SOCIETY:

• The authorities have officially announced on August 15 the start of the election campaign:
  

  "The official campaign period for the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house, and provincial-council elections will begin on 17 August," UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said. Candidates will be allowed to campaign until 15 September, when a 48-hour moratorium will be imposed. More than 10 million Afghans are reportedly eligible to vote. Candidates will be allowed to hold rallies, distribute posters and leaflets, and appear in private and state-run media. 'Each Wolesi Jirga candidate will be allocated an advertisement of five minutes to be broadcast twice on radio or one advertisement of two minutes to be broadcast twice on television,' Baheen said. Baheen said candidates for provincial councils will get one advertisement of four minutes broadcast on radio or one advertisement of two minutes broadcast on television.

• More on the election on the airwaves here.
  


• And so, one year later, the Afghan authorities and the international community are facing up to the logistical challenge of another election:
  

  Afghanistan is preparing for landmark parliamentary elections using a combination of stone-age and modern technology to get polling stations open in under six weeks time.

  Mountainous and remote terrain, low levels of literacy and the sheer number of candidates -- almost 6,000 -- all add up to one of the most difficult elections the international community has ever organised.

  "I don't think the United Nations have ever seen an election like this, with up to 400 candidates on each ballot paper," Julian Type, of the UN-backed Joint Electoral Management Body [said]...

  Despite the challenges and the threat of violence from increasingly active Taliban militants, officials said they thought the lower house and provincial council elections on September 18 would go ahead on time.

  "We are very confident we will be able to deliver the operation successfully and have all staff... in place," James Grierson, electoral head of logistical support, told a news conference in Kabul.

  Some of Afghanistan's remote mountainous districts are only accessible by donkey, while airplanes must be used to freight the 135,000 ballot boxes, 140,000 bottles of ink and 403 tons of furniture to many of the country's 26,000 polling stations, the electoral body said.

  Fourteen cargo planes will make deliveries across Afghanistan, in addition to the 1,200 deliveries by cargo trucks and flights by nine helicopters to remote areas not accessible by road.

  "The topography dictates that we will have to use air, road and even donkeys to distribute our material across the country," Grierson added.

  The furniture must be flown into Afghanistan for this election because the chairs and tables used at the country's first presidential polls in October have already been donated to local schools.

• Being any one of the 6000 candidates is not the safest occupation in Afghanistan, but perhaps the most courageous among the lot are women:
  

  Three-hundred-twenty-eight of the parliamentary candidates are Afghan women. Another two-hundred-thirty-seven women are provincial council candidates. “I want basic human rights for men and women,” says Sabrina Sagheb. Ms. Sagheb is the head of the Afghan Basketball Federation and a representative of the International Olympic Committee. She says she hopes to help end practices such as forcing women into unwanted marriages or forcing them to wear burkhas.

  Journalist Noorzia Charkhi hopes to represent her native province in the new parliament. But like a number of Afghan women candidates, her life has been threatened. “I’m not going to quit," she said, "because I want to show people that a woman should be able to do these things.”

  Extremists set fire to parliamentary candidate Zobaida Stanekzai's front door. “They were trying to scare me into dropping out,” she said, “but my decision to be a candidate is unshakeable.”

• Meet one of the candidates:
  

  Sitting on the floor of a nomad's tent on an August morning, out of the searing sun, an election candidate was making her pitch to a group of women, children and old men clustered around her.

  Fareeda Kuchi Balkhi, who wants to represent Afghanistan's nomadic tribes in Parliament, campaigned recently among Kuchi tribesmen in Kabul.

  "I want to serve you. I know the pain in your hearts, and if I do not serve you, I pray to God not to grant me success," she said. "I want schools. I want grazing lands for the Kuchis. I want mosques, clinics, we should have midwives and women doctors," she said, counting each item on her fingers. "I want you to have a peaceful life."

  The candidate, Fareeda Kuchi Balkhi, is one of seven women campaigning to represent Afghanistan's nomadic tribes, known as the Kuchis, in the Parliament to be elected Sept. 18. Barely 4 feet 6 inches tall, with indigo tattoos marking her forehead and chin, and wearing a black veil and the traditional red and gold embroidered dress and baggy pants of the Kuchis, Mrs. Balkhi is undeniably a true representative.

  Before the official opening on Aug. 17 of the election campaign, she traveled from her home in northern Afghanistan to campaign among the nomads who have pitched their tents on the dusty plains around Kabul, the capital.

• While candidates campaign across the country, efforts are being made by the authorities to further educate the people about the election. Read this story about Afghanistan's only election info line:
  

  When the centre opened last month, it handled nearly 500 calls a day on six telephones, said Abdul Manan Danish, the official in charge.

  "Now the number of people asking questions has gone up to between 700 and 1,500 a day," he said, attributing this rise, and the resulting need for more telephones, to the publicity given to the 180 number.

  Nadia Sultani, a female worker at the centre, says the focus of questions has shifted in the time since they opened.

  When people were having to register to get voting cards, most questions centred on how this should be done. Now, most callers simply want to know how to vote.

• There are other ways of reaching and educating voters:
  

  In Bamiyan Province, where two historic Buddha statues one stood, a crowd has gathered to watch a very modern performance.

  The audience laughs appreciatively at the actors' antics, but the play has an entirely serious goal.

  It's to show what Afghan voters will go through when they cast their ballots on 18 September -- and to encourage people to go to the polls.

  Shamsuddin Yousofzai, dressed in a pointed green hat with red tassels, takes time out from playing a clown to talk to Reuters.

  "The purpose of this show is to inform and teach people about elections and the benefit of elections," Yousofzai said. "Through these shows we give instruction to the people, and also it is a way of also entertainment and fun for the people of Bamiyan who have suffered so much and I am really proud to be a part of it."

  The Joint Electoral Management Body is using more orthodox means to reach potential voters, with messages on radio, television, and newspapers.

  But the more unusual mobile theater is playing a key role, too, according to university student Akbar Khan.

• Foreign assistance also continues to arrive for the elections. The United States has promised an extra $8 million towards the cost of conducting the poll. The Netherlands is contributing an extra 4 million euros ($5 million) on top of a previous contribution of 4 million euros, towards the logistical support in the elections. New Zealand is giving $1 million and Australia $2 million (with another $5 million to go towards reconstruction). Germany is contributing $3.24 million, and Belgium $1 million:
  

  Furthermore, the Federal Foreign Office is financing projects organized by several non-governmental organizations in the sphere of political education. For example, the Free and Fair Elections Association, an Afghan umbrella organization focusing on the training and the work of national election observers, is receiving EUR 250,000 [$309,000] from the Federal Foreign Office budget. The Independent Parliamentary Association of Afghan Women, which supports female candidates for parliamentary seats, has been allocated EUR 59,800 [$74,000].

• In election security assistance, Slovenia is sending its largest so far peacekeeping unit. Overall, NATO is sending additional 2,000 troops for the duration of the elections, bringing its total commitment to 11,000. "The additional [International Security Assistance Force] troops would be from ten nations - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United States."
  


• And in another good news for election-day security, the Taliban have announced that they will not be targeting polling stations.
  


• In the meantime, a symbolic gesture will bind Asia's biggest democracy with one of Asia's newest:
  

  Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for Afghanistan's Parliament building, a gesture more than symbolic for the two nations.

  That the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy will be asked to do the honours seems natural, but Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's choice also shows the distance the two nations have travelled in recent times.

  The fact that the task of building the Afghan parliament has fallen on India's Central Public Works Department may also be another reason why Singh will be asked to lay the foundation stone.

  Singh is scheduled to be in Afghanistan between August 27 and 29. The visit itself will make history of sorts as Singh will be the first Indian Prime Minister in almost four decades to travel to Afghanistan. Indira Gandhi had last gone there in 1969.

• Afghanistan is working to acquire a new national anthem:
  

  Afghanistan is looking for a new national anthem that the government hopes will bring harmony to the country after nearly three decades of conflict.

  A panel of poets, writers and musicians tasked with writing a new anthem after seeking the views of all ethnic groups released a draft this week for public comment.

  The current anthem -- a jaunty, martial tune -- is sung in Dari, the language of the Tajiks who made up the bulk of the Mujahideen government that came to power after the fall of the Moscow-backed regime in 1992.

  But many Afghans feel the lyrics -- which praise the Mujahideen for defeating the Soviet Red Army -- are now outdated, and they want something more broadly nationalistic that would bring together the country's varied ethnic groups.

  Afghanistan had no national anthem from 1996 to 2001 under the Taliban, who banned all forms of music as un-Islamic.

• Here is the text of the proposed anthem. On a related topic, one of Afghanistan's best known singers Amir Jan Saboori is visiting Afghanistan: "Saboori is meeting with government officials and academics in an effort to create music schools where a new generation can learn about the traditions of Afghan music while safeguarding its future. 'The best way to help strengthen the field of music in Afghanistan is to establish schools where musicians both living here and in other countries can come together and exchange ideas,' he says."
  


• There's more along the same lines:
  

  In what could be described as a brave move, artistes have called for the government to initiate concrete measures for promoting the performing arts in the southern Kandahar province - a former stronghold of the vanquished Taliban regime.

  Renowned singers and musicians argue a mass exodus of artistes from the country - induced by decades of strife and total neglect of art at the official level - has retarded cultural activities in Afghanistan in general and the southern province in particular.

  Abdul Qayyum Naseh, a widely-acclaimed singer who has educated hundreds of students including girls in Kandahar, underlines the need for official patronage of music and greater facilities like training centres and cash incentives for musicians.

• Much effort is being made to train the much needed professional cadres, which over the past few decades have been decimated by violence and emigration. USAID is training government officials: "In July 2005, USAID delivered eight different training seminars for Ministry of Finance personnel. Training topics included: value-added tax, business receipt tax, income tax coverage, income tax liability, and fixed/presumptive taxes. Since the beginning of 2005, USAID has facilitated training for approximately 833 Ministry of Finance staff members by conducting 45 different seminars). In addition, comparisons between "pre" and "post" examinations illustrate a 25% increase in staff comprehension."
  


• USAID is also supporting female judges: "Twenty female judges received USAID-funded laptop computers at a ceremony held July 26 at the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Shinwari presided and the Chief Administrator and Chief of Personnel were on the dais. In contrast to a desktop, the laptops can be carried between home and court, charged wherever there is power, and used for 2-3 hours during power outages. USAID is also providing computer training classes for the women judges at an off-site USAID-funded computer lab. This is part of a larger USAID effort to increase the capability of Afghanistan’s legal professionals."
  


• Tax officials are also getting trained: "Twenty-three commerce and law graduates, nominated by the Finance Ministry as tax officers, completed three months training... This was the first batch of the tax officers being trained ahead of September 23, date set for implementation of the new taxation law."
  


• Refugees continue to come back to Afghanistan, providing the authorities with the challenge of integration. Japan has donated another $2 million towards the cost of repatriation Afghan refugees from Pakistan. On a smaller scale, "The UN refugee agency... assisted 183 returning families with building material for construction of houses in Orgun district of the southeastern Paktika province."
  


• Read also, how this international initiative is trying to forster good relations and cooperation in Bamyan province, not just between different ethnic groups living there, but also between the old residents and the returnees:
  

  In the village of Sar-i-Qul Topchi, near Bamiyan town, men representing Hazara, Tajik and Pashtun communities have gathered in the home of Haji Abdul Mohammed for one of their regular meetings. The 22 men are members of the local peace committee created as a result of a UNHCR co-existence project, implemented by the non-governmental organization, Save the Children Japan.

  Each committee member has received training in conflict resolution and attended workshops where co-existence issues were discussed. The committee is designed to complement existing village authorities such as elders and local councils known as shuras. Once formed, families are encouraged to bring their disputes to the committee. The grievance is then investigated by a working group of five committee members before a decision is issued.

  In Sar-i-Qul Topchi, as in other communities of mixed ethnicity, disputes are more often about access to land or water than religion. A second phase of the co-existence project ensures that the root cause of the dispute is addressed. In this case, water pipes and a small dam are being constructed to improve the volume of water provided by a mountain stream which serves the communities.

  The construction work is a joint effort between the UN refugee agency, UN Habitat and the Afghan government's National Solidarity Programme.

  "The three-month building project is aimed at providing people in these villages with irrigation water, short-term job opportunities, and, of course, promoting co-existence among the different communities," says Mustafa Hussaini of UNHCR in Bamiyan.

  For Amir Dud, a peace committee member, the end result is straightforward. "Having access to water means ending disputes among the different tribes in this area," he says.

• In health news, USAID is helping to improve the quality of medical training: "To improve the capacity of health providers, USAID focuses on designing and delivering training and professional development courses. In June, a total of 571 doctors, nurses and midwives completed refresher training courses in newborn care, family planning, infectious disease and antenatal/postnatal care. USAID delivered Essential Obstetric Care (EOC) courses at Malalai Hospital, Kabul and Mazar-i Sharif Civil Hospital to update the knowledge and standardize the skills of 30 participants in key safe motherhood practices according to national clinical standards. In addition, a two-day community mapping refresher training course was conducted in Herat province for 30 staff from Herat and Faryab provinces."
  


• USAID is also working to improve access to health care throughout rural areas:
  

  USAID’s Rural Expansion of Afghanistan’s Community-based Healthcare (REACH) program sent monitoring teams to visit 65 health facilities and 803 community health workers (CHW) in Baghlan, Paktia, Herat and Ghazni between July 31 and August 13. During the same time period, approximately 6,700 basic health kits and 18,000 bars of soap were distributed to CHWs and provincial hospitals.

  In early August, REACH conducted re-orientation seminars on proper case management of Acute Watery Diarrhea in the four main Kabul hospitals: Infectious Disease Hospital, Indira Ghandi Children’s Hospital, Maiwand Hospital, and Khair Khana Hospital. A total of 80 participants (doctors, nurses, and chiefs of service) were trained.

  REACH is supporting the MOPH in the first revision of the original Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS), published and released in March 2003. The revised version, which reflects two years of BPHS experience and incorporates elements of care formerly designated "second tier" (i.e., mental health and disability) will be termed "BPHS-2005". In this revision, BPHS is expected to continue to be the foundation of the Afghan health system in providing quality basic health services to its primarily rural population for the coming years.

• This initiative is also saving lives: "Since opening last week, the World Vision Afghanistan-sponsored neonatal unit in Herat has saved the lives of at least 20 newborn children. However, more funding is needed so the unit will be able to save even more children." In related news:
  

  Midwives represent a new hope for the survivability of infants and mothers. Many rural communities in Afghanistan rely on midwives as the only professional care provider for pregnant women. The Medical College of the University of Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan graduated 61 midwives recently and about 200 students in other medical professions so far. This class of graduating midwives comes from Nangarhar, Konar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces.

• In education news, USAID's help for Afghan education system continues:
  

  As part of its comprehensive education program, USAID has printed and distributed 35.7 million textbooks for grades 1-12 since 2002. An additional 6.2 million have been printed and are ready for distribution. However, the Afghan government often receives specific and unexpected requests from its constituents. The following collaborative effort demonstrates USAID’s agility and dedication in helping the central government respond to provincial requests. During a visit to Bamiyan in late July, Afghan President Karzai met with students who informed him that they were in need of more 8th and 9th grade textbooks. The president promised the students that they would have the additional textbooks within 10 days. Upon return to Kabul, the President informed the Minister of Education. USAID and the Ministry of Education (MOE) collaborated to ensure that the students’ needs were met within the deadline. At the time of the request, USAID’s printers had all the subjects needed for 9th grade. Another printer had printed 4 subjects for 8th grade. He agreed to immediately switch to print the remaining subjects needed for 8th grade. The partial set of 8th grade and all of the 9th grade textbooks were delivered to the MOE on August 2 and the remaining 8th grade textbooks will be ready by August 8 and will then be delivered to Bamiyan. The Minister was extremely appreciative of USAID’s ability to respond so quickly.

• Young people are flocking to IT and English language courses:
  

  Ten-year-old Asad doesn't look any older than his age, but he has already been offered work by several non-governmental organisations, NGOs. His secret? A strong command of English and some computer skills.

  Just a few streets away, at 28-years old and with a degree in engineering from Kabul University, Abdul Hadi Shahidzai vainly looks for work in a land trying to rebuild from years of wars.

  His problem? No English and little knowledge of computers...

  Asad, a level four student at the private National English and Computer Centre in Kabul, is now expanding his computer skills. He is part of an army of young people who see this as their future.

  The centre opens at six in the morning, and Asad arrives to polish his English before going to school for normal lessons, and then returning for computer studies at five in the evening.

  "I have been asked several times by NGOs to work with them but I'm too young really, and my family wouldn't let me," he told IWPR. Every day outside this and hundreds of other centres in the capital and elsewhere, dozens of students gather in groups, practising their English or discussing computer programmes as they wait for classes where between 30 and 40 students, both male and female, work together.

  The centres have mushroomed in the past four years, although some go back much further. The first such school, called Ariana, opened its doors as an English language school in 1971 during the reign of King Mohammad Zaher Shah.

  Since the 2001 fall of the fundamentalist Taleban regime, with its ban on educating girls and prohibition of the internet, there has been a huge growth in computer courses. And as most IT lessons are given in English, the two skills go hand in hand.

  Today, a total of 760 computing and English language centres throughout Afghanistan are registered with the education ministry, according to Sadruddin Ashrafi, the ministry's head of curriculum matters. Of these, he said, 235 are in Kabul.

• India, meanwhile, is renovating Kabul's historic school:
  

  The Habibia School here, one of Afghanistan's premier institutions devastated by the civil war and the diktats of the Taliban, has been restored to its former glory by a team of Indian engineers.

  Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will pay a two-day visit to Afghanistan Aug 28-29, will inaugurate the school building, restored at a cost of $5.1 million (Rs.220 million).

  But the task of rebuilding the school was not an easy one. When the Indian team began its work, the four-storey building spread over 15,000 square metres looked like a building used for target practice for all types of weapons, ranging from AK-47 assault rifles to rockets.

  Project director A.K. Aggarwal said his team removed 10,000 tonnes of rubble, including live and spent ammunition, from the building before beginning repairs.

  Educationists say Afghanistan's former Taliban regime had killed the soul of the school when it issued diktats that forbade the teaching of subjects like science. It also sacked the highly respected principal, Sayed Naasir Askarzada.

  Today the school has a brand new building, complete with the restoration of all damaged elements, new floors, marble walls in corridors, aluminium windows, a new central heating system, new furniture and laboratory equipment as well as a large computer room.

• Elsewhere in the country, "the Afghan Education Foundation (AEF) has trained 800 teachers including 295 female on modern teaching methods and techniques in the southern Kandahar province." Also in Kandahar province:
  

  The Ghazi Abdullah Khan School in the Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province was inaugurated after reconstruction on Tuesday.

  Reconstructed with financial assistance from an NGO, the school has 36 classrooms. Senior education department official Pir Mohammad told Pajhwok Afghan News the renovation work had been initiated last year.

  Students' problems will be resolved with the opening of the school, he hoped, recalling around 1,600 pupils were enrolled in the school before the reconstruction work was launched.

• Free from the Taliban suppression, Afghanistan's free media has a chance to develop and expand. Recently, Tolo Television, Afghanistan's private TV channel, has expanded transmission to cover Kandahar City. It's another step in the channel's short but successful history:
  

  [Director Saad Mohseni] said their programmes were now reaching more than 13 million people across the country. He said apart from Kandahar, their programmes had been visualising in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif while it would cover the eastern city of Jalalabad within the next two weeks.

  A statement issued from the TV station said Tolo TV also broadcasted via satellite across the region, covering Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Gulf States, Turkey, and Central Asia...

  Asked about the widespread criticism from clerics, especially the Ulema Council led by Afghanistan's Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari, Mohseni said 80 per cent of people were watching the programmes and they liked it.

• And now Tolo is to give Afghanistan its own Oprah:
  

  Afghanistan is to get its own Oprah Winfrey-style chat show touching on taboo women’s issues, a television station said... in a move likely to anger hardliners in the conservative Islamic nation.

  Called Bonu, the Persian word for women, the show will be launched by privately-run Tolo Television, which has drawn condemnation from mullahs for airing music videos of scantily clad women and for accepting large US grants.

  Tolo was the subject of international attention in May when the female host of its most popular music programme was found dead with gunshot wounds in a mysterious killing, for which no one has been charged.

  The station said in a statement that the new chat show would examine topics such as education, changing social norms, marriage, leadership, motherhood and physical and mental health

  Female host Farzana Samimi will be joined by psychiatrist Dr Yassin Babrak to talk about issues affecting women, it said.

  “Our aim is to drive social change through open and frank discussions regarding the issues facing women in Afghanistan today,” Samini was quoted as saying. Tolo Television was launched in October 2004 and has become the nation’s most popular station, reaching an estimated 15 million Afghans in Afghanistan alone as well as others across the region by satellite.

  Director Saad Mohseni said: “Our programming is about building Afghanistan’s future, that is why we have Bonu as well as our news and current affairs programmes examining the way forward.”

• Meanwhile, in another recent initiative to help the development of Afghan journalism:
  

  A new institute to promote investigative journalism will soon be established in Afghanistan.

  The proposed institution, unregistered thus far, currently training 10 Afghan journalists on investigative reporting.

  The moving spirit behind the project Abdul Ghafoor Liwal said this was the first venture of its nature in the war-ravaged country as compared to other states across the world. He said investigative reporting was a well developed technique in modern world playing a major role in solving problems of society.

• Also: "Two Afghan trainers participated in a two-month training course for Asian and African journalists held in Berlin. The course, held at the International Journalism Institute (IIJ), got under way on June 8 and concluded on August 9, with 15 participants from Asian and African countries."
  


• While some damage can't be unmade, some memories can be at least brought back:
  

  When the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan destroyed two 1,600-year-old Buddha statues carved into Bamiyan Valley's soaring cliffs, the world shook with shock at the demise of such huge archaeological treasures.

  Now, artist Hiro Yamagata plans to commemorate the towering Buddhas by projecting multicolored laser images onto the cliff sides where the figures once stood.

  "I'm doing a fine-art piece. That's my purpose — not for human rights, or for supporting religion or a political statement," said Yamagata, whose other laser works include a permanent display at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

  Against a canvas of desert darkness, 14 laser systems powered by solar panels and windmills will project 140 overlapping faceless "statues" sweeping four miles across Bamiyan's cliffs in neon shades of green, pink, orange, white and blue. Each image will continuously change color and pattern.

• First Special Olympics have been held in Afghanistan in late August, with 360 athletes with intellectual disabilities participating in athletics, bocce and football. Says Mr Troy Greisen, Managing Director, Special Olympics Asia Pacific: "One of our goals in Afghanistan is to establish new local programmes in communities across the country. We are here to expand this movement and spread the message of hope to parents and families of persons with intellectual disabilities. Through these Games we will demonstrate that these capable individuals that have hurdled such difficult circumstances can not-only be proven as great athletes, but can also be fully accepted, empowered to serve as leaders and that their abilities can actually outshine their disabilities."
  


• Lastly, Afghanistan gets its first Mr Afghanistan:
  

  Khosraw Basheri feverishly pumped iron for years, toning his body so it rippled with muscle and veins. His hard work paid off when he claimed a historic title in his war-battered country -- Mr. Afghanistan.

  The 23-year-old businessman from western Herat province flexed and grinned his way to victory Saturday in Afghanistan's first-ever national competition to select a top bodybuilder.

  "I will never forget this day, the day I became Mr. Afghanistan," said Basheri, sweat and makeup streaming down his massive frame. "This has been my hope for the past two years, since I started preparing myself for this."...

  "The most popular sport after football (soccer) in Afghanistan is bodybuilding," said Sayed Mohammed Payanda, secretary general of Afghanistan's National Bodybuilding Federation. "Most people in Afghanistan, especially young people, like bodybuilding very much."

  It's so popular, in fact, that Arnold Schwarzenegger -- the former bodybuilder and movie star turned California governor -- is among the most widely recognized Western celebrities here.

  Modern gyms and athletic clubs have popped up in many provinces in recent years, Payanda said, adding that some Afghan bodybuilders have returned from neighboring Pakistan and Iran since the hard-line Islamic Taliban regime was ousted in 2001 and President Hamid Karzai subsequently took office.

RECONSTRUCTION:

• Afghanistan's public finances are improving: "Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance released total domestic revenue totals for the first 3 months of Afghan calendar year 1384. The total is now $77.16 million, a 40% increase from the same period last year (Afghan year 1383). Of the $77.16 million, customs operations represent 53% of the total figure, with $41.45 million collected within the initial 3-month period. Taxes account for 10% of total domestic revenue, with $7.7 million collected so far. This shows considerable progress from last year (1383) and is promising for the remainder of the year."
  


• Foreign assistance continues to arrive. India is a major helper in rebuilding Afghanistan: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, carrying offers of fresh aid and seeking to blunt rival Pakistan's influence in Afghanistan, heads tomorrow to Kabul for the first visit by an Indian premier in 29 years... India, one of the six top donors to Afghanistan, has pledged S500m in aid to Kabul since 2002 and Singh would unveil fresh assistance of $50m during the visit."
  


• During the Prime Minister's visit, three accords covering education, healthcare and agricultural research were signed between India and Afghanistan, and an extra $50 million committed by India towards reconstruction.
  


• Spain is also contributing more resources towards reconstruction:
  

  Spain will allocate 10 million euros [$12.3 million] for the first phase of developing Afghanistan's infrastructure, a Spanish Foreign Ministry official said.

  The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation under the Spanish Foreign Ministry will allocate the money for constructing water supply systems, roads, and hospitals in the poorest province of Badghis in northwestern Afghanistan.

  A Spanish Foreign Ministry official and four experts of the agency will arrive in the country in early September to oversee the restoration of Afghanistan's civil infrastructure, a plan suggested by Spain.

  A total of 125 Spanish peacekeepers are already in the Badghis province, restoring health services, water treatment facilities, and roads.

• Russia, meanwhile, is considering various options for debt relief to reduce Afghanistan's $10 billion debt burden. And here's a retrospective on the Japanese contribution so far.
  


• But reconstruction is also a local effort: "More than 400 local representatives from around Afghanistan [met] in Kabul to exchange development ideas and experiences from around the country. They are all involved in development projects through the National Solidarity Programme, NSP, a flagship programme created by the Afghan Government with the support of the World Bank."
  


• Under the Kabul Urban Reconstruction Project, "the World Bank has provided $25 million of interest-free loan to the government for bringing improvement in the basic urban services in the most vulnerable areas of the central capital."
  


• A major infrastructure project is now back on track:
  

  The Washington sisterhood's campaign against the Taliban, led by the Feminist Majority Foundation, had thwarted ambitious plans by the US energy firm Unocal to build a strategic pipeline across the wastelands of Afghanistan.

  But what a difference a war makes. In the new Kabul, the $US3.8 billion ($5 billion) gas project is being resurrected and one of the finer pairs of hands on this dog-eared brief are those of Mary Louise Vitelli, a fortysomething New York lawyer.

  She explains that in the 1990s she was fighting a very different war. Far from the battlefields of Washington, she was working in Russia, on a World Bank attempt to reform the former Soviet Union's antiquated coal industry.

  What she remembers of the US capital makes her prefer Kabul.

  "Washington was the most sexist place I've ever worked," she said.

  "Here the minister sets a different tone. He has women in key senior jobs and I'm welcomed in the provinces. I'm the team leader and there is no problem."

  Her boss, the Minister for Mines and Industries, Mir Mohammad Sediq, brims with the kind of confidence that separates the stayers from the faint-hearted in the global resource development race.

  Afghan optimism about the Unocal project is understandable. If the pipeline goes ahead, the Afghan Government might make up to $US300 million a year (the equivalent of its ostensible budget) purely from transit fees along a pipeline that will enter Afghanistan's north-west corner, follow the ring road that skirts the spread-eagled Hindu Kush and exit through the still restive south-east...

  Representatives of the four governments that are a party to the pipeline project - Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Turkmenistan - are to meet in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, soon, where they hope to sign off on Turkmenistan's capacity to supply gas and Pakistan's willingness and ability to buy it, and on the outline of a private consortium to build and operate the pipeline.

• In other power news, a new Indian infrastructure project will bring more electricity by the end of the decade:
  

  Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) - a government of India enterprise - has bagged... international transmission project in Afghanistan. POWERGRID and ministry of external affairs, GoI, entered into an agreement to this effect on August 12...

  Giving details the statement said the entire expenditure on the project shall be borne by GoI under the assistance programme to Afghanistan. The project will strengthen Indian presence and involvement in the reconstruction process in Afghanistan and will enhance international profile of POWERGRID. The project is scheduled to be completed by February 2009.

  The project will enable Afghanistan to imort power from generating stations located in Uzbekistan to Kabul to bridge the gap in demand and supply. The project comprises construction of 220 KV double circuit transmission line from Pule-Ku i to Kabul (202 km) and new 220/110/20 KV sub-station at Kabul.

  The transmission line is passing through snowbound tough hilly terrain, steep hills with altitude ranging from 1800 m to 4000 m above see level and temperatures as low as 30 deg C (a part of Hindu-kush mountain range). The materials of about 15000 MT required for the project shall be transported from India to Afghanistan by sea route via Bandar Abbas port in Iran and thereafter through 2500 km roads of Afghanistan.

• In another cross-border project that could bring benefits to locals:
  

  An Iranian delegation Wednesday held talks with provincial authorities on a proposed gas pipeline from Turbat-i-Jam to the western Herat province.

  Representatives of the Non-governmental Gas Producer Association of Iran said they would launch the project following a green signal from the Iranian government. The delegation said the Herat officials would be informed in the next two weeks.

  Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Herat Mayor Mohammad Rafiq Mujaddedi said the 13-member team called on Governor Syed Hussain Anwary and expressed willingness to launch the project. He said the two sides agreed on signing a formal agreement after the go ahead from the gas and petroleum ministry of Iran.

• In communications news, the cell phone network keeps growing:
  

  Five more cell-phone companies have expressed their willingness to launch services in Afghanistan, officials told Pajhwok Afghan News.

  Al-Kozay, National Kam International, Watan Mobile Company, and two firms from Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are ready to launch operations in Afghanistan, where Roshan and the Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) are already active.

  Earlier, the Communication Ministry had announced 80 companies were interested in getting licenses for launching services in Afghanistan. But in the final analysis, five of them have stepped forward to accept the government's terms and conditions.

• The previously foreshadowed 300 public phones have now been installed across the capital: "Three hundred new telephone booths have been installed in the Afghan capital, Kabul. During the inauguration ceremony, the Afghan minister for communication, Amirzai Sangeen, explained that half the phone boxes were placed in the city's shopping areas, while the rest were installed in the more densely populated areas of the capital. Built by the German company Siemens, the booths cost 200,000 US dollars and were paid for by the Afghan government and installed by a local private company."
  


• Here's another report about the Kabul public phones:
  

  Like strange hooded aliens, sparkling yellow telephone stands have sprouted in Kabul's dilapidated streets, drawing curious looks and hesitant attempts to use them.

  “Brother, how can I drop the coin in the phone?” a young man asked Jamaluddin as he left his work at the education ministry.

  Jamaluddin explained that the new phones accepted pre-paid cards rather than coins.

  Standing slightly taller than a man, the 300 new phones - comprising a central pillar and a cobra-like plastic shelter for the handset - bring a touch of progress to this city of more than three million people.

  Half the phones are spread through the capital's streets, while the other 150 have been set up in ministries, public hospitals and police precincts for public use.

  The phones, which went into service on August 11, have brought renewed hope of a way to communicate for the capital's countless poor, who cannot afford mobile phones or the more expensive Public Call Offices, PCOs.

  Afghanistan got its first coin-operated public telephones in 1973. At that time, a call needed a single one-afghani coin fed into a slot. In addition to Kabul, the phones were installed in Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif.

  But like so many other public services, the phone system fell into disrepair after the collapse of the communist regime in 1992 and in the subsequent fighting between rival mujahedin groups that devastated Kabul .

  Now an Afghan-American company called Afghan Pooshesh (Afghan Coverage) has set up the network of public phones at a cost of 180,000 US dollars. The money has come from the communications ministry, which has signed an installation and one-year maintenance contract with the company.

• In transport news, the Asian Development Bank will be funding the development of the civil aviation sector:
  

  The Asian Development Bank will help improve Afghanistan's air transport system by boosting management of the country's civil aviation administration, through a technical assistance (TA) grant approved for US$1 million.

  The TA will improve the air safety oversight of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and maintenance of a financial management system that will be developed to enhance financial governance of airport operations.

  It will help develop air safety regulatory frameworks to be adopted in a phased manner in coordination with other aid agencies, with the ultimate goal of establishing an independent civil aviation authority. It will also help draft a civil aviation act that will remedy the deficiencies of the existing acts, as well as other civil aviation regulations and safety orders needed.

  Work manuals for airworthiness control, flight operations inspection, personnel licensing, air operator certification, and accident and incident investigation will likewise be developed.

• There's also action on provincial roads: "The Afghan government, in collaboration with the World Bank, will is to start the reconstruction of 260 kilometres of roads that lead to villages in seven provinces, officials said on August 27. An agreement was signed between the ministers of rural rehabilitation and development, public works and the World Bank on the 15 million US dollar project. Sohrab Ali Safar, the minister of public works, said the programme will cover the reconstruction of roads for villages in Kabul, Herat, Bamian, Kunduz, Logar, Paktika and Parwan provinces, and will create jobs for 600,000 people."
  


• Agriculture is still the major industry and the main employer throughout the country. Afghanistan's only sugar factory is planning not only to revive the local economy (and an old local industry) but also do its bit in the fight against drugs:
  

  The factory is ready, the workers trained, but the rest is something of a gamble.

  Will the farmers of Baghlan province, northwest of Kabul, plough up their poppies and swap the rich harvest of opium for sugar beet?

  Many say that they will, even though poppies have been a reliable source of income over the years of jihad and civil war.

  At a recently refurbished factory, the only sugar plant in Afghanistan, manager Abdul Karim Wazeri said he is trying to persuade all the farmers of the northern provinces to plant beet. If they do, he has pledged to buy their entire crop for the next two or three years.

  He told IWPR that nearly 200 workers were already at the factory, being paid a wage of three US dollars a day, and that the plant could process 100,000 tonnes of beet a year from which 15,000 tons of sugar would be produced.

  At least one farmer appears ready to make the switch.

  "Even though we'll earn less than with poppies, it will be much better because we can cultivate and sell sugar beet freely, without any threats or restrictions," said Taza Mir, a 63-year-old farmer in the province.

  Taza Mir is old enough to remember the days when beet was the major crop in Baghlan and the province was noted for its sugar.

• There is also assistance under the US Department of Agriculture's Food for Progress program:
  

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will donate 5,150 metric tons of soybean oil and 10,000 tons of soybeans to International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), a private voluntary organization, for use in Afghanistan. IFDC will sell the soybean oil in Afghanistan, and sell the soybeans in Pakistan. Proceeds will be used over a two-year period to fund its technical assistance and market development activities designed to increase the quality and quantity of local wheat produced by the Afghan milling industry. IFDC also will provide a portion of the proceeds to the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture and its extension staff to conduct research trials to improve high-value crops. The proceeds also will be used to conduct on-farm demonstrations to improve crop technology for key high-value foods and wheat crops in seven provinces in southern Afghanistan.

• USAID, meanwhile, is trying to assist the revival of the dried fruit and nut industry:
  

  Before the Soviet invasion, exports of dried fruit and nuts were significant to the agricultural economy in Afghanistan. Today, as Afghan producers re-enter the global market, aflatoxin contamination is one of the primary constraints to meeting export quality standards. Aflatoxins are produced by the molds Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus...

  To meet global market export standards, USAID is funding aflatoxin detection and reduction projects. In January 2005, a training program on aflatoxins and testing procedures for detection was held. Twenty three men and women from the Raisin and Dried Fruit Export Promotion Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Faculty of Science of Kabul University participated in the three day, hands-on training in aflatoxin detection and measurement.

  In addition to training for key Afghan personnel and ministries, on March 2005, the renovation of the laboratory at the Raisin and Dried Fruit Export Institute was completed. The lab is now capable of detecting and measuring aflatoxin levels in parts per billion using fluorometric equipment. A suitable location for another testing laboratory in Kandahar is being identified by the Export Institute.

  In a move to build international confidence in the dried fruits and nuts of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Commerce held a conference in Kabul in June 2005. At the conference, Ministry and industry representatives decided that beginning in August 2005, testing and certification would be required for all exports. The newly renovated laboratories are staffed with trained personnel and ready to facilitate this major step toward Afghanistan’s regaining a share of the dried fruit and nut export markets.

• There are also other ways that USAID us trying to assist Afghan agriculture:
  

  USAID’s Rebuilding Agricultural Markets Program aims to improve food security, increase cropping productivity and rural employment, and improve family incomes and well-being.

  A dedication ceremony was held in late July in Balkh province for the hand over of 100 km of recently constructed farm-to-market roads. Work continues in Ghazni, Nangarhar and Kunduz; four kilometers of road were completed during the last two weeks of July. To date, 362 km of farm to market roads have been rehabilitated.

  From July 17 – 31, USAID disbursed 2,649 loans, a 17% increase from the prior two week period. To date, 18,546 loans have been disbursed with approximately 85% of these loans granted to women.

  During the last two weeks of July, work began on the construction of a fruit and nut processing building at Mazar-e Sharif and work continued on two facilities with refrigeration units for fruit processing in Kandahar. Also, the construction was completed at the vegetable dehydration factory near Charikar in Parwan province. The vegetable dehydration factory is now employing 80 process workers per shift and securing produce from 1,400 production farmers from the surrounding area. To date, USAID has constructed 145 market centers.

• Here's more on the Charikar plant:
  

  A food processing plant in the central Parwan province has been established with a $4 million aid from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

  Spread over an area of 10 acres, establishment of the factory had created 10,00 jobs and enabled the northern provinces to export fresh vegetables to other countries.

  Engineer Haroon, an official of the project, told Pajhwok Afghan News this was the first vegetable processing plant in the country established by the USAID. He said vegetables like carrot and tomato would be packed and processed in the plant for onward shipment to international market.

• Speaking of fruit and nuts, after decades of disruption, Afghanistan's famous fresh and dried fruit are reaching foreign markets again:
  

  The government is airlifting for the first time 12,000 tons of fresh fruits to India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the southern Kandahar province.

  Officials said 6,000 tons of grapes would be exported to India and the UAE each on Wednesday via the air route to save the commodity from going rotten.

  Afghanistan's fresh fruits are in great demand in India, Pakistan, the UAE and Gulf states, but decades of conflict have left the government with little ability to arrange speedy shipment of the produce.

  Abdur Raziq Rafiqi, chairman of the Kandahar Chamber of Commerce, said fruits were airlifted abroad for the first time in the history of the province.

  In a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, he informed three storages had been constructed in the province to preserve fresh and dry fruits throughout the year. Two of these have been built with financial assistance from the US while the third will be completed soon with the help of India.

  The two storages, he added, had the capacity for storing 44,000 tons of fruits. "At present, 22,000 tons have been placed there."

• Meanwhile, one American is putting his experience to use to rebuild Afghan grain industry:
  

  Dave Frey is using his 27 years of experience as the administrator of the Kansas Wheat Commission to help the people of Afghanistan.

  Frey, 54, left for Kabul three months ago to serve as the director of the Grain Industry Alliance. The agency is a subcontractor of the taxpayer-funded Rebuilding Agricultural Markets in Afghanistan Program.

  The country plans to import a half-million tons of wheat and flour, most coming from Pakistan. Plans are to build a center to market grain, including a flour mill in Kunduz. But his focus in Afghanistan extends beyond wheat.

  "We also will be expanding and building marketing centers for grapes," he said. "Most people don't realize that Afghanistan was a great grower of table grapes."

  Since Frey arrived in May, projects have included building a fresh fruit exports marketing center in Habib City, west of Kandahar. And cold storage facilities are being built to make prolonged storage of grapes and other fresh fruits a possibility.

• Lastly, this year's wheat harvest is very good: "The 2005 wheat harvest will be the second largest in nine years (2003 wheat production was 4.36 million metric tons and just over two percent larger), and nearly 86 percent greater than last year, despite just a six percent increase in area cultivated."

HUMANITARIAN AID:

• Ahead of winter, the United Nations is starting food distribution: "The United Nations announced launching of food distribution among half a million poor Afghans ahead of the winter season. The Winterization Programme, which has already been initiated in some remote parts of the country, is aimed at distributing food among the impoverished ahead of the snowfall. The humanitarian aid flow from the World Food Program (WFP) included delivery of 23,000 metric tones of wheat, pulses, edible oil and salt."
  


• Iranian Red Crescent Society is also helping: "The five-truck humanitarian assistance consists of the following relief items: 750 tents 5250 sets of blanket 750 plastic jerry cans of 10 liters 750 sets of utensil 300 layers of carpet 750 sets of kerosene stove 38 rolls of plastic sheet."
  


• The World Food Program is providing assistance on the ongoing basis:
  



During the reporting period [11-17 August], 126,000 beneficiaries were assisted with more than 2400 mt of food... Improved access to the local market and provision of potable water was achieved when 45 unit wells were dug and 13.5km road was rehabilitated through WFP’s food for work projects in Pashton Kot district of Faryab province in the north region.

• With the bureaucratic red tape finally cut, Afghani disabled will finally benfit from this humanitarian consignment:
  

  The government of Pakistan has waived off a demurrage of Rs. 3.168 million of over and thousand wheelchairs to be distributed amongst the needy and disabled Afghani people.

  A consignment of 2×40 containers comprising wheelchairs donated to a registered NGO “Helping Hands Centre” Kabul Afghanistan for distribution amongst the needy/disabled Afghan Peoples were shipped from Hong Kong, landed at the Karachi Port in December 2003.

  The consignment could not be cleared from Karachi Port due to non-fulfilment of required formalities by the consignee.

  As a gesture of goodwill towards the peoples of Afghanistan, the Government of Pakistan has waived off the entire demurrage accrued on the shipment of wheelchairs. This decision has been made purely on humanitarian grounds and keeping in view the good and friendly bilateral relations Pakistan and Afghanistan.

• Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees is working to provide water in drought affected areas:
  

  A new water supply project has been launched in the northern Faryab Province where today, access to safe water is limited. Drinking water shortages in Faryab are in some cases consequences of the recent years of drought.

  Up to five districts in Faryab Province are expected to be covered during this one year project funded by EC providing around 56,000 people with improved water and sanitation.

  The main activities concern provision of improved water with the support of hygiene education and sanitation facilities. To ensure a high level of sustainability and lasting water supply, all wells will be linked into a community-based maintenance system including spare part shops and hand pump mechanics. Furthermore, water samples will be collected and tested by DACAAR.

  When wells are established in the districts both men and women will receive hygiene education contributing to improved health status with particular focus on women and children. During the year DACAAR will conduct an impact study to monitor effects of training activities and see how hygiene and sanitation practices and knowledge change.

• One Afghan boy now has a chance for a normal life after a timely medical attention in the United States:
  

  Two months ago when Zia Urrahman arrived in Fort Wayne from Afghanistan, he could hardly raise his right arm above his head. The burns the young boy suffered had caused abnormal shortening of skin tissue.

  After three surgeries at St. Joseph Hospital, a much more mobile Zia was finally reunited with some of the Indiana National Guardsmen who first met him while serving in Afghanistan. The gathering Wednesday night at Science Central was a celebration of the boy’s recovery and the first chance for many of the soldiers to see Zia’s progress.

  “We know (the St. Joseph Hospital staff) will do it,” Maj. Brad Boyle said. “But it’s surprising how well he’s doing.”

  Boyle, a physician’s assistant with the Indiana National Guard 113th Support Battalion, first met Zia when the 5-year-old was taken to Camp Phoenix where Indiana’s 76th Brigade was stationed last fall. Boyle’s efforts to help Zia included fundraising efforts with his wife, Dr. Lorinda Browning, to bring the boy and his father to Fort Wayne for treatment.

  “When we saw him, he was very small – about 2-foot tall, very shy and hunched over,” said Boyle, who lives in Decatur. “It’s great to see now he’s just like other kids.”

• Zia is now healing nicely and is about to head back home. Meanwhile, 6-year old Basira Jan has arrived in Indianapolis for treatment for her heart condition:
  



Two Indiana National Guard units began the effort to send Basira to Indianapolis while they were serving at Camp Phoenix. Florida National Guard members continued the project as they replaced Indiana troops at the camp.

Basira was scheduled for tests at Riley on Monday to pinpoint her heart condition. She might have Tetralogy of Fallot, characterized by four defects, including a hole in the heart and an enlarged lower right chamber.

Her surgery was expected to be performed in the next two weeks, depending on what Monday's exams reveal.

Riley Hospital, its staff and the Central Indiana Rotary's Gift of Life program, which brings children from developing countries to the United States for heart surgery, joined in assisting Basira.

She is the second Gift of Life patient from Afghanistan. In February, Qudrat Ullah Wardak, a then-14-month-old boy who had little time to live because of a complex heart problem, came from Kabul helped by the Guard.

• Another serviceman and his community are helping one Afghan school:
  

  Many East Texas children are now back in school. On the other side of the world, many Afghani kids were not so fortunate, until recently. One Tyler soldier, his men, and his church, are making it their military mission to transform at least one school house.

  Last February, as part of his mission, Major Pierre Fenrick arrived in what he was told was a nice, middle class Afghani neighborhood, people living their dream. What he saw, though, seemed more like a nightmare. They have no water. They have wells outside. They have electricity, but no air conditioning. Also, Major Fenrick saw families living in the bombed remains of Russian barracks.

  One day, the major and his men came across a school. There were Classrooms with just four textbooks, and children who had never owned a pencil. So, he contacted his wife, telling her that he thought they needed to adopt the school.

  That's where Faith Community Church in Tyler stepped in. The church sent 14 giant boxes filled with school supplies to children whose names they did not even know. With the supplies, soldiers passed out government backpacks with a message saying the U.S. and Afghanistan are friends.

• American children, meanwhile, will be helping their Afghan peers:
  

  Hundreds of American children at Caserma Ederle have a parent deployed on a mission to improve the lives of people in Afghanistan. Many of those kids will be participating in a project over the next several months to do the same thing.

