Posted on 12/08/2008 3:40:34 PM PST by SandRat
BAGHDAD — The citizens of Baghdad are on a new type of mission these days. Instead of worrying about the violence that once plagued their city, citizens are now focused on making their home town a cleaner place to live.
With a central focus on water, sewage and trash removal, workers assigned to neighborhoods are hard at work trying to ensure that their fellow Baghdad citizens are afforded clean streets and clean water.
For a senior leader in the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, making sure the neighborhood workers have what they need to complete their mission and teaching the workers what it will take to sustain their city is a crucial part to the 2nd HBCT’s mission of returning Baghdad to normal.
“We try to make sure all the essential services: sewer, water, electricity and academics, are being watched after and taken care of by the city of Baghdad,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Beckert, deputy commanding officer, 2nd HBCT. “These things are all essential for the people who live in the area.”
With routine trips into Baghdad to check up on the three neighborhoods in the brigade’s operational environment, Beckert said he knows that putting in the hard work at the beginning of the 2nd HBCT’s tour will amount to a long term success for the citizens of the Mansour, Kadhamiyah and Karkh districts of northwest Baghdad.
“While we are securing the population, it is important that we tend to the needs of the population,” explained Beckert. “By being responsible partners with the city of Baghdad, we can create a better relationship.”
This improved relationship with the workers and citizens of Baghdad has not only led to safer streets, but it is also paving the way for a much-improved infrastructure and improved living conditions, he added.
“The easiest way for the population to see that the government is doing its job is to have their basic needs taken care of,” said 1st Lt. Conor Browne, civil military affairs officer, 2nd HBCT. “If they see their government is taking care of them, then they will buy into the government.”
The mission to clean up the streets of Baghdad may have taken on a new meaning over the past year in Iraq, but the intensity of the mission is higher than ever, and the Soldiers of the 2nd HBCT intend to stay focused on the task at hand during their time in northwest Baghdad.
“This is just another example of Coalition forces not just being ready for the lethal fight,” said Beckert. “They are oriented in the non-lethal fight as well.”
This is part of an amazing story of success that gets NO play in the MSM.
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