, the FIF have built relationships with the community quickly.
The FIF have been instrumental in locating former port workers and reassuring them that their old jobs await them, Blackledge said. He said some 200 port workers have been rehired by British forces and are being paid in U.S. dollars. More are being hired daily, he added.
Blackledge said the FIF have helped his units sift through port documents and provided translation services. They have also helped the coalition recruit locally resident Iraqis to assist with humanitarian aid distribution.
Significant progress has been made in less than two weeks, Blackledge said. The government of Kuwait is pumping more potable water to Umm Qasr than can be consumed locally, and tanker trucks are transporting potable water northward under military escort, he said. The drivers of these trucks are all local hires, he added.
The need for water "has been met," Blackledge stated.
With regard to food, he said Umm Qasr did not face severe shortages because there was a pre-existing stockpile of food in the city. He added that food is being handed out by both military and U.S. government sources. Representatives of the World Food Program also completed an assessment on April 4, according to Blackledge, and food should begin flowing from that direction as well. The Kuwaiti government has sent in 30 truckloads of food, he said.
Blackledge said emphasis has been placed on bolstering Iraqis' access to protein sources, especially lentils and rice. Other items that are flowing in include tea, sugar, and cooking oil as well as non-foodstuffs such as hygiene items.
"The goal has been to resurrect the Oil-For-Food distribution system" that had existed because it operated both effectively and efficiently, he said. "That's what we're looking to use to get the food through," he said.
On another front, he said, the first medical supplies were delivered to Basrah on April 4 courtesy of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Blackledge indicated that he met with representatives of the U.S. Disaster Assistance Response team as well as the World Food Program on April 4.
The security environment in and around the port city has been declared to be "very permissive" now, Blackledge said, thanks to coordination with local leaders. He said stabilization will open the way for international organizations and non-governmental organizations to come in.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