  "They are contributing to something that their deployed parent is contributing to," said Tamara Browning, a program operations specialist with Child and Youth Services.

  The idea behind Operation Help Out came from a soldier deployed to Afghanistan. He told his wife he had noticed large numbers of kids showing up in communities during medical visits. Soldiers treating the kids soon discovered most of them weren’t in need of medical attention. They just wanted the lollipops that were passed out after the treatment was provided.

  Many of those standing in line weren't wearing shoes.

  Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth, so there’s also concern that kids won't have enough warm clothes this winter.

  Browning said Operation Help Out will focus on gathering those three items: lollipops, shoes and warm clothes.

• One charity is helping Afghan women: "Medair has been assisting poor women in Kabul city since 1996. In the present programme women learn new skills such as tailoring, machine embroidery, leatherwork and broom- and basket-making. They are encouraged to sell their work and are given business advice from the supervisors. As a further help for them, adult literacy classes are run every lunchtime for all participants. Learning to read and write is very important to the women, who value the independence this gives them." One trainee, Sheelah, says:
  

  The outfits I made at the beginning were sold back to me at a very low price as I was still training. Then I sold them on to my family and neighbours. Initially I could only make about 30 Afghanis profit on each outfit, but once people saw that the clothes were well made they started to ask me more about the course and began to order specific clothes. I bring small samples of the different materials home so that they can choose the colour and style that they like. I take their measurements and then our trainer helps me to design and cut out the material. Now I can earn 60-70 Afghanis per outfit and combined with the 55 Afghanis per day that I receive from the training centre, I can now cover the expenses of my family. I thank Medair for accepting me in this training and giving me the chance to support my family. When I finish this training I hope to start a small business from my home, sewing clothes for my friends and neighbours. But I will need to purchase a sewing machine and a painted sign for the doorway.

• Christian Children's Fund is trying to bring literacy to Afghan children and youth.
  


• An Italian charity is working to revive tourism, and at the same time help re-integrate former fighters into the society:
  

  How to turn a veteran Afghan mujahideen fighter into a mountaineer guide.

  That is one of the goals of an Italian-run course in the peaks north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

  "I have lots of experience in these mountains fighting the Russians," said Commander Rahim Khan, one of the former mujahideen fighters, who handed in his weapons earlier this year.

  We want to open again the door of the Afghan Hindu Kush to mountaineering

  For centuries, Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains have served mainly to keep out would-be invaders - from the British to the Russians.

  The hope is the peaks could now work the other way - attracting climbers, trekkers and other visitors, amid tentative efforts to exploit the country's potential as a tourist destination.

  It's early days. Because of security concerns, serious tourist dollars remain a distant prospect - not least because the US and many other governments still advise their citizens against visiting Afghanistan.

  No one doubts the potential is there though - especially in its mountains, some of the highest in the world and many of them unclimbed.

  That's why the Rome-based organisation, Mountain Wilderness, has started training people as guides, "ready for when they start arriving," explains the group's energetic leader Professor Carlo Pinelli.

  Twenty-two would be mountain guides - including 2 women - were signed up for the first course.

THE COALITION TROOPS:

• In addition to providing security, the Coalition troops are also helping to rebuild the country as well as trying to help its people in many different ways. A senior US commander is updating on the reconstruction of Afghanistan:
  

  "We have made great strides in building the Afghan security forces,” said Brigadier General James Champion of the U.S. Army Joint Task Force in Afghanistan. “Today we have over a twenty-four-thousand-man-strong army in operational units throughout the country and five-thousand more in training,” he said.

  General Champion said the U.S. has agreed to contribute nine-hundred-million dollars in recently allotted funds to assist the Afghan National Police. More than forty-one-thousand police officers are now serving with the Afghan National Police and some nine-thousand more are in training.

  The U.S. continues to assist with reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. In Kunar and Nangarhar provinces in northeast Afghanistan, over five-thousand Afghans are employed in a variety of reconstruction projects.

  Over one-thousand-five-hundred men, women, and children recently received medical care from U.S. forces. Remote villages in areas that have never had water now have wells. And a commercial trade school is planned for Nangarhar to train Afghans needed job skills.

  In the central eastern portion of Afghanistan more than three-thousand Afghans are working on development projects. Significant improvements are being made to roads and highways. These projects are expected to improve security and promote trade and commerce in the region.

  The U.S. is assisting in the establishment of a provincial government complex to serve the previously isolated Bermel Valley. In Oruzgan province, U.S. and coalition forces are refurbishing schools. Numerous wells are being planned to provide fresh water to remote villages. The Afghan National Police have taken over the primary security role for Oruzgan. General Champion said these police officers “are clearly demonstrating their ability to conduct large-scale and coordinated operations” against insurgents.

  In Zabul and northern Kandahar provinces, major reconstruction projects are underway, including the Tarin Kowt to Kandahar road. Less than thirteen kilometers remain to complete this one-hundred-twenty-two-kilometer highway. More than one-thousand Afghans are working in Nimroz and Helmand provinces on projects that include flood planning and disaster relief.

• Reconstruction is progressing in the Baghran Valley:
  

  Afghanistan's Baghran Valley, once home to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, will receive more than $2 million in U.S. reconstruction funds over the next six months. The area will receive $2.4 million in an effort to bring peace, prosperity and security to the region once known as a bastion of Taliban ideology. Projects include reconstruction of the area's most prominent Mosque, a new high school, road repair, and equipping the local police force with motorcycles...

  As the provisional reconstruction team announced the projects, former Taliban leader Rais Bagharni, a participant in the government of Afghanistan's reconciliation program, announced his intent to run in September's parliamentary elections.

  "Reconstruction is my jihad," Bagharni said, adding that he was committed to helping the [Provincial Reconstruction Teams] with reconstruction efforts in the area.

  One of the area's most visible projects is paving a 700-meter road through the town's center, which will give the people living in the area easier access to the shopping district.

  In another nearby ceremony recently, Kandahar province Gov. Assa Dullah Khalid; U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bert Ges, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment; and U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robbie Ball, commander of the Kandahar provincial reconstruction team, cut the ribbon on a bridge spanning the Tarnak River. The bridge cost nearly $300,000 and took almost two years to complete. The bridge links the Baghran Valley with nearby major centers of commerce, which will improve the overall economy of the area.

  The projects, which will use contracted Afghan construction firms, are expected to take anywhere from three to six months to complete, officials said.

• Work is also ongoing in Kapisa province:
  

  The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) stationed in the Parwan province, Thursday launched four construction projects in the neighbouring Kapisa province, north of the central capital Kabul. The projects included construction of a bridge in Tagab, compounds of police stations in Nijrab and Alasai and establishment of a veterinary hospital in the provincial capital Mahmood Raqi.

• Read also this report on the work of the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team:
  

  The 170-square meter compound stands out against the dusty reddish brown rock of southwestern Afghanistan. It’s a small compound with sparse amenities in the middle of nowhere. A few small saplings dot the compound but offer no shade or relief from the summer heat, which on a day in June topped out at 148 degrees. But the base that houses the Farah Provisional Reconstruction Team is a beacon of hope and a magnet for reconstruction and a better life for the Afghans who live near.

• The troops are constructing roads:
  

  If the fight to defeat the Taliban can be measured in distances, one of the ongoing battles is 76 miles long. And it’s combat engineers, not infantrymen, who are carrying the fight to build a road between Kandahar and Tirin Kot (Map).

  Nearly 1,000 active-duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers from the Kandahar-based Task Force Pacemaker have been working since April to finish the final 48-mile stretch of road.

  Millions of man-hours and $22 million — much of it from the U.S. Agency for International Development — have been pumped into the project, which should be finished within the next month. A company contracted by USAID is following behind the soldiers and will lay a longer-lasting top coating on the road by the end of October.

  In the meantime, the task force’s two construction crews, which includes units from Alaska, Hawaii and North Carolina, are pushing the northern and southern sections closer by about 700 meters a day. The crews are expected to meet Wednesday just north of the small village of Kekhay.

  But this project isn’t just about building a road.

  While construction crews were putting down a coating of crushed rock on the road Saturday near Elbak, a handful of other soldiers were examining villagers during a medical civil affairs project.

• The troops are also building accommodation for internally displaced families:
  

  The US military in Afghanistan as part of its commitment in rebuilding the war-torn nation has agreed to help authorities build shelter for some 2,000 displaced families in the capital city, commander of the US army Engineering Department in Afghanistan said Monday.

  "Representatives from the Afghan Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Refugees, Kabul Municipality, USA ID and I signed a memorandum of understanding on a multi-phase project on July 23 to provide housing for displaced Afghans," Christopher J. Toomey told journalists.

  The project, he said, would be built on 270 acres of land in Chil Dukhtaran area of Char Asiab southwest of Kabul.

  "It will provide dwellings for up to 2,000 displaced families currently living in Kabul," he added.

  However, he declined to say the budget sanctioned for the project.

  More than 2,000 internally displaced Afghan families have been living in the war-damaged buildings in the capital city Kabul over the past three years.

  This is the first time that the US military gets involved in building accommodation for displaced and destitute Afghans.

• Medical outreach missions, like this one, continue to bring assistance to Afghan people in remote areas:
  

  Paratroopers and medical personnel assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry (Airborne) treated more than 600 Afghans, and their farm animals, in the Nawbahar village. The village is located north of Kandahar and is the former homeland of the Taliban.

  The village medical outreach visit, or VMO, treated 616 people. One hundred and four individuals also received dental treatment during the visit. Veterinarians with the group also treated hundreds of farm animals, the most common illness among them being worms.

  The paratroopers also assisted local police forces fix their patrol vehicles and motorcycles and taught several classes to the ANP on the topic of vehicle maintenance.

• In another similar mission:
  

  Coalition forces have completed a 10-day civic assistance mission that included medical, veterinary, and mechanical assistance.

  Aug. 8 marked the end of Operation Rimini. The village medical outreach mission was a true joint effort with participation by three Coalition members.

  “Team Village,” as the group was called, included American medical, veterinary and mechanical personnel; two Romanian soldiers, one a dentist; and a security element of American and Afghan National Army soldiers, as well as soldiers with varying skill sets.

• Meanwhile, an army surgeon has performed a life-saving surgery on an Afghan girl:
  

  Karishma tried to be like any other eight year old, running and playing with boundless energy, but for her, there was an end to the energy.

  She could never have had a normal, long life because of heart problems – until a year ago.

  Two U.S. Special Forces medical personnel, a medical sergeant and doctor, crossed paths with Karishma in September 2004 ultimately leading up to a successful lifesaving closed-heart surgery performed Aug. 14 by Dr. (Maj.) Michael Myers, a cardiothoracic surgeon stationed at the Bagram Airfield hospital.

  “The surgery went extremely well,” the surgeon said. “She is a strong little girl. She will live a long, happy, healthy life.”

  Karishma was three months old when her family found out she had heart problems from a doctor in Peshawar , Pakistan . They diagnosed her with Ventricular Septal Defect -- a hole in the heart’s wall -- a type of heart malfunction present at birth.

• It's not just the American troops which are active across the country. Several Balkan countries have combined to send a medical team: "A joint medical team of Macedonia, Albania and Croatia left [on 7 August] for peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan... Each of the three signatory-countries of the Adriatic Charter sends one doctor, two medical technicians and one nurse to form the 12-member medical team. They will join the mobile surgery hospital of the Greek Army stationed at the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan."
  


• Here's the contribution from Lithuanians: "The more ISAF mission goes into specific, the more help Afghan people receive. Arrived on June the 19th, the Lithuanian personnel started giving their personal advice on many matters. Based in Chagcharan, Ghor province, western central, together with local Provincial Reconstruction Team, the Lithuanian personnel rendered a very welcome visit to the city hospital of Chagcharan."
  


• Canadians, meanwhile, are working to spread the news:
  

  Canadian troops in Afghanistan are handing out free radios to help counter the messages of fear and hate propagated by the Taliban.

  "We're distributing them to everybody. Workers, students, basically anyone of voting age," Master Cpl. Kevin Langlois told CTV News.

  According to Langlois, most Afghans are illiterate and depend on oral communication for information.

  One of the stations broadcast by the radios is overseen by the brother of President Hamid Kharzai. His station asks voters to get involved in politics, and questions candidates on how they'll rebuild Afghanistan's damaged infrastructure.

• And New Zealanders are constructing a security checkpoint:
  

  After only a month in Afghanistan members of the New Zealand Defence Force Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) are rolling up their sleeves and getting down to business.

  Army Engineers have just finished constructing a permanent checkpoint for the Afghan National Police (ANP), about thirty kilometres north east of the Kiwi's base at Bamiyan.

  The building with barrier arms will allow the ANP to stop and search vehicles at a road junction linking the north of Bamiyan with Kabul.

• And the Italians are conducting humanitarian missions: "The Italian contingent in Afghanistan, 'Italfor 11' helped the Afghan population distributing aid in an orphanage in the Kartenau district in Kabul. It hosts more than one hundred deaf-mute and mentally ill children. Four nuns operate in Kabul from nearly one year: Sister Maria, Italian from Milan's Marcelline nuns; Sister Ela, Polish of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and two Pakistani nuns of the Dominican congregation. The institute is called 'Afghanistan National Association of the Deaf (ANAD)'; here nuns work with other volunteers and give shelter to disabled children who were abandoned by their parents. They try to recover and educate them to make them autonomous. The orphanage is funded with donations coming from Caritas international. To help the four nuns Cimic team (civil and military cooperation) has showed Italian people's solidarity delivering 150 kilos of food (floor, sugar, pasta and rice) hundreds of toys, clothes for children, 100 pairs of shoes and soap and toothpaste which are very precious in Afghanistan due to their high price. These materials were collected in Italy by the regiment of tactical and logistic of Solbiate Olona headed by Colonel Gerardo Restaino. One month ago the regiment carried on a campaign to collect aid in Orate, in parishes, schools and associations in the Milan and Varese provinces. Materials delivered at the Anad institute came from school number 2 of Abbiate Grasso, Agesci and Busto Arsizio's Holy Heart parish."

SECURITY:

• The three-way security cooperation is progressing:
  

  Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United states have agreed on accelerating joint efforts to root out terrorism, secure the border between the two neighbours and ensure peaceful legislative elections in Afghanistan.

  The announcement was made after senior military officials of the three countries met in Pakistan's Rawalpindi city, some 22 kilometres from here, on Wednesday.

  The meeting was attended by Chief of General Staff of the Afghan National Army General Bismillah Khan, Pakistan's Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hayat and Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry, Commander of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan.

  The 12th meeting of the tripartite commission was the first one attended by four-star generals from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

• Meanwhile, the training of the Afghan army continues:
  

  The scars of recent wars mark Kabul’s military training centre, and the walls by the eastern gate lie in ruins. But just yards away, white-painted buildings and asphalt roads signal the change from an era of warring militias to the formation of a disciplined new army.

  Gathered round an instructor in the dusty compound, 10 kilometres east of the capital, 40 men are being given a practical demonstration in handling the Kalashnikov assault rifle.

  Some of them already know the gun well. It was the weapon of choice in conflicts spanning more than two decades which devastated Afghanistan, and which continue today as forces of the ousted Taleban clash with troops of the Afghan government and United States-led Coalition.

  “It is not important whether they’re familiar with guns or not. This is a training centre, and we are training the soldiers here to learn much more than that,” Brigadier General Ghulam Sakhi Asifi, the commander of Kabul Military Training Centre, told IWPR.

  In another corner of the training ground, a similar number of soldiers are listening to an instructor dealing with other aspects of basic training.

  There appears to be no shortage of recruits, many of whom can be seen working in classrooms as well as in the compound.

• Most recently, "a group of 126 soldiers graduated from the military training centre of the Afghan National Army, ANA, on Monday. The graduation ceremony was attended by civil and military officials, as well as French trainers and the commander of the French contingent of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. The head of the training facility, General Gulbahar, presented the new soldiers with certificates to mark their completion of a four-month course. Gulbuhar said 26 of the graduates would be made officers in the ANA, while the remainder would serve as soldiers."
  


• The army will be deployed in all provinces of the country for the September election.
  


• There's also recognition for one promising Afghan officer: "An Afghan Army sergeant is believed to be the first soldier from his country to attend the U-S Army Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss. Command Sergeant Major Roshan Safi, who joined the Afghan Army after the fall of the Taliban three years ago, will spend nine months at Fort Bliss. He'll then return to his duties in Afghanistan. Safi's American counterparts helped him win a spot in the prestigious and selective school."
  


• And leaders are getting additional training: "More than 60 senior leaders from the Afghan National Army and Ministry of Defense participated in a three-day leadership seminar held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aug. 1 through 3. Designed to enhance the leadership capabilities of Afghanistan’s senior military leaders, the seminar was the fourth in a series sponsored by the Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan and presented by MPRI, the private professional services company that works with OSC-A to mentor the top leaders within the Afghan Defense Ministry. Previous seminars focused on decision making, strategic planning and force management."
  


• Afghan police members, meanwhile, have been receiving riot control training from the members of the 164th Military Police Company's police tactical advisor team, a part of the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team. There's also more general training:
  

  A platoon from the 92nd Military Police Company, Baumholder , Germany , recently joined Task Force Rock as it continues its combat and civil assistance missions in Zabol province, Afghanistan...

  The main focus of Caffarel's mission with TF Rock will be to provide effective training to more than 1,000 Afghan National Policemen who patrol the 11 districts of the Zabol province. The MPs will meet that goal by providing an intensive two-week course to every policeman in the province prior to the parliamentary elections Sept. 18.

  The training will focus on weapons marksmanship, conducting searches, and executing site security. For the months after the elections, Caffarel's platoon has designed a four-week follow-on course for the ANP that focuses on typical police work, such as identifying and collecting evidence, conducting interviews, gathering intelligence, and establishing and operating a traffic control post.

• And in Kabul, a graduation:
  

  The Afghan National Police grew in ranks and capability recently as the German-led Kabul Police Academy graduated the first class of police officers from its comprehensive three-year officer training course.

  The 210 new officers celebrated during a morning ceremony that emphasized their hard work and accomplishments and highlighted their new responsibilities now that they are lieutenants, or sarans.

  As cadets at the academy, they studied 23 subjects during more than 3,400 hours of classroom training. Topics ranged from criminal investigations and social sciences to police tactics and operations.

  In addition to being extremely well trained in police operations, the new sarans are in top physical condition. Before and after their classes, they supplemented their physical fitness classes with sports and defensive training activities.

• The Afghan army is now putting its training to good use with demining:
  

  The Afghan National Army recently put their training to use as they successfully conducted the first ANA-led demining operation in Afghanistan. The mission highlighted not only the expanding military capabilities of the ANA, but the government's commitment to achieve a mine-free Afghanistan for future generations. With the approval of the Afghan Ministry of Defense, the ANA leadership took charge and organized two days of real-world demining operations at the Area Military Depot of Pol-e-Charkhi. HALO Trust, a British-based non-governmental organization dedicated to humanitarian mine clearing, identified the area as containing mines.

• The US is spending heavily to provide the Afghan army with a proper physical infrastructure:
  

  The US army has invested over 600 million dollars during the current year to rebuild the fledgling Afghan National Army (ANA) and its facilities, commander of US army Engineering Department in Afghanistan said...

  "The value of our active contract is 630 million US dollars. We are currently working to award the reminder of our fiscal year 2005 contracts to a total of about 500 million dollars," Christopher J. Toomey told media at a press conference.

  Sixty million dollars of this amount will be spent on construction of headquarters, company facilities and border crossing points mostly in the eastern portion of the country, he added.

  "These facilities provide a vital security and counter-narcotics upgrade to the current Afghan national assets," stressed the US army official.

  Toomey, who transferred from Iraq to Afghanistan last month, said his prime goal includes oversight of construction, rehabilitation and refurbishment of Afghan army facilities here.

  "We are building ANA bases in Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Gardez. Each installation has its own independent power plant and waste water treatment station to ensure power and running water," he said.

  The projects, completed so far, could support over 35,000 soldiers, he said. Another 500 to 600 million US dollars, he added will be awarded in contract in fiscal year 2006.

• Read also this story of an Oklahoman who was in charge of constructing a military academy:
  

  It is back to school at NSU in Tahlequah and that's where you'll find Dr Jim Wilhite.

  He's lecturing future elementary school teachers. But "Doctor" Wilhite is also "Colonel" Wilhite and was recently called up for active duty in Afghanistan. So he put teaching teachers on hold and left to train troops as he built a military academy for Afghan soldiers from scratch.

  Wilhite had to select the site, hire the faculty and recruit the students - with what he says was one of the biggest targets in Afghanistan on his back. And doing it all with a budget that was slashed from $65-million to nothing. "I'm a school teacher. I'm used to my budget being cut. In fact, I said 'General, I'm a bottom feeder. My budget has been cut; I'm a school teacher.' I've never had it cut quite that much. But I said, 'You want a school, I'll get 'er done.'"

• The first army medical training center has also been inaugurated:
  

  The Afghan National Army's first military medical education center opened recently here with the help of the ANA Surgeon General's office and the Office of Security Cooperation Afghanistan.
  Located on the National Military Hospital campus here, the center will consolidate medical training for ANA combat medics, nurses, medical faculty and medical officers. The facility can accommodate, house and feed up to 500 students and has 27 classrooms.

  Before the new facility, medical training was conducted in various locations around Kabul such as the Kabul Military Training Center, the military hospital and the Pol-e-Charkhi garrison.

  "This is a much better learning environment for the students," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Luis Montes, combat medic in OSCA's medical plans and operations section. "They have everything they need on the campus of the National Military Hospital. The students have professional instructors and will be able to receive instruction within the hospital from the physicians and nurses."

• Smaller medical clinics also continue to be constructed: "The recent grand opening of the Afghan National Army’s Darulaman Garrison troop medical clinic marked the completion of the 201st Corps’ third new soldier healthcare facility. The other 201st Corps clinics, located at the Pol-e-Charkhi Garrison and the Kabul Military Training Center , were completed in August 2004 and February 2005, respectively. The opening of the new clinics is a clear indication of the ANA’s movement toward well-managed healthcare for its soldiers. As the Afghan National Army continues to grow toward a final strength of 70,000 troops, the need for quality, accessible healthcare for its soldiers increases as well."
  


• There are also new personnel centers for Afghan army personnel.
  


• And in the latest contribution to the equipping of the security forces, "a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the southern Helmand province donated 6 vehicles and 20 motorcycles to police headquarters. Deputy police chief Haji Mohammad Ayub told Pajhwok Afghan News the PRT had also hired 30 foreign trainers for imparting training to police personnel in the province."
  


• On the wider security canvas, the amnesty plan continues to bear fruit:
  


• "Five former mujahedin commanders in the eastern province of Kunar have surrendered and joined the government under the national reconciliation process. One of the commanders, Qazi Abdul Rahman, was a leader of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami, and had worked as chief of rural rehabilitation and chief justice of Kunar during the early Nineties";
  


• "A former jihadi commander and deputy police chief of the western Herat province surrendered thirty light arms under the UN-funded Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reconstruction (DDR) process [on August 9]... The arms surrendered by Ghulam Sarwar Haideri included 18 AK-47 assault rifles, one rocket, four DP machine-guns and some other light weapons... The commander had collected 280 arms from his men a month back and handed it over to the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process";
  


• "Two commanders in the Dara-i- Noor district in the eastern Nangarhar province surrendered arms to Afghan National Army (ANA), officials said on Sunday [14 August] Commander of the second military corps General Aminullah Patianai told Pajhwok Afghan News commanders Golina and Allah Nazar were loyalists of Hazrat Ali, former mujahideen commander and chief of the Nangarhar police";
  


• Also on the same day, "a commander, involved in a string of clashes with security forces, surrendered to the government along with 18 supporters in the restive eastern province of Kunar on Sunday. Kunar Governor Asadullah Wafa told Pajhwok Afghan News the Taliban-linked commander Ismail joined the government as a result of efforts by local tribal elders. The governor added Ismail had also pledged to give in his weapons";
  


• Those disarming continue to get reintegrated into the Afghan society:
  

  Twenty former commanders, disarmed in the first phase of the DDR process, were issued certificates on the conclusion of a month-long training in fields of commerce and human rights.

  A spokesman for Afghanistan's New Beginning Programme (ANBP) said the 20 erstwhile commanders trained were among 200 who had surrendered weapons and opted for a return to civil life as a result of the disarmament plan.

  Ahmad Jan Noorzadi, in charge of the ANBP press office, said similar training courses were being mulled for the remaining people to help them reintegrate into the national mainstream. The training programme is being pursued by the ANBP with financial assistance from the Japanese government.

• USAID is also continuing to help with disarmament and reintegration:
  

  It is anticipated that almost 66,000 former officers and soldiers will officially enroll in the UN Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program when the final numbers are released at the end of August. The program has two objectives: to break the historic patriarchal chain of command that exists between the former commanders and their men and to provide the demobilized personnel with the ability to become economically independent. The process of disarming the officially recognized Afghan Military Forces (AMF) came to a close at the end of June 2005, when the President formally presented the last Medal of Honor. Those men and three women have now started the process of returning to be valuable members of civil society - some having been continually involved in conflict for more then twenty years. Through its Looking Beyond the "R" initiative, USAID is committed to improving capacity and providing creative solutions to assist DDR personnel who have graduated from the UN program. Programs under this initiative are intended to complement and further reintegration assistance provided by the UN. USAID is building upon the $700 package of training, tools and/or stock that the individual receives to identify means of providing additional capacity, leverage and sustainability. By Fall 2005, USAID commitments to Looking Beyond the "R", totaling almost $10 million, will be in place.

• Not just the local militias, but Taliban, too, continue getting disarmed - except involuntarily:
  


• "Police officials claimed unearthing huge cache of arms in the Khogiani district of the southern Ghazni province [on August 6]. Ghazni police chief Abdur Rahman Sarjang told Pajhwok Afghan News the weapons included different types of rockets, missiles, shells and other heavy bullets";
  


• "Police in the eastern Nangarhar province seized huge quantity of explosives on Saturday [6 August]. The contraband, measuring about 3.5 tons, were hidden in 75 bags and ready for transportation to an unknown location";
  


• "Three separate caches were discovered across eastern Afghanistan Aug. 7. The first cache, discovered near Jalalabad, consisted of an anti-aircraft gun, 23 mortar fuses, 38 rockets, 40 mortar rounds, 14 rocket-propelled grenades and several hundred rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition... Another cache, this one discovered northwest of Asadabad, contained a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, 12 shotguns, 10 pounds of explosives, several bolt-action rifles, and about 50 rocket-propelled grenades... The third cache was discovered inside a long tunnel north of Salerno and contained 50 tank rounds, 30 recoilless-rifle rounds, and 20 mortar rounds";
  


• "Members of the Helmand province governor's security task force turned in a large cache of ammunition, consisting of 172 rockets, 123 mortar rounds, and six tank rounds, to the Lashkar Gah provincial reconstruction team Aug. 14. Afghan security forces recovered the cache in a village northeast of Lashkar Gah. Officials reported that this is the first time the governor's security forces in Helmand province turned in a cache to coalition forces. It also is the largest the provincial reconstruction team has received in the past three months... Coalition forces reported a 25 percent increase in the number of caches recovered by Afghans and Afghan forces as compared to this time last year";
  


• "Officers of the National Security Directorate have discovered an arms cache in the Bala Koo area of Mahipar, between Kabul and Jalalabad. According to a source in the directorate, the arms were dumped by Taleban insurgents in preparation for attacks during the forthcoming parliamentary election. The weapons have been transferred to Kabul";
  
  Twenty remote controlled bombs unearthed at a cemetery in Kandahar province on August 23;
  


• A man has been arrested in Kabul with 75 pencil detonators on August 25;
  


• "The International Security Assistance Forces, ISAF, have seized a large quantity of munitions in Kabul, Ghor and Baghlan provinces in the past week [late August]. The munitions include light and heavy weapons, mines and other types of weaponry. An ISAF spokesman in Kabul said that the munitions were handed over for destruction under the Afghanistan New Beginnings Programme, a UN-backed body administering the disarmament and demobilization project."
  


• In other recent security successes:
  


• "Three high-ranking Taleban have been arrested in the Shinkai district of the southern province of Zabul, officials said August 4. District chief Wazir Mohammad said they had received a tip-off regarding the insurgents' whereabouts and conducted a joint operation with coalition forces and Afghan National Army soldiers in the Bolan and Mamo districts of the province";
  


• Three improvised explosive devices located and destroyed by Afghan and American forces around the country on August 5 and 6;
  


• "A suspected suicide bomber was detained Aug. 6 at a U.S. base south of Salerno near the Pakistani border as he attempted to detonate a series of explosives attached to his body. The potential bomber attempted to enter a U.S. facility in the region under the guise of needing medical attention. At the gate he produced a grenade and attempted to detonate the device. The grenade failed to detonate and the man was apprehended by security forces";
  


• Eight Taliban killed in a gun battle with American and Afghan forces in Zabul province on August 7; one Taliban killed and six arrested in clashes in Uruzgun province on the same day;
  


• "Mullah Taj Mohammad, a prominent Taleban fighter, was arrested in Kandahar province on August 7. Defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said the Afghan National Army arrested Taj Mohammad and seized a cache of weapons in the village of Balk during a sweep";
  


• At least 16 Taliban fighters killed on August 8 in a firefight southwest of Deh Chopan;
  



• "Afghan soldiers and U.S. paratroopers killed Qari Amadullah, believed to have led up to 50 Taliban militants armed with rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, during a firefight Tuesday [9 August] in eastern Paktika province... Five other militants were killed and three U.S. service members were wounded during the clash, which erupted in an area where Afghan and U.S. forces were trying to kill or capture suspected Taliban insurgent leaders";
  


• On 10 August, six Taliban killed in a clash near Wazikhwa in the southern Paktika province;
  


• Eighteen Taliban killed in a gunbattle in the Dai Chopan district of the southern Zabul province on August 11;
  


• "Three insurgents were killed and two Afghan National Police were injured during a firefight that occurred near the city of Deh Rahwod in southern Afghanistan's Uruzgan province on Aug. 12";

• "Afghan and U.S. forces killed six enemy combatants after the militants fired at a forward operating base near the city of Deh Rahwod in southern Afghanistan on Aug. 14";
  


• "Qari Ahmadullah, a prominent Taleban commander, has been killed in Paktika province in recent clashes. He was believed to have led more than 500 fighters in Paktika";
  


• Twenty two suspected Taliban killed, and sixteen arrested, including commander Mulla Janan, in a joint Afghan-American operation in district Khawaja Bagh in Zabil province on August 14. On the same day: "Taliban commander Mulla Moosa Kalim was killed when a land mine exploded in district Soori of Zabil province. Six Taliban forces are reported to have been killed and 16 captured in an operation by Afghan forces in the districts of Choora and Deeraod in Ozargan province";
  


• On August 14, in Tirin Kot district of Zabul province, "police hunted down and killed six suspected guerrillas who attacked a highway checkpoint";
  


• The arrest in mid-August by Pakistani authorities of Ustad Mohammad Yasir, appointed last year as Taliban's chief spokesman;
  


• Six Taliban killed near the Deh Rawod district of the southern Uruzgan province on August 16;
  


• Six Taliban killed in the Deh Rahod district of the southern Zabul province on August 18;
  


• Thirty suspects arrested on August 19 in connection with an attack on a checkpoint in the central Maidan Wardak province;
  


• Overall, 100 Taliban killed across Afghanistan in three weeks up to August 22 (including 40 in the Konar province);
  


• Following a tip, Afghan police arrested two roadside bomb cell leaders and three other members of the cell in Paktika province on August 22;
  


• Sixteen Taliban killed on August 23 and 24 in Kandahar area and Zabul and Uruzgan provinces;
  


• "U.S. and Afghan government soldiers killed six suspected Taliban militants and seized bombs in a raid on a rebel storehouse" in Zabul province on August 24;
  


• Abdul Khaliq Agha, Taliban commander in the Panjwai district of the southern Kandahar province captured on August 25;
  


• "A letter found in the pocket of a dead Taleban fighter proclaimed: 'martyrdom is our aim'. A group of eight Taleban fighters attacked a US military convoy on the Kabul-Paktia road on August 28. One Taleban fighter, Mullah Abdullah, was killed and another was detained in the clash. The incident occurred in the Poza area of Logar province, said Qudratullah, a provincial police official. The Coalition Forces suffered no casualties, he added. A similar attack on US troops occurred in Logar some days ago, with no casualties."
  


• Six Taliban killed in a clash in Zabul province on August 30;
  


• "Payenda Mohammed, who was thought to have led about 150 rebels, was killed along with three other militants in a fierce battle in Kandahar province Wednesday [31 August]... [he was] a suspected Taliban commander responsible for numerous rocket attacks, ambushes and other guerrilla-style assaults in southern Afghanistan".
  


• There is some good news in the war on drugs:
  

  Afghanistan has reduced the production and cultivation of opium for the first time since the Taleban regime fell in 2001, but sustaining progress in the fight against narcotics will be an uphill struggle, a UN official and analysts said.

  "The progress made in curtailing cultivation in 2005 must be viewed with caution: these achievements are fragile and could be easily reversed in the course of a season," Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office for Drugs and Crime, said while unveiling preliminary findings from a UN survey this year.

  The area of land used to grow opium poppies dropped 21 percent over the past year, although the opium harvest fell by just 2.4 percent, largely because crop yields surged after heavy rains ended a seven-year-long drought, he said.

  The news is likely to boost optimism ahead of parliamentary elections in September, seen as a crucial step on the country's road to democracy almost four years after US-led forces ousted the fundamentalist Taleban.

• More resources are being spent on poppy eradication and substitution:
  

  The Afghan government announced the other day an allocation of $20 million dollars to the western Farah province for eradication of poppy cultivation and providing farmers an alternative source of living...

  50 percent of the allocation was available for spending on a project aimed at providing Farah people an alternative to poppy cultivation. The rest of the funds to be spent on development and reconstruction projects would come from international donors.

  According to Counter-Narcotics Ministry officials, $380 millions have been pledged to the government for financing alternative livelihood and reconstruction projects to benefit growers shunning poppy cultivation.

  Of the aid committed by different donors, $200 millions have been handed over to the government, which is awaiting the remaining payments for immediate allocation to the provinces by the end of the year.

• USAID and the British government announced they will spend $54 million aid for poppy eradication in the Badakhshan and Sar-i-Pul provinces. Kandahar provincial government is distributing 40 tons of processed seed to farmers as an incentive to give up poppy cultivation.
  


• Afghan law enforcers are also learning from the best: "An Afghan police officer is learning from Jacksonville, Fla., police about street-level drug enforcement and coordination among law enforcement agencies. Nazar Ahmad Shah spent the second half of a two-week U.S. visit in Jacksonville based on the recommendation of Robert Goosey, a U.N. law enforcement project manager."
  


• And a country on the other side of the world, which knows very well the scourge of drugs, is starting to share its expertise:
  



Colombia and Afghanistan are becoming counterdrug allies. Colombia has begun exporting counternarcotics know-how to Afghanistan in a bid to stem that country's record heroin production, which, in turn, bankrolls al Qaeda.

Much of the emphasis will be on Colombia's teaching the Afghans how to find and attack drug labs. Bogota yesterday re-established diplomatic ties with Kabul.

The two countries were brought together in the drug wars by House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican. He sent a letter in February to the chief of Colombia's national police, announcing the arrival of congressional staffers in Bogota to start planning an Afghan-Colombian alliance.

"We warmly welcome the restoration of formal relations between Afghanistan and Colombia and especially the joint efforts of Colombia and its elite national police to help Afghanistan tackle the enormous problem of heroin production, which also fuels terrorism," Mr. Hyde said yesterday.

• In other recent victories in the war against drugs:
  


• "The Afghanistan Counternarcotics Police recently seized 390 kilograms of 'fully processed heroin' in Nangarhar Province, according to a 6 August Interior Ministry press release. The seizure is the largest since the formation of the Counternarcotics Police in 2003";
  


• 643 kg of opium seized in Zabul province and a trafficker arrested on 11 August; this comes just over a week after a previous seizure of 700 kg of opium in the province;
  


• "Police arrested a suspected drug smuggler and seized 96 kilograms of opium on the Herat-Badghis highway on August 13";
  


• Shooting down of a handglider trying to smuggle 18 kg of heroin to Tajikistan;
  


• 194 kg of opium seized in Kandahar province on August 24.

Let's hope that the drought has well and truly broken for the people of Afghanistan, both literally and metaphorically. After three decades of unrest, bloodshed and oppression, the country surely deserves some gentle rain and greener fields.

« ok, I'm done now

SOCIETY:

• Some Sunnis might not like the constitutional proposals, but that's democracy. There's certainly nothing like a major political disagreement to motivate people to engage in the political process:
  

  Angered by Shiite calls for a federal region, Sunni clerics urged followers... to vote against the constitution if it contains measures they believe would divide the country...

  Iraq's three major Sunni organizations appeared to have taken a united stand both for voting and against demands for federalism after they boycotted the Jan. 30 parliamentary elections...

  Sheik Mahmoud al-Sumaidaie, of the influential Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, told worshippers at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque to register for the upcoming votes because "we are in need to your voice to say 'yes' for the constitution or 'no.'"

• And such voices are growing louder and increasingly representative of the whole Sunni community:
  

  The general conference of Sunnis in Iraq, which includes "the Sunni Mortmain", "the Association of Muslim Scholars", "the Iraqi Islamic Party", and a group of Sunni parties and organizations, was held in Baghdad and has urged all Arab Sunnis to participate in the coming elections.

  In his speech before hundreds of attendees, Ahmed Abdel Ghafur Al Samera'i said, "Participating in the plebiscite on the constitution is a prescribed duty for all Sunnis."

  He added, "I swear to Allah that the greatest privilege, through which you gain the love of Allah, is your efforts in participating in the coming elections and gathering the Sunnis, hoping that Allah would alleviate their suffering."

  Alaa Maki, member of the political bureau in the "Iraqi Islamic Party", has confirmed, "The party has suggested the provision of cities of Sunni majority with additional lists, so that everyone would be able to register their information in the electors and plebiscite on the permanent constitution records."

  He added, "We would enter the elections with a heavier weight than some people imagine. We would continue in participating in the political process side by side with the constituents of the Iraqi people." He referred to the existence of some misunderstanding among the political blocs, with regard to the elections' law and the mechanism of executing them. He called all Imams and preachers to direct and urge people to participate in the plebiscite on the permanent constitution and participate in the coming elections.

• Here you can check out the flier being distributed by the Islamic Party, convincing Sunnis that voting is a religious duty. What a difference a few months can make.
  


• There's also a change of mind in this former trouble spot: "After boycotting the previous elections, Falluja is preparing to participate in the referendum on the constitution. Falluja's clerics council advised the Imams of the mosques and the people not to miss this historical chance and to take part in it through the four centers opened there. Community leaders and clerics organized lectures to educate the people about the importance of their participation and that the constitution is for the interests of all Iraqis, which will decide their identities."
  


• Here's more from Fallujah:
  

  All indications showed that there is high percentage of people in the regions that boycotted the last parliamentary elections are registering their names to participate in the coming October referendum and the general elections next January, Laith Kubba told the press.

  In Fallujah, considered one of the major hotbed of Iraqi insurgency, clerics of mosques called on the residents in the city to participate in the constitution referendum scheduled to be held in mid October.

  They urged the residents through loudspeakers to participate and say "no" to those who want to isolate them from the political process.

  The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party, also distributed handouts calling on the people to participate the referendum. Many of the residents showed support and desire to participate.

  "I want to participate and I call on the people of the city to do so because we do not want to let those who came from the other side of the border to rule us again," said Mohammed Uthman, a government employee.

  "If we don't participate this time, it means we let the present government to continue, and thus the real ruler would be the Iranians and not the Iraqis," he added.

• Four registration centers have now been open in Fallujah.
  


• Bizarrely, both the main Sunni terror group, Ansar Al Sunna, as well as Shia radical Muqtada al Sadr, have been both calling on supporters to register to vote in the constitution referendum. "[One] statement issued by six of the seven Ansar groups promised that there will not be attacks against Americans on the day of the referendum, 'to protect those who go to vote.' 'Voting is a jihad of words and is no different from the jihad of the sword,' the statement said. 'There are no objections to participation in the referendum to show the world our strength and to defeat federalism'."
  


• Registration of new enrollees is now in full swing:
  

  The Independent Supreme Commission for Elections has announced launching more than 500 centers for registering electors in all Iraqi cities. Farid Ayar, member of the commission council said in a statement, "There are543 centers all over Iraq, of which 517 are currently working regularly." He pointed out, "The necessary protection has been provided for the working centers. There are 26 closed centers at present, due to the lack of sufficient security protection."

• USAID has been helping to bring the constitutional debate to the people (link in PDF): "The Constitutional Dialogue program has organized over 3,000 dialogues throughout Iraq, reaching almost 80,000 Iraqis who also shared their opinions through 64,000 questionnaires. To date, 210 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have participated, including 151 NGOs contracted by USAID and 59 NGOs working as volunteers. Feedback indicates that the dialogues are achieving their dual purpose; to educate and consult the public."
  


• In other recent USAID initiatives:
  

  Over the past month, USAID arranged for 18 experts to provide assistance to the Iraqi National Assembly's (INA) Constitutional Committee resulting in the production of 72 topical papers in Arabic on issues including federalism, natural resource allocation, human rights and electoral systems...

  The final constitutional dialogues were conducted last week, reaching over 79,000 Iraqis in over 3,100 meetings...

  USAID representatives organized a workshop to address the advantages and disadvantages of various electoral systems.

• USAID is also helping the growth of the local government throughout Iraq:
  

  USAID's Local Governance Program (LGP) is promoting the organization of Local Government Associations (LGAs) throughout Iraq. The LGAs will act as lobbying and advocacy organizations to represent the interests of the local government without having any authority to direct their operations. Recent activities included:

  - A training session on the role of LGAs for 23 new members of an LGA in Babil Governorate. LGA members met with the local INA office to explain the role of LGAs and to present a list of issues related to local government.

  - In Karbala Governorate, LGP and LGA members met to map out forthcoming activities and to plan a conference on the impending Constitution to raise public awareness. On July 17 LGA members and the LGP met with the Provincial Council (PC) to provide an update on activities and to offer assistance. The LGA suggested providing education and advocacy to the general public on the legal responsibilities of the PC.

  - The LGP presented training sessions on "Understanding Public Services" for 36 LGA members-24 men and 12 women.

• Some of the past wrongs are being righted:
  

  Even a year ago, the dusty, rolling hills north of Kirkuk were largely barren. But the horizon has changed rapidly in recent months with a flurry of newly constructed cinder block homes dotting the hillsides.

  Thousands of returning Kurds have transformed pockets of land around Kirkuk into small settlements - leading to the rebirth of villages once emptied out by former dictator Saddam Hussein under his "Arabization" plan to force out ethnic Kurds and Turkomen.
  In this village, 15 miles northeast of Kirkuk, hundreds of new houses have sprouted since January because the flow of displaced Kurds returning to the area has grown steadily since the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam in 2003.

  "We are starting from the beginning again," Mayor Abdul Samad Rahim Karim said. "God willing, we will succeed in making Shwan better than before."

  The returnees are a legacy from Saddam’s era, when the Ba’athist Party forcibly expelled tens of thousands of Kurds and Turkomen and replaced them with Arabs from the south to consolidate government control over oil resources and farmlands located in northern Iraq.

  In other places, the Kurds’ return, many to squatter camps around the city, and their demands for restoration of their property have provoked sharp protests from many Arabs as well as Turkomen in the community.

• In one of the other important aspects of dealing with the country's dark past, the Ministry of Immigration is working to restore Iraqi citizenships on people who have lost it or been stripped of it in the past. And in civil society news, once banned, trade unions, too, are reviving in Iraq.
  


• In entertainment news, two thousand hopefuls sign up for the Iraqi Idol:
  

  Many Iraqis already obsessively watch "American Idol", a version of the original British "Pop Idol" franchise, and a glitzy Lebanese copy called "Arab Superstar" on free-to-air Arabic satellite channels.

  But "Iraq Star" is a brave indigenous effort to perk up the spirits of a depressed nation. The studio set is spartan and drab, and there is no studio audience, though viewers are being promised tinseltown touches when the finale is held in Beirut.

  "We are trying to lighten the load and problems Iraqis are going through," said director Wadia Nader during recording of an episode this weekend in a Baghdad hotel.

  "We had shows like this in the 1960s when people were discovered on television. But since then, with so many wars, Iraqis couldn't see this kind of thing," he added.

• Another show entertains and helps fight the insurgency at the same time:
  

  Shattered glass, body parts, a blood-splattered blue sedan: the grainy video pans over the scene as Iraqi officers comb the site of a drive-by assassination.

  It's "Cops" Iraqi-style, minus the "Bad Boys" soundtrack but otherwise roughly modeled after the American TV show.

  Created to make government more transparent, "The Cops Show" featuring Kirkuk officers in action is the first of its kind in the country and is breaking new ground in Iraqi television. A live call-in portion gives the public the chance to praise the security forces or gripe about them.

  Screened weekly on Kirkuk Television, which broadcasts in this northern city of nearly 1 million people, "The Cops Show" has opened the floodgates in a community long suppressed.

  "During Saddam Hussein's time, it was very different," station manager Nasser Hassan Mohammed said. "You were unable to ask questions. You couldn't say anything bad about police.

  "Now people can call in directly. Anyone has the right to do this. This is the difference now. This is freedom."

  The call-in portion, initially a novelty, has become a staple of the show, and panelists field up to 30 calls per segment, Mohammed said. And because Kirkuk is ethnically mixed, the show switches among the languages spoken by Kurds, Arabs, Turkomen or Assyrians.

  It took Iraqis a while to master the art of the phone-in.

  "But after more than a year, they understand very well," Mohammed said.

• There's also some much needed foreign help to preserve Iraqi historical heritage:
  

  Denmark, Italy and the United Nations have extended new grants to preserve ancient sites in the southern Province of Dihqar, the province’s deputy governor, Ahmad Ali, said.

  Dhiqar is home to some of Mesopotamia’s best-known ruins, among them those belonging to the fabled Sumerian cities of Ur and Larsa.

