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Iraq Rebuilding Short on Qualified Civilians
"Nobody can do much in Diyala because of the violence," Kiki Munshi said. She fears that the "window is closed."
(Courtesy Of Kiki Skagen Munshi)
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The USDA had trouble finding six people who wanted to work in Iraq among its more than 100,000 employees. Although a USDA official said the department encouraged its workers to apply, officials at State believe USDA did not move with alacrity because the two agencies had not agreed on a mechanism to reimburse the USDA for the services it would provide in Iraq. Eventually, USDA and State agreed that USDA would provide just two of the six. The other four would be private contractors hired by State.
The first USDA specialist, Randy Frescoln, a rural credit specialist from Iowa, landed in Iraq in December and was sent to the reconstruction team in Tikrit. Although he was supposed to stay in Iraq for a year, he said he plans to leave next month because he received a promotion while he was away. The second specialist has not yet arrived.
Even if USDA and State were to get an agriculture expert to Diyala now, Munshi believes, it is too late. Security conditions have deteriorated so significantly in the province that reconstruction personnel are lucky to make one or two trips a week off the military base where they live and work.
"At this point, nobody can do much in Diyala because of the violence," said Munshi, who returned to her North Carolina home in January for medical reasons. "The window is closed. I wish it weren't. I hope it opens. But it is."
Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson, who is in charge of the provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq, called Diyala a "very, very tough place to work." He added that many of the staffing problems Munshi identified are "Diyala specific."
Reconstruction teams in Iraq, he said, "are, in general, doing good things under tough circumstances."
Another Effort to Build a Corps
Today, the SCRS corps that Pascual envisioned as a rapid-response force with 200 federal employees ready to deploy has just 11 people on active duty.
Lugar and Biden reintroduced their bill this week. It mandates the formation of a 250-person active-duty response unit drawn from the federal government and the creation of a 2,000-strong civilian reserve corps. It also authorizes $145 million to fund the operation.
"Hopefully," Lugar said, "we've come to a point where we finally realize we need to do this."
Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks contributed to this report.