  “An agreement has been signed with the United Nations Development program to maintain and develop archaeological and tourist sites in the province,” Ali said.

  He said Italy has allocated $450,000 for the construction of “a cultural and information center in Nasiriya, the provincial capital.

  Dhiqar, with an area of 12,900 km square, is a key southern province. Besides its archaeological riches, the province is the site of major oil fields.

ECONOMY:

• The International Monetary Fund report paints a picture of Iraq beset by problems, but nevertheless with good prospects:
  

  Iraq is suffering from rampant inflation, endemic disease and falling oil production, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday in its first review of the country for 25 years.

  Nevertheless, Lorenzo Perez, the IMF director who oversaw the review, said that in the medium term he was "quite optimistic" about the country's prospects, although this will "depend on the level of oil prices".

  "It is easy to overlook that the establishment and maintenance of relative macro-economic stability in the midst of violence is an achievement in itself," he added.

  The IMF said sweeping reforms were needed in almost every sector of the economy, which is thought to have halved in size between 1999 and 2003, when the invasion occurred.

• A formal agency will from now on chase the investment dollar for Iraq:
  

  U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Andrew Natsios and Iraq’s Minister of Planning signed an agreement in Amman, Jordan, to establish the Iraq Investment Promotion Agency, which will play a leading role in job creation and economic development for years to come.

  The agreement commits USAID to equip the new agency’s staff and train them in managing the organization and promoting investment.

  Support will be delivered through USAID’s Izdihar project, whose staff had worked with the Government of Iraq to develop an investment promotion strategy that culminated in the signed agreement.

  With the creation of the Iraq Investment Promotion Agency, Iraq will join the more than 160 other countries with similar agencies that compete for approximately $7 trillion annually in foreign direct investment worldwide.

  In addition, the work of the new agency will help expand the markets for Iraq’s domestic products and services, stimulate economic growth and create new jobs at home.

• Some tentative steps towards privatization are being taken by the authorities:
  

  The Ministry of Industry has set up a committee to register eight major state-owned companies on the Baghdad Stock Exchange.

  A statement faxed to the newspaper did not say when these firms will go public but stressed that the move will not be initiated until the ministry works out guarantees that tens of thousands of employees that will keep their jobs.

  The committee is currently evaluating these companies and would advise the ministry on the price and number of shares that will be available to the public at the Baghdad exchange.

  Taha Ismael, who heads a central commission charged with privatizing of state-owned companies, said the move will cover four cement factories, a pharmaceutical firm, and three construction enterprises.

  “Employees will be given share options which they can buy and pay for later,” he said.

• USAID is helping to bring the Iraqi accounting profession into the twenty first century: "Sixteen Iraqi accounting and auditing professionals recently received international accounting standards training in Amman, Jordan, as part of the Izdihar project. The sixteen professionals, who are members of accounting and auditing associations, university professors and industry practitioners, will become the core group of trainers who will lead seminars for more than 300 accounting students and industry professionals in Iraq. During more than a decade of isolation, Iraq lost touch with international accounting standards, international financial reporting standards, and ethical standards for accountants and requirements for typical modern annual reporting for corporations. In order to address these needs, the training of trainers program was developed to improve the skills of Iraqi accountants, strengthen the accounting industry in Iraq and enhance the accountability, transparency and usefulness of financial documents used to make sound business management decisions."
  


• Kurdistan continues to boom:
  

  Fly into Arbil, the regional capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and you feel that you have arrived in another country.

  It is the Kurdish, not the Iraqi, flag that flutters from Arbil International Airport, Kurdistan's new, glass-fronted "gateway" to the world, which saw its first flights from Dubai, Beirut and Amman arrive last month.

  The airport was built on a former military base once used by Saddam Hussein's regime to bomb the Kurds of Halabja.

  Now it brings in investors. Businessmen, scared away from other parts of Iraq, are coming to Kurdistan instead, and helping its economy to take off.

  "Before all we saw was war, and planes bombing our cities and villages," says the airport manager, Kameran Murad, who fought against the regime in the late 1980s.

  "Now the aircraft are our link with the outside world. Everything is changing."

  Take the town of Suleimaniya. Its skyline is dotted with cranes. Everywhere you look bulldozers are at work.

  "Things are booming. The price of land is ridiculous. It's just going up and up and up," says businessman Bettin Saleh, who has two shops in a new mall.

  "People have money, people are spending it, they feel it's safe to spend - and build for the future."

  And there's no shortage of labour, as Arab Iraqis head north to join the Kurdish workforce.

  "I'm here because it's dangerous where I'm from and there are no jobs," says Aziz Abed Ali, from Baghdad. "Here it is safe and there is work."

• So does Najaf, thanks to religious tourism:
  

  Property prices in Najaf are being driven through the roof by the Shia visitors who have flocked to its holy sites since the invasion of Iraq by Coalition forces.

  Home to the shrine of Imam Ali, a cousin of the prophet Mohammed and a revered figure in Shia Islam, Najaf is considered a top pilgrimage site by members of the denomination.

  These include millions living across the border in Iran, who were unable to visit during the reign of Saddam Hussein.

  The fall of his regime and accompanying thaw in relations between the two countries has brought with it an influx of pilgrims. And there are plans to spend 20 million US dollars on a new international airport near Najaf, with the help of a low-interest loan from Iran.

  At the same time, local real estate agents and entrepreneurs say they are doing a roaring trade.

  "Those experienced in religious tourism have started to buy land and buildings in order to turn them into hotels and tourist villages," said Hussein Abdullah, who owns a real estate agency. "They expect [that in the future] Iraq will be the focal point in the world."

• Iraq's economic links with other countries keep expanding. "International Finance Corporation (IFC) considered the possibility of investing $210.3 million in the construction project of cement works in Iraq with a productive capacity of 2.9 million tons per annum. Also according to Russian analysis agency AK&M, IFC intends to participate in the capital of new company by investing $8.3 million. The first investment project in Iraq with participation of IFC was realized in finance sector in November 2004 when IFC invested $35 million in the capital of Credit Bank of Iraq."
  


• Baghdad Chamber of Commerce and its Swedish counterpart have signed an agreement for the establishment of a joint chamber of commerce to fester economic and other cooperation between the two countries. There is also some input from other European countries: "A group of German and European companies has asked the ministry of labor and social affairs to employ 5278 unemployed workers to employ them in projects that those companies planning to start in Iraq. The (RIRP) group-companies have asked the ministry to provide them with workers and the department of job finding in the ministry has started to provide the needed numbers."
  


• Iraq's foreign debt, accumulated to a massive extent by Saddam, is being progressively written off. The latest country to partially forgive Iraq's debt is Romania, which has reduced the liability by 80 per cent, from $2.5 billion to $0.5 billion. Bulgaria, too, is writing off $340 million of Iraq's debt, and extending the repayment of the remainder 80 per cent over 20 years.
  


• In oil news, the oil production and exports continue to improve:
  

  Iraq has stepped up oil production from its southern oilfields by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 2.3 mln bpd, a spokesman for the state-owned South Oil Company told Agence France-Presse.

  'Production from the southern oilfields has been increased to 2.3 mln barrels per day from today,' said Samir Jassem Masquqi.

  Southern Iraqi oil production was previously 2 mln bpd, of which 1.5 mln barrels were exported and the rest used for domestic consumption.

  Iraq produces and exports from 450,000 to 550,000 bpd from its northern oilfields.

  Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum said last week that oil exports and revenue had reached their highest levels since March 2003, when US-led forces invaded the country.

  Crude exports rose 11 pct to 1.6 mln bpd in July, compared to 1.44 mln barrels the month before.

  Oil export revenues reached 2.5 bln dollars in July, Ulum said.

• In communications news:
  

  The Korean government has expressed its readiness to supply Iraq with an internet system, of a capacity of 10000 subscribers as a test system, in the field of the mutual cooperation between the two countries.

  This came during the visit of Dr. Javan Fuad Masum, telecommunication minister, to the Korean embassy, where she met the Korean ambassador to Baghdad.

  The ambassador expressed his hope for establishing a group of projects relating to the field of telecommunications, including the development of an ADSL system, in specific. He promised to provide Iraq with an internet system, in addition to training 10 technicians in this field in Korea. The ambassador has promised to bear the responsibility of erecting and operating the Korean exchanges (Samsung brand), which Iraq has been provided with earlier.

• In transport news, air travel revives in Iraq:
  

  If there's one business that's quite literally taking off in Iraq right now, it's air travel, with more and more Iraqis lining up to get out of their troubled land, either for a break or forever.

  Since resuming flights a year ago after being grounded for 14 years by sanctions, Iraqi Airways now operates 20 flights a week to destinations like Amman, Damascus, Istanbul and Dubai.

  Many are fully booked, producing a hectic scramble at Baghdad airport when the gate is called, as desperate passengers clamber over one another to get to the front of the line.

  Routes to Beirut, Cairo, Saudi Arabia and Iran are expected to begin in the coming weeks, and a flight to London from Basra or Baghdad is on the cards for late September or October.

  "The expansion is going very well," Captain Ali al-Bayaa, chief executive of the airline and a former pilot, said on Thursday as he oversaw operations at Baghdad's airport, possibly the most heavily defended airfield in the world.

  "We should have a flight starting to Cairo in the next 10 days, which will be very popular," he said.

  For 18 months after Saddam Hussein was toppled, the country remained too dangerous for commercial airlines, with insurgents occasionally firing shoulder-fired missiles at aircraft.

  Then Royal Jordanian began a regular service to and from Amman, employing South African pilots and air crew to fly the route, which involves a dizzyingly tight spiral take-off and landing in Baghdad to avoid the threat of rocket attack.

  Now, two and a half years after Saddam's fall, there are half a dozen airlines jetting in and out of Baghdad, supplying a rapidly growing demand for air travel. At the same time, travel agencies are opening up again after years of inactivity.

• The first international flight has touched down in Basra:
  

  The first international airline flight to land in the southern Iraqi city of Basra in 15 years arrived here yesterday [22 August] receiving a warm welcome from local officials. A Sharjah-based Phoenix Air Boeing 747 arrived from Dubai with 22 passengers on board. The company will begin two flights a week between Dubai and Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, officials said. "Hopefully flights to Iraq will increase from the region and the world," said Basra's governor Mohammed Al Waili at the airport while greeting the arriving passengers. Since the U.N. imposed economic sanctions in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait, no foreign airline has flown to Basra.

• Iraqi authorities are now working to convert the Najaf airport from a military to international use. Meanwhile, the first flight of Tigris Air from Iraq touched down in Cairo. Flights between Iraq and Baku, Azerbeijan, are being planned. And so are six flights a week between Syria and Iraq.
  


• On the land, the specialists from the state railway company are currently working on designs to link the Iraqi and the Iranian railway networks. Speaking of railways, a major renovation effort is currently underway across the country:
  

  Ninety-seven railway stations have been renovated by the Facilities & Transportation (F&T) Sector of the Project & Contracting Office (PCO). The $42 million railroad program has 28 more stations to complete.

  Forty-one of the completed stations are in northern Iraq throughout the governorates of Salah al-Din, Ninewa and Tameem...

  Reconstruction work included electrical work; plumbing, sanitation and water delivery system upgrades; roof repairs; installation or repair of air conditioning units; and interior renovations such as painting, plaster and tile work.

  There are two main types of railway stations under renovation: five-room crew stations used only by railway workers, and nine-room passenger stations for use both by railway passengers and railway workers, according to the PCO. Of the 97 railway stations to be worked on by the PCO, approximately 22 are passenger stations; the rest are crew stations only.

  Currently the railway works out to be about 30 percent passenger use and 70 percent freight use.

  The railway stretches from southern to northern Iraq, approximately 1,260 miles of track, with railway stations appearing about every 15 miles.

  One of the major stations under renovation is Baghdad Station, currently scheduled for completion by early December 2005. Other projects currently under construction include train maintenance and repair shops in Kirkuk, Al-Samawa and Baiji, with another one planned in Baghdad.

  Station renovation work is a joint effort between PCO, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Iraqi Republic Railroads (IRR) and local Iraqi workers.

RECONSTRUCTION:

• In Baghdad, major telecommunications infrastructure will be undergoing rebuilding and renovation:
  

  As of October 1, works would start on rehabilitating what has been destroyed, during the bombing with American planes and rockets, of the telecommunication building and tower in Al Ma'moun region, west of Baghdad, or what has been known as "Saddam Tower" before April 9, 2003.

  An Iraqi company would be in charge of the reconstruction, while a European company from Luxemburg would set the new designs for this building, which is considered as one of the most prominent landmarks of Baghdad, according to Javan Ma'sum, Iraqi telecommunications minister.

  The minister added that the cost of rehabilitating the building and the tower reaches 20 million dollars, which are designated from the US aid to Iraq. She pointed out that a celebration would be held in Baghdad on this occasion, where the start of works that would totally depend on Iraqi expertise, would be announced.

  Ma'sum noted that the design of the building and tower would be totally changed, where modernization and touches that reflect the Iraqi prospective of the project are domineering.

  She said that the whole telecommunication building in Al Senk region, on Al Rasheed Street in Baghdad, would be knocked down, to be rebuilt later this year. This is due to the fact that the ministry experts found out that the overhauling and rehabilitation of the building would be more expensive than rebuilding it.

  She noted that Spain has promised to provide with the necessary finance for establishing a new exchange, with a high capacity to serve subscribers, in Al Diwaneya province (170 km south of Baghdad).

• Italy is contributing to the reconstruction of the south: "Italy has allocated 2.18 million euros [$2.68 million] for development in Iran's southern Nasiriya province, where most of the Itaiy's 3,000-stong military contingent in Iraq is based. 'The funds will be used in Nasiriya and surroundings for several projects in the fields of health, education, drinkable water and infrastructures, including roads, sport facilities and the sewage system,' Ahmad al-Shaykh Ali, the deputy governor of Dhi Qar region - under whose jurisdiction Nasiriya falls - told Adnkronos International (AKI). The project areas will jointly identified by the Italian army and the regional council."
  


• Judicial infrastructure is also rising up: "Construction is complete on phase one of the $865,000 Basrah courthouse project. This five-phase project is expected to be complete in October. The main courthouse, expected to hold a number of high profile trials, continues to operate during construction. Iraqi subcontractors are working on the project, and employing an average of 70 local Iraqi workers daily."
  


• The clean-up of Iraq continues:
  

  Rakan Ahmed Al Allaf, director of the general municipalities' administration in the ministry of municipalities and general works said, "Al Wehda municipality has lifted 1800 tons of garbage, 1400 m3 of debris, 100 tons of wastes and has filled up 150 m3 of swamps.

  He added Al Zohur municipality has lifted 840 tons of garbage, 500 m3 of debris and 40 tons of wastes, and has paved streets, filled up swamps with earth and finished the municipality building." He pointed out, "Al Jisr municipality has lifted the garbage and debris, which were accumulated in (101, 102, 103, 104 and 105) sites and Al Ta'mim district. It has lifted 1750 tons of garbage, 350 tons of debris, and 40 tons of wastes. It has also pulled the still rain water. Al Yousefeya municipality has lifted 125 tons of garbage and 30 m3 of debris, and has cleaned 2500 meters of roads. In Al Rashedeya municipality, the districts of Al Zahra and Al Bad'a districts have been cleaned in addition to Al Naheya region. Gardens, parks and platforms have also been maintained."

  Al Allaf pointed out, "These municipalities managed to collect the rents of its real estate, lifted many violations over its lands, committed dust and stone operations in various districts to Iraqi contractors and companies to execute them."

• USAID's Community Action Programme is helping local communities to carry out projects that benefit their neighborhoods:
  

  USAID's Community Action Program (CAP) helped a community in Maysan Governorate rehabilitate its sports stadium. The 15,000 person stadium was built in 1959 and regularly hosted soccer and track and field competitions. However, during the war between Iraq and Iran, the stadium was used as an Army arsenal and was severely damaged during a bombardment, resulting in the closing of the facilities. CAP contracted the rehabilitation and the community association organized sports tournaments among the surrounding schools as part of its contribution towards this project. The stadium was handed over to the Directorate of Youth and Sports in May at an opening ceremony that drew many spectators and participants. The project is expected to benefit over 2,000 people.

  A Baghdad area kindergarten was rebuilt with CAP assistance. The kindergarten was in a state of complete disrepair, making it almost impossible for teachers to gauge the educational and emotional development needs of the children. Classrooms were dark and damp and all furniture was broken. Parent and community association members in the area stressed to USAID the need to improve the facilities. The project was completed on May 4 and included the complete rehabilitation of the premises. The classrooms are now well lit, clean, and equipped with modern equipment. This project will benefit 204 pre-school children.

  CAP helped a community in At Tamim governorate pave its sidewalks around the town center. Most of the roads are not paved in this town in the southwest of the governorate causing flooding and muddy conditions. With paved sidewalks, people can move freely in their town and a heavy rainfall will not cause a local catastrophe.

• The Iraqi authorities, in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates are planning some health-related projects: "A medical city and a faulty of medicine would be established in Al Sadr city, and the Emirati authorities would start establishing a medical city in Al Sadr city, which would include 4 big hospitals, laboratories and a faculty of medicine. The construction of the two hospitals in Thi Qar and Al Selaimania would start at the same time. He specified the achievement date by a period of less than two years." Another two hospitals will be established with the American support in Maisan province.
  


• Meanwhile, the authorities are setting up mobile medical centers to provide care in areas of Baghdad with insufficient health infrastructure:
  

  In coordination with a number of humanitarian, Baghdad health department has established medical centers and camps in some poor districts in Baghdad to offer medial assistance for the residents of these regions, which suffer from the spread of epidemics and diseases, due to the contamination of water and the lack of health services. Dr. Ahmed Al Zubeidi confirmed that these centers offer examinations and medical supplies for poor modest families in the regions of Al Dawra, Al Amel district, Al Baya', Sowaib, Al Radwaneya, and other regions, where there are no centers or hospitals for treating patients, and epidemics and diseases have spread due to the poor health services. He added that the mobile medical center includes more than five doctors of various specialties, who offer their medical services to patients. Each center or clinic can accommodate more than 600 patients. He pointed out that the majority of cases received in the center are children's and elders' diseases, in addition to the wounded.

• And Great Britain is involving its private sector in an effort to help train Iraqi medical personnel:
  

  The government will today [25 August] invite the private sector to compete with the NHS for a contract to help rebuild the health service in Iraq.

  About 50 medical teams will be invited to come to Britain over the next two years to update their skills. But, in a sign of the times, ministers think this assistance need not necessarily be provided by the flagship hospitals of the NHS.

  They publish tender documents today for a "suitably qualified organisation or consortium" to arrange the clinical training at an expected cost of up to £5m. Aid for healthcare in Iraq has been directed at rebuilding hospitals and clinics. But discussions with Iraqi officials have identified upgrading skills as the most productive assistance.

  The teams that come to Britain will be expected to become "change agents" to spread reform on their return.

• In education news, improvements in schools continue:
  

  More than 600 children will return to renovated or rebuilt schools in Maysan province when school starts this fall. This week, renovation on the Al-Eethnar Mud School was completed, and the Al Eethar Mud School was replaced at a cost of $87,000, benefiting 500 students who attend classes there. Eight newly built schools in Wassit and Babil provinces are receiving new furniture before the start of the school year. Each of the school projects will receive office desks and chairs, file cabinets and new student desks. Collectively, 400 three-student desks will be proportionally divided among the schools, based upon the number of students.

• In other news, "Dr. Abdel Falah Hassan Al Sudani, education minister, confirmed that the ministry has decided to establish four model schools in each province. He added that these schools would be similar to Baghdad College, upon technical and scientific specifications. He added that the ministry is currently coordinating with international authorities and humanitarian organizations for the purpose of including a great number of schools in several Iraqi regions. The minister pointed out that the ministry is currently establishing more than 400 schools, upon new engineering and constructional criteria."
  


• USAID's Higher Education and Development (HEAD) program is helping to build ties between American and Iraqi universities to help rebuild the country's higher education system. Among the recent initiatives:
  

  A fifth Iraqi archaeology student has arrived at the State University of New York's Stony Brook (SUNY/SB) campus. His English skills are in need of significant improvement but should improve during English training in the summer and fall semesters to be able to progress into the M.A. program in Archaeology in the Spring 2006 semester...

  On July 2, the International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) at DePaul University's College of Law and the School of Law at a northern Iraqi university hosted the opening of newly renovated law library facilities...

  A soil sciences laboratory has been set up at a central Iraqi university with the assistance of the HEAD program's Al Sharaka partnership, a cooperative effort between five Iraqi Universities and a consortium of American universities led by the University of Oklahoma...

  Three boxes of learning materials arrived recently for distribution at two Colleges of Agriculture and Forestry at northern Iraqi universities.

• Electrical projects are progressing across the country:
  

  More reconstruction projects in Sadr City started this week, including a $13 million electrical distribution project. When the project is complete, an estimated 128,000 more people will have a reliable source of electricity. The project includes installation of power lines, 3,040 power poles, 80 transformers, 2,400 street lights, and power connections to individual homes, complete with meters. Construction started on the $3.8 million Al Rayash Electricity Substation project in the Al Daur district of Salah Ad Din province, located between Tikrit and Bayji. The project, expected to be complete in early December, will provide reliable service to 50,000 Iraqi homes and small businesses. An electric distribution and street lighting project in Daquq was completed on Aug. 17, providing new overhead distribution lines and street lighting in the community.

• Meanwhile, the construction of electricity system in Fallujah is now 90 per cent complete and should be finished by mid-September. And Iran will be selling 600 power generators to Iraq.
  


• Work continues on various water projects in Salahedin province: "Engineer Ghazi Naji, assistant of the water general manager in the ministry of municipalities and public works said that the works have included repairing broken pipes of various diameters in Biji, Al Dur, Al Tuz and maintaining and repairing the pipes, pulling stations, control panels, washing pumps, filters, and chlorine devices in the water projects of Biji, Al Dur, Al Tuz and Al Sherqat."
  


• Meanwhile, in the capital: "About 2 million people will benefit from the Baghdad trunk sewer line, which was completed this week. Workers cleaned and repaired the Baghdad trunk sewer line and its associated manholes and pumping stations. The $17.48 million project restored principal sewage collection elements in the Adhamiya, Sadr City and Nissan districts of Baghdad, and will provide for the intended sewer flows to the Rustamiya wastewater treatment plant."
  


• And in Basra: "Two million dollars of Iraq Reconstruction Program money was released to purchase electrical equipment for a Pump Station to upgrade Basra Sweetwater Canal system. This pump station will supply a constant and reliable source of water for two million Iraqis in Basra and the surrounding area."
  


• Also: "The Ministry of Environment announced a project to control the quality of the drinking water for Iraq, which is aided by the World Health Organization. Nahla Hatim, manager of the project, said the cost of the project, which includes laboratory work and installing laboratories for environmental tests, is $2 million and will help out in protection of the environment and the water resources."
  


• USAID is promoting the best agricultural practice throughout the country: "The Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program’s recent winter crop demonstration showed that the modernized farming methods used produced crop yields that were an average of 48 percent higher than fields planted using traditional methods. Under the program, ARDI and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) planted 40 demonstration areas on the fields of cooperating farmers in Sulaymaniyah, Arbil, and Da-huk. Each area contained two one-hectare plots; one planted using traditional practices and the other using modernized practices... A total of 1,219 farmers and agriculture students participated in the field days."
  


• In other recent USAID initiatives:
  

  Tomato farmers are harvesting higher yields thanks to improved technologies learned under the Open Field Tomato Demonstration initiative of USAID's Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program. For the demonstrations, ARDI established plots in Baghdad, Diyala and Babylon governorates on which they introduced drip irrigation, black plastic mulch, and fertilization. With the Ministry of Agriculture, USAID representatives monitored the plots and helped participating farmers control tomato pests...

  A new sustainable fodder project in Wasit governorate will help livestock breeders improve the health and productivity of their sheep flocks. The project, which is sponsored by the ARDI program, focuses on farmers who tend flocks of 30 to 150 head of sheep, providing them with fodder for temporary relief and training in fodder production...

  An ARDI program to improve buffalo calving rates through hormone treatments is showing positive results. The program is being implemented in Baghdad, Muthanna and Dhi Qar governorates where buffalo sometimes do not enter estrus during the hot season because of climactic stress, and may not successfully mate or produce milk.

• A Connecticut man, meanwhile, has been working to revive Iraqi bee-keeping:
  

  Hundreds of honeybees swarm around the 3-foot-high wooden hive in the suburban backyard at 33 Kettle St.

  Flying in and out of narrow slits in the box-like structure, they form a buzzing cloud around Andrew Cote, who is trying to avoid being stung a seventh time.

  "Mother of God," he says, his deadpan voice belying the pain of the sixth sting.

  Cote has at least two stings on his underarms and one on his lower back, areas not covered by the mesh hood he donned minutes ago, as the bees became more agitated. "I got twice as many stings today as I did in two months in Iraq."

  The 34-year-old Norwalk native returned on Aug. 11 from an aid mission to Iraq, where he spent the summer sharing his knowledge of bees and pollination with Iraqi farmers and beekeepers.

  During the trip, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development, heavily armed guards swarmed around him as he traveled from city to city in a convoy of armored vehicles.

  With estimates that as much as 80 percent of everything humans eat depends on pollination by bees, Cote said, restoring and improving agriculture in the war-ravaged country depends heavily upon the men, and a few women, who Cote helped train during his 10-week trip.

• A new survey will help Iraq better manage its scarce water resources:
  

  Ministry representatives met to discuss the progress of the Strategy for Water and Land Resources in Iraq.

  All participating ministries are collecting data relevant to water and land use, including hydrologic and hydro geologic information, water quality and crop-water requirements. This data will be used to analyze specific interventions and strategy priorities...

  The Strategy for Water and Land Resources in Iraq will serve as the first inclusive planning document for Iraq’s water sector since 1982. Through the planning process the Iraqi government will determine the availability of water resources. The strategy will then enable coordination between ministries and governorates to allocate those water resources. The strategy will also provide a foundation for continued restoration of the Southern Marshlands, and provide the Iraqi government with a strong position when negotiating international water treaties with its neighbors.

• Speaking of marshlands, more good news for the southern marshlands and wetlands once drained by Saddam as punishment for their rebellious inhabitants:
  

  The Iraqi water minister Abd al-Latif Jamal Rashid has given the go ahead to an ambitious plan to build modern villages around the lakes in the south of the country and turn them into tourist areas. Announcing the plan, the ministry's spokesman told Adnkronos International (AKI): "the ministry has confirmed the start of work on different projects in those areas, with the financial and technical support of the US government in the context of the donation made to the Iraqi government," amounting to 450 million dollars. It follows an announcement last week by the water ministry that the Treasury had agreed to increase the money earmarked for the relaunch of the marshlands in the south of the country to 300 billion Iraqi dinars (one US dollar is roughly the equivalent of 1,470 Iraqi dinars). This money will also be used to carry out the projects to develop the lakes, which will be re-filled using fluvial channels.

• As to the marshes themselves:
  

  The ancient Iraqi marshlands drained by Saddam Hussein as punishment against their occupants are back to almost 40 percent of their former level, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Wednesday.

  In a rare good news story for Iraq, Nairobi-based UNEP said latest satellite imagery showed a 'phenomenal' recovery rate for the southern marshlands, back to almost 3,500 square km after dwindling to just 760 in 2002...

  UNEP said the marshlands totalled almost 9,000 square kilometres in the 1970s – one of the world's largest wetlands with rare species like the Sacred Ibis bird.

  While satellite images showed wetland cover back to nearly 40 percent of that in August, the figure was closer to 50 percent back in the Spring thanks to winter rains and snow melt in the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates, UNEP said.

  'The new satellite imagery shows a rapid increase in water and vegetation cover over the last two years,' it added in a statement. 'While more detailed field analysis of soil and water quality is needed to gauge the exact state of rehabilitation, UNEP scientists believe the findings are a positive signal that the Iraqi marshlands are well on the road to recovery.'

  Toepfer, however, warned that full reflooding would still take 'many years' and must be carefully nurtured.

• With foreign assistance, Iraqi environmental specialists are getting trained:
  

  A Lab Technician training course to be held in Amman, Jordan, in early September is being planned for technicians from Iraq’s five regional Environmental Health Education Resource Centers (EHERC).

  The course is being sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Higher Education and Development (HEAD) program which supports a partnership between the State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY/SB) and several Iraq universities to build capacity for teaching and research in environmental health...

  Workshop topics include training on equipment for soil, water, and lead testing; and the operation of air pollution monitoring equipment.

<HUMANITARIAN AID:

• United Nations World Food Programme is helping Iraq's most vulnerable and needy:
  

  Support to Vulnerable groups - A total of 21,576 mt of commodities (7,781 mt High Energy biscuits, 5,791 mt wheat flour, 3,166 mt vegetable oil and 4,838 mt pea/wheat blend) have so far been dispatched into Iraq under WFP's current emergency operation 10360.0.

  Distributions so far amount to about 14,946 mt of the total dispatched commodities benefiting 1,324,740 beneficiaries. The present security situation continues to affect the overland transport of food into Iraq.

  Food for education - Preparations are underway to preposition the High Energy Biscuits and vegetable oil for the children when the schools re-open in September after the end of the summer holidays.

  During the last school year about 8,886 mt ( 7,781mt of HEB and 1,105 mt of veg. oil) have been delivered into various schools in Iraq with approximately 5,201mt of High Energy Biscuits and 806 mt of vegetable oil distributed under school feeding activities benefiting 806,558 school children...

  Vulnerable Group Feeding - A total of 12,690 mt of various commodities including Wheat Flour, Vegetable Oil and Pea-Wheat blended food have been delivered into Iraq with 8,939 mt having been distributed to 518,182 beneficiaries.

• A charity is helping Iraq's disabled:
  

  Free Wheelchair Mission recently shipped a container of 550 wheelchairs to the port of Shuwaikh, Kuwait in a momentous humanitarian mission to aid Iraq's disabled and poor. United States Military Major Glenn Rubalcava, Public Health Officer stationed in Kuwait City, coordinated the compassionate effort through the Humanitarian Operations Center (HOC) located in Kuwait.

  Both the Iraqi and Kuwaiti governments waived import fees for all the humanitarian aid that involved the HOC. The wheelchairs were convoyed from Kuwaiti to Iraqi military bases and then were picked up from the military bases by civilian contractors. The civilian contractor transportation companies then delivered the wheelchairs from the military bases to their final destinations throughout five geographical locations in Iraq. Wheelchairs were distributed to camps, hospitals, clinics, and orphanages throughout the country.

  200 wheelchairs were distributed to the British and Polish sector (southern Iraq), which includes An-Najaf, Ad-Diwaniyah, An-Nasirayah and Al-Basrah. 300 wheelchairs went to the Iraqi Assistance Center (IAC) in Baghdad. They will distribute to Civil Affair units in Fallujah, Ramadi, Baghdad, and Samarra.

• Iraqi authorities will be constructing three major housing complexes for Iraqi refugees who chose to return home.
  


• The good work of one Colorado business continues to bring cheer to Iraqi schoolchildren:
  

  A small girl, not much older than 6 or 7, struggled with a math lesson at her school northeast of Baghdad, Iraq.

  The subject was not the reason for the girl's frustration; she was equipped with only a broken pencil and a few pieces of paper.

  A U.S. soldier visiting the school in the Diyala province of eastern Iraq saw the students' dilemma and decided to do something about it.

  "I was very sad for her because she reminded me of my daughter, and I wanted to do as much as I could to help these children," said Army Spec. Steven Wilkerson.

  The young soldier, a member of the Army's "Battle Boar" 1st Battalion, Googled for help.

  EZ School Supplies, based in the Denver West Office Park in Golden, popped up on the Internet search engine. In May, Wilkerson e-mailed the company to see if it would donate some school supplies.

  "The local schools do not have funds to purchase supplies, as they are very impoverished," Wilkerson wrote for his commander, Lt. Col. Roger Cloutier.

  Officials of EZ School Supplies, a company formed just two years ago by a 2000 graduate of Golden High School, were excited by the request.

• The rest in history:
  

  EZ partners with the Learning Legacy Foundation, which specializes in providing supplies to underprivileged students.

  Tapping into that connection, EZ sent 35 packs of pencils, paper, erasers and folders to the 1st Battalion's 30th Infantry, which is serving a 12- to 14-month tour in Iraq.

  Students who received the first shipment got "very excited and are extremely happy," wrote Wilkerson, who responded by sending photos of smiling schoolchildren.

• Other actions to help Iraqi children are also bearing fruit:
  

  A request for assistance for children in Iraq sent home from a 36th Division soldier has generated overwhelming response, according to a member of his family.

  "The response has been almost overwhelming," Charles Snow, the grandfather of SPC Adam Gregory, said Thursday. "We are extremely grateful for all the donations."

  Gregory's letter was quoted in a Brownwood Bulletin story published Aug. 6.

  A deadline of Friday, Aug. 26 has been set for the donations so they can be boxed for shipment to Iraq.

  Gregory has been stationed in Iraq since January, and he said he has a special feeling for the children.

  Snow said some donations of adult shoes have been received, but children's items are especially sought. Even used shoes are acceptable, if they are clean. Cash donations will be used to pay postage for shipping.

• See the story for details if you can help.
  


• A joint Iraqi-American effort is also helping children: "Children in a village of Tamim province received school supplies, clothing and toys from the Nahrain Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that focuses on providing proper nutrition, decent clothing and medical supplies to Iraqi women and children. The foundation received its supplies as part of a joint effort between American donations and a coalition forces-run program known as 'Operation Provide School Supplies,' which accepts donations from private citizens and corporations in the United States."
  


• And Mennonite Central Committee is helping Iraqi schoolchildren: "MCC is shipping 4,200 relief kits and 24,000 school kits to Iraq, which continues to be troubled by violence and instability. The relief kits will be distributed to Iraqis who have been displaced to camps by urban warfare, and the school kits will be distributed to children in low-income neighborhoods of Baghdad. The total value of the shipments is $442,000 Cdn./$360,000 U.S."
  


• Meanwhile, Louisiana shows that it has a heart:
  

  In bringing a young Iraqi to this country for a critically needed operation, Tulane University's medical center and Louisianians serving in Iraq are showing that this country has a big heart.

  An 8-year-old Iraqi boy will undergo surgery at Tulane to repair a hole in his heart.

  Operation Mend a Heart was inspired by one of our own, Lt. Col. Mark Matthews of Denham Springs, who recently returned from a nine-month tour of duty in Iraq.

  Earlier this year, Matthews, while stationed at U.S. Central Command in Qatar, helped arrange for a 5-year-old Iraqi girl and her father to be transported to this country so she could undergo heart surgery at Maine Medical Center in Portland. The surgery was completed successfully in February.

  Matthews' wife, Toni, a surgical nurse, nicknamed that effort "Operation Have a Heart to Save a Heart." It's now evolved into a joint project of the U.S. military, Tulane Hospital and Clinic and Tulane Health Sciences Center.

  "It is a project of the heart," Mark Matthews said.

• The Chicago Rotarians are also helping:
  

  Ali Ayad is only 9, yet he wears a colostomy bag and has a heart filled with holes. He lives in Baghdad in a single room of a small house shared by 16 other people. He arrived Monday at O'Hare Airport after 25 hours of travel. Yet, many could learn something from Ali, who refused a wheelchair as he walked onto American soil for an operation that could change his life...

  Ali and Masuma Hmod, 11 months old, both from Iraq, are in Chicago for surgeries to correct a congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot...

  Ali and Masuma are being sponsored by the Rotary Club's Gift of Life program. It helps bring children from developing countries to modern health-care facilities, said Dr. George Harris, a local Rotary official and a pediatrician at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, where the two youngsters' surgeries are to be performed.

  The Iraqi-American Association of Illinois was a primary donor for the children's trip. Other donors include Rotary Clubs in Hinsdale and Orland Park and 10 Roman-Catholic churches.

  Rotarians donated nearly 500,000 frequent-flier miles to buy tickets for the children and their companions: Ali's aunt, Nadia Murzoq; Masuma's mother and two Iraqi physicians who are accompanying them, Abdul Raheem Daoud and Mohammad Jassim Hassan Ali Nassir.

• There will be more help for Iraqi patients, thanks to this initiative:
  

  Next month, an international medical team consisting of 60 specialists in cardiac surgery and the technology of operations' equipments would arrive in Iraq for erecting a field station to conduct such surgeries for several Iraqi citizens who are suffering from heart diseases and the current events are hindering executing such operations. Sheikh Ali Al Ka'bi, director of the Emirati Red Cross in Iraq, said in a statement that the team would include global surgeons from all over the world and specialists in equipments and anesthesia. The field hospital would be established to execute heart operations in Ibn Al Bitar Hospital in Al Karkh region in Baghdad.

<THE COALITION TROOPS:

• The troops are active on the ground in Diyala province:
  

  Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry, Task Force Liberty are working with the people of the Diyala Province to build schools, improve the water supply, pave roads and rebuild their local government.

  Coalition Soldiers are providing Iraqis with money to improve their way of life and, in order to ensure projects in the Diyala Province are progressing on schedule, Soldiers conduct routine checks of these sites.

  The work the Soldiers are doing is helping to rebuild the city services, said 1st Lt. Jeremy Krueger, civil-military operations officer for Task Force 1-30, and native of Pensacola, Fla.

  "I think the projects in our [area of operations] are important," said Krueger. "What we are doing is improving the infrastructure for this whole area that has been torn down over the last several years. It’s helping the population immensely. It is providing new schools for them, new roads, new water projects, water supplies that they have never had and also some of the projects are businesses that are going to provide some revenue for the area."

  The unit is still working on developing more projects in order to better the area, said Sgt. Maj. Matthew J. West, civil-military operations sergeant major for Task Force 1-30 and a native of Dallas, Texas.

  We have 83 projects that have been submitted or are currently underway, West said.

• According to Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, reconstruction of Fallujah is going well:
  

  Reconstruction is seeing some "amazing" progress, Lynch pointed out.

  "Last November, there were significant military operations in (Fallujah)," he said. "By this November we will have completed 438 projects totaling $71.3 million and will continue the progress with an additional 19 projects worth over $65 million after the elections."

  The people of Fallujah, he said, have reliable access to electricity and water, and can send their children to one of the 49 schools now open. Fallujans also will soon have their own TV and radio station.

• The troops continue to work on important water infrastructure projects:
  

  In Iraq, where even water that comes from the tap could be contaminated with chemicals or sewage seeping into the ground, clean water is the most basic need of people throughout the country.

  While there is an adequate supply of bottled water, water for cooking, cleaning and bathing is a precious commodity. In many cases, wells have not been dug deep enough to go below the contaminated ground water.

  Under the $18 billion Iraq Reconstruction Program, 184 public works and water projects are planned, including 158 water treatment facilities, two sewage treatment plants and 11 water resource projects. The Corps of Engineers and Project Contracting Office program contracts the work out to local laborers, with the Corps of Engineers Gulf Region District overseeing the construction.

• Read about some of the projects currently on the way, for example: "A massive $125 million water treatment plant in Ifraz will pump treated water about 20 miles southeast to the more than 900,000 residents of the city of Irbil."
  


• In other recent water-related projects financed and overseen by the military:
  

  Officials from [Iraq and the United States] also signed a charter to detail plans to bring much-needed projects to the people of Husseiniya, an agricultural town north of Baghdad whose population boomed during the previous regime. Coalition Forces are working with the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works to build storm drainage projects, water-quality improvements, and most importantly, sewage treatment facilities. The Husseiniya Charter is the first of its kind in the area, and will serve as the test-bed and guide for other projects in impoverished areas in and around Baghdad... Iraqi workers in Baghdad finished the $3.6M Al Amari Water Distribution project this week. The project can produce approximately 250 cubic meters of potable water daily and service about 2,000 families in the Al Amari and 9-Nissan areas of Baghdad.

• The troops are also building roads:
  

  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region South District (GRS) has been working on modern asphalt roads in Najaf to facilitate agriculture sales and to provide better routes to village schools and hospitals.

  “GRS is currently managing the construction of two village road projects in the Najaf Province,” said Art Bennett, GRS Transportation and Communication Sector project manager. “The roads serve small villages and local industries – in this case, cement and gypsum plants. The second project, or segment, parallels the Euphrates River.”

  Bennett said that segment one – the Alhaydariya village road - is about 15 kilometers long and costs $1.2 million. The contract was modified and extended to move power poles away from the shoulder of the road, and to create that shoulder. The modifications also included the shoring up of water pipelines that were unsupported off the side of the road. The additional money is $18,000. He added that the project is 40 percent complete. Total cost of the project with the modifications is $1.3 million.

  Segment two, the Al-Cement factory village road, is about seven kilometers long at $337,697. Also modified because of power pole and water pipe issues, the additional allocated money is about $12,000. It is about 38 percent complete. Total cost of the project is about $348,000.

  “The intent of these projects is to provide paved roads for everyday use by the local population,” said Bennett.

• Work on water infrastructure also continues:
  

  Three governorates will be receive upgrades in treated potable water, according to an announcement August 18 by a team of Iraqi and U.S. government entities.

  From the $18.4 billion allocated for the total Iraq Reconstruction Program, about $3 million is budgeted for bringing treated potable water to approximately 25,000 Iraqi citizens in the Dahuk, Babylon and Wassit Governorates. The projects will upgrade 15 systems, each including water wells, compact potable water treatment plants and pumps.

  The contracts were competed and awarded to local Iraqi contractors, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) providing quality assurance oversight. Each of the 15 sites will employ approximately 20 Iraqi laborers on a daily basis.

  The work will also train local operators on site in the technology and maintenance of the water systems. Completion dates for the 15 projects vary, but all are scheduled to be finished by January 2006.

• Army surveyors are also laying groundwork for future reconstruction and infrastructure expansion:
  

  The weight of their body armor combined with the strain of having to lift a jackhammer over their heads makes their arms quiver like jello. Sweat pours down their faces and burns their eyes, but they won’t stop now. They can’t.

  One after another, they connect four-foot stainless steel rods together and drive them further below the surface of the earth. Thirteen rods and 52 feet later, the rods refuse to be driven any further.

  The engineers assigned to Multinational Corps-Iraq then cover the exposed tip of the rod with a custom access cover and insert a fluorescent orange sign to indicate the location is ready to be surveyed.

  The team of U.S. and British Army geodetic surveyors has successfully established another reference point along the road to reconstruction in Iraq, one of many in the first Iraqi Geospatial Reference System that identifies geospatial locations using names or numeric coordinates.

  Coalition and Iraqi engineers use the data collected by Iraqi Geospatial Reference System to create accurate maps of Iraq and safely rebuild the country’s roads, bridges and pipelines.

  “Establishing a geospatial reference system is the first and most crucial step to reconstructing Iraq,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Motaz Mostafa, noncommissioned officer-in-charge of one of six Multinational Corps-Iraq geodetic survey teams and assigned to the 175th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C.

  The joint coalition team began working on the project in April, which is modeled on the National Spatial Reference System in the United States.

  Geospatial reference systems have already proven to be quite effective in helping the United States and several other countries in Central and South America, Africa and Eastern Europe recover from natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. War-torn countries like Iraq require the same geospatial reconstruction, said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Kenneth Joyce, Iraqi Geospatial Reference System project leader assigned to the175th Engineer Company.

• The troops are working on Iraqi hospitals:
  

  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District estimates a Dec. 25 completion of a refurbishment and renovation project for the Najaf Maternity Hospital.

  Engineers report the $8.2 million project is 30 percent finished.

  The project began Oct. 25, 2004.

  Renovations include a new sewage system, a new boiler for heating, ceramic tiles throughout all of the renovated portions of the facility and a new residents’ office. A reverse osmosis water treatment plant for the hospital is finished and is ready to be turned over to the hospital. An incineration system is also in the works.

  Similar renovations continue at Najaf teaching hospital two kilometers away from the maternity hospital.

  The 266-bed hospital continues patient care even while renovations continue.

• More about the Maternity Hospital project here. And here's an update on the Teaching Hospital:
  

  From a bloody battlefield and one of the most dangerous places in Iraq to a safe, prosperous and growing community of over one-half million, the Najaf Teaching Hospital reflects the changes of the city of Najaf.

  One year ago on August 27 the battle for Najaf ended.

  A year ago the Najaf Teaching Hospital was closed. It had been looted and its medical equipment destroyed by the Sadr Militia who had used its eight floors as a military fortress. Its basement flooded, windows and walls riddled with bullet and mortar damage, to many in Najaf, the hospital looked hopeless.

  Now the hospital is open, seeing hundreds of patients per day and housing 80 in-patients. It is a training hospital for 200 medical students, 50 pharmacy students, and 100 resident doctors who are looking forward to improved and expanded services.

  This is a true success story brought about by a close partnership of Iraqi doctors and a U.S. team of doctors, engineers, project managers, contractors, and Soldiers and U.S Army Corps of Engineers civilians. When finished, the hospital will house a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, have computed tomography (CT) scan services, and have increased specialty surgical services including its first open heart surgical team.

  The hospital will employ 1,250 people, in an area where good jobs are hard to come by.

• The troops continue to fill in the gaps in medical care by conducting visits to locations with limited access to health care:
  

  U.S. soldiers from the 116th Brigade Combat Team’s Task Force 1-163 Infantry delivered much-needed medical care to the village of Husseinia, Iraq, Aug. 1.

  The medical assistance visit was done at the remote village because of the lack of availability of medical care. Many smaller villages in the western portion of Kirkuk Province are far from hospitals and medical clinics.

  “The visit was intended to be a mini-(medical assistance visit) but it turned out to be a full-blown (medical assistance visit),” said U.S. Army Capt. Jeff Westfall, the Task Force 1-163 Infantry officer. “We were expecting maybe 30 patients, but we ended up with over 100.”

  According to Task Force 1-163 Infantry, some villagers may not see health care professionals for years at a time, making it tough on the community and particularly the young. The task force also credits the success of the visit to the improved security provided by an ever-growing number of Iraqi security forces in the area.

• Here's a similar operation in Mosul: "More than 200 Iraqi children received medical screenings from Coalition Forces, with support from Iraqi Police, during an operation Aug. 5 in western Mosul. Soldiers and medics handed out soccer balls and hygiene products to the local children while they conducted the screenings. More than 1,000 children have received medical screenings during this and four similar operations over the last three weeks."
  


• The troops continue to support the reconstruction of the education system: "Approximately 18,000 Iraqi schoolchildren will sit in freshly refurbished schools when their new school year starts in about six weeks. Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced Aug. 6 that renovations of 43 schools in the northern and southern provinces are funded for repairs, and contracts have been awarded for the work. As part of the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund, over $1.3M was set aside to continue a nationwide school repair program that addresses rehabilitating sanitary facilities, electrical and mechanical systems, and structural repairs to schools in Karbala, Dahuk, Najaf, Basrah, and Qadisiyah."
  


• The 155th Brigade Combat Team, meanwhile, is doing a lot of community outreach, in addition to its important sucurity work:
  

  The 155th is attached to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force and operates in the Karbala, Najaf and Babil provinces of Iraq. Blanton said each unit in the brigade has adopted at least one school in its area of operations and the soldiers distribute school supplies, furniture, medicine and other goods.

  The unit's commander, Brig. Gen. Augustus Leon Collins, hopes a pen pal program the unit plans to facilitate for American and Iraqi children will offer a bridge between two diverse cultures.

  "I believe it is critical that we expand the horizons of not only Iraqi youth, but American youth as well," he said this past week in an e-mail to The AP. "If we are able to establish a campaign where our children are introduced to theirs, then we will remove the stigmas and bias and possibly develop a bond that will be much stronger than any military or diplomatic action."

  In the Karbala Province, members of the 2nd Battalion, 114th Field Artillery of the Mississippi National Guard, which is attached to the 155th, identified a substandard facility that housed orphaned girls.

  Lt. Col. Gary E. Huffman said the soldiers teamed with Iraqi security forces to rebuild the orphanage and delivered 50 beds and mattresses, bed linens, clothes and toys.

  "The work is continuous and through cooperation, mutual understanding, and robust work efforts Karbala will grow and achieve the success that the citizens and leadership seek," Huffman said.

  Collins said projects to rebuild schools and orphanages are imperative because "the future of this nation lies in its youth. What direction this country takes will be determined by them."

• It's not just the American troops. Australians have been making a positive contribution in the south of the country:
  

  Local forces being trained by Australian troops in southern Iraq were close to taking over responsibility for security in the area, the new head of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said...

  Air Chief Marshal Houston told the Herald Australian troops training Iraqi security forces in the province of Al Muthanna had been very successful and the Iraqis would be ready to take over responsibility for security for the entire province "in the not too distant future".

  He also praised another group of 50 Australian soldiers who had trained 750 Iraqi logisticians.

  The Australian soldiers in Iraq had an impressive ability to work with the Iraqis because they were "classically Australian", Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

  "It's really a very successful model for how successful you can be in training the Iraqis.

  "Our ability to engage them man to man - it was very much a male-dominated environment I have to say … It was classically Australian; we weren't carrying any baggage and we had established a very good relationship with them."

• Italian soldiers, meanwhile, are protecting Iraq's historical heritage:
  

  Italian troops stationed in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya, will provide 125,000 dollars for the restoration of the local museum which has been looted and vandalised since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. "Work will be carried out by an Iraqi company under the surpervision of the Italian military," the museum's director, Abd al-Amir al-Hamdani, told Adnkronos International (AKI).

  "Restoration will include the building's first floor, with seven separate exhibition halls, including prehistoric, Sumero-Babylonian, Assyric and Islamic sections, as well as exhibition space on the second floor and the museum's library and the administration offices," al-Hamdani explained.

  Italian police are holding a training course in Nasiriya for Iraqi guards who will be in charge of safeguarding their country's museums and archaelogical sites.

• Here's more of the Italian assistance: "The Italian contingent of Iraqi multinational forces, based in Dhi Qar region of Nasiriya in southern Iraq will supervise the construction of 60 desalinisation plants for the rural population. The project, financed by donor countries, is needed because of the increase in drinking water salt levels, explained Ali al-Dajili, an engineer coordinating the project between the Italian forces and the provincial council. Works will start in a month, he specified... The desalinisation plants, designed by Italian army's engineers, will be built in specific areas along the Euphrates river which will be determined by the provincial council."

<SECURITY:

• A new opinion poll has been conducted between July 12 and 17 in Baghdad, Basrah, Salah Ad-Din, Najaf, Diyala and Irbil, with more than 1,200 Iraqis participating:
  

  An overwhelming number of Iraqis say there is no justification for attacks on Iraqi civilians, Iraqi security forces or Iraqi public service infrastructure. A total of 94 percent of Iraqis say there is no excuse for attacks on Iraqi security forces, 97 percent say there is no justification for attacking civilians, and 97 percent are against attacks on infrastructure. The percentages slip when it comes to disapproval of violence against Iraqis working with the coalition and attacks against coalition personnel. A total of 81 percent of those polled are against attacks against Iraqis working with the coalition, with 12 percent saying there is justification for the attacks and 7 percent with no opinion.

• One negative of the poll: "Half of those polled said there was no excuse for attacks against coalition personnel, while 40 percent said there is a justification and 10 percent saying they don't know."
  

  Iraqis are proud of their security forces - a sea change from the way most regarded the forces under Saddam Hussein. The poll shows 75 percent of Iraqis say their security forces are winning the fight against anti-government forces. Iraqis regard the security forces as representing the nation and not just one group (77 percent), and 73 percent of those polled believe the Iraqi police and military work within the law and respect the rights of the people.

  Almost 80 percent of those surveyed said the sooner that Iraqi forces maintain security, the sooner coalition forces can leave.

  The poll showed some Iraqi misperceptions, officials said. A total of 64 percent of those surveyed said anti-government forces come mostly from other countries. Coalition officials said most anti-government terrorists are Iraqis.

  Finally, 62 percent of the Iraqis surveyed said the security situation in Iraq has gotten "much better" ( 16 percent ) or "somewhat better" ( 46 percent ) in the past three months. Twenty percent of those surveyed said the security situation was "somewhat worse" and 14 percent said the security situation was "much worse" than three months ago.

• Western Iraq has seen more "red on red" violence:
  

  Rising up against insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, Iraqi Sunni Muslims in Ramadi fought with grenade launchers and automatic weapons Saturday to defend their Shiite neighbors against a bid to drive them from the western city, Sunni leaders and Shiite residents said. The fighting came as the U.S. military announced the deaths of six American soldiers.

  Dozens of Sunni members of the Dulaimi tribe established cordons around Shiite homes, and Sunni men battled followers of Zarqawi, a Jordanian, for an hour Saturday morning. The clashes killed five of Zarqawi's guerrillas and two tribal fighters, residents and hospital workers said. Zarqawi loyalists pulled out of two contested neighborhoods in pickup trucks stripped of license plates, witnesses said.

  The leaders of four of Iraq's Sunni tribes had rallied their fighters in response to warnings posted in mosques by followers of Zarqawi. The postings ordered Ramadi's roughly 3,000 Shiites to leave the city of more than 200,000 in the area called the Sunni Triangle. The order to leave within 48 hours came in retaliation for alleged expulsions by Shiite militias of Sunnis living in predominantly Shiite southern Iraq.

  "We have had enough of his nonsense," said Sheik Ahmad Khanjar, leader of the Albu Ali clan, referring to Zarqawi. "We don't accept that a non-Iraqi should try to enforce his control over Iraqis, regardless of their sect -- whether Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs or Kurds."

• Iraqi authorities are at the moment holding 281 foreign nationals in connection with terrorist activities: "In a press conference, [Leith Kabba, spokesman for the Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Ja'fari] said, 'Until now, the number of foreign detainees involved in charges that are related, in a way or another to terrorism, is 281.' Kabba pointed out, 'They are from Egypt (80), Syria (64), Sudan (41), Saudi Arabia (22), Jordan (17), Libya (7), Palestine (10), Algeria (7), Tunisia (6), Turkey (4), Iran (12), Qatar (2), and Britain (1), in addition to other countries. He added, "Most of the reporting about those came on behalf of citizens'."
  


• Baghdad's Sadr City is now safer and better:
  

  Patrols by U.S. and Iraqi Army Soldiers have resulted in safer streets for the citizens of Sadr City.

  The once hotly-contested area is now patrolled by troops from B Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

  On July 28 the Soldiers performed a neighborhood patrol designed to allow the Soldiers to become acquainted with their new neighborhood.

  “It’s a lot of work, getting to know a new sector – we gather intel on terrorist operations, assess how receptive the locals are to our presence and develop informants,” said 1st Lt. Jason Schwab, platoon leader. “We try and impress upon them that it’s in their best interests to help us, because the people who kidnap and extort them are the same ones planting bombs in the roads.”

  During the patrol, Schwab stopped at the Al-Kanasa Police Station and spoke with a warrant officer about the neighborhood.

  “The people we talk to in the neighborhood have been pretty helpful and want things to get better in Sadr,” said Sgt. Lee Minyard. “They’re starting to realize we’re here to help them.”

  Minyard pulled security throughout the patrol, which took the dismounted infantrymen through the streets and alleys of Sadr.

  “We tell people that it’s up to them to make a difference in their communities,” said Staff Sgt. Christopher Brisley, section leader. “They’re so used to relying on one leader to make all the decisions, but they’re gradually taking the initiative.”

• And so is the once infamous Haifa Street, thanks to the Iraqi security forces now in control of the area:
  

  Soldiers called it the "Street of Death" and "Purple Heart Boulevard," a 3-mile-long residential corridor in central Baghdad that had become a shooting gallery for insurgents. In 2004 alone, Haifa Street, once a coveted address for the middle class, was the bloody site of more than 400 attacks on American and Iraqi security forces. Many residents on the most troubled blocks fled their homes, some of which were promptly commandeered as rebel sniper roosts.

  An American-Iraqi military campaign begun last year to retake the street seemed to bear fruit as insurgents were captured, killed or driven out of the area. And on Feb. 6 the American command handed over a cut of north-central Baghdad, including Haifa Street, to the 1st Brigade, 6th Division, of the Iraqi army. This transfer made the 1st Brigade the first and only Iraqi army unit to have control of its own battle space and put it on the leading edge of the Bush administration's plan to have Iraqi forces take responsibility for the country's security.

  The good news for American officials, in a war where territorial gains have been elusive, is that the Iraqi troops have not lost ground on Haifa Street. Since the 1st Brigade took control, there have been only three terrorist attacks along the street, and those came in the first three weeks, commanders say.

• Italians, meanwhile, are finding that there has been a great improvement in security situation around Nasiriyah:
  

  The Italians have overseen about $50 million worth of projects in Dhi Qar province, most of them related to water or medical services because the hospital is one of the most important in southern Iraq.

  The lesson from Nasiriyah, [Lt. Col. Danico] Presta and [Capt. Fabio] Pacelli said, is that things can change for the better in Iraq, and can seem to do so all at once. The improvement happens when security is good enough that reconstruction can take root and the people can see improvement in their life. That begets more cooperation, and more willingness to turn in spoilers and therefore even more security. It's a formula that is being attempted all across Iraq with varying levels of success.

  Iraq's reconstruction is not progressing on a linear path. It is a delicate balance that once achieved and allowed to mature, can yield results. The trick is lining up all the components.

  One of the unique components in Dhi Qar was the establishment two months ago of a 17-member reconstruction committee separate from the political leaders in the province. The committee comprises university professors, health care professionals, sheiks and engineers. No improvement project is undertaken without the permission of the council, which sets the priorities. Presta believes that sense of local control is a key to success.

• Generally in the south of the country:
  

  The British Royal Marine in charge of coalition operations in southeastern Iraq is optimistic about ongoing efforts there to train Iraqi army and police forces to eventually assume security duties.

  "We have been able to force ahead with the main effort, which is security sector reform," Maj. Gen. Jim Dutton, commander of Multinational Division Southeast, told Pentagon reporters via a video link from Basra.

  Dutton's 13,000-plus-troop multinational command is made up of 7,900 British troops, 3,000 Italians, 640 Australians, 622 Romanians, 562 Japanese, 388 Danes, 97 Czechs, 33 Lithuanians, five Norwegians, and two Portuguese.

  Those troops, along with Iraqi army and police forces, are charged with providing security for four southeastern Iraqi provinces, which make up an area half the size of Great Britain. Dutton's area of operations contains the cities of Nasiriyah, Basrah, and Umm Qasr, Iraq's only deep-water port...

  The general said he remains "confident that southeastern Iraq will continue to develop."

  "There is a real enthusiasm here for the democratic process, and there was a very high turnout" for the January 2005 election, he said.

  Dutton said there is "no shortage of volunteers" who want to join the new Iraqi army, noting there are now about 5,500 Iraqi soldiers in his sector. That number is expected to increase to 9,000 soldiers next year, he said.

  The new Iraqi police are receiving good training at academies in Jordan or Baghdad, Dutton said. There are about 25,000 police in southeastern Iraq, he said, more than 14,000 of whom have received training.

• And security is also improving in the north-western Ninweh province:
  

  Progress is evident in that more than 60 election registrations sites have opened on time. That has been possible through the combined efforts and partnership of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, provincial governments and Iraqi security forces, [Army Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of Multinational Force Northwest and Task Force Freedom] said.

  Gains also are being made despite the insurgents' ongoing attempts to accomplish their objective of "destroying the Iraqi nation and the people," he said. Since the election held in January, for example, 62 mid- to high-level terrorist leaders have been captured or killed in Nineveh province alone, including 44 since early May...

  Insurgents' attempts to use improvised explosive devices to their advantage also have been reduced, Rodriguez said. Over the last three months the number and effectiveness of insurgent IEDs is down by about 20 percent, he noted. The general attributes this to Iraqi and coalition forces' better operations conduct, disruption of insurgent senior leadership, less complex IED devices and more local tips. The seizing of several large caches of bomb-making materials also has contributed to that decrease.

• Najaf province, meanwhile, is reporting a 90 per cent decline in crime over the July and August period.
  


• The "Iraqization" of security will be the key to the future of the country - and to the Coalition withdrawal. To that end, training of Iraqi army and police continues. Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, recently spoke about the successes - and challenges - of training Iraqi troops:
  

  "I believe that Iraqis will save Iraq," he told CNN in an interview and said the United States has helped Iraqis help themselves.

  "I think that over the course of the past 15 months or so there has been enormous progress in doing just that," he said.

  He said Iraqis and the Americans need to work together.

  "There's a great deal still to be done," he said, "and it is a long-term endeavor that will require persistence, patience and resilience because the enemy is going to do everything that he can over the next several months to derail the constitutional process and then derail the elections in mid-December."

  Petraeus has said more than 110 Iraqi police and army combat battalions are "in the fight" -- a total of 178,000 trained and equipped forces -- a vast increase since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

  Pentagon officials, quoted in an August news article on the Defense Department Web site, said "this time last year, only one battalion was trained and equipped well enough to assist coalition forces."

  While $2 billion has been invested in bolstering Iraqi security force infrastructure, more needs to be done, Petraeus said, such as establishing logistics and combat service capabilities and building an air force.

• First batch of Iraqi soldiers has finished their training in Great Britain:
  

  The first Iraqi soldiers to be trained for the country's new security force by the British Army in the UK have taken part in a passing-out parade.

  Thirty-five National Guardsmen spent the last three months at the Infantry Battle School in Brecon, mid Wales.

  They have been trained in military planning and strategy in the hope that Iraqis will eventually take over the Allies' peacekeeping role.

  The guardsmen will start to instruct other Iraqi recruits on their return.

  The course, based around British Army junior leadership training, took place in both Arabic and English and was said to be tailored for the demands of working in Iraq.

• More courses are on the way. See also this profile:
  

  Under Saddam Hussein's regime, Durgar Jassim was a member of the Republican Guard's 10th Armoured Division, which fought against the British south of Baghdad. Yesterday, two years later, he was on the parade ground with his former enemy as one of 35 junior officers and non-commissioned officers from the Iraqi army who had completed a training course at the Infantry Battle School in Brecon, central Wales.

  Capt Jassim, 29, a soldier for 12 years, said that training with men he had once fought was not a problem. "We are not political persons; we are military professionals," he said through an interpreter.

  The newly-qualified instructors, who marched to Arabic commands at their passing-out parade, will return to Baghdad at the weekend to train the new generation of security forces.

• And a young Iraqi officer, who for security reasons chose to remain anonymous as Officer Mohammed, received the Overseas Sword, the award for the outstanding foreign cadet at Britain's Sandhurst military academy.
  


• There is also training of trainers: "In Taji, Iraqi soldiers completed a Strategic Infrastructure Battalion "train-the-trainer" course. The 90 graduates will go on to serve as instructors at an Iraqi Army training base. A class of future Iraqi army noncommissioned officers graduated from their primary leadership development course on Aug. 15 in Tikrit. Iraqi army unit training also included combat lifesaving, staff training, computer skills and weapons training."
  


• In other training firsts: "The 1st Iraqi Army Brigade implemented Iraq's first noncommissioned officers academy this week. Iraqi soldiers from the most recent class were the last group to be instructed by the U.S. soldiers who had developed the training. During Saddam's regime, an NCO corps did not exist in the Iraqi army. The class will now be taught by NCOs from the 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, who assisted earlier courses."
  


• Iraqi air force is also rebuilding:
  

  Now the site, 375 km southeast of Baghdad and once Saddam Hussein's centre of air operations against Iran during the 1980-1988 war - is home to Air Force Squadron 23 and its three C-130 Hercules transport planes.

  The US-donated planes are the backbone of Iraq's new air force, which also includes a dozen light reconaissance planes and another dozen helicopters spread across the country. Officials are vague on numbers for security reasons.

  Currently, 109 Iraqi students - all air force veterans with years of experience - are learning how to maintain and fly the Hercules fleet. The youngest trainee is 30. Others appear twice that age.

• In police news, "the Iraqi Police Service graduated 239 police officers from advanced and specialty courses at the Adnan Training Facility August 18, according to the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team."
  


• Fresh from training, more and more Iraqi security forces are coming onboard and taking on responsibilities around the country. One of the new Iraqi units has been making a difference in north-western Iraq:
  

  The U.S. military has achieved major success in developing and training an Iraq Army battalion.

  U.S. officials said the success in the training and deployment of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Brigade was demonstrated in operations in the Mosul area. The reconstituted battalion, part of the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, has operated its own personnel, intelligence and logistics sections.

  "This battalion is undoubtedly one of the best in Tall Afar," Capt. Greg Mitchell, a U.S. company commander, said. "It can maneuver on its own without American support. If it's going to take control of the city, they'll require more training and assistance, but they've made great progress."

  The success of the battalion was cited for the unraveling of the Al Qaida network led by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. Since May 2005, Iraqi forces such as the 1st Battalion have played a major role in capturing senior Al Qaida commanders in the Mosul area.

• Iraqi Navy is also slowly starting to make a difference: "The Iraqi Coast Guard had a busy and successful month of operations in July, according to their monthly operational reporting to the Ministry of Interior. According to the report, the Iraqi Coast Guard searched 183 barges and vessels in July, with 11 of these searches resulting in the discovery of illegal documentation. In addition, 60 tons of illegal fuel were confiscated along with AK-47 automatic rifles, ammunition and fuel pumps. Six people were detained during the operations."
  


• Overall, by mid-August, 100 per cent of the brigade level operations in Iraq were conducted jointly by the Coalition and the Iraqi forces.
  


• And another first in the south: "Coalition forces turned over Camp Zulu in As Suwayrah, Iraq, to the Iraqi Army Aug. 21. This is the first coalition forces camp within the Multi-National Division Central’s South area of responsibility to be turned over to Iraq’s 8th Division. The division’s 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade will be permanently housed there." American forces have also withdrawn from two bases in Najaf area.
  


• Security infrastructure continues to be created, like these facilities for the police: "Construction started on a Police Facilities project in the Samarra District of Salah Ad Din Province. This 250-officer station in the northeast part of Samarra, which is a $4.3M investment, will provide a presence in the city to help stabilize law and order. The contractor employs 25 Iraqi workers, and the project is scheduled for completion in November."
  


• There is more: "A patrol station in the Karkh district of Baghdad province was completed, as was a $390,300 border-post project on the Saudi Arabian border. A division headquarters building for the Iraqi Army in Salah Ad Din province was also completed this week. The $7 million project includes a single-story building with a concrete roof and interior office space to accommodate the unit. Additionally, a $2 million firing range in Taji was completed this week."
  


• Read also about the work of the 94th Engineer Battalion which has been doing much work on upgrading security infrastructure around Mosul and in the western Iraq.
  


• There is also smaller scale assistance: "The Coalition's Multi-National Division Central-South (MND CS) gave seven cars to Iraqi Police in the southern city of Ad Diwaniyah August 16. The MND CS Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) team made the transfer possible."
  


• In stories of security cooperation from the locals:
  


• "Local citizens in the city of Hit gave Iraqi soldiers the location of an IED that they said three anti-Iraq force operatives had planted earlier in the day {August 9]";
  


• ”Iraqi soldiers were led to a weapons cache in Fallujah while on a dismounted security patrol Aug. 10. Soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, located followed instructions to the cache from a local Iraqi. The cache consisted of four rocket-propelled grenade launchers, three machine guns, 22 RPG rounds, one rocket, two rifle grenades, RPG fin assemblies, one bag of ammunition, one can of .303 ball/tracer mix, one can of armor piercing/tracer mix, one timing device and one battery. They detained three suspected insurgents";
  


• Thanks to information from local residents, ten suspects were arrested and three weapons caches seized by Task Force Baghdad soldiers on August 13;
  


• On August 14, three insurgents were arrested and weapons confiscated in the town of Hit by Iraqi soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, and U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, following a tip from a local citizen;
  


• "Based on two separate tips from Iraqis, coalition forces discovered weapons caches that contained rocket-propelled grenades and two launchers, 16 mortar rounds and a launcher, and five boxes of anti-aircraft ammunition hidden in northwest Baghdad. Another tip led coalition forces to a large cache of artillery shells in the early hours of Aug. 16. The shells apparently were intended for use as improvised explosive devices. The 25 to 30 individual rounds, located inside a building within Anbar province, were destroyed after security forces confirmed there was no one in the building. After a local Iraqi identified his neighbors as insurgents, Iraqi soldiers and coalition forces conducted a joint cordon-and-search operation in northwest Fallujah and detained two suspects";
  


• "Coalition forces captured a known Al Qaeda-in-Iraq member, two suspected terrorists and destroyed a terrorist sanctuary, weapons and equipment near Al Asad Aug. 23. Acting on tips from local Iraqis, Coalition forces raided the hide-out and confirmed that the location was being used by the terrorist to facilitate weapons and vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) operations. After he was captured, the Al Qaeda-in-Iraq member provided information about related terrorist activity in the area. Based upon this information, Coalition forces captured two suspected terrorists. Coalition forces also captured and destroyed a VBIED and two weapons caches consisting of mortars, rockets and rocket propelled grenades".
  


• In other recent security successes:
  


• Several roadside bombs discovered and disarmed by Iraqi troops throughout the country on August 9 and 10; in Balad, Baqubah, Raway and Tikrit; more details here;
  


• "Several suspected terrorists were detained and numerous weapons caches were seized in military operations west of Balad Aug. 10... During raids of suspected terrorist safe houses in Salah Ad Din province, Task Force Liberty soldiers detained one individual and uncovered three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, nine RPG rounds, a mortar tripod, several rifles and two hand grenades. About 20 pounds of bulk explosives were also found at the site. In other action, after taking small-arms fire, task force soldiers returned fire, killing one insurgent and wounding another during a raid in Ad Duluiyah. The task force also detained six individuals and confiscated several rifles, a bulletproof vest, two RPGs, seven RPG rounds, multiple grenades and a 130 mm projectile";
  


• "Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers squelched a terrorist attack on a patrol base in southwest Baghdad Aug. 11 when terrorists fired five rocket-propelled grenade rounds at the base, along with 10 minutes of rifle fire. A patrol consisting of Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers set out in the direction of the attack and captured six of the attackers and a weapons cache of two RPGs and three rifles with ammunition hidden nearby";
  


• Muhammad Salah Sultan, also known as Abu Zubair, an aide to Al Zarqawi, killed in Mosul on 12 August; more here;
  


• "Task Force Baghdad soldiers... thwarted attacks and captured suspects Aug. 12. Three separate combat operations in northern and southern Baghdad resulted in the capture of six terror suspects and the seizure of a car bomb before terrorists could use it";
  


• The raid in Mosul on 12 August, which discovered an insurgent facility containing 1500 gallons of 11 different chemical substances;
  


• In Abayachi and Fallujah, "Iraqi Army soldiers detained several suspected insurgents and seized weapons during operations on Aug. 13";
  


• Task Force Baghdad soldiers prevented three car bomb attacks in a space of five hours in southern Baghdad on August 13; they also captured ten suspects and recovered two weapons caches;
  


• "In northern Iraq, Task Force Freedom detained 21 terrorist suspects in Mosul Aug. 13-14 in several separate operations by Multi-National Forces and Iraqi Security Forces";
  


• On August 14, Iraqi and American troops in Hit disarmed a roadside bomb, located an arms cache in Mosul, and found more weapons and arrested eight suspects in Baghdad;
  


• "Five large improvised explosive devices on major Baghdad highways were identified by Task Force Baghdad Soldiers Aug. 14 and then safely destroyed before they could hurt anyone";
  


• In mid August, "Iraqi Police Service officers in the New Baghdad district conducted a variety of operations, including raids involving over 450 officers. Police confiscated 30 AK-47 rifles, two hand guns and a machine gun during the raids. They also arrested 30 suspected terrorists, three of whom were targeted in the raids";
  


• On August 16, "Thi Qar province police announced that they foiled a plan to blow up the electricity station of Nasiriya in southern Iraq, which is the second biggest station in Iraq. The police found Katiosha rockets pointed at the station and they defused them seconds before they were to launch";
  


• Weapons cache discovered by Iraqi troops under a vehicle in Rawah; "The cache contained two light machine guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition, nine AK-47 rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition, a NATO machine gun and 200 rounds of ammunition, four concussion grenades, one fragmentary grenade without fuses, and various other ammunition";
  


• "Iraqi soldiers and coalition Special Forces advisers killed three terrorists in a combined raid on a kidnapping cell southeast of Fallujah on Aug. 19... Soldiers found numerous weapons and bomb-making materials in the house";
  


• "Task Force Liberty Soldiers stopped a pair of improvised explosive device attacks and detained four individuals in north-central Iraq Aug. 20. Soldiers in a combat logistics patrol near Balad Ruz observed two adults and a child digging a hole for an IED at about 6:15 p.m. The three individuals were detained and Soldiers seized the IED. The two adults were taken to a Coalition Forces base for questioning and the child was released to his family. The IED consisted of two 130mm artillery rounds and was destroyed. Later, a combat patrol near Tikrit caught two individuals digging near a previous IED blast hole at 7:30 p.m. and took the suspects in for questioning";
  


• The arrest by the Kurdish authorities of 11 members of an Ansar al Islam terrorist cell plotting the assassination of the Kurdish leader Mas'ud Al Barzani;
  


• All in one day's work on August 21: six suspects captured and weapons confiscated in Haditha, two roadside bombs and a weapons cache found in Hawija and Mugdadiyah, three other roadside bombs defused by Iraqi forces throughout the country, three weapons caches retrieved in Samarra, three suspects captured in Rawah and another nine in the north, eight captured in Khalidiyah together with bomb making equipment, and nine other suspects arrested throughout the country by Iraqi forces;
  


• "Iraqi police were inspecting a truck hauling ice in the New Baghdad area when officers uncovered 20 rockets concealed beneath the ice. The rockets were intended for an attack against a government ministry... In other developments, Iraqi police officers on patrol discovered 32 mortar rounds and 20 rockets in two separate incidents in Baghdad Aug. 21".

One day, Maj Leahy might open a newspaper and not get frustrated – but until such time he, and his family and friends, will have to keep on reading “The Opinion Journal”.

« ok, I'm done now

SOCIETY:

• With the constitutional process underway, and another election on the horizon, there are growing efforts by the Sunni leadership to make sure that this time their community does participate in the political process:
  

  Sunni preachers have called on Iraq's Sunni Arabs to take part in upcoming elections, signalling a possible new trend towards joining a Shi'ite dominated political process that Sunni insurgents have rejected...

  "It is a duty for all those here to take part in the upcoming elections so that we are not politically marginalised," imam Abdul-Sattar al-Jumaili told a crowd of some 600 people in Falluja, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.

  "I call upon you to register your names in Falluja and other cities. You should not feel awkward about voting since you will be helping to remove the occupiers and embarrass those who benefited from the last election," he told a packed mosque.

  Many prominent Sunnis have said the January boycott was a mistake since it limited their ability to influence the future shape of the country, now run by a Shi'ite-led government...

  A message similar to that in Falluja was delivered at the "mother of all battles" mosque in Baghdad.

  "We have to be engaged with our brothers in this country by a calm dialogue," imam Mahmoud al-Sumaida'i told a congregation at Friday prayers in the large shrine.

  "Therefore let us all participate in this dialogue in order to rebuild Iraq."

• Iraq the Model blog has more on this topic.
  


• More broadly, public participation in the constitutional process has been encouraging:
  

  Nearly a quarter of a million Iraqis of all ethnic and religious groups have taken part in meetings to help draft their country's new constitution, despite security challenges and problematic day-to-day living conditions, a preliminary United Nations report issued today said.

  "This is nothing short of extraordinary when difficult living, transportation and communication facilities are exacerbated by an equally demanding security situation," it said of the schedule of meetings during the run-up to the 15 August deadline to complete the draft.

  Tallying the participation so far at more than 220,000 people, the report said: "The United Nations salutes the bravery of Iraqis who have often risked their lives in order to contribute to the constitutional process"...

  The highlights included radio and television debates. a conference of 1,500 Imams and a forum of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which had distributed questionnaires on federalism, Shari'a law and women's rights. In these venues members of the CDC and the Transitional National Assembly listened to people's views, the report said.

  "Women's groups have been particularly active, with literally dozens of conferences demonstrating that, although they have a great variety of views, Iraqi women have a common aspiration to increase their level of participation in politics," it said.

  In the last several weeks, addressing "important gaps in the activity," the CDC also met with some 20,000 participants in the north-eastern Anbar, Ninevah and Saleh al-Din governorates, where there had been "a hunger for information," it said.

• Meanwhile, free media continues to grow. Iraq's first independent news agency is launched:
  

  The Reuters Foundation has launched what it claims is Iraq's first "independent and commercially viable" news agency.
  Last year the Foundation, a charity funded by Reuters, established an online "news exchange" called www.aswataliraq.info (Voices of Iraq) as a way for Iraq freelances to share stories.
  
  With funding from the United Nations Development Programme and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation this has now been developed into a news agency run and staffed by Iraqi journalists with reporters in each of the country's 18 regional government areas.
  
  So far Reuters Foundation has provided training for over 50 Iraqi journalists contributing to Voices of Iraq.
  
  Reuters editor-in-chief Geert Linnebank said: "The development of a robust, independent and reliable media industry in Iraq is of fundamental importance to the world's understanding of this nation and its people.
  
  "This new agency, the first of its kind in Iraq's history, will have a profound effect on how this country's story is told. Staffed and run by local journalists reporting on their own people and governments, I am sure it will become an indispensable source which will provide a much fuller picture than we have today of the key issues and events really driving this country's development."

• In early August, Iraqis have also officially taken over the International Press Center in Baghdad:
  

  The IPC, opened last year by Ambassador Paul Bremer, then head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, gave Iraq’s media a major boost. The state-of-the-art facility was unlike anything else available to the media in the entire region. But it became just another good news story that received little attention from Western media outlets.

  At the IPC, Iraqi journalists were trained in common media practices, taught how to set up and use e-mail accounts and instructed in using the Internet to conduct research. With access to newsmakers, high-speed Internet and satellite news channels, the IPC quickly became the everyday workplace of many Iraqi journalists, as well as journalists from around the world...

  In the year since the Coalition Provision Authority ceased existence, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has run the IPC. Now the Iraqis are taking charge. It’s critical they keep it working at full efficiency, since a free press will be a major contributor to democracy in Iraq.

  Luckily, the Americans are leaving major upgrades to the facility, upgrades that will provide journalists with the tools they need in the months and years ahead. Already the most advanced in the region, the IPC has recently received new equipment that will keep the facility on the cutting edge. In addition to new desks and chairs, 20 new desktop computers are on hand. These new computers provide more than 30 workstations for journalists in Iraq.

  Additional new equipment includes 30 English-learning programs with headsets, an LCD projector, a scanner, a color copier, dozens of memory sticks, hundreds of blank CDs and floppy discs, CD writers and dozens of computer programs. This new equipment joins the satellite dishes, TVs, laser printers, copier, computers, refrigerators and other high-tech gadgets already being used by journalists.

  An additional 30 laptop computers will be given to some of the pioneering Iraqi journalists who have been using the facility since the day it opened. These new laptops will bring the journalists up to speed with their counterparts in the Western world and give them the mobility to cover stories wherever the news takes them.

• And a radio station is courageously giving voice to Iraqi women:
  

  Three years ago, Majda Jabouri earned a small living as a housekeeper, the only job she could find after being imprisoned because of her family’s opposition to the regime of then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Today, she hosts a popular daily call-in show on Radio Almahaba, Iraq’s only station dedicated to women’s issues, called “Cup of Tea.” Most episodes are devoted to relationships, parenting, and other topics that would be familiar to any “Oprah” viewer. The show is also a product of its environment: a recent episode dealt with women’s feelings of jealousy and powerlessness when their husbands take second wives.

• The station has been created with help from an American humanitarian:
  

  The station was founded by Deborah Bowers, an American humanitarian worker whose interest in Iraq was sparked by her experiences helping Iraqi war refugees adjust to life in upstate New York in the early 1990s. In 1995, Ms. Bowers and one of the refugees she had befriended, Steve Sharrif, created Opportunities for Kids International Inc., a relief agency devoted to Iraqi children. It has since sent medical supplies and thousands of pairs of children’s shoes to the country.

  Ms. Bowers, 50 years old, says that the idea for the station began with her Iraqi staffers, who saw Mr. Hussein’s ouster by U.S.-led forces as an opportunity to dramatically improve the legal and political standing of Iraqi women. Although Mr. Hussein’s government had been nominally secular, women had numerous restrictions on their daily lives, including an inability to leave the country without being accompanied by a spouse or male relative.

  Ms. Bowers developed a grant proposal for the station and presented it to the United Nations Development Fund for Women, which supports private initiatives around the world devoted to gender equality and women’s rights. The U.N. agency ultimately gave her $500,000, which allowed the nascent station to purchase broadcasting and recording equipment and rent office space near the heavily fortified Palestine Hotel here. Employees chose the name Almahaba, and it began broadcasting to Baghdad and the surrounding area in March.

• Now the station is actively campaigning for women's rights.

ECONOMY:

• Iraqi economy - a risky environment, but nevertheless plenty of opportunities:
  

  The conflict in Iraq has proved to be a challenging prospect for the international business community. Despite the passing of two years since the end of major hostilities, the security situation remains precarious for many parts of the country. However, business opportunities are still massive for those willing to take a chance, says a study by a UK expert.

  Iraq's potential to become the largest market in the Middle East is well known, but there is a case for arguing that in recent months the incentive for potential investors has not been matched by innovation in methods of accessing the Iraqi market, says Patrick Forbes, head of external relations at the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce, in his report "Assessment of the Business Climate in Iraq".

  The latest trade figures show that UK exports to Iraq increasing 100 per cent in the first quarter of 2005 over the first quarter of 2004. However, this total is a mere £47.3 million [$85.2 million], which amounts to a drop in the ocean when compared with the volume of British exports to the UAE for the same period: £1.025 billion [$1.8 billion], he says.

  Despite the risks facing any businessman interested in working in Iraq, there can be no doubting the opportunities that exist to make healthy profits, across the board of sectors. With proven reserves of over 115 billion barrels - third in the world after Saudi Arabia and Iran - and yet only 1.9 million bbl/d being extracted in March 2005, the scope for activity in this field is well documented. With the Ministry for Oil announcing its intention to issue new tenders in the last quarter for contracts to develop 11 southern oilfields the oil sector will be a growth area for the Iraqi economy.

  With the electricity, water purification, and power generation sectors still needing considerable efforts to recover to pre-war levels, there will be room for anyone seeking to play a role in repairing essential services. In addition, the construction, finance, education, IT and telecommunications, and insurance sectors are undergoing efforts at regeneration, said the report.

• USAID is assisting Iraqi banking sector and government's financial administration:
  

  - In a critical milestone for Iraqi debt renegotiation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) accepted Iraq’s Monetary Survey. This survey is the culmination of two months of work with Central Bank of Iraq Research and Statistics staff and will be used to support negotiations relating to the IMF Standby Facility for Iraq...

  - USAID representatives completed a two-part course for tax officials from northern Iraq on providing training on the new Corporate Income Tax Return...

  - Sixteen Ministry of Planning and Development staff completed an Advanced Capital Budgeting Workshop...

  - To harmonize banking standards throughout Iraq, USAID is working with bank officials to develop guidelines for credit policies and procedures for commercial banks on lending activities and credit files.

• But it's not just an economic input from USAID: "With the full support of Iraqi counterparts, USAID’s economic advisors are working to create a social safety net to reduce poverty, child labor and social exclusion through cash transfers to poor families and dependant people. Advisors recently delivered an action plan which outlines a social safety net and a sustainable pension plan, by registering employees, accurate data collection for contributors and contributions, and effective control mechanisms. The economic advisors are also actively engaged with Iraqi counterparts to reform the pension structure so that it meets the needs of future Iraqi private sector labor growth."
  


• A bold new reform plan is aiming to improve the crisis situation in housing:
  

  A proposal has been drafted by Iraq’s Ministry of Housing & Construction that would provide investors land in Iraq on a long term lease basis or at rates well below market level.

  During this week’s Iraq Development Program summit in Amman, Iraqi Deputy Minister of Housing & Construction Thaner Al-Feely and Program Director John Glassey confirmed that three million housing units are needed in Iraq and that only 10,000 units are currently available.

  Feely was recently appointed chairman of investment in order to attract foreign direct investment into the country. Currently 70 per cent of property cost in Iraq is the cost of land. The return rate profit margin is expected to be at around 25 per cent, none of which will be taxed.

  All foreign direct investment will be insured through the American Export-Import Bank.

  The Iraqi Ministry of Housing & Construction is keen to set up a property system like that of the United Kingdom, which is based on a highly competitive building society market.

  In order to fulfil this objective, Mr Glassey will produce a white paper for the ministry to propose a high level meeting between the ministry, the international investment community, international property development investors, Iraqi builders and contractors, banks and building societies.

• Read all about this manufacturing success story in the middle of the insurgent territory:
  

  Despite the upsurge in violence and mounting insecurity, a state enterprise in the restive Diyala province is doing roaring business.

  The northeast province, of which Baquba is the capital, is a major insurgent stronghold in the country. Car and roadside bomb attacks occur almost on a daily basis.

  But the escalating violence does not seem to have thwarted the ambitions of managers and workers at the Diyala Company for Electrical Industries to boost production.

  The company has recently signed a 19 billion-dinar contract (approx. $140 million) to supply the ministries of oil, industry and communications with electrical transformers and meters as well as fiber optic cables.

  “Within (current) efforts to reconstruct Iraq, the company has signed a 19.4 billion-dinar contract with the sectors of electricity, oil and communications,” a company statement faxed to the newspaper said.

  The Diyala company is one of 45 such production enterprises in Iraq whose revenue with proper investment rehabilitation is projected to hit more than $300 million in 2006.

• Up north, meanwhile, Suleymaniyah revives, thanks in part to the efforts of one man:
  

  He is one of the wealthiest men in Kurdistan, if not the whole of Iraq, and he has a mission: to open the country to business.

  Faruk Mustafa Rasool, the chairman of mobile phone company Asiacell, the fastest growing of Iraq's three main operators, comes across as a modest man with a modest head office in Sulaimaniya. There is nothing modest about his ambitions, however.

  Besides the phone company, into which he and partners such as Kuwaiti telecoms group Wataniya have ploughed $300 million since 1999, he has deals for two cement factories, a steel plant and a 28-storey five-star hotel in this booming city.

  He is also thinking about cultural projects, apartment complexes, satellite broadcasting, wireless technology and computer training centres -- the sorts of things that no one associates with the violence tearing Iraq apart.

  However, if it can happen anywhere in Iraq right now, it can happen in Sulaimaniya, a city of about 700,000 inhabitants set in the mountains of the autonomous, northern Kurdish region, an attractive spot rapidly becoming a thriving business hub.

  "Investment goes hand-in-hand with security and political stability, and here in Sulaimaniya we have both," Rasool told Reuters in an interview at his Asiacell headquarters, a low-rise blue-glass building in a small shopping centre.

  "Sulaimaniya is going to become one of the most developed cities in the Middle East within a few years -- it will be Iraq's link to the outside world," he says with quiet confidence, a thick gold watch glinting on his wrist.

• As the report notes, "Capital from the Gulf, Turkey, Lebanon and China is flooding in, while the Kurdish regional government, local investors and international donors have also injected funds. The total is in billions of dollars, according to Sulaimaniya's investment projects office, and it takes only a quick trip around the city to believe it, with huge construction sites buzzing with activity in every direction."
  


• Suleymaniyah's prosperity is providing an increasing pull on the rest of Iraq:
  

  Each morning before dawn, hundreds of Arabs from southern Iraq gather near a mosque in this northern Kurdish city hoping to find work on one of scores of construction sites dotting the landscape.

  What began 18 months ago as a trickle of poor, unemployed young men moving north to find work and escape violence in predominantly Arab areas has now turned into a rapid stream.

  And it's no longer just the poor and jobless fleeing.

  Professionals -- including doctors, engineers and teachers -- are following them, desperate to escape the chaos tearing cities such as Baghdad, Basra, Baquba and Hilla apart.

  "I came here for safety, and for my family," says Dr Ali Alwan, 40, an eye specialist who moved from the southern city of Basra to Sulaimaniya in late 2003 and has since encouraged dozens of former colleagues to follow him.

  "Here it is a wonderful life. The children are in school, my wife is happy and there is good work," he says. "I don't think I will ever return to Basra."

  Around 25 eye specialists alone have since taken the same route out of Basra, he says. At the Razgari out-patient clinic in Sulaimaniya, eight of the 13 doctors are Arabs who arrived in the past two years, according to director Khalil Ibrahim Mohammed.

  Young trainees, desperately needed in places like Baghdad and Basra where hospitals are understaffed and overworked, are also getting out. At Sulaimaniya's teaching hospital, 20 of this year's interns -- the majority -- are from Basra.

  "Here things are normal, we are a normal hospital," says Karzan Sirwan, a Kurdish surgeon at the hospital. "I can understand why they come, and we need them too."

  There are sometimes language barriers -- most Arabs don't speak Kurdish -- but since all Iraq's doctors are trained in English, they can communicate with one another, and translators are on hand to help doctors talk to Kurdish patients.

  It's a similar situation at Sulaimaniya's university, where 40 Arab professors have joined the staff in the past two years, university officials say.

• In communications news, the rightful owner will finally take possession of the name:
  

  The Internet's key oversight agency has quietly authorized Iraq's new government to manage its own domain name, allowing for the restoration of Internet addresses ending in ".iq."

  The suffix had been in limbo after the 2002 federal indictment of the Texas-based company that was running it on charges of funneling money to a member of the Islamic extremist group Hamas.

  InfoCom Corp., which sold computers and Web services in the Middle East and got the ".iq" assignment in 1997, was convicted in April along with its chief executive and two brothers.

  The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees top-level domains, unanimously approved transferring the ".iq" name to Iraq's telecommunications regulator on July 28.

• And one telecommunications company reaches an important milestone:
  

  Ali Al Dahwi, director of Al Atheer Telecommunications in Iraq, confirmed that his company would get closer to one and a half million [subscribers] for cellular phones in Iraq, at an investment of 430 million dollars. He said that the company entered the competition in the Iraqi market two years ago, and through a short duration, in a race with time, it managed to go beyond the sum that it designated a an investment ($60 million), to serve about 300 thousand [subscribers] in southern regions. Its cellular phone services have expanded to other regions, such as Al Anbar and Diala, in addition to covering the border regions, as well.

• In oil news, while in June, the oil production stood at 1.44 million barrels per day, in July it rose to 1.6 million. In that month, Iraq earned $2.5 billion from oil sales. In early August, the exports stood at 1.6 million barrels and the local consumption at 600,000 barrels.
  


• Negotiations on the expansion of the necessary infrastructure get underway:
  

  Iraq has made headway in talks with 17 international firms to construct refineries designed to offset a shortage of oil products for local use, a source at the oil ministry said.

  The refineries, to be constructed in Baghdad, Mosul and Basra, will have capacities ranging between 250,000-300,000 barrels per day, said the source, who asked for anonymity. He added that the ministry has plans to build mobile refineries with 10,000 b/d capacity to be increased later to 30,000 b/d in Arbil, Sulaimania, Amara, Haditha, Nassiriya and Diwaniya.

  He said existing refineries at Baiji and Dora in Baghdad and one in Basra were unable to meet the increasing demand for derivatives.

• Specifically, two tenders have already been announced:
  

  The Iraqi oil ministry has called local and global companies to participate in a special tender for establishing a new refinery in Qoya region, near Quinsajaq district, between Erbil and Al Selaimania cities (north of Iraq), at a capacity of 70 thousands barrels a day. The total cost would be 400 million dollars; including tanks, infrastructure, and engineering works. The second refinery would be in Jarf Al Sakhr region (south of Baghdad); at a capacity of 140 thousand barrels a day, and a cost of 800 million - 1 billion dollars. November 8, 2005, has been set as a deadline for submitting the documents of the tender on behalf of the competent countries.

• Under a new agreement, Iraq will be exporting 35 million cubic feet of natural gas a day to Kuwait, for a five-year period. "The Kuwaiti side has also welcomed more Iraqi oil workers to receive training within Kuwaiti oil installations, and said it was ready to provide Iraq with spare parts necessary for its oil facilities."
  


• There will also be cooperation with South Korea: "The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) said yesterday that it will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi government in support of technology for oil development... Under the deal, the KNOC will provide the ministry with state-of-the-art technologies for drilling oil and both sides will conduct a joint survey of Iraqi oil drilling blocs."
  


• In transport news, twice-weekly flights between Baghdad and Istanbul are re-starting after 15 years. There is also a joint airport project in the south of the country:
  

  Iraq plans to build a multimillion-dollar international airport near the southern city of Najaf, a holy center for Shiite Muslims, that would be financed largely by a low-interest loan from Iran, according to Iraq's transportation minister... The facility, which Maliki said would cost an estimated $20 million to $25 million, would largely serve religious pilgrims traveling to and from Iran. Maliki said it would also link the region to other countries and improve access to a range of tourist attractions. Najaf, which is 90 miles south of Baghdad, and nearby Karbala are home to several of the shrines deemed holiest to Shiites.

RECONSTRUCTION:

• Japan, in conjunction with the World Bank, will be engaging in a major residential construction program: "The World Bank and Japan will help finance the construction of 30,000 homes in war-ravaged Iraq, Iraq housing ministry has announced. The project, which will cost 1.2 billion dollars, an will involve money mostly provided by the Iraqi state, the World Bank, through long term loans and the Japanese government."
  


• Japan is also donating $11 million to construct six residential complexes in Basra and Amara to house some of the Marsh Arabs of the south while the marshes are slowly being regenerated. And Denmark will be constructing 300 houses in Badra for any Iraqi refugees currently living in Denmark who are willing to go back home.
  


• Iraq reaches anelectricity milestone:
  

  Iraq's electricity supply has risen above pre-war levels to 5,350 megawatts (MW) despite sabotage, boosted by hydroelectric power and more imports from Iran, Syria and Turkey, the minister in charge said on Thursday.

  "Now electricity has reached a record after we broke 5,350 megawatts a few days ago for the first time since the war," Electricity Minister Mohsen Shalash told Reuters.

  Iraq's emergency moves had eased electricity shortage during summer when temperatures can rise above 50 degrees centigrade (122 Fahrenheit), Shalash said in an interview in Amman during a stopover on his way to Iraq.

  The rise in power supply of over 1,000 megawatts has come from an extra 500 megawatts generated by hydroelectric power after Turkey increased water flows from the Euphrates River to Iraqi dams while imports from Iran, Turkey and Syria added at least 350 megawatts in July.

  A decade before the U.S. led invasion in 2003 capacity had fluctuated between 3,000 to 4,400 megawatts at its peak.

  Iraq's power grid, battered by attacks by insurgents and long neglect is still producing only half the electricity needed despite international efforts to rebuild it.

  The forecast rise to 6,000 megawatts in August would come mainly from a doubling of imports from Iran to 200 megawatts and a similar jump in Turkey's exports to around 300 megawatts.

• Longer term, however, Iraq will not be relying on importing electricity, and not just because of the cost:
  

  Iraq's medium term plan was to implement $20 billion worth of electricity projects by 2010 to raise capacity to 18,000 megawatts solely through donor funding, Shalash said.

  Iraq was in advanced talks with Japan on how to utilise the bulk of $3.5 billion of soft loans in electricity projects.

  Iran was ready to give as much as $2-3 billion for power plants that its own firms can construct, Shalash added.

  A recent visit to Germany had also won promises to access for the first time as much as $1 billion in soft loans by one of the major Western opponents of the U.S. led war, said Shalash.

  The funds will finance several key projects such as degasification of flared liquefied natural gas for electricity.

  Rehabilitation of major power plants of Mussayab, Nassiriya, Baiji and Baghdad's Dura would be completed by year end.

  An extra 500 megawatts will come on stream later this year from a 10 unit gas turbine plant constructed near the city of Mussayab which was originally due for completion in June 2004.

• USAID is continuing with an electricity project north of Baghdad: "At the Kirkuk substation, work on the V94 generator is being finalized. The Iraqi contractor is currently finishing the installation of the fuel gas supply, air compressor and electrical switches. Work also continues on erecting the generator’s permanent gantry crane is used for access and maintenance... USAID’s work at the site will ultimately bring two new generators online, adding 325 MW of electrical generation capacity to the electrical grid. The recently completed V64 unit has added 65 MW to the national grid. Initial startup and synchronization of the V64 was achieved on January 3. The V94 generator, which will add 260 MW, is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2005. The overall project is now 83 percent finished."
  


• USAID is also working around the capital: "USAID partners rehabilitating Baghdad’s electricity distribution substations have completed the necessary work to energize six of eight high priority substations in the Karkh and Ru-safa Districts. The goal was to finish work at the targeted sites in order to meet the higher power demands during the summer months. The remaining two sites will energize once the Ministry of Electricity (MoE) installs the 33kV and 11kV feeders. USAID has provided equipment for 37 sites altogether. Of these, USAID and its partners are working at 25 sites, while the Ministry of Electricity (MOE) is working at 12."
  


• USAID is also working on several major water projects (link in PDF):
  

  Seven new raw water pumps have arrived at the Sharq-Dijlah water treatment plant for installation and the refurbishment of the Administration Building has been completed. USAID accepted responsibility to complete the expansion of the plant, which was begun under the Oil for Food Program. To further reduce anticipated water shortages in Baghdad, USAID is restoring the existing water treatment plant to its original capacity and providing the design for a second expansion at this site. Combined, the initial expansion and the plant restoration are expected to increase the supply of treated water by approximately 90 MGD. 2006... The Iraqi subcontractor implementing the Baghdad Water Mains Rehabilitation project has laid 16.1 km of asphalt paving and 87.7 km of main line pipe to date which surpasses the original contract amount of 74 km. The current goal is to install 98km of mainline pipe. A total of 7,498 additional homes have been connected to the water mains.

• In Basra province, water situation is slowly improving, although there is still a long way to go:
  

  Basra’s water authority is constructing 12 small purification units that will eventually produce 25 cubic meters of clean water every hour.

  The authority’s head, Abdulsattar Akef, said the new units fall short of meeting this southern city’s thirst for clean water.

  Providing Basra, the country’s second largest city with clean water, is a real headache for the provincial authorities administering the city...

  Akef said conditions with regard to clean water were better in rural areas than in the city proper.

  “In the countryside and villages clean water is relatively available in almost all the villages in the province (of Basra).

  “We have rehabilitated 30 water purification units with a total capacity of 250 million cubic gallons a day. We have a better situation in rural areas than last year,” he said.

  But Basra itself, Akef, added will have to wait for a few more years to have full access to clean water.

  He said Japan has agreed to finance a giant purification plant for Basra that will produce 300 million gallons of water a day but will take three years to complete.

• In education news, the United Nations is also making a significant contribution towards rebuilding the system:
  

  Nearly half a million Iraqi children will benefit from upgraded sanitation facilities at schools across the country this year as a result of United Nations (UN) initiatives aimed at raising a new generation of educated Iraqis to help their country rebuild from war...

  UN-backed efforts to improve conditions at 800 schools will foster safer conditions for some 460,000 boys and girls this year. The UN has been helping Iraq’s Ministry of Education by providing over 1,300 directors with computer literacy and communications skills. Hundreds of computers were provided to schools which also received 36,000 sports and recreational materials.

  Over 130 schools have been rehabilitated with UN assistance in the lower southern region, while in the north, the UN is working to renovate primary schools in rural communities where refugees are expected to return.

  The UN is also procuring one million school bags for new first graders and five million school kits for all students up to the sixth grade.

  Rebuilding Iraq’s schools benefits not only the students but also the thousands of workers who gain employment through the projects which have contributed to generating over 3,400 jobs per day.

• USAID continues to help improve the infrastructure, through projects such as this (link in PDF): "A women’s teacher training center in Babil Governorate was renovated
  and restored through a grant from USAID’s Community Action Program (CAP). The institute prepares women in the governorate to enter into careers in the field of education. After years of neglect, disrepair, and recent car bombings, the building
  was unsafe and barely usable." Also:
  

  USAID’s program to improve basic education in Iraq has awarded 41 grants to Iraqi contractors to date totaling $2,885,924, including five school rehabilitation grants, four grants for education training center rehabilitations, and 32 grants for replacing mud schools. As of July, the grants had supported the rehabilitation of education training centers in Baghdad, Arbil, Diyala and Hilla and the replacement of 32 mud schools. The model schools program team has finalized a list of 80 model schools in cooperation with the Ministry of Education (MOE). The model schools program seeks to establish four model schools in each MOE directorate to demonstrate improved systems and teaching methods. The team has also begun procuring student desks, laboratory equipment, and computers.

• Meanwhile, the tenth group of academics who lost their jobs under Saddam for political reasons gets rehired by the authorities: "This group includes 87 persons, who were decided to be rehired in six universities; Baghdad, Al Musel, Al Mostansereya, Al Kufa and Babylon, in addition to the technical education administration. The source clarified that until now, the ministry has rehired 2365 politically discharged or harmed persons in the ministry, the universities, and its affiliate administrations. He noted that the ministry has achieved more than 80% of its task, so far."
  


• In health news, the World Health Organisation has recently conducted a successful campaign: "A successful national Polio Vaccination Campaign, conducted this week by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation and other key health partners, reached 4.4 million children this week (according to the latest field reports). Of the target population of 4.7 million children, 93% was reached; in response to recent outbreaks of Polio in countries in the region. The second round of emergency National Immunisation Days ended successfully in all governorates, except small subdistricts in the Anbar Governorate, where 3,000 children were not accessed due to insecurity (plans are in place to cover these children once the situation allows)."
  


• A new program by USAID is aiming to improve the skills and expertise of Iraqi doctors (link in PDF):
  

  In early July, a group of 25 physicians from the Iraqi Ministry of Health graduated from a six-day Training of Trainers’ workshop (TOT). Participants were representatives of various departments of the Ministry of Health and Primary Health Care Centers from across the country...

  USAID’s Training Model Primary Providers (TMPP) program aims to support the Ministry of Health in training primary health care providers and other staff for 150 model primary health care centers currently under construction around the country. The training program will upgrade the technical knowledge, clinical and management skills and performance of center directors, physicians, nurses, medical assistants and other staff assigned to model centers...

  This training program will provide approximately 1,400 physicians, 1,000 nurses, 2,100 medical assistants, and 150 center directors with improved knowledge and enhanced clinical and management skills, and an additional 5,000 center staff with strengthened team work and problem-solving skills. Improving staff skills will lead to enhanced services at model primary health care centers, with potential benefits for approximately 32,500 people per primary health care center, for a total of 4,875,000 beneficiaries at 150 primary health care sites around the country.

• The World Health Organisation is also working on the health infrastructure:
  

  - The third stage of rehabilitation of the National Blood Transfusion Centre in Baghdad is 60% complete;

  - Of the 23 Primary Health Care Centre Rehabilitation Projects (each project consisting of up to 14 PHC centres) being undertaken, 4 are currently under the bidding process and 19 are in the stage of implementation.[Al-anba, Babel, Karbala (45%), Najaf (2%), Waste (90%), Baquba, Maysan, Erbil, Duhok, Basra, Nasrya, Muthana (55%), Karkuk group 1 ( 26%), Karkuk group 2 (34%), Basrah (52%), Salahdine (100%), Basrah (39%, Muthana (7%), Mousl (38%)].

  - Of the 19 Training Halls being rehabilitated, 2 are under the bidding process and 17 are in the stage of implementation [Karbala(95%), Maysan(51%), Salahadine(75%), Nasirya(30%), Dewanya(20%),Duhok(98%), Baquba(50%), Anbar(30%), Erbil(32%), Muthana(20%), Babel(41%), Kirkuk(36%), Basrah(46%), Najaf(20%),Waste(60%), Mousl(100%), Suleimanyah(100%)].

  - The Stage 1 rehabilitation of the National Drug Quality Control Laboratory is 92% complete.

• The authorities have designated an additional sum of 450 billion dinars ($306 million) for the purchase of medicines and equipment. There's also more help for Iraq's many victims of past and present violence: "The health ministry decided to include all the disabled and the victims of terrorist explosions in comprehensive free service. A ministry official source said that the decision includes all the victims of explosions and terrorist acts, the disabled victims, the tyrannized by the former regime, and the disabled of former wars and military service, in addition to the disabled children, less than 13 years, the dwellers of the state homes and lodging centers, and the disabled, included n the law of social care."
  


• The US Department of Agriculture is funding a private sector effort to help Iraqi poultry industry:
  

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that it will donate 21,250 metric tons of corn and 8,750 tons of soybean meal to the U.S. Grains Council, a private organization, for use in Iraq.

  "Agriculture is vital to the Iraqi economy and this donation will help to revitalize their agriculture sector as an engine of economic growth," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "We are very pleased that USDA's food for progress program will help to improve the quality of life available to the Iraqi people."

  The U.S. Grains Council will sell the corn and soybean meal and use the proceeds to help revitalize the Iraqi poultry industry. The Council's program will provide a revolving loan fund for poultry producers, training in credit fund management, and trade capacity building for the Iraqi Poultry Producers Association.

• USAID is also assisting with some smaller scale initiatives such as these (link in PDF):
  

  USAID’s [Agricultural Reconstruction and Development for Iraq] program funded the construction of water storage basins in five Iraqi villages to improve irrigation. Each of the five 96 m3 basins will collect runoff from mountain springs for use during the summer season... Six USAID-supported agriculture outreach teams, that will include a veterinarian and an agronomist/animal production specialist, will visit 240 villages to conduct workshops on diseases that are transmitted from animals to people.

  In other recent programs (link in PDF):

  USAID’s Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program is training 28 mechanics under a grant to improve access to agricultural machinery maintenance services in rural areas...

  To create an infrastructure for a nationwide price information system among produce traders and farmers, USAID’s ARDI program provides a daily report of fruit and vegetable prices from wholesale markets in 10 Iraqi governorates...

  The Directorate of Water Resources in Al Muthanna’ Governorate is working with USAID to rehabilitate a canal system that will irrigate 6,000 donums (1,200 hectares) of land farmed by 120 families.

• And there's good environmental news from the south:
  

  Good news from Iraq is hard to come by these days, what with the suicide bombings, the car bombs, the tension between Shi’a and Sunni factions and the almost daily kidnappings. Yet amidst all the doom and gloom there are some positive reports on the unlikely subject of Iraq’s environment. The vast marshlands of southern Iraq, almost drained out of existence by Saddam, are recovering far more quickly than anyone had even dared to hope... At last there is good news: Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Dr. Curtis Richardson, co-author of a report on the current status of the marshes, announced that with the destruction of barriers built by Saddam’s henchmen to direct water away from the marshes, 20 percent of the area has now been reflooded with the promise that even more can be restored. And although some areas are heavily salinated, the water quality is better than expected. The result has been the return of “about 60 percent of the wildlife to the marshes” though the report does not make clear whether this is the number of species or absolute numbers. The newly elected Iraqi government has already set up a commission to oversee the recovery of the area and $30 million has been donated from abroad to help in the rehabilitation.

HUMANITARIAN AID:

• USAID continues to help the disabled (link in PDF): "USAID’s Community Action Program (CAP) worked with a community in northern Iraq to rebuild the sports facilities at a rehabilitation center for the disabled. The rehabilitation center was established in 1986 to assist men newly disabled from the Iran/Iraq war, but now offers services to all people with disabilities in At Tamim and As Sulaymaniyah governorates."
  


• Operation Hope is helping schoolchildren and handicapped:
  

  Although our foreign team left the southern Shimaya district due to security concerns in April 2004, work has continued through locals who have taken responsibility for the projects. By March 2005 we had finished renovating three more schools. We continue to maintain a relationship with the local communities and partnered with UNICEF for the rehabilitation of these schools.

  Operation Mercy’s foreign team re-located to northern Iraq in the spring of 2005, where we have completed a needs assessment and are pursuing the areas of schools rehabilitation, working with people with disabilities and skills training for the high level of unemployed youth. We plan to work closely with other NGO’s and the local communities.

  In June ‘05 we distributed approximately 50 wheelchairs in local centres in Northern Iraq. Many of the children who received the chairs had been waiting for many years to get a wheelchair. Our children’s physiotherapist will be continuing with a needs assessment in the area of Community Based Rehabilitation. We are also looking into the training of children and teachers regarding the integration of physically disabled children into public schools.

  The areas of health education and sanitation are a priority for our staff and we will focus our schools rehabilitation efforts on these areas. Our plans will result in improved hygiene standards for approximately 8000 children in 2005 by renovating the sanitation facilities.

  Operation Mercy’s aim in offering skills training is to equip the many young people with the basic skills needed to find good employment. We intend to offer training in basic computer skills and English language.

• Young people participating in a summit have recently won praise for their efforts to help Iraqi children:
  

  First lady Laura Bush on Friday applauded teenagers for reaching out to the children of Iraq and to their own communities.

  "You're turning youthful idealism into practical ideas," she told nearly a thousand teens and adult organizers from around the country at the fourth National Youth Summit.

  Summit participants donated 70 large boxes of art supplies for Iraqi schools, a project Bush described as "a heartfelt act of solidarity with the young people of Iraq."

  The State Department sponsored six Iraqi summit participants, including Iraqi minister of youth and sport, Talib Zaini, and two Iraqi young people.

• 
  Operation Iraqi Children continues:
  

  U.S. soldiers in Iraq are doing more than conducting military operations: They're also handing out much needed school supplies to Iraq's children. And for the past year, some of those supplies have been provided by a small nongovernmental organization founded together by an American actor and a bestselling author.

  "Operation Iraq Children" (OIC) was begun in March 2004 by actor Gary Sinise and author Laura Hillenbrand. Sinise played "Lieutenant Dan" in the film Forrest Gump and is known for his role as a detective in the hit television series CSI: NY. Hillenbrand wrote Seabiscuit: An American Legend, a book about a champion racehorse that was made into a feature film.

  Sinise says he began the project after visiting an Iraqi school where he "saw a tremendous need" for basic school supplies and then "became aware that this was the norm for most of the schools in Iraq."

  Sinise originally shipped 25 boxes of school supplies in January 2004. Since OIC was founded it has sent 40 additional shipments to Iraq -- most recently on July 29. To date more than 200,000 school kits have been shipped, according to the OIC site.

  A typical kit contains scissors, a ruler, regular and colored pencils, a sharpener, an eraser, notebook paper, a composition book, some folders and a zippered pencil bag. OIC estimates the kit's value at $15, which would make for an estimated donation value of approximately $3 million.

  Sinise's efforts drew the attention of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who visited the actor in Los Angeles August 4 on the set of CSI: NY. According to the American Forces Press Service, Rumsfeld told CSI: NY cast members about "all the wonderful things [Sinise] has done for the men and women in uniform across the country" and thanked the actor for his personal support for U.S. troops. Rumsfeld and Sinise both said they hoped OIC can be expanded into Afghanistan.

• One youngester's project to help troops bring some cheer to Iraqi children has progressed beyond anyone's expectations:
  

  What started out as a simple family project for an Arizona teenager has blossomed - make that snowballed - into a huge operation that's about to send the 50,000th Beanie Baby doll to troops in Iraq to distribute to local children.

  Fourteen-year-old Alison Goulder is still at it, continuing a project to collect the stuffed critters for U.S. troops.

  The soon-to-be-ninth-grader got the idea when she read in a magazine about Operation Grateful, an effort by law firm Greenberg Traurig to send care packages to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany. The magazine quoted Joe Reeder, former undersecretary of the Army and now a partner with the law firm, as saying Beanie Babies were the top item on the troops' wish list.

  Goulder, who started collecting Beanie Babies when she was 7 years old, took the article as a call to action. She and her sister Jenna and brother Greg began scouring through their closets. They came up with 80 Beanie Babies.

  But that was soon to become the just tip of the iceberg. Alison's family members, friends and schoolmates started collecting the Beanie Babies, too.

  Alison's original goal was to collect 1,000 of the critters. But by last December, she'd already gathered 28,000, earning her a visit to the Pentagon to be thanked personally by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.

  She also visited Greenberg Traurig's Washington law office, where she found one room so jam-packed with Beanie Babies she'd collected that "you could hardly walk into it," she told the American Forces Press Service.

  Greenberg Traurig continues to ship all the Beanie Babies Alison collects to Iraq as part of their Operation Grateful campaign.

  And to Alison's amazement, the Beanie Babies continue to arrive regularly at her Scottsdale home. They come from "all over," she said, fueled by articles in local newspapers and local TV stories about her effort. CNN ran a story about her efforts, and troops in Iraq learned about it on the Pentagon Channel.

  Now she's considering taking the effort national, possibly creating a Web site to further publicize her efforts. "We're definitely expanding the project," she said, noting that she has "thousands" on hand, ready for shipment. Once they're distributed, this shipment will bring to 50,000 the number of Beanie Babies being enjoyed by young Iraqi children.

THE COALITION TROOPS:

• Read this amazing story of how one American officer has won hearts and minds of the locals:
  

  Sheik Horn floats around the room in white robe and headdress, exchanging pleasantries with dozens of village leaders... Officially, he's Army Staff Sgt. Dale L. Horn, but to residents of the 37 villages and towns that he patrols he's known as the American sheik...

  Late last year a full-blown battle between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi forces had erupted, and U.S. commanders assigned a unit to stop rocket and mortar attacks that regularly hit their base. Horn, who had been trained to operate radars for a field artillery unit, was now thrust into a job that largely hinged on coaxing locals into divulging information about insurgents.

  Horn, 25, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., acknowledges he had little interest in the region before coming here. But a local sheik friendly to U.S. forces, Dr. Mohammed Ismail Ahmed, explained the inner workings of rural Iraqi society on one of Horn's first Humvee patrols.

  Horn says he was intrigued, and started making a point of stopping by all the villages, all but one dominated by Sunni Arabs, to talk to people about their life and security problems.

  Moreover, he pressed for development projects in the area: he now boasts that he helped funnel $136,000 worth of aid into the area. Part of that paid for delivery of clean water to 30 villages during the broiling summer months.

  "They saw that we were interested in them, instead of just taking care of the bases," Horn said.

  Mohammed, Horn's mentor and known for his dry sense of humor, eventually suggested during a meeting of village leaders that Horn be named a sheik. The sheiks approved by voice vote, Horn said.

  Some sheiks later gave him five sheep and a postage stamp of land, fulfilling some of the requirements for sheikdom. Others encouraged him to start looking for a second wife, which Horn's spouse back in Florida immediately vetoed.

  But what may have originally started as a joke among crusty village elders has sprouted into something serious enough for 100 to 200 village leaders to meet with Horn each month to discuss security issues.

  And Horn doesn't take his responsibilities lightly. He lately has been prodding the Iraqi Education Ministry to pay local teachers, and he closely follows a water pipeline project that he hopes will ensure the steady flow of clean water to his villages.

  "Ninety percent of the people in my area are shepherds or simple townspeople," said Horn. "They simply want to find a decent job to make enough money to provide food and a stable place for their people to live."

  To Horn's commanders, his success justifies his unorthodox approach: no rockets have hit their base in the last half year.

• A similar approach, but without all the theatrics, is working in Qayyarah:
  

  Last fall, insurgents overran police stations and Iraqi army bases in this northern rural region, scaring off nearly all 2,000 Iraqi troops and keeping people locked inside their homes at night.

  Last month only two attacks took place in this Rhode Island-sized area mostly populated by Sunni Arabs and Kurds, according to U.S. commanders in the area.

  The difference, they say, stems from a new approach of relying on sheiks and mukhtars - the tribal and local leaders who wield enormous influence among some 75,000 people in hundreds of villages and small towns south of the city of Mosul.

  "Sheiks are the real power here," said Lt. Col. Bradley Becker, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment. "Mayors just aren't as good as sheiks on security matters."

  Becker says he now meets with 50 to 100 sheiks a week, and holds monthly confabs with them in a base auditorium that usually shows movies for relaxing soldiers. Sheiks and mukhtars, most in white robes, some walking gingerly with canes, flow into the room and listen to U.S. and Iraqi officials talking about security as well as local issues such as electricity supply.

  About six people showed up for the first meeting early this year - but the latest, on Tuesday, drew about 300. Much of it took a townhall tone, hearing complaints about gasoline shortages and inquiries about arrested fellow tribesmen.

  "After November, what happened was bad, but they came to us," said Sheik Nief Saleh said of the Americans. "I try to help as I can."

  In return for the sheiks' help, Becker says he has spent close to $1 million on reconstruction jobs employing hundreds of tribesmen.

• More money will soon be spent on various smaller scale projects in Baghdad and elsewhere:
  

  A potential $161 million will soon be added to the Reconstruction Program coffers here.

  The Commander’s Emergency Relief Program, or CERP, is an allocation of money which allows commanders on the ground and Iraqi community leaders to work together toward immediate quality of life enhancements for Iraqis.

  The Gulf Region Division and its three districts in Mosul, Baghdad, and Tallil work with their Iraqi counterparts to prioritize needs.

  Maneuver commanders in communities look for small infrastructure projects aimed at completing the ‘last mile’ for delivery of electricity, water or other basic needs to homes and businesses.

  CERP funds have also been made available to the Iraqi Provincial Reconstruction and Development committees. In one governate in the Gulf Region's North District, three water treatment plants in one area were recommended for rehabilitation at a cost of approximately $175,000.

  Another 78 CERP projects in the north district, funded for $4.9M, will add three classrooms each to 27 schools and six classrooms apiece to 51 schools. All of those projects are expected to be completed in September.

  In the Gulf Region Central District, an $89,000 outpatient clinic is being built with funding from this program. Also in the central district, seven CERP projects for a cost of $1.4 million are scheduled to replace low- and medium-voltage lines throughout Sadr City.

• The Army is also now funding reconstruction projects by Iraqi authorities - and saving on costs in the process:
  

  To provide fiscal reconstruction support in Iraq, the Army presented its first reimbursement payment July 25.

  Maj. Gen. Daniel Long, director of the Iraq project and contracting office, presented Jasim M. Jaa’far, Iraqi minister of construction and housing, with a check for $1,548,795 under an Army program to provide fiscal support for the reconstruction of select Iraq infrastructure

  The agreement allows the Iraqi minister of construction and housing to hire contractors and manage the projects themselves. No U.S. contractors are on site.

  This agreement realized a 34 percent savings over traditional U.S. contracts. The money will be used to build key bridges and roadways. Programs such as this are central to the reconstruction effort, and provide the first step in building a foundation for the transfer of control of completed facilities to Iraqi management.

• Some of the projects that came on line in July: "Construction was completed this month on a $437,000 electrical distribution project in the Al Anbar Province; a $264,000 Maternity and Pediatric Hospital in the Wassit Province; a $240,000 potable water project in the Diyala Province; a $217,500 police station in the Baghdad Province; a $50,000 school repair project in the Salah al Din Province; and a $29,000 courthouse project in the Erbil Province."
  


• The troops are also improving electrical infrastructure around Najaf:
  

  With a major neighborhood electrical refurbishment project getting underway in the city of Najaf, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District has earmarked most of the money for distribution projects, which means a voltage level from 33 kilovolts down to the levels used by houses and small shops.

  "The plants aren’t operating at full capacity for one reason or another. The plants are old and haven’t been well maintained over the years for example. This power shortage causes the three hours on/ three hours off of electricity that Iraq experiences now because there is only half the power needed."

  People appreciate distribution projects because that’s when "you bring wires into the home," said Greg Fillers, Gulf Region South Electrical Sector project manager. "It’s kind of like an overall electric blanket. That blanket covers power generation, transmission lines, distribution networks and controls." He added that all four components contribute equally to the system.

  Fillers explained that similar distribution projects are being planned and accomplished in most of Iraq’s larger cities, for example Basrah. There, the power generation plant at Khor Az Zubahr has a dual switchyard. While the generator there doesn’t create high voltages, the voltage is converted up for transmission to 400,000 volts or 400 KiloVolts (KV), which is one standard in Iraq. The other transmission standard is 132 KV, and the level of voltage is decreased in steps as it gets closer to individual homes. The higher the voltage, the better it transmits over distances.

• And also water infrastructure:
  

  Estimates put the shortage of potable water in the area surrounding Najaf and Kufa at about 40 percent, with existing plants being old or deteriorated because of neglect or lack of maintenance. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District (GRS) has quality assurance responsibilities on 14 water treatment units and three water pipeline projects that will increase that drinkable water flow within the Najaf area.

  The water projects, worth approximately $12 million, involve the installation of 14 compact water treatment units and piping, according to Darrell Flinn. These compact units require highly skilled labor to maintain them, and training the staff is part of the overall package. “These require a technical labor force that has been taught to use this equipment,” Flinn said.

  Seven of the 14 small units are finished and the rest are in various stages of completion. The three pipeline projects are 90 percent completed, or better. “It is really critical to bring water to these neighborhoods.”

• The troops are working on the construction of physical law infrastructure: "On July 4, construction was finished on a $29,000 courthouse project in the Soran District of Erbil Province. It was the only Courthouse project programmed for construction in the district, but nationwide, there are 22 prison and court projects planned, with 13 ongoing and nine complete."
  


• There are also some very local-oriented projects, like this initiative to improve access to water for several villages: "The $240,000 Zaherat Village Water Network project in the Diyala Governorate was also completed -- 49 days ahead of schedule. This project replaced and refurbished an existing potable water system and pipelines in Zaherat, Abi Saida and Muqdadiya village water networks, providing 300,000 gallons of potable water per day."
  


• The troops are also making an effort to give whatever assistance they can to Iraq's overstretched health system. These are some of the health achievements of the Coalition troops in July:
  

  Nineteen Iraqi military physicians, nurses, medics and medical equipment technicians from the Iraqi Armed Forces went to Germany for five weeks of field hospital, mass casualty and biomedical equipment maintenance training that taught them how to use a variety of donated medical equipment.

  During the second week in July, Coalition Forces worked with Iraqi health officials in Owja, of the Salah Ad Din province, to open a hospital for the general public. Troops helped hire doctors and nurses, obtain beds, and fix the air conditioning system. Now the hospital provides basic healthcare, including gynecology, x-rays and general practice. The hospital served Saddam Hussein's family and friends but has been closed for several years.

  More than 20 healthcare facilities have been renovated, with many others in the process of being renovated. The $653,000 Al Husseiniya Primary Healthcare Center under construction in the Al Resafa District of Baghdad Province will include teaching and delivery facilities, as well as a labor center. The facilities are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year and will relieve the overburdened outpatient care currently being provided by existing hospitals. The final objective of implementing this health care system is to reduce overall infant mortality rate by at least 20 percent.

• The troops from B Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment have been teaching basic first aid skills to teachers from six schools in the Karradah District at the request of the neighborhood council.
  


• The army engineers are continuing to renovate schools around Iraq:
  

  Approximately 18,000 Iraqi children will study in refurbished schools when their new school year starts in slightly more than six weeks, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

  Iraqi and U.S. government agencies announced August 6 that renovations of 43 schools in the northern and southern governorates are funded for repairs, with contracts awarded for the work.

  Since June of last year, 656 of 800 schools in reconstruction have completed.

  As part of the Iraq Relief Reconstruction Fund, over $1.3 million was set aside to continue a nationwide school repair program.

  Repairs include rehabilitating sanitary facilities, and electrical and mechanical systems, as well as structural repairs to schools in Karbala , Dahuk, Najaf, Basrah and Qadisiyah.

• More here. Speaking of education, a Marine who's pursuing career in teaching is finding that in Iraq too, he can interact with children:
  

  Cpl. Jeffrey H. Meighen, civil affairs non-commissioned officer, 5th Civil Affairs Group, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, goes out into the local communities and makes a difference in Iraqi children's lives during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

  "I love being around kids, these kids are good kids," said Meighen. "They smile and seem comfortable with us."

  Meighen sometimes participates in sporting events with the local children. He also hands out toys and hygiene products while working to help rebuild their towns.

  The Southern Senior High School graduate conducts civil affairs missions to help people in the surrounding cities. As a part of CAG he helps restore critical infrastructure such as water, health services, schools and other projects that help improve the Iraqi living conditions.

  "If those vital things are not up and running we push them to get them up and running through government funding," Meighen said.

  The native of Harwood, Md., and his team go out two to three times a week to interact with the Iraqi-nationals. They recently set up a soccer game for the kids of a local village where Marines put nets on empty goals and handed out jerseys, shorts, socks and even shoes.

  "Basically I think the foundation for any society is the kids. If we show them now that we are not all bad, that we are not here to take away their freedom, but to liberate them, the kids will grow up knowing that and 20 years from now they will be the ones running the country," he said.

• 
  Humanitarian actions continue: "More than 200 children and community members gathered at the Bayaa Youth Center in the Al Rashid district of Baghdad to participate in a uniform and wheelchair distribution, followed by a soccer game July 13. The community program provided complete soccer uniforms, soccer balls, and a variety of other items for the 240 children involved in the Bayaa Youth Soccer League. There was enough equipment to outfit 15 teams. In addition to the soccer match, 300 people were treated for minor illnesses by Iraqi doctors at a community health screening, and program coordinators distributed five wheelchairs to disabled people in the area."
  


• It's not just the American troops. Here's a contribution from Slovakia: "A Slovak unit of military engineers deployed in Iraq has cleared an area of over 574,000 square meters of land mines since early March using mine-clearing devices, the Slovak defense ministry announced on Tuesday. In addition the unit has also cleared manually another 14,000 square meters of the war-ravaged country's territory, the ministry said on its web site. In five months they also destroyed 331,000 kilograms of confiscated ammunition. The 104-strong Slovak military contingent in Iraq is involved in ground and fortification works."
  


• And from Salvadorians: "The El Salvadorian battalion completed construction on a bridge in the city of Al Kifl. Thirty Iraqi Citizens were employed in the project, and officials estimate that 3,000 people will regularly use the bridge, which is located near the Al Jehad School. Another school, the $95,000 Al Masharq School project in the Thi Qar Province, opened July 11."

SECURITY:

• A recent Department of Defence report on the situation in Iraq:
  

  Terrorists in Iraq have been unable to derail the political process, a new Defense Department report on Iraqi stability and security states. Still, the report contends, insurgents "remain capable, adaptable, and intent on carrying out attacks."

  The report to Congress on measuring stability and security in Iraq says the inability of insurgents to derail political progress is a "noteworthy strategic indicator of progress toward a stable security environment"...

  Attacks on military forces and on civilians are focused in four provinces, with the security situation being relatively stable in the rest of the country. In the four provinces, attacks on civilians are up, while attacks on coalition forces are down, [Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, the Joint Staff's director of strategic plans and policy] said, noting insurgents "are now realizing they've got to attack softer targets."

  The general said attacks on Iraqi forces are up slightly, but noted that should be expected because their numbers and involvement have steadily increased.

  Attacks on infrastructure, however, are down. From June to November 2004, Iraq averaged 41 insurgent attacks on infrastructure targets per month. Since February, that number has been an average of seven per month. "The Iraqis are working very hard to help protect their infrastructure out there," Sharp said.

• A recently discovered terrorist correspondence paints a slightly different picture of the terror campaign than the one we are used to:
  

  A letter allegedly written by a member of Al Qaeda in Iraq to its country head Abu Mosab Al Zarqawi suggests that there was dissent in the ranks of fighters operating out of Mosul, according to excerpts provided in a statement by the US military on Saturday.

  In the letter that the US says it discovered July 27 during a raid on a home in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the author "Abu Zayd" complained of poor local leadership in the organization and the mistreatment of foreign fighters.

  "This is a clarification of what has become of the situation in Mosul, and it is no secret to you the noticeable decrease in the attacks carried out by the mujahideen from not long ago when Mosul was in the hands of the mujahideen," wrote Abu Zayd.

  The most recent wave of bloody attacks in the city occurred in late June.

  Among the charges Abu Zayd levels at the leadership, according to the summary provided by the statement, are the incompetence of the Mosul leadership, disobedience of troops and the squandering of funds.

  His woes include the "deplorable" conditions suffered by non-Iraqi fighters including bad pay, housing problems and marginalisation within the organisation. The statement did not give Abu Zayd's nationality.

  It also said attacks "lack diversity" and that there was a focus on "quantity not quality".

• One large Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad is enjoying peace and quiet:
  

  In the soft glow of twilight, vendors fire up their kebab grills, crowds gather along shopping streets festooned with decorative red-and-white lights and cafes bustle with the sounds of laughter and conversation.

  It wasn't always this way in Azamiyah, a middle-class Sunni Arab quarter in Baghdad's north.

  Saddam Hussein hid out among his fellow Sunni Arabs of Azamiyah as American troops closed in on Baghdad in April 2003. Marines nearly caught him in a fierce battle the day after crowds hauled down his statue in another part of town.

  Life in Azamiyah, home to about a half-million people in a 15-square-mile area, began changing in February, when U.S. and Iraqi authorities sealed off the Tigris River bridge linking the Sunni district with the heavily Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah.

  The move was to prevent Sunni insurgents from using the bridge to slip into the Shiite area and launch attacks during Ashoura, the major Shiite religious festival. The bridge has been closed since.

  The closure not only prevented insurgents from using Azamiyah as a springboard for attacks elsewhere in the city, but it kept troublemakers out of the Sunni district, too. Although there are other routes into Azamiyah, the locals keep an eye out for strangers, stopping outsiders and asking what they are doing there.

• Iraqi forces have managed to restore peace to much of the restive Dyiala province:
  

  Iraqi forces have managed to impose relative quiet on many cities in the restive province of Diyala, Governor Raad Rasheed said.

  The curfew on the provincial capital of Baaquba, site of frequent roadside and car bomb attacks, will now start from 11 p.m. instead of 9 p.m., he said.

  “We strive to scrap all the measures and decisions that restrict the freedom of residents,” he said in an interview.

  The governor did not say what other measures he intends to take to bring life to normal in his violence-stricken province.

  But he said reducing the curfew in the provincial center and removing it altogether in a few other areas “is an indication of an improvement in the security situation.”

  For example in the town of Bahraz, which for long was almost completely under revel control, the curfew has been reduced from 12 midnight to 4 a.m.

• The US military is also reporting an improving security situation in Mosul:
  

  There's one clear sign that life in the Sunni Arab-dominated (search) western half of this city is changing for the better — children are again playing soccer at night. The reason: fewer terrorist attacks.

  The U.S. military says there were fewer bombings and mortar attacks in July than any month since October.

  A 50-percent drop in attacks in western Mosul (search) over the past eight months is a marked improvement from the days when U.S. troops routinely had to call in airstrikes and repel synchronized attacks.

  But that doesn't mean violence has been eradicated. Though attacks in July were noticeably down, western Mosul still endured over 50 shootings and roadside bombings, the U.S military said.

  Soldiers say they're close to solidifying gains and making further progress — if the flow of foreign fighters can be blocked so that terrorist ranks are not quickly replaced. U.S. commanders say they've nearly uprooted the top terrorist network that steered the city toward chaos last November.

• And to underscore differences in security conditions throughout Iraq, and how little we hear about most of the country which is relatively violence-free, this report from Suleymaniyah in the Kurdish north:
  

  Asked when he last had to treat victims of a car bomb, Iraqi doctor Arif Anwar, an emergency room surgeon at Sulaimaniya's main hospital, dismisses the question with a smile and then starts to laugh.

  "Car bomb? Are you joking?" he chuckles, as his white-coated colleagues in the doctors' lounge join the chorus of amusement.

  "We don't have anything like that. The biggest problem we have here is car accidents -- too many car accidents," he says, shaking his head in dismay at the poor quality of local driving...

  The emergency room at Anwar's hospital, a newly built wing that wouldn't look out of place in Europe, sometimes doesn't handle a single emergency all day. On other days maybe 10 to 15 patients are brought in, the doctors say...

  Every evening the streets of Sulaimaniya, a thriving city of around 700,000 people, are thronged.

  Young men and women walk or sit together in the parks, while older men gather in cafes to drink tea and play backgammon. Restaurants are packed, music plays and the streets are alive -- in stark contrast to Baghdad and other troubled cities.

• Meanwhile, day by day, Iraqi forces are building up their numbers and increasing their effectiveness:
  

  The explosion blows open the entrance to a darkened warehouse. A half dozen commandos rush in, swiftly moving from room to room as they search for the hostage-takers. The sharp rattle of gunfire follows.

  Then a smiling Iraqi commander emerges, holding up a life-size cardboard cutout of a mock terrorist holding a woman hostage, his head riddled with multiple bullet holes.

  Watching the 'live-fire' exercise by an Iraqi military commando squad, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the American commander charged with training Iraq's security forces, nodded in approval: “They're good. These are the guys who are going to get us home.''

• Training Iraqi troops and police is a slow process - it takes a lot of time to prepare combat-ready units which are able to act independently in operations - but gradually such forces are starting to come on line. Police force, too, is growing:
  

  The Iraqi Police Service graduated 142 police officers from advanced and specialty courses at the Adnan Training Facility [on August 4]...

  Completing the 10-week training course were 1,816 new police recruits. One hundred thirty-seven graduated from the Sulaymaniyah Regional Academy, 643 from the Hillah Regional Academy, and 952, including 16 women, from the Baghdad Police College. Completing the three-week Transitional Integration Program in Baghdad were 84 police officers...

  The TIP course is a three-week program developed for serving police officers with little or no prior basic training. TIP will provide these officers with a condensed version of the 10-week course. More than 40,000 police recruits have previously completed the longer course developed for new recruits.

  An additional 37,000 police officers have completed the TIP course to date. The new officers will report for duty in the coming weeks and take up their assignments at their respective police stations throughout Iraq.

• Overall in July, "more than 6,000 Iraqi Security Forces were trained this month, including 1,514 who graduated from the Jordan International Police Training Center on July 30."
  


• There is also increasing cooperation between different branches of Iraqi security forces: "Army and Iraqi police officers conducted the first joint leadership seminar at Baghdad Police Headquarters July 23. Military Police from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Military Police Brigade, and two dozen members of the Iraqi police force attended the seminar, titled 'Police Leadership in an Insurgency Environment'."
  


• In another regional first:
  

  Coalition maritime forces and maritime forces from Iraq and Kuwait launched an historic operation July 20 focused on maritime security operations (MSO) in the North Persian Gulf, marking the first time the countries' sea services have worked together... The engagement resulting from Operation River Dragon provided a mechanism to create a broad-based maritime coalition actively engaged in countering threats both at sea and ashore. Almost all coalition partners contribute maritime forces, such as ships, boarding teams, maritime patrol aircraft, intelligence analysts and staff augmentees to support ongoing operations.

• And in another important first: "On July 16, a group of determined and proud Iraqis took a step in building democracy, and gave girls across their country positive role models to look up to. They became the first all-female class to graduate from Iraqi Army basic training. The training, taught entirely by Iraqi instructors, consisted of weapons qualifications and physical fitness development."
  


• More Iraqi army units are becoming operational:
  

  The 1st Iraqi Army Mechanized Brigade became fully operational after the 2nd Battalion came on line July 25, according to senior officials with the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq.

  Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Mechanized Division became operational and under the tactical control of the Multinational Corps-Iraq, officials reported.

  The 1st Brigade is headquartered in Taji and consists of approximately 2,000 soldiers. Officials said the unit will be available to respond to national emergencies throughout Iraq and will support the Ministry of Interior forces required.

• The full-scale recruitment of battle-hardened Kurds into the security forces has now officially begun:
  

  Enrolment has begun in Iraqi Kudistan for the first Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to join Iraq's national army. The recruitment represents the completion of the first phase to create a special brigade within the fourth division of the Iraqi army. Peshmerga is the term used by Kurds to refer to freedom fighters, and literally means "those who face death". The agreements reached in the last few months will see some 32,000 former guerrillas join the ranks of Iraq's new armed forces, said Jaafar Mustafa, a member of the Peshmerga leadership, but "so far only one brigade has been set up", whose members come from the Sulaymaniya area.

• Iraqis assume control of Diwaniyah: "The 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division from al-Hillah were certified as being fully capable of planning and executing security operations. The unit will take control of Camp Echo and surrounding areas in ad Diwaniyah. The Soldiers will soon be patrolling the streets and conducting anti-terrorist operations in the city."
  


• Here's another security hand-over:
  

  A July 31 ceremony marked the transfer of authority for one fifth of the Diyala province to the Iraqi army.

  Improved security in the Diyala Province has allowed Coalition Forces to successfully transition operational control of Forward Operating Base Scunion to Iraqi control...

  Iraqi soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, hoisted the Iraqi flag over the newly named Forward Operating Base Khamees, named in honor of an Iraqi army major killed in action June 26th.

• After 18-months' absence, Iraqi police is back patrolling the streets of Fallujah. And now, a joining committee is also preparing for the Iraqi assumption of security responsibilities in five southern cities of Diwaniya, Karbala, Najaf, Nasseriya and Samawa. The talks about withdrawing from Najaf are already progressing well.
  


• The construction of security infrastructure continues throughout the country:
  

  Come December, Iraqi army officer candidates who show up at the Zakho Military Academy may think they’ve been mistakenly sent to a resort.

  The 200 cadets training at the academy now are in cramped quarters, eating in a chow hall built for 80 people and using a dilapidated old gymnasium.

  While the training won’t be any less strenuous, the group that starts in December or January will have new and renovated barracks, two renovated dining facilities, a renovated swimming pool, a new gymnasium, a running track and a training area that includes an obstacle course, a rappelling tower, and ranges for rifle, grenade and urban warfare training.

  The military academy is one of about 2,800 projects that fall under the Iraq Reconstruction Program. The projects include such facilities as schools, water treatment facilities, power distribution upgrades, border forts and health clinics — projects that will help rebuild the country’s infrastructure.

  The $8.2 million project at Zakho also includes potable and waste water treatment facilities to accommodate 5,000 people, said Joshua Adekanbi, project engineer for the academy.

• Read also this story of Asaad Hassan Al-Jaaire and his brother, Hayder, who are working as quality assurance representatives on the army engineers' Gulf Region Central security infrastructure projects: "One of projects Asaad oversees is the $10 million, 6,400 square-meter Public Order Brigade Headquarters at Forward Operating Base Justice, which is 70 percent complete. He’s also managing the nearly finished $2.5 million, 11,500 square-meter renovation of the Civil Defense headquarters building in Baghdad. Hayder’s project is the new $8.5 million, 4,000 square-meter courthouse being built in Baghdad that is 15 percent complete."
  


• Some armor is coming for the Iraqi army:
  

  Defense Solutions announced... that it will deliver the first five rebuilt T-72 Main Battle Tanks to the Iraqi Army. Iraqi Staff Major General Mahmood Ayoub Bashar will accept these tanks on behalf of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense during his attendance at program review meetings being held at the HM Currus Combat Vehicle Technique Company (Currus), Gödöllõ, Hungary. Currus is participating in the refurbishment project under a subcontract to Defense Solutions. These tanks are part of a total of 77 T-72s that are being rebuilt under a contract between Defense Solutions and the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. The T-72 tanks were originally donated to Iraq by the Government of Hungary. Defense Solutions is performing this work under a U.S. State Department license.

• In stories of security cooperation from the locals:
  


• "Acting on a tip from a civilian informant July 28, Iraqi and coalition forces conducted a cordon-and-search operation in Baghdad. Soldiers with 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, and 2nd Battalion, 156th U.S. Infantry Regiment, were searching for two specific terrorism suspects. Both were detained, along with eight additional suspects";
  


• "Coalition forces conducted a raid in western Ramadi early Aug. 3 resulting in the capture of 10 suspected terrorists. Upon arrival at the intended target, a local Iraqi citizen confirmed the building was being used as a terrorist safehouse. When forces approached the building several suspected terrorists fled throughout the surrounding area. Six suspected terrorists were immediately detained and four were captured after they hid inside a nearby Mosque. Iraqi citizens assisted the Coalition forces by pointing out the hiding place of the four suspects. Prior to the raid, a male who lived in the safehouse came outside and told Coalition forces that terrorists were storing explosives inside where his two small children remained. Coalition forces immediately rescued the children and escorted them away from the building. The children were safely reunited to their family";
  


• On August 3, when American soldiers were investigating a terror tip from a local in East Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated prematurely, causing only minor damage and injuries. Two accomplices were arrested;
  


• The capture of insurgents thought to be responsible for the recent deaths of twenty Marines near Haditha. "Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pointed to the arrests as evidence that Iraqi civilians support the U.S.-led coalition trying to pacify the country. 'The public came forward and said these are the folks,' Myers said."
  


• Successful anti-terror operations usually get lost under the avalanche of bad news about casualties and terror attacks. Just to see what you're usually missing from your newspapers and nightly news, here's two days' worth of work in northern Iraq:
  

  Iraqi and multinational security forces from Task Force Freedom detained 32 suspected terrorists, killed one terrorist, injured another three, and seized a weapons cache over the weekend...:

  - A joint force of Iraqi Police and U.S. soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, killed one terrorist during a raid in western Mosul today. The raid also resulted in the capture of seven terrorist suspects, who are now in custody, officials said. Coalition forces reportedly sustained no injuries.

  - Iraqi Police detained seven terrorist suspects during separate operations in Mosul on today and Aug. 6.

  - Iraqi army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, seized eight terrorist suspects following an attack on their checkpoint in northern Mosul Aug. 6.

  - Iraqi army soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, apprehended two terrorist suspects during a cordon-and-search operation in Rawah on Aug. 6.

  - Iraqi Intervention Force troops from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, detained two terrorist suspects during a raid in Rawah on Aug. 6. The terrorist suspects are in custody, and Iraqi security forces sustained no injuries, officials said.

  - Three terrorist suspects were injured in an engagement with U.S. soldiers with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Tal Afar on Aug. 6. The terrorist suspects had attacked Iraqi army soldiers via a drive-by shooting. The terrorist suspects are being treated for their injuries and then will be detained, officials said.

  - U.S. soldiers with the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, captured another two terrorist suspects who had attacked civilians, in Tal Afar on Aug. 6, officials said.

  - Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment apprehended one terrorist suspect during a raid in eastern Mosul on Aug. 6.

  - Soldiers from the 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, captured three terrorist suspects and a weapons cache over the weekend. The seizures occurred during two separate operations in Rawah. The cache included a number of mortar rounds and a mortar-firing system. The weapons were confiscated for future destruction...

  Iraqi and multinational security forces with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), detained 34 suspected terrorists and seized a weapons cache during operations in northern Iraq on Aug. 5...

  Twenty-five of the terrorist suspects were apprehended during cordon-and-search operations south of Oayyarah. Iraqi army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, and U.S. troops from the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, spearheaded these operations.

  Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, apprehended another five suspected terrorists on Friday. The 24th seized the terrorist suspects during three separate operations in western Mosul, officials said.

  The remaining four terrorist suspects were detained by soldiers from the 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, at a checkpoint in Rawah.

  Also on Aug. 5, U.S. soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, seized a weapons cache during a search operation in eastern Mosul, officials said. The cache reportedly included several artillery rounds, which were confiscated for future destruction.

• You think that's exceptional? Here's more from August 5 and 6:
  

  Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 2 destroyed three car bombs while conducting cordon-and-search operations in the western Iraqi city of Haqliniyah today...

  The soldiers and Marines also discovered two weapons caches in caves outside of Haqliniyah today... The first cave reportedly was found at 9:00 a.m. It contained a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, medium machine gun, several assault rifles, and bomb-making material, the Marines said. The second cave contained 155 mm artillery rounds and a propane tank -- items, they noted, that are commonly used for bomb construction.

  The Marines detained 24 suspected terrorists for questioning.

  Also during Operation Quick Strike today, Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines discovered two roadside bombs buried alongside the main road south of Haditha...

  A joint U.S-Iraqi raid in Sharmiyah Aug. 5 resulted in the capture of 39 suspected terrorists, including some key local terrorist leaders. Eight of the 39 terrorist suspects were detained at the Mudjaherin al Ansar mosque by a specially trained Iraqi Police unit. The mosque was not damaged in the operation, officials said.

  The remaining 31 terrorist suspects were detained during a cordon-and-knock operation by U.S. soldiers from the 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). The 155th BCT is a U.S. Army unit assigned to the 2nd MEF (Forward) for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

  The 155th BCT also recently seized and destroyed munitions from two weapons caches identified by Iraqi police, officials said. The Soldiers also detained three suspected terrorists. Among the seized and destroyed munitions: 1,427 artillery rounds, 50 37 mm anti-aircraft rounds, two 107 mm rockets, and two mortar rounds.

  Similarly, in Bauqbah Aug. 5, Iraqi security forces neutralized five improvised explosive devices. One of the IEDs was identified by Iraqi army soldiers, who immediately secured the area. An Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team then destroyed the IED...

  Meanwhile, in Baghdad Aug. 5, Iraqi security forces reportedly detained 45 suspected terrorists during Operation Vanguard Thunder. Participating Iraqi army soldiers and police officers were assisted by elements of the 184th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Operation Vanguard Thunder is targeting 150-200 terrorist suspects. No injuries or damages were reported during these operations, officials said.

  Iraqi army and Task Force Baghdad soldiers worked together to capture five terror suspects in three separate combat operations carried out in southern, western and northern Baghdad Aug. 4.

• And here are highlights from August 6 and 7:
  

  - In Mosul, coalition forces detained two individuals for handing out terrorist propaganda. The two individuals revealed the location of their source and, during a resulting raid, Iraqi police killed one terrorist later confirmed to be a Syrian national. In a combined raid, coalition and Iraqi security forces captured three men connected to terror leader Abbass Fadhel Zangana.

  - Near Hit, Iraqi Intervention Forces and U.S. Marines captured three terrorists in a truck towing another vehicle modified as a car bomb.

  - In Haqlaniyah, coalition forces destroyed a booby-trapped house that contained improvised explosive devices.

  - In Baghdad, coalition forces captured a car bomb and four terrorists who were involved in a car-bomb cell. Iraqi forces captured ten members of a terrorist cell in Sadr City.

  In other developments, Iraqi army soldiers and coalition forces captured suspected insurgents in a targeted search Aug. 7 in Rawah, Iraq, according to a Multinational Force Iraq report.

  Elements of U.S. Army Task Force 2-14 and soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, detained four suspected insurgents during the operation. The suspects included one Syrian man, one Sudanese man, a former Rawah police officer, and a civilian. The Sudanese man was in possession of an expired passport.

  In Fallujah, Iraqi army soldiers found and eliminated improvised explosive devices while conducting search operations Aug. 6, according to a MNFI report.

  Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, discovered an IED while on a dismounted patrol. The IED consisted of one 130 mm artillery round enclosed in a white burlap bag with a car-alarm receiver, a washing machine timer, and a battery. The area was secured and the IED was disarmed and removed for later disposal.

  Elsewhere, Iraqi army soldiers found IEDs in Rawah and Mugdadiyah. In Rawah, soldiers raided a building and found one 120 mm artillery round and two pounds of propellant. Two suspected insurgents were detained.

  In Mugdadiyah, a patrol located one 155 mm artillery round and an unknown initiation device. An Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team removed the IED.

• In other recent security successes:
  


• Two suspects captured during a raid in Mosul on July 26, and two roadside bombs caches located and disarmed in the Baghdad area;
  


• "Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, found a large weapons cache during a routine combat patrol July 27. The cache contained more than 30 120 mm mortar rounds, seven fuses wrapped in plastic, two boxes of heavy machine gun ammunition, several grenades and a 55-gallon drum containing blasting caps, detonation cord and additional mortar rounds";
  


• "Iraqi police located a large cache of munitions eight kilometers southeast of Tikrit near Owja July 28... The cache consisted of nine surface-to-air missiles, 11 57 mm anti-aircraft artillery rounds, 300 14.5 mm anti-aircraft artillery rounds, and 300 23 mm anti-aircraft artillery rounds";
  


• One insurgent killed and one wounded and captured after attacking Iraqi police in Baghdad's Al Askan District on July 28;
  


• "Iraqi Army soldiers conducting a traffic control point detained suspected anti-Iraq forces in Mosul, Iraq, July 29, according to a multinational forces report. Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division detained 10 suspected insurgents, five of whom attempted to escape before they were transported to Al Kindi for further questioning... Elsewhere, Iraqi Army soldiers detained six suspects. Soldiers with 5th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division conducted a joint cordon-and-search operation in Baghdad with elements of 2nd Battalion, 156th U.S. Infantry Regiment. The effort resulted in the capture of six suspected insurgents, five who had been targeted the Iraqi forces... In Al Batha, Iraqi security forces detained an additional 27 suspected criminals and terrorists";
  


• Nine insurgents, five of whom were reported to be Syrians, killed by the Iraqi and the American troops in a village northwest of Baghdad on July 29;
  


• Task Force Liberty Soldiers killed one and detained three terrorists who were attempting to place a roadside bomb in Samarra July 30;
  


• Eleven insurgents killed in a village near Haditha, north-west of Baghdad, after Marines came under attack from a school building on 31 July;
  


• A large weapons cache found by soldiers from the 116th Brigade Combat Team in Mamah on August 1;
  


• On August 3, "Ministry of Interior security forces raided a hidden basement used for storing weapons at the al-Nahdah garage after receiving intelligence information. A source at the ministry said they raided the Bab al-Sheikh area and confiscated anti- aircraft rockets with their launchers. They also arrested 25 suspects in the Salaman Pak and Abu Disheer areas";
  


• "In the 48 hours spanning Aug. 3 and 4, Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division conducted a series of raids to nab key planners of terrorist attacks and to seize weapons and bomb-making materials in Abu Ghraib, a western province of Baghdad. The Soldiers captured four suspected terrorists, discovered five weapons caches, and confiscated more than $2,000 in U.S. currency";
  


• "Multi-National Forces from Task Force Freedom detained 28 suspected terrorists and responded to an attack against Iraqi Police during operations in northern Iraq Aug. 3 and 4";
  


• Forty one suspected terrorists, including three foreign fighters, captured by Task Force Baghdad soldiers during Operation Able Warrior west of the Baghdad International Airport on August 4;
  


• "Results from operations conducted between July 30 and Aug. 5 include the discovery and clearance of 109 improvised explosive devices and 32 caches; the capture of 805 insurgent fighters, with the subsequent detention of 493; and the death or capture of 11 foreign fighters";
  


• American troops in Baghdad killing a suicide bomber on August 6 before his car could explode near their patrol; six insurgents were killed and twelve captured in various repelled attacks that day - in the words of Maj. Liston Edge of Kennesaw, Ga., an operations officer with the 48th Brigade Combat Team, "The enemy came to fight us with no success";
  


• Following intelligence from a previously captured insurgent, a terror safe house in Baghdad used as a base of operations and a storage for explosives, is destroyed by the Coalition forces on August 6. There are several secondary explosions;
  


• On August 8, "Iraqi soldiers and police backed by Italian troops have captured an unspecified number of 'terrorists' near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya";
  


• On August 8, "U.S. Marines discovered a car bomb factory Monday in a western Iraqi town near where 20 members of the American unit were killed last week... Six vehicles rigged with explosives were found in the hideout in the northern part of Haqlaniyah, one of a cluster of towns in western Anbar province long believed to be a stronghold of Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters."

And so, the Coalition and Iraqi security forces continue the fight against the terrorists. As for the media, that’s something we will have to battle against.

« ok, I'm done now

SOCIETY:

• The parliamentary election is on the horizon, looking to repeat the success of the last October’s presidential poll. Voter registration has been steaming ahead:
  

  The Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) claimed… estimated 50,000 people register as voters on a daily basis across Afghanistan.

  JEMB's international spokesperson Bronwyn Curran reckoned about 600 thousand voters had been listed hitherto. Thirty-six percent of those registered as voters are said to be women.

  Of the 1,052 voter registration centers set up across the country, eight (three in southern Zabul and five in Kandahar) remain closed for lack of workforce.

• These are, of course, all new registrees, in addition to the millions who have already been registered prior to the presidential election last year. And the Joint Electoral Management Body has also launched a separate campaign to register returnees. The registration officially ended on 21 July, with women constituting 40 per cent of new enrollees.
  


• The first ballot papers have arrived:
  

  The first shipment of millions of ballot papers for legislative elections arrived in the Afghan capital Friday, about eight weeks ahead of the polls that will see the war-torn country take another crucial step toward democracy.

  The papers, flown in on a giant Antonov transport plane, were the first to arrive of some 40 million that have been printed in Britain and Austria ahead of the Sept. 18 elections.

  "The arrival of these ballot papers marks an important milestone in our plans to hold" the elections, said Bissmillah Bissmil, chairman of the UN-backed Joint Electoral Management Body. "It heralds the start of the huge logistical challenge that we face in transporting these ballot papers safely and securely across the whole of Afghanistan."

  From the capital, Kabul, the papers will be transported to polling stations by air and road. Donkeys will take them to more remote locations.

• You can read the official campaign regulations here. The electoral commission has also established a separate media commission for the upcoming elections: "The Media Commission is composed of three Afghan and two international commissioners who are tasked with monitoring the media coverage of the election campaign; addressing complaints of unfair reporting and coverage, or other violations of Afghan media law; and setting-up and overseeing a sponsored advertising program that will provide each candidate with equal radio and television air time during the campaign period (14 August to 15 September)."
  


• Foreign election assistance continues to arrive. NATO, which currently has 10,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan, will be boosting its presence to 12,000 to increase security for the election. There will also be 93 Austrian troops.
  


• An EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) has now been deployed in Afghanistan. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will be sending a 50-strong election support team. The Japenese government is contributing $8 million towards the cost of the election.
  


• United Nations Development Fund for Women is assisting with electoral education:
  

  To raise awareness and understanding of the parliamentary process, UNIFEM has published a manual titled "Parliamentary Manual: Institutional and Legal Principles," which has been distributed widely among government offices, Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) staff, and through the JEMB's provincial offices to more than 6,050 candidates in Dari and Pashto. English, Dari and Pashto versions have also been distributed among journalists, UN agencies, gubernatorial offices throughout Afghanistan, embassies, and some international and local NGOs. Additional copies of the manual are available from the UNIFEM Afghanistan office or website...

  UNIFEM is partnering with Afghan National Radio and Television to produce a TV and radio program, based on the manual, to inform parliamentary candidates and the general public about fundamental constitutional and parliamentary concepts. Expert Afghan resource persons debate and discuss the material drawn from the manual on 30-minute weekly shows that are aired each Thursday from 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. on Afghan state TV, and rebroadcast every Friday from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. The shows then go on state radio on Sunday from 9:00 to 9:30 p.m.

  The program, which began broadcast on 23 June, has 11 episodes that cover topics such as constitutional state structure, the Afghan legal system, constitutional rights, election law principles and procedures, constitutional rules and regulations, parliamentary structure, constitutional law making, and public and constituency relations. The last program will be aired on 12 July, and will focus entirely on answering audience questions.

• Another program is aiming to educate women throughout the provinces about the coming election:
  

  Female civic educators have been dispatched to provincial areas of Afghanistan to promote awareness of the forthcoming parliamentary elections among women, officials at the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MoWA) announced on Thursday in the capital, Kabul.

  According to MoWA, the 10-day programme, which began last week, involves 63 women meeting village leaders and approaching the local media, mosques, NGOs and schools to help with the information campaign.

  "We have to use all possible means to deliver election information to women in rural areas where the majority of women are illiterate," Nafisa Kohistani a MoWA public information officer said. Cultural sensitivities and discrimination against women are likely to discourage female involvement in the historic poll slated for 18 September, observers say.

  "The teams will also encourage and identify women who will voluntarily help election staff on voting day," Kohistani said, adding that every team consists of three female educators and aims to target at least 1,000 women per province.

• There is indeed a significant presence of women in the election: "328 women are running for the lower house of parliament, where 68 of 249 seats have been set aside for female representatives. An additional 237 are running for seats on provincial councils that will in turn appoint a third of the upper house."
  


• And generally, women have shown great interest in the poll:
  

  With less than seven weeks to September's historic parliamentary elections, women have shown greater interest in participating, the Afghan-UN joint electoral management body (JEMB) announced on Wednesday in the capital Kabul.

  According to the electoral body, there had already been a marked increase in women's voter registration - particularly in the troubled south and southeastern provinces where no or very few women had registered during last October's presidential elections.

  "It is very encouraging that in Afghanistan after so many years without elections, already women's participation is pretty high level," Rebecca Cox, a member of the JEMB, observed.

  In fact, women's registration was already quite close to 50 percent, the JEMB member explained, noting the progress to date. Of the over 12 million registered voters in Afghanistan today, more than 40 percent of the total were female.

  Meanwhile, JEMB officials said voter registration by Afghan women increased by 35 percent in conservative southern Urozgan province and 23 percent in southern Helmand province.

  "In the Ajristan district of Ghazni [southern province] no women registered last year; this year 13,000 women registered. In the Dasho district of Helmand province, only one woman registered last year; this year 1,361 women registered as eligible voters," Momena Yari, another member of the electoral body, explained.

• USAID is also training officials and educating voters:
  

  During the last two weeks in June, USAID-funded civic educators held 1,589 training sessions in the central region of Afghanistan, reaching 52,176 voters, of whom 18,726 were women. Since May 1, 2005, a total of 222,550 citizens have attended civic education sessions. Election administration trainers held three five-day training programs for the newly appointed Provincial Electoral Commissions (PEC). This concluded the initial PEC training, resulting in 128 trained Electoral Commissions. Plans are currently underway for a two-day follow on training to deal with issues that these individuals will confront during their first month of work.

• And a board game is aiming to teach Afghan children about rebuilding their country:
  

  With the spin of a wheel, one Afghan child might land up in an ambush by gunmen. Another could be taken to the safety of a health clinic or classroom.

  These are all scenarios 10- to 14-year-olds must confront in the Road to Peace, a board game devised by the UN. About 10,000 copies are being distributed to war-affected children, former child soldiers and refugee families, said Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN assistance mission.

  It comes in two languages, Dari and Pashto, and aims to teach children about the peace process and reconstruction of their country.

  The foldable cardboard game is illustrated with a swirling path from one corner, the Past - with tanks, explosions and a Taliban-style execution - to another, the Future, with cheery family scenes, factories and a river.

  Along the way, up to six players take turns spinning a wheel and moving their pieces.

  If they land on a negative scenario, such as girls being turned away from school, they move backwards.

  Landing on a positive square, such as the signing of the Bonn agreement in 2001, lets a player advance.

• As the country prepares to elect for the first time its national parliament, work continues to build a modern legal infrastructure for the country. Thanks to a USAID grant of $200,000, a new court complex has been opened in Paktia province. USAID is also engaged in legal training:
  

  USAID’s rule of law activity reflects a transition from supporting the creation of a government to ensuring that the new government has the capacity serve as a legitimate alternative to Afghanistan’s violent political past. USAID is supporting Kabul University in establishing a Law School, combining elements of the current faculties of Shari’a and Law & Political Science. At the request of the two Kabul faculties, USAID is now conducting intensive English classes for 33 professors of the law and sharia faculties. Short-term training programs are being conducted at provincial courts, in court administration, computer literacy, and requested legal topics. To date, USAID has trained 25 judges in basic computer literacy and 5 judges in a training-of-trainers computer literacy course. USAID has provided 41 Ministry of Justice officials with English language classes. 26 court professional staff have received computer literacy training.

• Meanwhile, in an important legal first: "A milestone was recently achieved in Afghanistan's road to human rights protection in the administration of justice with the adoption of the new Penitentiary Law. In the current situation, the prison system is unable to uphold the basic international human rights standards related to persons deprived of their freedom. Afghanistan however has acceded to key international human rights treaties for such protection. The passing of the Penitentiary Law which incorporates all the required protections according to international standards signals a significant commitment by Afghanistan to implement the provisions of international human rights treaties."
  


• The repatriation program for Afghan refugees reaches another milestone:
  

  More than 2.5 million Afghans have repatriated from Pakistan as the UN refugee agency's largest voluntary repatriation programme continues to assist refugees to return to Afghanistan.

  The programme, initiated in 2002 in both Pakistan and Iran, passed the landmark number today with the departure of the 207,210th Afghan refugee from Pakistan so far this year. In addition, more than 1.2 million Afghans have returned from Iran, bringing to over 3.7 million the total returns to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan.

  "This is an unprecedented number of people returning to their homeland and a testament both to the improving conditions in Afghanistan and the desire of Afghan refugees to participate in the rebuilding of their country," UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in Geneva.

  "Even the 200,000 Afghans who have received UNHCR assistance to go home from Pakistan in 2005 make this our largest voluntary repatriation programme anywhere in the world this year," he said.

• And returns are continuing:
  

  "I have never seen Kabul and have no idea how it will look. But my mother assured me that we are going from one home to another," said 19-year-old Aalia Bibi as she boarded the truck taking her back to Afghanistan and ending 25 years of exile for her family...

  "I stand today in front of my Afghan brothers and sisters to share this moment of joy that finally I am returning home with dignity and respect," said Innayat Ullah, an Afghan elder also repatriating to Kabul.

  "In all these years of exile, I have realized one thing that I want to share with my countrymen here: no one can rebuild and reconstruct Afghanistan except Afghans themselves. So I have decided my fate and I am going to be among others who returned to do the same," he added.

• Various initiatives are underway to accomodate the returnees. For example, "the provincial government is planning to set up a town for refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the outskirts of Ghazni City... The proposed town would be constructed on 10,00 acres of land, which would be sub-divided into 1,200 plots."
  


• Meanwhile, the successes and the continuing challenge of creating an education system almost from scratch:
  

  The progress in Afghanistan over the last three years is undeniable. Approximately 5 million children are now enrolled in school — and 40 percent of them are girls.

  Malaly Pikar Volpi, director of the Policy Council on Afghan Women, said educating girls is part of a backlash against the repressive Taliban regime.

  “Because education for girls was forbidden by the Taliban, it has come to symbolize freedom and prestige in Afghanistan," she said. "Groups that were especially persecuted by the Taliban, such as the Tajiks and the Hezaras, are now forcefully sending their children to school.”

  But not everyone is convinced that America is doing all it can to ensure women receive an education in the region. According to UNICEF, 60 percent of Afghan girls under age 11 are not enrolled in school, even though 1,600 schools for girls have opened since 2001.

  Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs Dr. Massouda Jalal praised progress in Afghanistan but cautioned that more work remains.

• USAID is also helping Afghan teachers:
  

  USAID’s Afghanistan Primary Education Program (APEP) focuses on teacher training, accelerated learning programs for students, and textbook printing and distribution. During the current reporting period, July 3 – 16, 2005, the Teacher Education Program (TEP), completed the training of 425 teacher educators. These teacher educators will form the province-level foundation for nationwide in-service teacher education efforts. The participants, all of whom are teachers in the formal school system, came from Kabul City (212), Kabul Province (30), Parwan (69), Logar (42), Paktia (42), and Kapisa (30). APEP’s accelerated learning partners are now recruiting mentors (teachers) to help meet the additional instructional and supervision demands of implementing the 4th grade curriculum. At this level, the number of subjects taught increases, and students are observed and tested more frequently. As of June 30, APEP had trained an additional 2,592 mentors for its classes.

• No child is being left behind in Herat: "Eighteen visually-impaired children are being imparted education at six schools in the western Herat province, with some of them bagging top positions among their classmates. Special teaching and instructional techniques are being brought into use to educate the students, whose levels range from nursery to eighth."
  


• There is also this assistance from South Korea: "Mohammad Karim Khalili, second Afghan vice-president, has inaugurated an Afghan-Korean education centre in Afshar, northwest of Kabul. The nine million US dollar project was funded by South Korea and has six departments including masonry, tailoring, electricity, computers, welding and car repair. Three hundred and sixty students are expected to graduate each year."
  


• Afghan higher education minister Amir Shah Hassanyar has also recently spoke of challenges of reviving his country's universities:
  

  He painted a portrait of a “once proud” higher education system, with a million students and several strong universities, that was left in tatters by a decade of rule by the former Soviet Union, a period of strife and civil war that began after the Soviets departed, and the repressive rule of the Taliban.

  Right now, he acknowledged bluntly, the “quality of education is very, very low.” Nearly two thirds of the 2,000 teachers at Afghanistan’s 19 colleges have only a bachelor’s degree, “and most of those degrees were earned long ago.” Only 104, he said, have Ph.D.’s, and most of those were earned in the former Soviet Union.

  “Afghanistan faces an immense challenge in raising the educational level of its university staff and meeting international standards of teaching and research,” the minister said.

  The country must not only retrain those instructors but develop nearly 3,000 more to meet burgeoning student demand. In 2002, the universities had 4,000 students; this semester, they have 40,000, and by 2010 they are expecting to have 100,000. And many of the students, Hassanyar said, are not prepared for university level work. Getting women back into education poses a particular challenge, since they were barred from schooling by the Taliban.

  The list of other challenges is long: a 30-year old curriculum; facilities in “dire need” of reconstruction, repair and modernization; multiple universities that remain dominated by factions and ethnic groups; a dearth of library resources and textbooks.

  Some progress has been made — the country has moved to a credit-hour system, updated its higher education laws to allow for the creation of private universities, and developed a 2-, 5-, and 10-year strategic plan that includes the creation of system of community colleges, one in each of 34 provinces, that will provide technical and vocational education.

  Afghanistan needs significant help to achieve its goals, Hassanyar said, and partnerships with institutions elsewhere are essential (some already exist: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale is helping Balkh University’s plant and animal science departments update their teaching techniques and their technical materials, for instance, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is working with the Afghan University for Education to train teachers, since the country’s elementary and secondary schools are arguably in worse shape than the higher education system).

• And a successful program that brings Afghan students to the United States continues:
  

  Four teens from Afghanistan will arrive in Fort Wayne this month to spend a year with area families learning about American culture and attending local schools.

  This is the second year teens from the war-torn country will visit Indiana and several other states across the country as part of Youth Exchange and Study, a program under the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

  Three of the teens will arrive Sunday after a monthlong training session to help them adjust to life in the United States and two weeks before school begins at Homestead, Heritage and Woodlan high schools, where they will attend.

• Just as big a challenge is ensuring the access to decent standard of health care for millions of Afghans who never had it before. Soon, basic health care will be reaching remote parts of the country:
  

  Health Minister Dr Saeed Mohammad Amin Fatemi has said 214 Basic Health Units (BHUs) will be operative in different parts of the country in the next two months.

  In a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, Fatemi said the step would help reduce burden on main hospitals in big cities besides provision of better health facilities to patients.

  Dr Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for the ministry, said the centres would be established in areas where people have no access to health services. They will be equipped with treatment facilities like family planning, mother and child healthcare and health education besides curing other diseases.

  Fahim said the cost of construction work, which had been initiated some four months back, was being provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

• Professional training also continues: "The Medical College of the University of Nangarhar, in Eastern Afghanistan, graduated 61 midwives and about 200 other students in other medical professions so far. This class of graduating midwives comes from Nangarhar, Konar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces."
  


• Both the media and the access to media continue to expand in the new Afghanistan. BBC is gaining a considerable audience throughout the country: "Despite limited survey work due to safety considerations, the BBC attracts 2.8 million listeners in five surveyed provinces of Afghanistan – an increase of two million on last year's Kabul only survey. That survey showed that BBC World Service programmes in Pashto and Persian had a 60 per cent reach in the Afghan capital."
  


• Read also about Corridors, the hard-hitting current affairs program on TV, which is openly tackling many social taboos in this deeply conservative society.
  


• In the run-up to parliamentary election later on this year, Afghan media professionals have been participating in a workshop to better prepare them for the task of covering national politics:
  

  More than three hundred journalists and media professionals belonging to both governmental and independent media from all over Afghanistan took part on a three day workshop in Kabul about "The role of Media in Parliamentary Elections". The election-training exercise was in view of the upcoming political election on September 2005 (Wolesi Jirga and provincial elections).

  The training was organized by the Ministry of Information and Culture in cooperation with the Bakhtar Information agency, UNESCO, Internews and JEMB; and with the support of the UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), UNAMA and the Asia Fundation.

  From 28 to 30 June 2005, the participants from print (50%), radio (45%) and TV (5%) media outlets, of which two-third belonging to independent media, gathered in Kabul (110 were coming from the provinces). They discussed subjects such as: the right and duty of balance, accuracy and impartiality; the right and duty to inform during election; neutrality; non discrimination among candidates; raising voters’ understanding through print and electronic media on how to exercise the vote; role of freedom of the press during election (watchdog, reporting violation of electoral or media law etc); the safety of journalists (women’s in particular); clarification of Afghan election statute and local challenges.

• In cultural news, "a new independent cultural and intellectual organisation was founded in Ghazni province on Friday. More than 70 Afghan writers, journalists and intellectuals from Ghazni and other provinces attended the opening ceremony of Lawang Cultural Organisation (LCO)."
  


• And on a less serious level - yes, Bollywood is officially conquering Afghanistan:
  

  Doors for Bollywood have opened now even in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. Performing in front of 30,000 audiences will be Suniel Shetty, Sonu Nigam, television stars Rahul Roy and Hussain.

  Afghanistan is a huge market for Bollywood and is very excited for this first of its kind show, informs the Indian organiser of the event.

  Suniel Shetty has more reasons to smile than the rest going, as action films are a huge favourite there. Looks like Suniel will soon be adding hordes of fans to his fanclub!

• Long forgotten - or worse still, destroyed – historical heritage of Afghanistan is finally being preserved and looked after. For example, "experts from the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, are back on the ground in western Afghanistan. They're working with local authorities on a $1 million project to preserve the crumbling, centuries-old minarets in Herat and Jam, which are in danger of collapse."
  


• In the capital, meanwhile, "reconstruction work began on July 2 at the Khwaja Eshaq Khatelani shrine, also known as Shah Shahid, located in Kabul's 8th district. Sayed Makhdum Rahin, the minister of information, culture and tourism, addressed a ceremony to mark the start of work and said, "Shah Shahid is one of the historic shrines of Kabul city, and based on agreements between the information ministry and USAID, it will be reconstructed in four months at a total cost of 34,530 US dollars." The present shrine to Khatelani dates back to reconstruction work carried out under 18th Afghan king Ahmad Shah Durrani, but has suffered recent environmental damage."
  


• And a Japanese archeological team has discovered the one that the Taliban didn't manage to find and destroy - an ancient Buddhist mural in a cave in Bamyan, near the dynamited giant statues of Buddha.
  


• And in sport news, the Asian Cricket Council is planning to promote the game that is so popular in neighboring Pakistan, as well as India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The Council will spend $60,000 trying to nurture young talent in Afghanistan.

RECONSTRUCTION:

• One of the world's poorest economies slowly continues to expand:
  

  In a bid to boost foreign and domestic investment and restore economic activity to the war-ravaged country, the government, over the last four months, has allowed 900 private companies to do trade and business in Afghanistan.

  The government had released same number of licenses to investors in the first six months of the last financial year indicating a rising trend in economic activity this year. The volume of investment stood at around $800 million the previous year, creating jobs for about 100,000 people.

  Shakib Noori, a senior official of the Afghan Investment Support Agency (AISA) told Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday, about $200 million had been invested over the last four months, promising jobs for more than 37,000 people.

• The financial situation of the Afghan government is also improving with time:
  

  The Government of Afghanistan reported that due to improvements to administrative procedures it collected revenue more evenly throughout the year. The Mustofiats (provinces) reported nearly a 40% increase in revenue collections over last year. The major revenue codes that exceeded expectations were direct taxes, indirect taxes (customs duties), sales of state property and services, and land and other taxes (mainly pension contributions). Revenue from rents for use of government property performed at or near expectations. Fees and licenses and miscellaneous taxes were the major revenue areas to perform below expectations.

• A UN-administsred reconstruction fund reaches a milestone:
  

  The three-year-old United Nations-supported Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) has received, as of the end of June, over $1 billion for projects ranging from the recurrent and capital costs of the Government to priority programmes, such as micro-financing, education, power, water supply and sanitation. The ARTF, established in May 2002 after the ouster of the Taliban regime, is administered by the World Bank under the supervision of a management committee comprising the Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, UN Development Program (UNDP) and World Bank.

• More about the Fund here.
  


• Great Britain will be contributing another $350 million towards "paying salaries to government employees, improving condition of schools, hospitals and a number of other public facilities."
  


• Canada also continues to assist with reconstruction:
  

  Since the Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan in January 2002, Afghanistan has been the single largest recipient of Canadian bilateral aid with pledges of more than $616 million in reconstruction and development assistance. Delivered through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Canada's assistance supports priorities identified by the Afghan government in its National Development Framework. Current support is focused on interventions in the areas of governance, rural livelihoods, and support to the Government of Afghanistan...

  Specific results of CIDA-funded initiatives include:

  - More than 62,000 former combatants have been disarmed and demobilized through the CIDA-funded Afghan New Beginnings Program. Under the program, former soldiers selected reintegration packages to enable them to slowly return to a new civilian life. Training programs included initiatives in agriculture, tailoring, teaching, and demining.

  - The Microfinance Investment and Support Facility (MISFA), which is one of the Afghan government's top priorities, expanded the existing microfinance network in Afghanistan and provides a range of financial services, including loans for income generation and enterprise development, savings services, and consumer loans to low-income people, particularly women. Canada is the lead donor to this program, one of the largest microfinance schemes in the world, and one which has reached almost 100,000 clients so far, 91 percent of whom are women.

  - The Government of Afghanistan has asked Canada to be the sole donor for the National Priority Programmes Co-ordination Unit within the Government of Afghanistan. Through this project, CIDA is helping the government of Afghanistan to direct its resources and programs into the provinces where it will have the greatest strategic reach and impact. It will also help the Government of Afghanistan extend the positive reach of the central government to rural Afghanistan.

  - More than 8,000 villages have been identified for funding through the National Solidarity Program, enabling an estimated 140,000 families to access basic rural infrastructure.

  - More than 9,000 pieces of heavy weaponry such as artillery, tanks, and rocket launchers have been surrendered and returned to central government control. These weapons are the same that bombarded Kabul and other major cities in Afghanistan for months and killed thousands. This impressive achievement was made possible by very close collaboration between development and political officers from the Canadian Embassy in Kabul, and Canadian military personnel based in Afghanistan.

• Japan, too. is contributing:
  

  Japan signed a USD$17 million agreement with [United Nations Development Programme] today; an expression of Japan's commitment to simultaneously address peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan... The funds provided by the Government of Japan will go towards UNDP's National Area Based Development Programme, under the leadership of MRRD, which will facilitate long-term macro economic planning in the regions and the training of government staff. In addition, the immediate need for urban employment, increased agricultural productivity, and the reduction of the landmine threat will be addressed in partnership with the Ministries of Urban Development and Housing, and of Agriculture, together with the UNDP-supported Programme Implementation Unit, FAO and the United Nations Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA).

• And this: "The Government of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance of a total of 3,660,415 US dollars (approximately 402.64 million yen) through the Trust Fund for Human Security for the project "Improving Human Security by Rebuilding Urban Communities" to be implemented by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in Afghanistan... The project is expected to focus not only on physical rehabilitation but also on the restoration of a sense of solidarity in the communities. The project is expected to improve the living conditions of approximately 100,000 people."
  


• USAID is also funding reconstruction project carried out by the Coalition forces: "The Quick Impact Program (QIP) is USAID’s funding mechanism that allows [Field Development Officres] to undertake specific development projects in their provinces. FDOs select appropriate projects and activities in consultation with the military at the [Provincial Reconstruction Teams] and with local leadership. The primary purposes of QIP projects are to extend the reach and influence of government throughout the provinces and to create a climate of improved freedom and economic activity. Projects implemented through QIP include tertiary roads, bridges, water supply, irrigation, government administrative buildings, schools, clinics, micro-power generation and gender training courses. Starting in FY03, QIP has received total funding of $137.3 million, including $75 million from the FY05 supplemental budget. As of June 2005, 116 projects have been completed, 106 are under construction, and 126 are under planning and design. It is expected that over 600 projects will be completed by the end of FY06."
  


• Japan and the UN are collaborating on a project to make Afghan cities more livable:
  

  The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security have announced that they will provide over 3 million US dollars towards upgrading homes and urban community facilities in informal settlements in the three Afghan cities of Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad.

  The funding, amounting to a total of US$ 3,560,585 will be disbursed through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security in support of a year-long project designed to provide basic urban services and shelter for more than 100,000 people in 48 settlements in the three cities. The project is scheduled to commence in August 2005 and completed by July 2006...

  UN-HABITAT said the project will help communities living in designated settlements to improve basic services including waste collection and disposal and community infrastructure. This will be done through community mobilisation, enabling women to play their role in local development, and promoting inclusive community-level decision-making.

• On the topic of urban renewal, one historic city will be expanding: "A government delegation including reconstruction minister Mohammed Yusuf Pashtun attended the inauguration of a project to expand the town of Bamian, provincial capital of the central province of the same name. Bamian, is the site of the two giant Buddha statues, is not only important for Afghanistan, but is a historical and archeological site of world significance, said Pashtun. The government has therefore decided to expand the city, because Bamian is seen as the most attractive historical site for tourists in Afghanistan, he said."
  


• USAID is working with the Afghan government to make sure the basics are right for some of Afghanistan's key industries:
  

  In a unique approach to improving competitiveness, USAID and the Ministry of Finance jointly developed a 2 year competitiveness project. The program combines two important efforts to produce a sustainable and competitive private sector: 1) working with three existing industries (carpets, dried fruit and nuts and marble) to develop more complex products for which buyers will pay a premium; and 2) developing and supporting a cabinet-level National Competitiveness Council that is a forum for the public and private sectors to coordinate and debate the role of government in supporting private sector development.

  Recent activity with the carpet cluster includes workgroup meetings on carpet buyers survey, carpet design award, wool and other inputs, and transportation. In addition, the project provided technical and management support to the Ministry of Commerce for the upcoming National Carpet Exhibition.

  Market surveys are in process in India for fruit and nuts. In addition, a business plan for an integrated raisin processing plant is currently under consideration for the financing of the required equipment. The results of a preliminary survey of the Khogiani quarry, part of the marble cluster, indicates that the deposit is very valuable. A business plan is currently being developed for an initial investment of quarrying equipment.

• USAID's valuation teams are currently cooperating with the authorities in providing professional valuation of state-owned enterprises throughout the country in order to prepare for privatization.
  


• There is also assistance for businesswomen:
  

  The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, recently organized a two-day workshop on “How to Market your Business” for 40 women entrepreneurs in Kabul. The event, which was held July 26-27, is part of a larger IFC regional program to strengthen women-owned small and medium enterprises. The workshop was designed for women who have some experience in formal small and medium-sized businesses and who seek innovative, nontraditional and growth-oriented approaches to their enterprises. It was delivered using IFC’s Business Edge management training methodology and expertise. The training series aims to increase productivity, profitability, and growth in small businesses by improving their financial, operational, and marketing management. It also focuses on the soft skills needed for effective human resource management and sound leadership. In particular, the Kabul workshop focused on the introduction to marketing concepts, the targeting of markets, and pricing.

• In Kabul, a new asphalt-producing plant has been opened on July 4. "According to the state-run Bakhtar Information Agency, the equipment for the plant was made in India and was donated to Kabul city by USAID. The plant has a production capacity of 40 tons of asphalt per hour."
  


• Meanwhile in exploration, gold deposits have been recently discovered in the Herat province. Satellite imaging also showed presence of rare precious stones used in nuclear tests. Also: "Two citizens of the Qarqin District of Jowzjan Province have discovered a deposit of natural gas in ground close to the Amu River, Sheberghan Aina TV reported on 27 July. Jowzjan Governor Roz Mohammad Nur said that he will send a team of oil and gas experts to study the area thoroughly. Afghanistan has small natural gas fields mostly in Jowzjan."
  


• In energy news, USAID is currently working on refurbishing the Kajaki Hydroelectric power plant in Helmand province. Also, "Japan has agreed to provide five million US dollars to reconstruct and expand power distribution networks in the western province of Herat. The 10 million dollar project will be co-financed by the Asian Development Bank and is expected to be complete by October 2006."
  


• And in a major new investment program:
  

  The Asian Development Bank and the Afghan government signed a $50 million agreement on developing an efficient power distribution system in Afghanistan.

  The government will use the fund, half debt and half donation, to create a large network for countrywide power supply. The present decrepit power supply system, benefiting only a small portion of the Afghan population, leaves a lot to be desired.

  Finance Minister Anwarul Haq Ahady said at the agreement-signing ceremony: "So far, power supply is confined to major cities… but this is just the beginning of a long-term project, which aims to illuminate all villages across Afghanistan."

• Cross-border cooperation with Pakistan is on the rise:
  



Pakistan and Afghanistan have decided to take effective steps to further improve business to business interaction and enhance bilateral trade through further streamlining of procedures, holding single country exhibitions and establishment of joint chambers of commerce and industry. The two countries have also decided to constitute a Pak-Afghan Joint Customs Committee, which will examine the issues relating totrade and transit trade and submit proposals for appropriate solutions.

• There's more collaboration:
  

  Islamabad has offered to explore the possibility of establishing industrial parks in Afghanistan and in the Pak-Afghan border areas to fight poverty...

  Pakistan is establishing a network of roads connecting Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Gwadar Port to Afghanistan to facilitate bilateral trade sand develop trade links to the Central Asian Republics. Pakistan will establish 12 customs stations at the Pak-Afghan border and state-of-the-art facilities are being set up at Torkham and Chaman for trade facilitation and speedy cargo clearance.

  The Pakistan side also informed the Afghan side that Pakistan attaches high priority to stability and economic development of Afghanistan. We have always been staunch supporters of all initiatives of the international community for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, they said. The JEC was informed that $49.926 million had been utilized out of the $100 million development assistance announced by Pakistan in 2002 for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan.

  The Pakistan delegation made a presentation on progress on various projects like Chamn-Gwadar railway line, rehabilitation of Torkham-Jalalabad Road, Ghulam Khan Khost Road, power transmission lines to Khost, provision of 200 trucks, 100 buses, 38 ambulances, assistance for Kabul University, rehabilitatin of schools, faculty block in Bulkh University, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kidney Centre at Jalalabad and construction of a 150-bed hospital along with a 50-bed thalassaemia centre in Afghanistan.

  Both sides agreed that efforts would be made to improve the network of roads, including Torkham-Jalalabad Road to create trade access to Central Asia through Afghanistan. Both the countries agreed to establish a joint committee to ensure prompt implementation of the decisions of the JEC and also decided to convene the next meeting of the JEC in Islamabad.

• In communications news, better public phone infrastructure is coming to the capital:
  

  The 300 telephone booths established by the Communication Ministry at different spots in the central capital would start functioning in a week.

  Abdul Hadi Hadi, spokesman for the ministry, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Wednesday of the 300 calling points, 150 had been established in busy markets while the remaining in other populated areas.

  He said calling cards worth 250 and 500 afghani would be used to make calls from the booths. A call to digital and cell phone number will consume one and five afghanis per minute respectively. The system has been operationalised by a US company at the cost of $200.

• More here.
  


• The government is rolling out wireless network across Afghanistan:
  

  In a country where communications are often either poor or nonexistent, the Afghan government has launched a major effort to make internet access more widely available by introducing a digital wireless network.

  Currently operating only in the capital, the network will soon be available in 12 provinces and should be operational throughout the country by the end of the year, according to Communications Minister Amirzai Sangeen.

  So far, the government has spent 70 million US dollars on creating, and expects to spend another 50 million to complete the project this year. Sangeen said that 9,000 digital phones are ready to be connected to the network.

  Linking Afghanistan up via wireless internet connections is seen as vital to both economic and political development, as the government in Kabul continues to struggle to exert control over some provinces.

  "Trade centres, government offices, schools and other institutions will benefit from the internet network," said Sangeen.

• The government is also offering concessions to businesses to network remote areas of the country:
  

  The Afghan government... announced special concessions for private investors for extending telecom facilities to small towns and far-flung areas across the country.

  Announcement to this effect was made by Communications Minister Amirzai Sangin while speaking at a function organised by the Afghan Investment Support Agency (AISA) here. Besides others, the ceremony was attended by a number of private investors.

  The minister said special concessions like issuance of free licenses and fee waiver for one year would be extended to entrepreneurs who invest in provision of telecom facilities to people of the far-off areas.

  He said the government was planning to connect all parts of the country by extending the telephone facility to even smaller towns and backward and far-off districts of the country.

  The minister informed digital system had been working in 11 provinces under the government control, but they wanted the investors to come forward and extend the services to other provinces and areas of the country.

  "Connecting every village, town and district of the country through a communication network is our mission," said the minister, inviting investors to come forward to fulfill the mission.

• And in somewhat more low-tech news, postal service has resumed in Kandahar, for the first time in a quarter of century.
  


• Transport infrastructure inside Afghanistan, as well as linkages with the outside world, are slowly improving after decades of complete neglect. The Asian Development Bank has recently approved a $55 million grant to help rehabilitate the road network of Afghanistan. "The grant will cover the 90 kilometers (56 miles) between the towns of Qaisar and Bala Murghab which is the last unpaved section of the national primary road."
  


• Another road construction project has just started: "Construction work on the 48 kilometres Lashkargah-Kandahar road kicked off the other day. The road, linking the provincial capital with the Herat-Kandahar Highway, is being constructed with $30 million assistance from the United States."
  


• Iran has contributed to making Afghanistan's highest airport at Bamian safer to operate by installing weather-related instruments. Meanwhile, a new, $3-million traffic control system has been unveiled at the Kabul airport on 12 July. More about it here:
  

  The Kabul [Air Control Center] took control of high-altitude commercial and cargo flights on May 15 and low-altitude civilian and military flights on July 11. Since then, the Kabul ACC has handled more than 10,000 high-altitude flights and 500 low-altitude flights. Each flight generates hundreds of dollars of revenue for the government of Afghanistan to improve infrastructure, build landing routes and further develop a modern air traffic control system.

• Speaking of airports, here's an ambitious new plan to create the necessary infrastructure throughout the country:
  

  Thirty Afghan provinces across the country will get their own airports during the next three years. Besides, the Kabul, Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat and Kandahar airports will be renovated and reconstructed to bring them on a par with international standards, said Transport Minister Inayatullah Qasmi. In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News here on Thursday, the minister informed construction agreements of 18 airports had already been inked with different companies, while contracts for the remaining would be signed in near future. He said loans had been received from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for construction of the airports. In the first phase, he revealed, construction work would be initiated on Faizabad, Maimana, Bamyan, Chaghcheran, Zaranj, Farah and Qilla Naw airports.

• A new program aims to revive Afghan tourism:
  

  Afghanistan has struggled to surmount decades of war and poverty. Now, newly trained trekking guides plan to help visitors climb the country's majestic peaks in an effort to revive tourism.

  A total of 22 Afghans from across the country graduated Thursday from an internationally sponsored mountaineering training course in the capital, Kabul, the U.S. Agency for International Development said in a statement.

  The guides, hailing from northern Nuristan to central Bamiyan province, are part of a program to establish environmentally friendly tourism in Afghanistan, the statement said. They include two young women and seven former soldiers...

  Besides USAID and UNEP, other sponsors include Mountain Wilderness International, an Italy-based group dedicated to preserving mountainous regions around the world, and the Aga Khan Foundation, a Muslim development fund.

• In agriculture – still the major industry and the employer of the population - Iran and Pakistan will cooperate through Central Asia's Economic Cooperation Organisation to develop Afghan livestock sector.
  


• USAID is also assisting:
  

  USAID’s forestry project aims to rehabilitate pistachio woodlands in the pistachio belt extending from northern to north-western Afghanistan and conifer forests in eastern Afghanistan; provide cash-for-work opportunities to vulnerable people through labor-based reforestation projects; develop the technical and managerial capacity of the Government and local forestry experts; and promote conservation and stewardship of forests in rural villages surrounding forest rehabilitation projects. USAID works too achieve these ends in collaboration with the Afghanistan Conservation Corps (ACC). Project progress to date includes complete seeding for thirty-two reforestation subprojects in twelve provinces for a total of 186 hectares of pistachio woodlands and 93.8 hectares of conifer forest. Remaining activities include irrigation, weeding, site protection and monitoring. Assessment of germination rates produced an overall average survival rate of 67% among all sites, with 57% for 17 pistachio sites and 61% for 15 conifer sites. The project has generated 121,765 labor days of work to date.

• In other recent USAID initiatives: "USAID is improving Afghanistan’s irrigation infrastructure to increase agricultural productivity. Projects include dams, spillway and diversion channels, intakes, and distribution systems. The Sar-e Haus Dam, the largest dam in Northwest Afghanistan, provides irrigation for an estimated 600,000 people. USAID recently completed the left dam abutment, which supports the weight of the dam. Reinforcement of the old center spillway is scheduled to begin in August 2005, and the contractor is currently mobilizing. Some difficulties with local politicians appear to be resolved."
  


• In another irrigation-related project, "the Asian Development Bank has agreed to fork over $25 millions for the repair of water reservoirs and small dams to help revive the decrepit irrigation system in the northern Balkh province".
  


• Cotton production is now reviving in parts of the country:
  

  Afghan farmers have returned to cotton cultivation, sowing the crop over 6,000 hectares of land in the northern Kunduz province after decades of strife.

  Mohammad Ibrahim Turkman, director of the provincial agriculture and livestock department, said on Thursday Kunduz was headed for a bumper cotton crop this year after a sharp and persistent decline in its cultivation over the years.

  In an exclusive chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, Turkman recalled the province used to produce around 85,000 tons of cotton annually before the breakout of the war, which saw a precipitous fall in the crop yield.

• Afghanistan's national air carrier, Ariana Airlines, will be flying fresh fruit to Saudi Arabia, starting with 5000 tons of apricots.
  


• And in another good agricultural news, thanks to the United Nations' help, the number of locust has been drastically reduced across the country.

HUMANITARIAN AID:

• The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department has recently set aside further 20 million euro for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan and Iran. "From 2001 to 2004, ECHO provided humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and to neighbouring Iran and Pakistan worth € 218 million. This aid has helped sustain the massive return of refugees and IDPs to Afghanistan, provided essential aid to remaining refugees and IDPs, tackled humanitarian needs resulting from the drought, and generally alleviated the sufferings of the victims of the conflict and drought."
  


• British charity is helping with disaster relief:
  

  Merlin, the UK charity which specialises in medical relief and health care worldwide, is assisting thousands of vulnerable people affected by floods in Badakshan province, northern Afghanistan.

  With ongoing health projects across Badakshan, Merlin was ready to respond swiftly to the crisis and has already started distributing medical supplies to affected communities in four districts of the province...

  Merlin will focus on setting up and managing mobile clinics and ensuring health facilities have adequate medical supplies, jerry cans to collect and store water, and chlorine solutions for water purification.

  Merlin teams will also distribute soap, insecticide-treated bed nets, and leaflets with instructions on how to prepare oral rehydration salts to relieve symptoms of diarrhoea.

  Merlin will also promote health and hygiene messages through leaflets and posters in public places including markets, shops and mosques, and through media outlets, to raise awareness of how to prevent water and sanitation-related diseases.

• Afghanistan itself is an impoverished country, but its people are also keen to help their compatriots wherever they can. The Laghman city government, for example, is distributing 6,500 plots of land in different parts of the municipality to the local homeless.
  


• The Afghanistan Red Crescent Society is trying to promote self-help in local communities:
  

  The Afghanistan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) has initiated a fundraising programme which empowers the local communities to respond to natural disasters in appropriate time.

  The Disaster Management department of the ARCS has installed donation boxes in the different provinces of the country to increase local fundraising and to mobilise local resources to respond to disasters such as flooding, earthquakes, drought, accidents and other emergencies.

  "The donation box saved my life," said Pari Gul sitting in her room cradling her 3-month-old son. Pari Gul is a resident of the village of Safer Khan in Zindajan district, located 25 Km west of Herat City.

  She was badly burnt when fire surrounded her in the kitchen during the preparation of the midday meal for her family. At that time there was no one to help Pari Gul.

  A member of her family informed the ARCS donation committee of Pari Gul's accident, and she was then taken to the central hospital of Herat city. She was treated for 20 days and most of the expenses were covered by the ARCS donation box in the village.

  Pari Gul's husband is a daily worker who earns 100 Afghanis, the equivalent of two US dollars a day, and the amount is not enough to cover even their daily expenses.

  The donation committee in Safar Khan Village has responded to eight other similar cases in the village.

• Another charity has been helping young Afghans acquire useful skills:
  

  As many as 68 youths completed an extensive nine months vocational training course organised by Save the Children - a non-governmental organisation (NGO) - in the southern Kandahar province on Monday. Fakhruddin Ilyasi, chief of Save the Children in Kandahar, told Pajhwok Afghan News the youths trained in auto-mechanic and embroidery skills were fully prepared to launch independent businesses.

• The International Committee of the Red Cross, meanwhile, is conducting mine awareness courses for Afghan bus drivers:
  

  Drivers can also help by spreading awareness throughout the country, as Hafizully, a 63-year-old driver from Maidan, explained. "These pointers are useful not only for us driving down the road, but also at home and in the towns and villages we go through, where many people still live with mines and other munitions around their homes." Since November 2004, over 2,600 drivers have attended 160 presentations in nine provinces around the country. By sharing their knowledge about the risks of mines, all of these drivers can help reduce accidents in the future.

• The Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees is expanding its operations: "DACAAR moves into three new provinces to provide improved drinking water and sanitation facilities to rural communities in Central and Northern Afghanistan. The targeted areas are remote districts located in Faryab, Ghor and Badakhshan provinces where drinking water is not available."
  

• People in Peril Association Slovakia (PIPA) is working to help Afghan women improve their economic standing: "A microfinance program for women is launched in the province of Kapisa. It is to support women’s income-generation activities such as carpet-making, sewing and farming. Women are attending special trainings on marketing skills, reading and writing abilities. We are planning to empower about 200 women through vocational trainings and 40 of them will receive a small credit for starting income-generation activities. Loans will be paid off in a couple of months and money will be used for crediting another group of women."
  


• PIPA is also supporting political development of Afghan women: "PIPA conducts two rounds of 3-months courses in rights awareness, building civil society, advocacy, leadership and project management skills for 50 rural women leaders in the provinces of Kapisa and Parwan. After trainings, 10 community-based committees are gonna be established. Main task of committees is to advocate for rights of local women and to participate in public affairs, development planning and policy making. Women committees will be linked to the local network comprised of the local women NGOs, ministries and governmental offices for farther cooperation."
  


• And education: "The first ever Slovak field office in Kabul was founded by People in Peril Association in order to establish a long-term development programs in support of girls and women in rural Afghan areas. Our first project strengthened the educational system in Afghanistan. A school for 450 girls and boys was built and opened in the region of Kapisa and 100 female teachers improved their teaching abilities via trainings provided by Afghan Women's Resource Center (AWRC), a PIPA's local partner."
  


• And this humanitarian assistance from Pakistan: "Pakistan has provided 42 truckloads of food items worth Rs25 million to Afghan authorities in Quetta, provincial capital of the Balochistan province... The aid package including flour, sugar, pulses, spices and biscuits, would be transported to Kandahar for onward distribution among deserving people."

THE COALITION TROOPS:

• In addition to providing security for the people, the Coalition forces currently stationed in Afghanistan are working on a whole range of other projects, in particular reconstruction work and humanitarian assistance.
  


• To kill two birds with one stone - help rebuild the country, and deny recruits for the Taliban - the US Army is planning a series of ambitious reconstruction projects employing poor and workless Afghans who might otherwise be tempted to work for the Taliban.
  


• Col. Guy Sands, commander of the Army Reserve's 360th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne), reflects on the contribution his troops have made over the past ten months to making Afghanistan a better place:
  

  The projects started by the CA brigade employed many Afghans, giving them skills to do future projects on their own. They also helped the local economy because materials for the projects were purchased from local vendors. One of the major undertakings was improving and fully repaving roads, like the one from Kandahar north to Tarin Kowt in the Uruzgan province.

  “An estimated 80,000 Afghans during the past year have found employment working on projects or programs initiated by Coalition forces,” said Sands. “We opened 82 new schools and most of the work was done by the Afghan people.”

  However, not all of the projects were aimed at teaching Afghans new skills. Some projects provided assistance to those in need, like flood victims. More than $70 million has gone toward humanitarian aid and medical assistance, provided by the CA specialists working at the 14 Provincial Reconstruction Team locations.

  “We supported humanitarian missions, giving 50,000 blankets and 10,000 single-family tents to flood and wintertime victims, treated 28,000 people, visited more than 200 villages, and inoculated 40,000 animals for disease,” said Sands...

  In a land where 80 percent of personal wealth is connected to the amount of livestock a person owns, animal health care is almost as important as human health care. The PRTs have made strides in reestablishing local and district level veterinary and agricultural clinics.

  Thousands of farm animals have been vaccinated and given medical treatment to prevent the outbreak of contagious diseases that in previous years destroyed entire herds...

  Another significant project involved refurbishing and reopening the farmers markets. Markets were reopened in the towns and cities of more than 16 provinces and 180 districts. The markets allow farmers to get a fair price for their goods...

  Personal security against those who terrorize Afghans is another problem. Coalition Forces placed the PRTs in areas that needed not only economic assistance, but physical security as well. The CA teams have assisted in enabling and facilitating the training and operational employment of legitimate police forces throughout Afghanistan.

• Projects continue in the Baghran Valley:
  

  More then $1.5 million is being spent on civic improvements in the Baghran valley of southern Afghanistan in an effort to show the benefits of peace and improve educational opportunities for the people there.

  The projects range in scope and size from an $80,000 renovation of a health care clinic to the construction of two police stations costing $300,000.

  The improvements will raise the quality of life and improve the government of Afghanistan ’s ability to maintain law and order.

  More than $300,000 will be spent for the construction of two police stations and a district police headquarters that will house district leaders and provide a base of operations for local police forces. Four police vehicles and 10 motorcycles are being provided to law enforcement officials in the area. The cost of these transportation assets is more than $125,000.

  Four schools are being renovated, each at a cost of nearly $200,000, at various locations throughout the area so men, women and children will be able to have a comfortable place that fosters learning. Road construction, repair and maintenance equipment, at a cost of more than $250,000, has been purchased both to help encourage commerce and to improve the reaction time of local law enforcement agencies.

• The troops continue work on road construction in remote parts of the country:
  

  A new road is under construction which will link the cities of Orgun-E and Sharana, where it can there link up to the ring road system – the major trade roads in Afghanistan that form a loop by connecting major cities.

  Engineers from Company B, 864th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) and 391st Higher Headquarters Company Engineers started the project July 5 and are expected to finish the 64-kilometer road some time around December 15.

  The current road linking the two cities more resembles a series of trails, which makes travel difficult and slow for the “jingle trucks” that carry supplies and goods in the area.

• Says Lt. Col. Alberto C. Rosende, Task Force Wildcat Commander: “Orgun-E is a major hub in this area and is a on a main trade route from Pakistan... We want to ensure that we can connect Orgun-E to Sharana so that these goods can get to the ring road. Cities in Afghanistan didn’t grow because of the rivers; they grew up because they were on the ring road or connected to it.”
  


• Another major road project is also nearing completion: "One of the most encouraging successes of the United States Military presence in Afghanistan is the approaching completion of the TK Road, a road bringing together the cities of Kandahar and Tarin Kowt. Coalition forces have been dedicated to connecting Afghanistan by road, a task that has spanned 14 months and 117 kilometers."
  


• The troops' contribution to improving the health standards across the country is many and varied. For example:
  

  The Khost Provincial Government in conjunction with Coalition forces donated a Mobil Medical Vehicle to the Ministry of Health in order to provide better medical services and care to remote, isolated regions of Khost province.

  The vehicle donation ceremony was conducted at the Khost Ministry of Tribal Affairs and attended by Dr. Amir Bad Shah, Minister of Public Health, Lt. Colonel George Donovan, 2nd Battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment commander, Maj. Cory Costello, Task Force Devil surgeon, Lt. Col. Charles Miller, Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team commander, Capt. David Harper, 2-504th surgeon and various tribal elders.

  “The reason we are donating this vehicle is simple,” said Harper. “Over the past few months I have visited many of the villages throughout the Khost province and found some of those villages do not have a clinic or a medical provider. With this vehicle, local doctors from Khost can drive out to remote locations and provide care and medicine to those in need.”

• The troops are make a contribution by sharing their expertise: "Fifth-year students from the school of medicine at Kandahar University completed a three-day course on Advanced Trauma Life Support conducted by the university, the Kandahar Hospital, and the Regional Development Zone June 27. ATLS is a standard trauma evaluation designed so any medical facility can treat a trauma patient and is taught worldwide, said Dr. (Maj.) Michael Woll, a general surgeon with Medical Detachment A, 249th General Hospital, Ft. Gordon, Ga., who is among the eight physicians who taught the class."
  


• The troops will also be involved in providing election security in close cooperation with local authorities:
  

  Soldiers of the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion are establishing a Joint Election Operations Center at the Afghan National Police Headquarters in Jalalabad.

  “All agencies involved in elections will have one point of coordination,” said Capt. Chris Corsten, Civil Affairs Team, explaining the purpose of the JEOC.

  Corsten, first met with leaders of the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army leaders to explain the purpose of the JEOC and how the two Afghan agencies would be more closely interwoven in the coming months to provide security for the elections in September.

• Here's the latest "adopt a village" initiative:
  

  Approximately 50 Airmen recently volunteered to organize an entire container, 20 feet by 10 feet by 8 feet weighing nearly 63,000 pounds filled with donated supplies for a tertiary mission here—adopt a village.

  Airman separated the supplies into groups broken down by male, female and adult and children’s supplies that would be used in the next mission.

  “No one comes close” was an Air Force slogan used to describe the capabilities and accomplishments of the United States Air Force. This slogan took on a whole new meaning when over 35 Airmen traveled to a village, several miles outside Bagram, to equip local Afghan children with supplies for their future.

  “No one comes close” to the pride and patriotism exhibited by the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing men and women that bright sunny day when they pulled up to the village with the cloud of dust bellowing behind the sport utility vehicles.

  Airman hand-delivered bags filled with basic school supplies to about 100 children from KHAROTI– a small village within Afghanistan’s Parwan Province in the Kohe Safi Region near the east river range. 13.5 km southest of Bagram.

  In addition, “each child received his or her own toy and bundle of school supplies,” said 1st Lt. David Knight, 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron operations officer.

  “We also dropped off about tow pickup trucks full of large bags of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing with the village elder. The toys and school supplies were donated by our troops here and their support system back home. The donated items never seem to stop coming!”

• It's not just the American troops. Read about the contribution of Lithuanian and Estonian troops in remote areas of the country.
  


• Australia is now returning to Afghanistan with a force of 150 troops, including 50 members of special services. The Australian government is also considering sending in a provincial reconstruction team in April next year to assist with rebuilding the country.
  


• Then there is this humanitarian aid from the Brits:
  

  Shortly after arriving, it became obvious to the service members that this was not a normal school environment.

  The students of Lamashaheed School in Kabul attend classes in conditions that make learning difficult and can even endanger the children's health. But still, the teachers continue to instruct and the children eagerly attend class.

  The U.S. military and the United Kingdom's 2nd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles have embarked on the civic aid mission of supplying hospitals and schools in Kabul with essential supplies and material support. U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Hendrick Felix and his staff of Soldiers, Airmen and Seamen keep an inventory of prayer rugs, Qurans, children's clothes, sugar, tea, beans, rice, stoves, hygiene kits and school supplies.

  The RGR supports 13 schools, seven kindergartens and as many local hospitals as their supplies allow.

• And Canadians: "Ottawa has decided to operate the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar Province starting in August, international news agencies reported. Canada is expected to dispatch 250 troops to Kandahar in addition to around 800 Canadian troops currently serving with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul." The Provincial Reconstruction Team will be operating with the assiatnce from the Canadian International Development Agency:
  

  The Security Sector Reform Fund will support small-scale initiatives in the Kandahar province in areas such as policing, counter narcotics, justice reform, and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. The Fund (whose size is to be determined over the next few months) will be drawn from the current allocation for Afghanistan ($250 million from 2005-2009).

SECURITY:

• NATO is progressively expanding its role in Afghanistan:
  

  The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) will expend its responsibilities in southern Afghanistan in early 2006, and hopes to take responsibility of the whole country in two years, a NATO official has said.

  When NATO assumes responsibility for the who country, some US troops will continue to stay and operate in Afghanistan, Lieut. Gen. Ethem Erdagi, the Turkish commander of ISAF in Afghanistan said...

  The NATO-led ISAF in Afghanistan commands more than 8,000 soldiers from 37 countries, with the task of supporting the Afghan government in safeguarding national security, and establishing national institutions in accordance with the Bonn Agreement.

  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) assumed leadership of the ISAF mission in August 2003. Afghanistan is the military alliance's first ever mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area.

  ISAF has taken the authority of north and west of Afghanistan respectively early this year, and it will expand to the south in the spring of 2006, and then to the east, in a counter-clockwise motion throughout the country.

• This will free up the American troops for security tasks elsewhere in the world.
  


• In Kandahar province, better and more integrated cooperation between Afghan and American forces is being implemented:
  

  The civic and military forces of Afghanistan are being instructed on how to reach out and touch someone, so to speak, with a Provincial Coordination Center and the assistance of Coalition forces.

  The mission of the PCC has been to synchronize and coordinate efforts of the Afghan National Police Afghan National Army, NDS (Afghan intelligence agency), and Afghan Highway Patrol, said Capt. Wayne Ehmer, battalion logistics officer for 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, and effectively react to threats that seek to destabilize and discredit the government of Afghanistan.

  To help accomplish the mission, the PCC has one representative from each office, as well as a quick reaction force of 100 men: 50 from the ANA, 40 from the ANP and 10 intelligence specialists.

  In addition, the PCC houses an administration office and a completely Afghan-run communication center.

• Amnesty program continues to bear fruit, most recently with the surrender of fourteen Taliban fighters linked to one of Afghanistan's most wanted commanders:
  

  The group surrendered in troubled Paktika province south of Kabul on Wednesday [6 July] and promised to give up a secret stash of weapons and to support the government, provincial governor Mohammed Gulab Mangal told AFP.

  “Fourteen Taliban who were actively fighting the government surrendered and joined us today,” the governor said.

  The rebels who gave themselves up were linked to Jalaludin Haqani, a powerful Taliban commander and the regime’s former minister of frontiers and tribal affairs, officials said.

  Haqani has a five-million-dollar price on his head on a list of Al Qaeda and other militants wanted by the United States since the September 11 attacks and the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

  “They said they were missioned in Pakistan to torch schools, attack government institutions and coalition forces and since they did not want to destroy their country they gave up fighting,” said the governor.

• In other recent developments:
  


• "A senior Taliban commander, along with 14 armed supporters, Wednesday [6 July] threw his weight behind the Afghan government headed by President Hamid Karzai... Mohammad Akbar - hailing from Orgun district - had been a commander of former Taliban minister Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani... Akbar renounced militancy on Tuesday at a huge gathering attended by representatives of the government and coalition forces, religious scholars and tribal elders";
  


• "Around 30 former jihadi commanders pledged support to the Afghan government at a meeting in Maidan Shahr on Thursday [7 July]";
  


• In Khost province, "two local Taliban leaders, allied with former minister Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, Saturday [9 July] renounced militancy and pledged allegiance to the government";
  


• Also in Khost province, Mullah Sadiq, former senior Taliban commander has surrendered to the authorities on 15 July;
  


• Maulvi Gul Sha Wazir, known as Tractor Mula, a senior Taliban official surrendered to authorities in Khost province on July 16.
  


• The Taliban are also having increasing problems recruiting:
  

  Taliban-led rebels have been hit so hard they are asking families to hand over sons as young as 14 to fight, the US military operational commander in Afghanistan said yesterday...

  Maj-Gen Kamiya said the ranks of Taliban in some areas has been so shattered by heavy fighting that the rebels are forcing families "to give up one son to fight".

  "They have been hit so hard they now have to recruit more fighters. They are recruiting younger and younger fighters: 14, 15 and 16 years old," Maj-Gen Kamiya said.

  "The enemy is having a hard time keeping its recruit rates up."

  He said part of the reason the rebels have suffered such losses recently was that they have been caught gathering in large groups three times and pounded by airstrikes.

  About 170 suspected insurgents were killed in a week-long battle last month in a mountainous militant hideout.

  "There is no [rebel] organisational chain of command . . . because we have succeeded thus far in disrupting their means to regroup and conduct a coordinated attack," Maj-Gen Kamiya said. "They can no longer move around with impunity."

• Demobilization and integration of child soldiers in entering the next phase:
  

  The second major phase of Afghanistan’s child soldier demobilization and reintegration campaign got underway in the west of the country... with an expected 3,500 children likely to benefit from the initiative in the coming three months. Local Demobilization and Reintegration Committees, made up of community leaders and locally-based NGOs, began work this week in Herat province to identify and assess up to 500 eligible children; that is, those children of 18 years or younger who have been attached to a military unit with a formal command structure who wish to benefit from the programme’s reintegration opportunities. The nationwide programme, which is supported by UNICEF, began in February 2004 and to date has assisted just over 4,000 former child soldiers.

• In the latest developments, "local committees made up of community leaders and local NGOs began work in the western Herat province to identify and assess up to 500 eligible children in mid-July."
  


• Disarmament of local militias is also progressing well:
  

  More than 200 local commanders have been disarmed and tens of thousands of arms and ammunitions collected in Afghanistan since the government-led Disbanding of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) started early June, officials at the disarmament and reintegration (DR) commission confirmed to IRIN on Tuesday.

  "In the last 36 days since DIAG was launched more than 16,000 guns and up to 100 trucks of ammunition have been collected throughout the country," Masoum Stanekzai, a minister advising Afghan President Hamid Karzai and deputy head of the DR commission, said on Tuesday in the capital, Kabul.

  Stanekzai said that the process was proceeding peacefully and had not faced any reaction or resistance from any armed groups so far.

  Following the completion of Afghan militia forces disarmament under the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, which ended in late June, the government of Afghanistan and UN are now focusing on the DIAG initiative as a major security programme.

  More than 60,000 former combatants were disarmed by the DDR, which took the international community nearly 20 months and over US $150 million to complete. In addition to the decommissioning of ex-combatants, nearly 35,000 light and medium weapons were collected under the DDR.

• The work to reintegrate former fighters into society continues, including through this $15-20 million Canadian program that focuses on giving decommissioned combatants necessary work skills.
  


• In one of the recent developments, "nearly 60 residents of the Rustaq district of Takhar province surrendered 70 weapons to the government on August 3. They included rockets, machine-guns, AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition, some of which the residents kept for security. Mohammad Faqir, 28, said that he had voluntarily handed over a Kalashnikov and a box of ammunition. The voluntary surrender comes after two former commanders in the area, Piram Qul and Bashir Chahabi, gave up their weapons in order to run as candidates in the parliamentary elections."
  


• Taliban also continue getting disarmed:
  


• "Afghan National Police officers turned in more then 1,000 rockets and other munitions to U.S. forces near Ghazni on July 7 after having collected them from around the region. In addition to the rockets, police collected more then 400 mortar rounds, more than 200 recoilless rifle rounds, 150 machine gun rounds, 75 rocket-propelled grenades and four anti-tank mines. Ninety-five percent of the munitions were reported as serviceable and one quarter were still in their original packing materials";
  


• "Police July 12 unearthed a huge dump of arms and ammunitions in Koh-e-Safi area in Sorobi district, south of the Afghan capital. Sorobi police chief Colonel Sher Shah Yousafzai said the cache, including eight missiles, five rockets, 160 different kinds of mortar bullets and three machine-guns was buried in the Koh-e-Safi area";
  


• Two large arms caches recovered by the Afghan Army in the southern Ghazni and Kandahar provinces, following tips from the locals, on July 17. One "included 800 different kinds of missiles, 770 Dhawan shells and large ammunitions", another "765 ZKO-1 guns, 5 stands of MB-12, 2 stands of BM-82, one mortar shell, 700 boxes full of different kinds of bullets and other ammunitions";
  


• "At least five people were detained in connection with the discovery on Tuesday [19 July] of the 880kg of explosives and 5,000 fuses hidden in a house in the eastern city of Jalalabad";
  


• On July 27, "Kabul police have discovered munitions stores in the districts of Mosahi, Sorobi and Khak-e-Jabar. The interior ministry press office said the weapons caches included mortars, an RPG rocket launcher, machine guns and missiles";
  


• "Thousands of rockets, mortars and anti-aircraft ammunition have been seized in central Afghanistan in the largest cache of militant weapons discovered in months... The raid in Ghazni province’s Khogyani district Saturday [30 July] netted some 2,000 surface-to-surface rockets, 3,000 mortar rounds, 500 artillery shells and 100 boxes of anti-aircraft bullets";
  


• "Three caches of munitions were discovered in southern and eastern Afghanistan August 2. The first was discovered near Bamian and consisted of 60 rocket-propelled grenades, 17 anti-tank missiles and 600 rounds of anti-aircraft gun ammunition. Another cache was near Kabul and consisted of 20 hand grenades, one anti-personnel mine, one mortar round and materials to make improvised explosive devices... The third cache was discovered near Kandahar and consisted of an unusual amount of fertilizer and plastic explosives. It was transported to Kandahar Airfield by EOD personnel."
  


• Training and fielding of the new Afghan security forces continues. Graduates keep joining the forces on the ground:
  

  Training completion certificates were distributed among 374 policemen during the 23rd graduation ceremony held at the Police Training Centre here on Thursday [14 July]. The Bonn Agreement states, 26,000 National Police will be recruited and trained till 2007 to ensure law and order in the war-ravaged country.

  Speaking on the occasion, commander of the training centre Colonel Mirza Mohammad Yarmand said a total of 44,387 officers, soldiers and sergeants had been trained and graduated in the centre so far...

  Police training centres are operational in seven provinces including Balkh, Kandahar, Paktia, Nangarhar, Kabul and Bamyan over the last two years imparting three-month and 15 days training to soldiers and officers respectively to improve their professional abilities.

• Another 590 soldiers graduated from the Kabul Military Training Academy on July 25.
  


• Army officers are getting schooled, too: "Military operators and planners from the Afghan National Army’s National Military Command Center have graduated from a comprehensive training course in how to operate a national army. The 78 officers, who will act as the eyes and ears of the Afghan Army, received more than 220 hours of instruction. They were provided the tools and techniques to operate in the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war throughout the full spectrum of military operations."
  


• And Afghan artillery has been getting some valuable training and practice.
  


• Army Materiel Command headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Va., and other military logistics depots and supply centers are playing host to a delegation of Afghan military personnel eager to learn the world's best practices. In a related area, "more than 80 officers from the Afghan National Army have graduated from an eight-day acquisition workshop that taught them the basics of contracting. The primary goal of the course was to provide a basic understanding of the contracting process, from planning through contractor selection to contract award and administration. Another goal was to give the students insight into subjects such as alternate contract types and ways to correct problems with contractor performance."
  


• In other recent security successes:
  


• “Local forces had arrested six Pakistani fighters and eight Afghan Taliban insurgents with weapons and explosives. Three of the six Pakistanis were arrested on Thursday [7 July] while planting a landmine in the Kunar province while the other three were arrested on Saturday [9 July] in Khost province... Five suspected Taliban, including two provincial level commanders, were detained in the central province of Uruzgan on Saturday [9 July], and three others others were held in Kandahar on the same day";
  


• Four Taliban killed and one arrested in a clash with security forces on July 10. "The gun battle broke out yesterday when police, acting on a tip-off from local villagers, raided a militant stronghold in the Chanaran valley of Daychopan district, Zabul province";
  


• In joint military operation in the Dai Chopan district of Zabul province between 11 and 13 July, U.S. and Afghan forces killed 19 insurgents and captured six in fighting; "23 other people were being questioned about involvement in the fighting. A cache of munitions was found in a mosque during the operation, including rocket-propelled grenades and machinegun ammunition";
  


• Six suspected Taliban, including a most wanted militant, captured during raids in two districts of Kandahar province on July 13;
  


• The arrest in mid-July of a militant on the Coalition's most-wanted list, Mullah Mohammad Anwar from Zurmat district in Paktia province;
  


• "U.S.-led forces killed 24 suspected Islamist militants on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, Pakistan's military spokesman said on Friday [15 July]. The fighters, believed to belong to pro-Taliban and al Qaeda forces, were killed crossing into Pakistan late on Thursday near Lowara Mandi";
  


• Two important Taliban commanders, Mullah Abdur Rahman and Mullah Naimatullah, captured in the Darra-i-Noor area of the Shah Wali Kot district by the Kandahar Army Corps on July 16;
  
  


• Twenty Taliban killed by American and Afghan force in Khost province on 17 July. Five of the killed were foreigners; three Chechens and two Uzbeks;
  


• The arrest on 18 July in Pakistan of five senior Taliban leaders;
  


• Two senior Taliban commanders arrested in Kandahar province on July 18;
  


• Four Talibans blown up when the bomb they were setting exploded prematurely by the side of the highway en route to Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province on July 20;
  


• Three Taliban arrested in Uruzgun province on July 23 with anti-government propaganda;
  


• One Taliban commander killed and another captured in Zabul province on July 23;
  


• "Nineteen missiles deployed for an attack on [Lashkargah] city centre were defused and three suspects apprehended in the southern troubled province of Helmand on Sunday [24 July]";
  


• Twelve Taliban arrested by security forces in Zabul province on July 24;
  


• Fifty Taliban killed and twenty five captured in fighting in Uruzgan province's Dihrawud district on July 26;
  


• Three Taliban killed and two arrested by the police in Zabul province on July 27;
  


• "Afghan and U.S. forces killed three insurgents and captured 15 others in combat west of Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province" on July 28;
  


• Six Taliban fighters killed during the clashes in Shinkai, near the border with Pakistan on July 29;
  


• Two Taliban commanders, Mullah Gol Mohammad and Mullah Asadullah along with four other, captured in Helmand province on July 30;
  


• Capture of 20 Taliban, following the attack on an aid group's car in Sangin district of Helmand province on August 1;
  


• "Three important Taliban members have been arrested in Shinkai district of the southern Zabul province" on August 3.
  


• The war on drugs is also moving ahead. "The British ambassador to Afghanistan has held up the eastern province of Laghman as an example for the rest of the country in eradicating opium poppies. Addressing a meeting held on July 6 in Laghman, Ambassador Rosalind Marsden said she appreciated the population's voluntary participation in the destruction of poppy fields. 'The central government did not have to send police to eradicate poppies from Laghman,' said the diplomat, whose country is leading the counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan. According to a survey of the United Nation Office of Drugs and Crimes, over 3,000 hectares of poppy fields were voluntarily destroyed last year in Laghman."
  


• There's also legal assistance coming from overseas:
  

  A team of anti-drug investigators, lawyers and judges will start prosecuting major narcotics cases in Afghanistan -- the world's largest opium and heroin producer -- as part of a new U.N. program launched Thursday [28 July]. The Criminal Justice Task Force, which includes 36 investigators, 33 prosecutors and 15 judges -- all Afghans -- will assist in the arrest and trial of serious drug offenders.

• Local authorities and USAID are trying to help farmers kick the habit:
  

  On July 2, 2005, the Minister of Agriculture, Governor of Uruzgan Province, USAID Director Patrick Fine, high ranking officials from the Afghan Government, the United States Embassy and USAID, around 300 farmers, village elders, and district officials, and hundreds of school students attended the opening ceremony of a seeds and fertilizer distribution program in Tirin Kot district of Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan.

  The ceremony was hosted by the Minister of Agriculture and the Governor of Uruzgan, in recognition of the efforts made by the people of Uruzgan to reduce poppy cultivation. From 2004 to 2005, poppy production was reduced by 50% in Tirin Kot and Chora districts of Uruzgan Province, without outside assistance.

  In recognition of this achievement, and with support from USAID, the Government of Afghanistan is distributing 46.5 metric tons of corn seed, enough to plant over 900 hectares of corn, and 232 tons of fertilizer to 3,500 farmers, permitting an expansion of this year’s corn crop.

• In the most recent development, "the Afghan government in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will spend $42 million to provide an alternative source of living to poppy growers in Kandahar and Uruzgan."
  


• There is also a religious-based anti-drug campaign under way:
  

  Afghanistan is launching a nationwide religious campaign to reduce addiction in the post-war country, officials at the Haj and Awqaf (Religious Affairs) ministry announced on Tuesday.

  Around 500 Afghan religious leaders have participated in a symposium in the Afghan capital, Kabul, to discuss combating drug abuse throughout the country.

  "As drug abuse is forbidden in Islam, religious leaders can be very effective in the struggle against drug abuse - particularly at the grass roots level," Neyamatullah Shahrani, minister of Haj and Awqaf, said in Kabul.

  The two-day gathering aimed at understanding drug addiction from an Islamic perspective and to identify the role of mosques in various aspects of drug demand reduction, Shahrani said.

  "After the symposium these religious leaders will go back to their provinces and with the help and coordination of local Mullahs, a nationwide campaign of preaching on drug demand reduction will be launched," the minister explained.

• In other recent successes in the war on drugs:
  


• "Police seized 15.5 kilograms of hashish in the western province of Farah on July 5... According to a report from Nangarhar province, 76 kilograms of precursor chemicals, used in processing raw opium into of heroin, have been seized. Police have detained those involved in smuggling the chemicals";
  


• 3,890 kilograms of hashish have been seized in the Ahmadabad district of the southeastern Paktia province on Monday 11 July. This is the largest seizure of drugs in the province so far;
  


• "Police in the western province of Herat announced that they had foiled an attempt to smuggle 100 kilograms of opium on July 19. The alleged smuggler has also been arrested";
  


• Burning of 60 tonnes of hashish, opium, morphine and heroin with a street value of hundreds of millions of dollars in the two weeks up to July 20;
  


• 106 kg of opium recovered by the police in Baghlan province on July 20;
  


• Four drug smugglers arrested with 90 kg of opium in Zabul province on 21 July;
  


• Another four smugglers arrested in Herat on July 23 with 40 kg of opium;
  


• "Two alleged narcotics traffickers named as Abdul Malik and Mohammad Yunus have been arrested in the Shinwari district of Nangarhar province, and 32 kilograms of heroin seized [on July 31]... According to reports, 42 heroin laboratories have been destroyed in Shinwari district so far";
  


• "Security officials in central Zabul province seized 745 kilograms of opium and six kilograms of heroin from two cars on August 3. Two suspected traffickers have also been detained";
  


• "Security officials in the eastern city of Jalalabad Wednesday [August 3] claimed they had captured four drugs-traffickers in police uniform with 183 kilograms of heroin."

One day, hopefully sooner rather than later, Afghanistan will be a peaceful and normal country, but when that happens, it will be due to the efforts of Afghan math students rather than the Western media.

« ok, I'm done now

SOCIETY:

• With the constitution drafting process progressing on schedule, the voter registration for the constitutional referendum will start in early August, seeking to enroll those who failed to do so in the run-up to the January election, as well as all those who have turned 18 since then.
  


• Sunni leaders, meanwhile, are calling for their people not to repeat the mistake of boycotting the election:
  

  Some 300 leaders of Iraq's alienated Sunni Arab former elite called Thursday [14 July] for participation in the next elections, due in December, after a boycott of January polls left the community largely unrepresented in parliament.

  "I'm calling on my brothers ... to participate in the political process," Adnan al-Dulaimi, spokesman for the General Conference of Sunnis, told participants at a Baghdad meeting.

  His comments were echoed by Sheikh Ibrahim al-Nima, a leading Sunni cleric from the main northern city of Mosul.

  "We can blame ourselves from staying away at the last elections. It was a big mistake," he said.

  "Participating (in the next elections) means we shall exist. If we don't participate there will be no existence for us."

  A leader of the hardline Salafist movement, Sheikh Zakaria Mohi Issa al-Timimi, also endorsed taking part.

  "We will be very active in our participation in the elections in order to mitigate the damage inflicted on Sunnis today," he said.

• There's plenty of foreign support for the constitutional process. Former premier of Ontario, Bob Rae, is one of the Canadians currently in Baghdad under the auspices of the Forum of Federations to share the experience of federalism as Iraqis draft their constitution:
  

  Mr. Rae said that, in this environment of continuous violence, carnage and horror, the determination of the Iraqis to bring democracy to their country is overwhelmingly impressive. "You come away from it all with tremendous admiration for the courage of the people who are sticking at it and moving forward, going forward, and dealing with some very difficult issues. "They are sophisticated, professional, political people who are picking up the pieces at the end of a dictatorship, and they're doing it in the most difficult of circumstances -- this terrible attack on the civilian population."

• The European Union will be channeling 20 million euro ($24 million) through the United Nations in support of the constitutional process. The fund will go to the following areas:
  

  - Provision of European experts to work with the Constitutional Committee of the Iraqi Transitional National Assembly and with other institutions and actors in Iraq

  - Media and Public Information

  - Civic education and promotion of public debate, and participation in the referendum

• USAID is also assisting: "USAID organized trainings for 164 facilitators who will conduct hundreds of Constitutional Dialogue sessions throughout the country in the coming weeks. These facilitators are all members of 150 NGOs participating in USAID’s Constitutional Dialogue Program designed to facilitate constituent involvement in the constitutional process through civic education and public input. Between June 20 and 24, trainings were conducted in Erbil, Dohuk, and Baghdad for facilitators from 75 NGOs based in Babil, Baghdad, Diwaniyah, Dohuk, Hilla, Karbala, Kirkuk, al-Najaf, Ninewa, and al-Wasit." In addition to its work with facilitators, USAID is also carrying out other initiatives to help progress the constitutional process and help improve the work of the National Assembly:
  

  USAID is... helping the Iraqi National Assembly’s (INA’s) Constitutional Committee adopt systems to enable public input on the constitution. In June, a USAID-sponsored Civil Society team and a few Iraqi NGOs participating in the Constitutional Dialogue Program met with the Constitution Committee’s Outreach Unit to design a work plan to receive public input...

  USAID provided training to 42 INA members on the legislative drafting process. Training topics included creating and introducing a bill; its reading stages; the supporting role played by the legal staff; the form and content of a law; legislative reviews; the role and use of amendments; and reasons why public input is important to the overall legislative process.

  USAID also provided training to 37 INA members on advocacy and lobbying for legislators working in a democratic system.

• Iraqis, too, are getting involved. Iraqi civil society groups have commenced "the project of constitutional dialogue" program to raise the awareness of Iraqis of the constitutional process. "The new Iraqi constitution and the anticipated challenges" conference has been held in Najaf. And:
  

  A series of workshops have been held in Iraqi ministries for female employees, aimed at raising awareness of the new constitution, so that they are able to make an informed choice when voting on it in October.

  "The workshops aim to help women understand how the drafting of the constitution will take place, explaining the basic fundamental principles: human rights, women's rights, federalism and legislation," director of the ICWRE, Jennan Mubarak, said.

  The workshops have been organised by local NGOs, the Iraqi Centre for Women's Rehabilitation and Employment (ICWRE) and the Civil Alliance For Free Elections (CVAFE).

• Democracy is also growing from the bottom-up, in some cases also with help from overseas. Another two cities working to formalize the "sister city" arrangement are Florida's Kissimmee and Zafaraniya. There's also cooperation between Utah and Babil:
  

  [Salim Al-Musilmawi, governor of the province of Babil] is part of a five-member Iraqi delegation visiting Utah for five days. Aimed at teaching them how democracy works on the local level, it is the first exchange of Iraqi and U.S. state and municipal officials.

  South Jordan Councilwoman Leona Winger and Mayor W. Kent Money showed the Iraqis how public works and safety, planning and zoning and other aspects of local government operate.

  Money described touring the South Jordan City Council chambers with the Iraqis. He said they were surprised to learn that the most important people don't sit at the elected officials' table. Instead, the most important people are the citizens who sit in the audience.

  "That is a new concept to them," the mayor said.

  Money credited Winger with the idea of inviting the Iraqi delegation to visit South Jordan. Winger founded the nonprofit organization, New Hope Humanitarian, this month. Its goal is to establish a long-term relationship with the Iraqi people that will promote democracy, economic development and women's rights, among other things.

• Speaking of local government, USAID's Local Governance Program "is working with local government officials and civic institutions to form local government associations (LGA) that will act as lobbying and advocacy organizations that represent the interests of the local government to other government officials and the public."
  


• British Department for International Development is working to assist Iraqi women:
  

  £6.25 million [$11.3 million] Political Participation Fund - Through the PPF, money has been targeted at increasing women's participation in the political process, particularly in the run up to the recent elections. Several women's NGOs have received funds to run workshops, provide training, conduct media campaigns encouraging women to vote, and carry out other work to promote political awareness. £5 million [$8.7 million] Civil Society Fund - DFID is funding links between international and Iraqi women's organisations to strengthen the ability of local groups' to address the needs of Iraqi women. International NGOs have conducted rights awareness and leadership training, fostered links between women's groups, and organised an international NGO conference on women and foreign exchanges for Iraqi women leaders.

• In media news, a new news agency is about to be launched:
  

  With some help from U.S. nonprofits, Iraqi journalists are planning what they say will be their country’s first independent, national news agency.

  The English name of the agency will be the National Iraq News Agency, or NINA. To get the agency up and running, the journalists are getting training and financial support from U.S.-based nonprofits funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

  Nicole Chartrand-Tresch, a technical officer for USAID in Iraq, told IJNet that the goal of the support is to help the agency – which would be a commercial enterprise independent of the government – become self-sufficient.

  The America’s Development Foundation (ADF) is overseeing the project as part of its Iraq Civil Society and Media Support Program. The International Research and Exchange Board (IREX) is providing the training and consultation to the journalists. Joachim Raffelberg of IREX is in Baghdad overseeing the media component of the civil society program, Chartrand-Tresch said.

  Kadhim Al-Rikabi, the program’s media manager, told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Alawsat that the journalists are being trained in preparation for the agency’s launch.

• But they will have some competition:
  

  Iraqi journalists are getting a chance to show their résumés around.
  The charitable foundation of the Reuters news agency plans to announce this week that it is turning a grass-roots Iraqi news Web site into the country's first independent commercial news service.
  
  The Web site, Aswat al-Iraq, or Voices of Iraq, has relied on 30 freelance workers, help from three independent Iraqi newspapers and feeds from the Reuters Arabic-language service, to publish hundreds of articles a month in Iraq.
  
  Now the site, www.aswataliraq.info, will become a full-fledged news wire, managed and staffed by Iraqi journalists in Baghdad and operated independently of Reuters. It will use $800,000 from the United Nations to create a newsroom and to base reporters in each Iraqi province. When the service goes live in a few months, it will feed breaking news to both Iraqi and foreign news outlets.

• USAID's Local Governance Program "assisted the Babil Provincial Council (PC) in brokering a deal to make a location available for the satellite based Al-Iraqia TV to house its regional activities. In return for access, Al-Iraqia TV will merge its operations with Babil TV including hiring its nine staff members. The PC is hoping this agreement will encourage Al-Iraqia TV to cover their local government activities more extensively."
  


• Read also about "Al Mahaba", the recently launched radio station tragetting women.
  


• Baghdad's public libraries are also trying to revive:
  

  Driven away by bombs, dispirited by shelves emptied by looters, visitors to the public library in Baghdad's Khadamiya district are now starting to return.

  There's still work to be done. Stolen books and looted furniture must be replaced. But seeing the return of readers is inspiring enough for Alya Abdul Hussein, a librarian here for 20 years.

  "This library, like any public facility in Iraq, suffered," Hussein says.

  The Khadamiya Library is one of eight public libraries open in Baghdad, down from 19 operating before the start of the war more than two years ago. Fighting, looters and neglect closed most of the others.

  Muhammed Qassim, a Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works official, says the government is trying to reopen more libraries with grant money from the United States and other countries.

• And in sport, the first post-liberation football champion of Iraq is crowned:
  

  More than 15,000 soccer fans braved the bloody mayhem caused by 10 suicide bombers across Baghdad on Friday to see the air force team al-Quwa Jawiya crowned Iraq's first champions since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

  Many drove half the length of a nation ravaged by war to reach the capital's Shaab national stadium from Basra, only to see their port authority side Al-Meena lose to two second half goals.

  For organisers of a tournament that pitted teams from rebel strongholds like Ramadi and Samarra against powerful clubs from the capital once favoured by Saddam's elite, the fact that it went ahead at all for the first time since the U.S. invasion of 2003 was a triumph.

  "A lot of people didn't think we'd be able to stage a championship at all," said Hussein Sayeed, chairman of the Iraqi soccer federation and a former captain of the national team.

ECONOMY:

• "Iraq's economy on long road to recovery," says this report in Lebanon's "Daily Star":
  

  Recent foreign aid and trade agreements provide hope that Iraq's economy, plagued by years of sanctions and violence, is on the road to recovery. Despite almost daily news of grisly atrocities, there have been a number of encouraging signs recently for Iraq's emerging economy.

  GDP growth was estimated at 54 percent in 2004. This year is also expected to be strong, with GDP growth predicted at 34 percent.

  Iraq's "New Dinar" currency, introduced in 2003, has been performing strongly, appreciating by about 25 percent against the dollar in the past two years.

  As the fledgling government works toward drafting a constitution, a formal request for WTO membership is also pending.

• But as the report goes on to say, challenges are many, including high levels of unemployment.
  


• Last year, Ministry of Industry has issued 7661 licenses for new businesses: 2896 in the construction sector, 1520 in food, 200 for textile industries, 667 for plastic and chemical industries, and 1336 in mining and resources. This year, Adel Karim, a deputy minister for industrial development, has announced the government's intention to start the privatization program, with cement, brick and pharmaceutical factories being transferred into the private sector as a first step.
  


• The government is also slashing taxes to boost economic activity:
  

  Iraq has slashed income tax to 15% from 49% and substantially increased the minimum sums individuals can earn net of tax.

  The progressive tax system replaces a 1982 law under which individuals had to pay 49% of income beyond certain salary brackets.

  The current tax system is progressive. It starts with 3% up to a maximum of 15%...

  Parents’ income is only taxable if together they earn more than 4.5 million dinars. Besides, there are allowances of 400,000 dinars annually for each child. Previously, annual incomes beyond 1.6 million dinars were taxed...

  Companies have seen their taxes slashed from 35% to 15%.

• USAID, meanwhile, is helping Iraq to lay the groundwork for the bid to join the World Trade Organisation: "Thirty board members of Iraqi business associations and thirty mid-level government officials attended a series of workshops in Baghdad to learn about the challenges of World Trade Organization (WTO) membership and its impact on their organizations. The workshops were sponsored by USAID’s Private Sector Development program. Iraq is applying for membership in the WTO, along with Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Iraq’s Inter-ministerial Committee on the WTO is reviewing a document that, if approved, will be submitted to the WTO to begin the accession process."
  


• Iraqi dinar continues to be a success story:
  

  A market-driven monetary policy has reduced the Iraqi dinar's vulnerability to political upheaval and is keeping the exchange rate stable, Central Bank Governor Sinan al-Shabibi said.

  A $5 billion build-up of central bank foreign reserves, after its assets were mostly looted following the 2003 invasion, has helped maintain the rate at 1,465-1,475 dinars to the dollar, Shabibi said.

  'We are very comfortable with the present exchange rate,' said Shabibi, who was on a visit to Jordan.

  'It is a boost to the donors because it introduces predictability, stability and maintains the external purchasing power of the currency,' Shabibi said, referring to billions of dollars of international aid flows for reconstruction.

  Despite the postwar violence that has badly delayed economic recovery, the dinar remained stable for more than a year compared with violent fluctuations during Saddam's rule, when it was battered by wars and crushing UN sanctions.

• Shabibi also sees the banking sector reviving:
  

  Foreign banks, allowed to enter Iraq in 2003 for the first time in decades, are opting to buy stakes or enter partnerships rather than set up subsidiaries in the present unstable security climate, Shabibi said.

  Among the banks with licences are HSBC, Standard Chartered and National Bank of Kuwait...

  Regional bankers say Jordan-based Arab Bank and Lebanon's leading Audi Bank are also actively seeking a foothold in Iraqi market...

  Joint ventures helped raise the capital base of the country's local banks and bring much needed technology, management upgrades and exposure, he added.

  Iraq's 30 private banks, mainly small deposit banks, had to develop their lending if they were to progress, Shabibi said.

  'The balance sheets of banks need much development as far as lending but not on the deposit side. They have a lot of liquidity but their problem is their lending policies,' he added.

• Also in banking, Adham Kareem, general manager of the Kurdistani Central Bank in Arbil, talks about the growth of the banking sector in Kurdistan.
  



Kurds are developing stronger economic ties with the home of their large diaspora:


The Kurdistan Development Corporation, a joint investment initiative between the Kurdistan Regional Government and international business people, announced the opening of a branch in Munich, Germany...

[Mr Siggy Martsch, KDC Director for Germany] said: “Serious interest in Kurdistan by German companies is already evident; Siemens are working successfully on the ground and Vossing Engineering have just won a contract to design a sewage system for Erbil city. Our office in Germany will further promote the region and facilitate business for the German companies that are bound to follow.”

Earlier this month KDC facilitated a 2.4 million dollar deal between the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry for Municipalities and German company Vossing Engineering to design a sewage system.

• The second Iraqi-German Economic Conference has also recently taken place in Munich. Also in Kurdistan, one businessmen is investing heavily in local economy: "The Kurdish Autonomous Region is getting a new hotel. The 28-floor luxury hotel, which will be built in the town of Suleymaniya, is part of a 60 million dollar tourism project led by Kurdish businessman Faruq al-Mullah Mustafa. He is also behind the creation of the first Iraqi mobile network, and announced other big investments such as a big cement company, and the first ever cable-car in Iraq, connecting the hotel to a nearby mountain."
  


• Also in Suleymaniya: "The Sulaimaniyah Aadministration of Iraqi Kurdistan has started implementing a residential project called the New City. The project will consist of 358 apartments, along with services and facilities such as parks, sport stadiums, swimming pools, computers and the Internet. Prime Minister Omar Fatah of the Sulaimaniyah administration said that this project will help provide basic service for 358 families who so far don't have housing."
  


• Meanwhile, Egyptian billionaire businessman Najib Sawiros intends to invest up to $2.5 billion in Iraq. Sawiros, among other things, is the owner of Iraqi cell phone company Irakna. There are also Kuwaiti and Lebanese investors coming in to al-Salaha’a Central Shopping Markets.
  


• In oil news, "Iraq is to ask foreign companies to bid for a $1bn new oil refinery project later this month which is 70km north-west of Baghdad, reported Bloomberg. The Al Nahrain or two rivers project is for a 140,000 bpd refinery to process Basra crude."
  


• Iraq and Iran will be also cooperating more closely:
  

  Iran and Iraq are planning to build three pipelines, at Iran's expense, to cover Iraq's urgent need for petroleum and refined oil products, said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

  Iraq will export crude oil to Iran, and Iran will transport petroleum and other refined products to Iraq, which is suffering from shortages in its petrochemicals industry, the minister told a press conference, attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, who is visiting Iran.

  Zanganeh said the agreement has not yet been signed, but the exchange will begin 10 months after it is signed.

  'The plan is for Iran to buy 150,000 barrels per day of light crude from Basrah (in southern Iraq)', he said.

  'In return, Iran will supply petroleum, gasoil and kerosene (to Iraq)', he said. 'The gasoil and kerosene will be supplied by the Abadan refinery (in Iran)', the minister added. The petroleum will be imported by Iran on Iraq's behalf.

• In communications, Iraq will be auctioning off between two to five mobile phone licences by the end of this year to replace the country's three expiring wireless licences. The new licences are expected to last for 15 years with a possible extension for another five.
  

  A quarter of a century of wars and crushing sanctions have badly damaged Iraq's communications network, and mobile phones were only introduced in the country of about 27 million people after the invasion in2003 . With only about 3 per cent of the population with a fixed-line phone, the country is increasingly dependent on mobile networks, which have more than two million customers as people struggle to stay in touch and do basic business.

• Kurdistan is finally seeing a roll-out of modern infrastructure:
  

  Arbi l- Haydar Al Sheikh, the transportation and telecommunication minister in Iraqi Kurdistan government [said] that his ministry is about to finish the biggest project to secure phone communication among Arbil, Dahuk and Al Selaimania, at a cost of 32 million dollars. He added that the project includes "building three new, German made, Siemens exchanges, with a capacity of 15 thousand lines for each exchange, which is executed by ITU Company, in addition to the "Access Network" project, at a cost of 13 million dollars, aiming at the information exchange among ministries, institutions and governmental universities.

• Kurdistan will also benefit as Kuwaiti group MTC and Iraqi partner Atheer, previously operating in the south of the country, are rolling their cell phone network in the north, in competition to one provider already operating there.
  


• In transport, Iraq and Iran have signed an extensive memorandum of understanding relating to closer transport ties between the two countries. Initiatives foreshadowed under the MoU range from removing visa requirements for commercial drivers, marine training courses, and assistance in airport reconstruction.
  


• Internal flights are resuming:
  

  On any flight on any airline there is a sense of relief when the aircraft completes take-off and levels out at its cruising altitude.

  But on Flight IA015 the ping as the "fasten seatbelt" sign switched off brought its own euphoria. The aircraft's departure point was Baghdad and the carrier was Iraqi Airways, which has not been in the air for years.

  Iraq's national airline has restarted a regular service to the southern city of Basra, 14 years after its fleet was effectively grounded by the international sanctions that followed the 1991 Gulf war.

  The reborn carrier was inaugurated last month, its first trip celebrated with the sacrifice of a goat on the runway. It means that for £42 [$73], the price of a one-way economy class ticket, passengers from the capital can reach the south of the country in 55 minutes.

• As one of the passengers, Abdul Azziz al-Rashid, said, "It is very important for Iraqis that we have a working airline... It reminds us that we can be like other countries again."
  


• Meanwhile, the Suleymaniyah airport in the north has been officially opened on 20 July, with the landing of the first plane from Amman, Jordan. Another Kurdish airport is now also open for business:
  

  The first flight of a Kurdish-owned airline landed in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Thursday [21 July], linking one of the main cities in the heart of Kurdistan to Dubai.

  The sole airplane belonging to the nascent Kurdistan Airlines, a Boeing 737, landed at 10:30 am (0630 GMT) carrying 46 Iraqi and Kurdish businessmen.

  The Arbil airport was officially inaugurated on April 15.

• And on the international level:
  

  Iraqi Airways plans to lease eight planes shortly to meet growing demand, despite concerns about security at Baghdad airport, Transport Minister Salam al-Malaki said...

  The once formidable flag carrier, whose fleet was obliterated by wars and U.N. sanctions, will inaugurate regular flights in the next few days between Baghdad and Dubai and between Amman and Suleimaniya in northern Iraq, Malaki said.

  "Iraqi Airways is making a comeback. We have a broad plan to lease cargo and passenger planes," Malaki told Reuters.

  "We are also finalising permits and routes to Tehran, Istanbul and Cairo," said Malaki, who was in Jordan to attend an international donor conference for Iraq.

  The Iraqi carrier started regular flights to Amman and Damascus earlier this year. Other companies flying to Baghdad include Royal Jordanian, which has two to three round trips a day, and private operators in the Gulf.

• Daily flights between Baghdad and Dubai will also start in August. And weekly flights will connect Baghdad and Istanbul.
  


• International carriers also have plans to resume services: "British Airways plans to resume flights from London to Baghdad, and Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic Airways and Northwest Airlines also have expressed interest in operating flights here."

RECONSTRUCTION:

• James Crum, director of the Project and Contracting Office in Washington, updates on the progress of reconstruction in Iraq:
  

  [Crum] estimated that work is about two-thirds complete on 3,000 projects "the Iraqis identified as being a critical need"...

  The PCO's charter is to steward roughly $18.44 billion in funds President Bush approved in 2003 for the Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund. The three-year program is responsible for projects throughout Iraq's 18 provinces in an area covering 166,000 square miles...

  Now in its second year, the program is spending about $1 billion every 45 days.

  A main goal is to employ as many Iraqis as possible and to hire Iraqi firms for contract work when possible. Crum explained officials hope to build capacity within the Iraqi workers so they can take the projects over in the future. On any given day 40,000 to 45,000 Iraqis are employed on PCO projects throughout Iraq, he said.

• Read also this excellent series, which looks at the reconstruction effort so far as well as problems and challenges - here and here.
  


• Foreign funds continue to be made available. "The World Bank agreed... to lend $500m (£285.2m) to Iraq for reconstruction - its first loan to the country since 1973 - as aid donors to the devastated country met in Jordan. The soft loan for infrastructure projects was announced as donors urged Iraq to provide a list of its most urgent rebuilding projects in an attempt to speed reconstruction." More here.
  


• The Islamic Development Bank has also agreed on 18 July to extend a loan of $500 million at the donors meeting in Jordan. The meeting also bore other fruit:
  

  Donor countries have agreed in principle on a new mechanism which gives Iraq the leading role in reconstruction efforts...

  The Iraq Reconstruction Forum, dubbed the "IRFO," will be launched in two weeks, said Michael Bell, chairman of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, a body developed early in 2004 to help donor nations channel resources and coordinate support for reconstruction and development in Iraq.

  “What the Iraqi government has proposed was a new donor coordination mechanism to be established and that will deal separately from IRFFI, that will be a mechanism, in which the Iraqi government will take full ownership in the development process in a real and concrete way,” Bell said. “It will be the Iraqis who will chair that body and they will deal with all donors on bilateral and multilateral levels through coordination,” he told a news conference at the end of two days of talks by representatives of 60 countries and international organizations on Iraq's reconstruction. Bell said Iraqi Planning Minister Barham Salih will head IRFO. It was not immediately clear how the emerging body will interact with the existing International Reconstruction Fund.

  So far, 19 fund members -- including the United States, Japan and Canada -- have pledged over $1 billion to IRFFI, a statement said. It said more pledges were made Monday, including $5.5 million from Denmark, $20 million from Australia, $2.4 million from Greece, $180.8 million from the European Commission, $12 million from Italy and $20 million from Spain. The contributions are separate from the $32 billion in loans and grants pledged for Iraq's reconstruction at the October 2003 donor conference in Madrid, Spain. Bell said the next meeting will be held in February 2006.

• Iran has allocated $1 billion for the reconstruction of Iraq, particularly its energy sector. The Japanese government, meanwhile, continues to fund reconstruction projects in Al-Muthanna province - here's one recent example.
  


• Lot more electricity should soon be flowing through Iraq, thanks to its two neighbors:
  

  Both Turkey and Iran have expressed readiness to supply Iraq with 1800 MW of electricity, the share of Turkey is 1000 MW to supply Nineveh, Dohook and Erbial with electricity. The Engineer Haithem Taha, the advisor at the Electricity Ministry said that the Islamic Republic of Iran had agreed to connect it’s electricity grid with Iraqi National grid over Diyla and Amara outlets to supply Iraq with 800 MW (it is an Iranian superabundant). It is hopeful to sign special contract in this concern between the two countries over the next two weeks, the contract stipulates that the Iranian side will continue to supply Iraq over this period with electricity link for 18 months from the beginning of signing the contract.

• In water news, USAID is working on two major projects in Baghdad:
  

  To ameliorate water shortages in Sadr City, Baghdad, a modern water treatment plant will be constructed to increase the quantity and quality of potable water to the area. Significant progress is being made by the Iraqi subcontractor on the facility’s structural design. Workers have completed dewatering and have begun laying the foundation. The foundation grading, filling, and sub-base compaction for the facility’s recycle pump station, sedimentation area, residual pump station, and intermediate pump are completed. Also the concrete has been poured for the foundations of the operations building and the residual solid pump station... Work continues on a project to repair the sewage collection system in Kadhamiya, a northern suburb of Baghdad with a population of 1.5 million. The district frequently endures flooding of raw sewage which remains as pools in streets and homes. These overflows occur because of inadequate or blocked sewer lines, and because inoperable pump stations cannot convey sewage from homes and mains to sewage treatment plants. The sewer lines require extensive repair or replacement. Public health risks from water-borne diseases (typhoid and cholera) are increased by pools of exposed raw sewage in neighborhoods.

• Also in Sadr City,
  

  Sadr City’s municipal council is constructing 27 water purification plants, the site engineer said.

  Sabah al-Batawi said the plants which will rely on wells for water supply are expected to ease pressure on the capital’s water utility which relies on the Tigris River for supplies.

  Sadr City, Baghdad’s most impoverished neighborhood, suffers from erratic water and power supplies.

  Batawi said the 27 projects built at a cost of $1.8 million are expected “to solve the huge water problem the city has been undergoing recently.”

  Work on the plants started four months ago and one of them is already operational, Batawi said.

  Underground water is available in huge quantities and easily accessible. But it is rather salty, unfit from both human and agricultural purposes.

• Meanwhile, the work at Karbala's water treatment plant is nearing completion: "Contractors are currently installing chlorine piping and ground systems for all five clarifier units. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) anticipates that half the units will be operational and producing drinking water by mid-July. USAID continues to train Iraqis who operate the clarifier units and the low lift station. The project is 78 percent finished and is expected to be complete in September 2005."
  


• Efforts are also underway to rebuild what once was the region's best education system. In higher education, another - the fifth so far - group of 58 academics who lost their jobs for political reasons during Saddam's regime has been returned to work by the Ministry of Higher Education. 1493 academics have been so rehabilitated and reinstated so far.
  


• And a huge victory for Iraqi university students will give graduates more opportunities:
  

  Graduate students from Iraqi universities have finally received permission from the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) to have work they have completed authenticated by officials.

  "Students from now on, will have the right to get their syllabus officially authenticated - this will help in their future outside the country as well as facilitate acceptance in worldwide universities," Salah Aliwi, a senior official in the MoHE, said.

  Syllabus authorisation – an official record of subjects studied at higher education level - is seen as key to Iraqi graduates' having study and work options abroad.

  During Saddam Hussein's regime no such official certificate was issued to graduates. This policy was designed to keep as many graduates in the country a possible.

  "It is the right of any student to have their syllabus recognised," Aliwi explained.

  Thousands of Arab students who had attended courses in Iraq during Saddam's regime had problems proving what they had been studying. The news that syllabus authorisation is to be introduced means many may now return to Iraq to avail themselves of the facility.

• On the lower level, USAID is working to provide basic amenities to Iraqi schools:
  

  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Basic Education program is rebuilding water and sanitation facilities in 800 schools.

  In May, work began on 132 schools, bringing the total number of schools under rehabilitation to 355.

  Facilities in 11 Maysan governorate schools have already been completed.

  The Basic Education program is also leading efforts to reconstruct 70 schools throughout the country.

• USAID is also helping to improve the quality of teaching across the country:
  

  Training recently began for the Master Trainers under the teacher training initiative of the Basic Education program.

  Twenty-five Iraqi Master Trainers are currently participating in a five-week training in Amman, Jordan conducted by Hashemite University experts and international/regional consultants.

  The training will help the Master Trainers develop teacher training strategies, methodologies and resource materials.

  When finished, they will return to Iraq to train a core group of 440 teacher trainers in the 21 Directorates of Education in Iraq. These teacher trainers will then begin the process of training 50,000 teachers for grades one to three.

• In health news, "The Health Ministry has decided to use electronic smart cards for patients who are treated in hospitals and other medical centers. The Health Minister said the ministry will use the modern techniques and technology in the health sector to better serve the patients. They started using the smart card initially in Sadr City and the Karkh side of Baghdad as a trial before using it at all health organizations in Iraq. The ministry has allocated 10 billion Iraqi dinars [$6.8 million] to execute this program, which will be applied by the beginning of 2006."
  


• Meanwhile, the United Nations has conducted a massive successful immunization campaign throughout Iraq - with some help from the private sector:
  

  "In recent weeks, the UN worked to vaccinate 4.7 million Iraqi children five years and under ... as part of a series of initiatives aimed at bolstering health among the population," the statement in the Jordanian capital, Amman, said on Sunday [17 July].

  In an effort to reach the largest number of people, the UN, with the support of private mobile phone service providers, sent text messages to announce the polio immunisation campaign.

  "This support by private companies demonstrated the spirit of corporate civil responsibility emerging in Iraq," the statement said on the eve of a two-day international donors' conference hosted by Jordan.

• USAID's Community Action Program is a useful initiative that helps local communities to improve services in their area. Often, it's the health infrastructure that benefits - for example, most recently, "the Community Action Program (CAP) supplied medical equipment and renovated facilities for a Diyala governorate community’s health clinic. The program renovated the center’s bathrooms and laboratory, and supplied equipment such as microscopes, a centrifuge, an oven, auto claves, thermometers and wheelchairs. The clinic serves tens of thousands of people in the area but lacked modern medical equipment and was in a general state of disrepair. Many local residents were compelled to rely on the health center because the next closest facility was too far away."
  


• A new credit inititaive will help American businesses help Iraqi agriculture:
  

  The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved an insurance policy for CoBank, ACB for up to $180 million in Letters of Credit to support U.S. exports to Iraq.

  The insurance will be used to support trade financing from CoBank, ACB, a cooperative bank and part of the U.S. Farm Credit System. Under this policy, Ex-Im Bank will support Letters of Credit issued by the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) in favor of U.S. exporters including Telwar International, Inc. of Brentwood, Tennessee to purchase bulk agricultural commodities, including an estimated $27 million a month in rice and wheat shipments.

  "This financing will enable U.S. exporters to provide the Iraqi people with large volumes of bulk agricultural commodities and other goods and services on a timely basis," Chairman Philip Merrill said.

  "Ex-Im Bank remains fully committed to supporting Iraq's reconstruction and is diligently working to find new and creative financing solutions to meet Iraq's financing needs."

• USAID is assisting the development of Iraqi agriculture through various initiatives:
  

  Two irrigation canal cleaning projects are underway in Ninawa’ and Diyala’ governorates to improve farmers’ access to water and increase agricultural production. The projects are funded by USAID’s Agricultural Research and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program...

  ARDI, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), is conducting a survey of poultry farms near Baghdad to collect information about the poultry industry, including the economic performance of poultry farms. The results will allow ARDI and the MOA to better understand the poultry industry and the problems poultry farmers face...

  USAID and the MOA recently conducted a series of technical demonstrations for tomato farmers in Karbala, Najaf and Basrah governorates. The demonstrations familiarize farmers with new technologies for tomato production in order to boost the yield and quality of tomato crops...

  To increase farmer income and reduce public health risks, USAID has recently approved a grant that will fund a training program to improve livestock breeding techniques in Iraqi villages... The program will provide training to 4,800 women in 240 villages to improve breeding techniques and educate the rural population about preventing the spread of diseases from animals...

  To help create a local market for beekeeping equipment, the MOA and ARDI will provide training to local carpenters in manufacturing high quality beehives. Thirteen carpenters from Arbil, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk and Ninawa will participate in a workshop on manufacturing beehives that meet international standards.

• In other similar recent initiatives:
  

  USAID is providing a grant to four Iraqi villages to clean irrigation canals that had not been maintained in three years... The farmers will clean 9,500 meters of canal serving 625 hectares of land and benefiting 150 families living in the four villages.

  The results of a USAID-sponsored survey in 14 Iraqi governorates will determine the training needs of pesticide dealers as part of the MOA’s Integrated Pest Management Strategy...

  The Kurdistan Agronomist Syndicate (KAS) is renovating its building through a grant from MOA/ARDI. The KAS has a membership of over 2,000 agriculturists and conducts activities promoting agricultural production, including computer courses for agricultural engineers, and supervision for agriculture projects in the private sector...

  ARDI is sponsoring a geneticist from the Ministry of Science and Technology to obtain training in genetics relevant to Iraqi agriculture...

  Construction began this week for a flower nursery to be managed by a prominent women’s union. This effort will provide business opportunities to women-headed households. Twenty-three women will also receive management training and training on potted plant production...

  Twenty-nine water buffalo producers in Baghdad, Al Qadisiyah, Al Muthanna’, and Dhi Qar are participating in a program to improve pregnancy and calving rates using hormonal treatment and improved nutrition...

  MOA/ARDI has initiated a program to introduce sorghum as a less expensive feed grain for the poultry industry.

• Iraq and Iran will be cooperating to preserve valuable marshland that straddles the two countries:
  

  Minister of Water Resources Abdulatif Rashid is to fly to Iran to see what the two countries can do to revitalize joint marshlands.

  The Huwaiza marsh, perhaps the only remaining wetland the former leader Saddam Hussein failed to dry, straddles the borders of the two countries.

  The marsh escaped Saddam Hussein’s massive draining campaigns of southern wetlands because it received its water from rivers originating in Iran.

  Rashid said he would meet his Iranian counterpart “to discuss water issues particularly the joint Huwaiza marsh.”

  The largest portion of the 3,500 sq. km. Huwaiza lies in Iraqi territory with Iran having access only to 1,150 sq. km.

  “We are going to review policies on how to preserve the marshes, protect them and revive them particularly the wetlands we share,” Rashid said.

• Restoring marshlands is a multi-national effort - you can read about the contribution of Joy Zedler, the Aldo Leopold chair in Restoration Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Rich Beilfuss, a hydrologist with Baraboo's International Crane Foundation, who head the international restoration mission. And learn more about the project here.
  


• Lastly, this story about how some Iraqis are celebrating the reconstruction of their country:
  

  If “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” then residents of Karbala apparently feel that some of their most prized creative pieces may be seen in the framed, grouped, and carefully hung photographs of recently completed, community reconstruction projects. The residents of this city of 200,000 were justifiably pleased by the numerous local building projects they, not long ago, had completed for and by themselves. Accordingly, in a communal show of pride, they closed a local art gallery, took down its paintings, carefully replaced them with sets of pictures of each of the 89 projects they had, with their own hands, constructed, and held a festive open house to share their happiness.

HUMANITARIAN AID:

• Qatar Red Crescent and Qatar Authority for Charitable Works will jointly establish a unit in Iraq to manufacture artificial limbs to help some of the 85,000 Iraqis who lost limbs over the last few decades of conflicts. USAID is also trying to help the plight of Iraq's disabled:
  

  USAID’s partner implementing the Community Action Program (CAP) in Qadisiyah, Wasit and Maysan Governorates is working with people with disabilities and the institutions that support them. CAP is currently constructing wheelchair access ramps in 37 local institutions in the city of Diwaniyah (Qadisiyah Governorate) and has nearly finished 23 access ramps in Al Amarah (Maysan Governorate).

  In cooperation with the persons with disabilities association in Amarah, CAP will also provide 984 wheelchairs to disabled persons in Maysan Governorate. The distribution covers most of the districts in the governorate. Representatives from the disabled person’s community in Amarah are also holding public awareness sessions. They have conducted 17 public lectures and 21 school visits.

  The Technical Institute in Diwaniyah organized a ramp design contest among its students to raise awareness for the need for architects to incorporate access ramps into building designs. This project is part of CAP’s commitment to integrate disabled persons into the community through awareness campaigns and other conveniences such as ramps.

• LIFE for Relief and Development is working on a range of health projects in Iraq:
  

  LIFE for Relief and Development in cooperation with the International Humanitarian Help Organization of Germany (IHH) will be upgrading LIFE’s healthcare center in Basra.

  LIFE established the center in 2001 and since its inception; the clinic has provided services to over 100,000 residents of Al-Hakimiyya and its surrounding areas. Although the upgrade aims to provide better services for all patients, the main focus will be the construction of a maternity and children’s hospital that will serve more than 200,000 people in Al-Hakimiyya, Tuwaisa, Junaina and Al-Andalus.

  Currently, the clinic operates three hours a day due to limited resources. However, during these three hours, doctors at the facility see an average of 50 patients per day. At its current state and with the shortage of diagnostic equipment and advanced medical instruments, the clinic was still rated the best in Basra by the local health authority.

  Adjacent land to the current building has been purchased and the hospital will be modified and another two-story building will be constructed to add 20 patient rooms, one operating room, one baby delivery room, a dental facility and a eye examination facility among others.

  This expansion will ensure 12 beds for a new maternity ward, which will provide 5 incubators. Also, the hospital will implement an immunization system in coordination with UNICEF and the Iraqi Ministry of Health.

  The total cost of this project is estimated at $360,000 and will be completed by the year 2007.

• As well as some more ad-hoc aid initiatives:
  

  In cooperation with the Ministry of Health, LIFE for Relief and Development successfully distributed six containers of medical supplies that were donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.

  The medical supplies were donated to local hospitals, medical centers and clinics throughout Iraq’s many provinces including Al-Mosul Main Hospital Al-Jumhuri Hospital, Al-Qaim Main Hospital, Samaraa Main Hospital, Diyala Health Center and many others.

  LIFE also distributed medical publications to medical colleges and hospitals including Al-Mosul Medical College, Duhouk Medical College, Al-Anbar Medical College, Al-Ramadi Main Hospital and Al-Qaim Main Hospital.

  The distributions of twenty containers of medical supplies and books will benefit thousands throughout the country and will ensure a better quality of life for the injured and ill.

• A Catholic charity is helping children and mothers:
  

  Caritas-Iraq continues to give highest priority to its infant nutrition program, aimed at malnourished children, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

  The aid reaches some 20,000 beneficiaries at risk, both Muslim and Christian, in Baghdad, Basra, Nassiriya, Umarah, Dialah and Saladin, according to the Catholic agency.

  Caritas' nutrition program, which has been carried out for years in Iraq, benefits children under 8, women in their sixth month of pregnancy and beyond, and nursing mothers with babies under 6 months of age.

  In addition to food aid, the beneficiaries are entitled to care in Caritas-Iraq's health centers, as well as free medical treatment.

• One NGO is trying to help the most vulnerable children:
  

  War Child is providing a unique approach to promoting livelihoods on the basis of child rights, and is addressing the developmental needs of vulnerable children. This programme has four main components: Livelihoods, NGO capacity building, Psychosocial and Paralegal work. War Child is in the process of registering a new local NGO called “Nida’ il-Tifil” (“Call of the Child”), whom War Child will support in providing skills, training, financial and management assistance... Our assessment team in Iraq has identified 6 villages with whom we will work to achieve these aims through community based organisations. The progarmme invests in local capacity and builds on civil society. Our other work in Southern Iraq continues: The Drop-in-Centres in Basra and Nasiriyah are progressing and enter the second stage of rehabilitation. Meanwhile training is being provided to local staff in the areas of Child Participatory Research, Child Protection, Counseling Skills etc; and Participatory Action Research with the street children has started in Basra. The centres will provide a safe place for vulnerable street children and help them to gain access to education, skills and better opportunities for their future.

• Colorado business is helping Iraqi school children:
  

  EZSchoolSupplies is an online store (EZSchoolSupplies.com) that delivers kits costing an average of $40 to customers' front doors or directly to schools. Founder and President Matthew Curtis, 23, came up with the concept for a college marketing class. The professor gave him a D-minus, but Curtis found investors and launched the pilot for EZSchoolSupplies last year...

  The owner of a California winery who had done some missionary work in South Africa found the EZSchoolSupplies Web site in March. He contacted Van Noy and Curtis to see if they could help send supplies for 100 needy children in that country...

  A U.S. Army "Battle Boar" battalion stationed in Iraq heard about the South African project and EZSchoolSupplies. It contacted the company in May, asking for help to get 1,000 supply kits to schoolchildren in Iraq.

  "The local schools do not have funds to purchase supplies, for they are very impoverished. If your company can donate some supplies to help these kids, our battalion would appreciate your kind gesture," said the May 16 e-mail from SPC Steven Wilkerson, U.S. Army...

  EZSchoolSupplies decided it could afford to send 300-500 kits to Iraq, with the help of some business partners and investors -- Golden-based Quasar Group, Evergreen-based Relatrix and Corona, Calif.-based eKnowledge.

  Van Noy and Curtis learned some lessons from their South African experience they'll use when packing the Iraqi school kits -- such as crayons don't survive extreme desert heat in the packs. They are opting for colored pencils.

  Other modifications have been made as well as both teachers in South Africa and the U.S. Army in Iraq didn't want scissors or similar objects that could be used as weapons.

  These projects have inspired Curtis to set up an international outreach program on his Web site, where companies can choose schools or students in need, here and abroad, to sponsor. Companies or individuals can click on the site and send off a school supply kit to needy youngsters in a local Denver classroom or buy some kits in bulk for students in Brazil, Van Noy said.

• Iowa parishioners are collecting shoes for Iraqi children:
  

  A small idea turned into a big project for two parishioners at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

  Anne and Caine Thomas wrote an e-mail to their fellow parishioners after their brother-in-law, U.S. Army reservist Capt. Christopher Ortega, suggested they ask people to donate sandals for the shoeless children he saw while on patrol in Tikrit, Iraq.

  "We didn't try to turn it into a project, but as soon as people found out, they have been writing checks," Anne Thomas said.

  So far, $300 has been donated.

  The project, called "Sandals for Iraq," was picked up by St. Thomas More's Catholic Church and subsequently the other three Catholic churches in the Iowa City, including St. Mary's, St. Patrick's and St. Wenceslaus. Donation boxes have been placed at all the churches for sturdy sandals and flip-flops for children aged 4 to 10.

• An Indiana couple continues to ship toys and school supplies to Iraq - but they need your help with the costs:
  

  Despite financial troubles, a woman who runs a nonprofit group that ships toys, school supplies, sporting goods, clothing and Beanie Babies to impoverished Iraqi children hopes to keep the gifts flowing to Iraq.

  Beanies for Baghdad, which was founded in 2003 by an Army officer who befriended an Iraqi girl, is now run by Donna Ward out of her Evansville home.

  On Friday afternoon, several plastic bags of school supplies, Beanies, clothing and stuffed animals lay on her living room floor. Ward and her husband, Gerald, have shipped more than 500 boxes of items for children in Iraq.

  They estimate that they have spent more than $2,000 of their own money shipping boxes to Iraq and have spent another $1,500 donated by other sources, including local businesses and other aid organizations.

  Donna Ward has collected six large boxes of toys for another mailing. The homemaker estimates it will cost $200 to $250 to send it first class to Iraq.

• See if you can help.
  


• Holly Malueg, staff sergeant in the Army Reserve's 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion, and US Bank of Wisconsin Rapid are now involved in Operation Sesame Street collecting toys that members of the Battalion currently stationed in Iraq and Kosovo can give out to children.
  


• And this, from Missouri:
  

  A Missouri community is helping U.S. soldiers bring some joy to thousands of Iraqi children, who find themselves caught in the middle of a military battle.

  Dick Merseal lives in Richwoods, Missouri. "I think our town has a big heart, our town is the most giving. Anytime someone has a need or something, this town really kicks in."

  Merseal started filling boxes with toys at his Richwoods home. He's got a good reason for helping out. His son is National Guard Captain Kurt Merseal, who is currently serving in Iraq.

• Meanwhile, an ex-serviceman is coming back to Iraq to help the street children:
  

  When Army Capt. Jonathan Powers crossed the Iraq border at the end of his 14-month tour last July he happily believed he'd never see the country again.

  That was then.

  Now Powers is making plans to return to Iraq as a civilian, to help the children he hasn't been able to forget.

  Powers, 27, is director of the upstart Orphans and Street Kids Project, whose goal is to coordinate the country's ill-equipped orphanages and offer vocational training for children living on the streets and out of the facilities' reach.

• And the efforts of soldiers have saved life of one Iraqi boy:
  

  In the end, a 7-year-old Iraqi boy's long, dark eyelashes may have saved his life.

  Kadhem Jawad Kathem is doing well after arriving in Houston last week and undergoing a five-hour operation Tuesday at Texas Children's Hospital to "replumb" his congenitally malformed heart, his surgeon said.

  Purple-lipped when he arrived because of his heart's inability to adequately circulate blood through his lungs, Kadhem is showing normal blood-oxygen levels and will likely be well enough to go home in a month.

  "I am very grateful to everybody, to the American troops back in Iraq, to all Houstonians and I'm very grateful to the doctors who did the surgery" said the boy's father, Jawad Kathem, a 33-year-old mechanic from southern Iraq. Kathem, who speaks Arabic, spoke to the Associated Press through a translator.

  In January, Kadhem met Maj. Brian Stevens, a civil affairs officer serving in Iraq with the Fort Worth-based 56th Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division, Texas National Guard. Stevens had arrived in a town in southern Iraq — the exact location is confidential — a month earlier, beginning a yearlong deployment to build schools and hospitals.

  Kadhem's mother made a wrenching plea for her son, too weak to attend school or play. She gave Stevens X-rays and medical documents to take to a military doctor at the base.

  It was "those eyelashes" that captivated soldiers, said Chief Master Sgt. Gonda Moncada, Texas National Guard spokeswoman. "Obviously, many (Iraqi) children would benefit from surgery. We can't help them all."

  The military doctor, a cardiologist, evaluated Kadhem and determined he needed help — quickly. After searching the Internet, the cardiologist found Dr. Charles Fraser Jr., an expert in repairs of severe cardiac malformations at Texas Children's. Moncada said the cardiologist contacted Fraser directly, via e-mail, and asked, "If we can get the kid into the States, will you do the surgery?"

• Arizona politician, meanwhile, is helping Iraqi children with facial defects or injuries:
  

  Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., underwent his first operation for a cleft palate as age 2 weeks, and since then has had 10 more related operations.

  He says he considers himself lucky for the improvements those operations have made.

  "It's been painful," Franks, 48, said in an interview. But he said the improvements have meant things as basic as being able to speak more clearly.

  Now, the two-term congressman is trying to help Iraqi children who have had the same birth defect, as well as other Iraqi children suffering from facial injuries or abnormalities.

  On Thursday, Franks traveled to Amman, Jordan, for the first mission of what is being called the Iraq initiative of "Operation Smile," an organization whose doctors perform operations on children to help correct or minimize their facial defects or injuries.

  The mission kicks off what is anticipated to be a five-year effort geared to the children of that country. Until now, the program has not been available to Iraqi children.

  In all, as many as 50 Iraqi children were to be brought to Amman this weekend to be treated by a team of volunteer surgeons.

• You can check up here on the progress of the mission.
  


• And an unlikely alliance is trying to help an Iraqi boy injured by an American bomb:
  

  Ayad al-Sirowiy came to America last week hoping doctors here could remove the war embedded in his face.
  Thirteen years old, small and skinny, Ayad was severely burned and blinded in one eye when a American cluster bomb blew up in his face at the beginning of the Iraq war.
  
  The explosion blasted thousands of fragments into his skin and left even deeper emotional scars. The village boys teased him, calling him "Mr. Gunpowder." Even on sweltering days, Ayad wraps a scarf around his face when he leaves home, and most nights, he sleeps with sunglasses to mask his scars.
  
  But all that may change.
  
  On Friday, Ayad and his father, Ali, walked into a laser surgery clinic in Washington to begin a series of treatments to remove the map of pinpoint scars that cover most of Ayad's face.
  
  Doctors say a full recovery for Ayad may be a long shot, but at the urging of a lawyer who read about his plight and labored for more than a year to bring the boy to America, top dermatologists and cornea surgeons are willing to try.
  
  What finally got Ayad here was an unlikely alliance between the lawyer, Joe Tom Easley, a well-known gay rights activist, and Robert Reilly, a conservative adviser to the U.S. Defense Department reviled in gay circles for an article he once wrote calling homosexuality "morally disordered."

THE COALITION TROOPS:

• Task Force Baghdad updates on the reconstruction progress:
  

  Since the transfer of sovereignty, a total of 1,451 projects valued at $1.4 billion have been completed. Large-scale capital projects like power plants, water treatment plants and oil infrastructure facilities are being reconstructed and, in some cases, built anew.

  Demand for electricity is currently growing faster than it is able to be supplied; however, new power lines of 33 kilovolts have been completed. Generation plants are being built and transmission lines are being constructed to replace a decades-old, neglected electrical power system. A total of more than 2,000 megawatts of power have been added to the grid ( enough to service 5.4 million Iraqi homes ). More than 1,400 electrical towers and 8,600 kilometers of transmission lines have been installed.

  Many sewer trunk lines have been cleaned or fixed. Work on the majority of sewer trunk lines continues and progress continues.

  Each day, 50 million additional gallons of treated, drinkable water are being pumped to the Baghdad residents. New water wells and treatment facilities are in the progress of being constructed in addition to new delivery pipes being installed.

  Solid waste ( trash ) is being removed from the majority of sites in the Baghdad area; with some areas having it removed at least twice a week.

  More than 20 healthcare facilities have been renovated, with many others in the process of being renovated.

• Reconstruction of Fallujah is also progressing:
  

  The US Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with the Fallujah City Council and the Fallujah Reconstruction Committee, has made considerable progress in restoring water, sewage and electrical service in the city of Fallujah to levels that existed prior to Operation New Dawn (Al Fajr) in November 2004.

  Elevated water storage tanks have been repaired and water is now at pre-November 2004 levels. Projects are underway to increase the capacity of the current system to modern standards. These projects will upgrade the current capacity of fresh water in the city by three million gallons per day.

  The Fallujah Electric Department and the USACE have worked together to bring the level of electrical distribution up to approximately 80% of the existing system’s capacity. They plan to bring the system up to 100% of its pre-November 2004 capacity by December 2005. The existing system is also being brought up to current standards. Every home and business in the city is scheduled to have safe and modern electrical connections by next spring.

  A modern sewage collection system is under construction, which will replace the septic tanks currently in use. The system is 80% complete, and will remove waste from 3,100 homes. Construction of a sewage treatment facility is scheduled to start in about two months.

  Over the next several months, the USACE will finish construction on a health clinic, four schools, and four 250-man police stations. Construction of a 500 man police station will start later this year.

• Also in Fallujah, the troops are compensating the locals:
  

  Fallujah residents received approximately $203,000 in property lease payments during the second round of the Property Leasing Program last week. Second Marine Division marines and sailors, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), executed 139 leases during a two-day period.

  The program, which began in June, was created to compensate local residents whose homes were or are currently occupied by coalition forces. Last month, 94 contracts were completed and $76,000 in payments were made in three days.

  “The impact is two-fold,” Maj. Tom Nelson, 5th Civil Affairs Group economic development officer, said. “First, and most importantly, the people of Fallujah see us doing the right thing by paying them for the use of their properties. Secondly, we inject much-needed capital directly into the local economy.”

• The army engineers will soon be adding a lot of electricity to the Iraqi grid: "A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers repair project at the Qudas electric power generating station 25 kilometers north of Baghdad is 85 per cent complete. Engineers predict the work will be finished within a month. Once operational, Qudas could increase the nation's electric production ten per cent. The plant's output capacity is 492 megawatts."
  


• There is also more drinking water for Sadr City:
  

  The first of 27 new compact water treatment units officially opened in Sadr City July 19.

  "The compact water units bring needed water to the residents while the expanded water system for Sadr City continues to develop," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Gary Luck, commander of 3rd Battalion 15th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, the coalition unit which works with Sadr City.

  "I want to thank the coalition forces for helping to bring this project to completion. The people of Sadr City will benefit from having clean water readily available to them," Sheik Jabar Nashour Jasim

  Each water unit produces 15,000 liters of clean potable water a day.

  "A total of 405,000 liters per day will be produced once all the of units are installed and operational," said Luck, who is from Salina, Kan.

  A compact water unit is a small water treatment facility, using well water or city water as a source of supply. The water is fully treated and ready for drinking.

• In Baghdad, the troops are supporting the economic empowerment of local women:
  

  One mission that has remained constant for the U.S. soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division since arriving in Iraq is helping to rebuild the civilian infrastructure. This is done in many ways, but the intent is to have Iraqis rebuild Iraq.

  Although a small project for the Al Rasheed district, the opening of the Jihad Sewing School July 5 was a big step forward in improving the local economy.

  “The school is small but they are training about 15 to 20 women and when they finish, they will be able to go directly into the work force and put their skills to use,” said Capt. Christian Neels, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment civil-military operations officer, and native of Muscatine, Iowa.

  The school teaches women to use sewing machines to make clothing and a variety of other items. These items can be sold on the local economy or the women can get a job in a local factory.

• The enthusiasm and commitment of this Army Reservist have already made huge difference for one medical institution:
  

  Everything was stripped from the rooms of the University of Baghdad's School of Dentistry that Col. Franklin Woo walked through.

  Even the college's library of dental textbooks were gone, which still has Woo wondering why the looters took them.

  "They had stripped everything out of there down to the copper wiring," Woo said.

  The college was one of the buildings that was looted when the American military entered Baghdad in 2003.

  Woo, a command dental surgeon for the Army Reserve's 2nd Medical Brigade, decided that restoring the devastated school was a good place to start winning Iraqi hearts and minds.

  Woo and the others supplied everything from cotton wool and student furniture to computers and sterilization equipment.

  Calls to the University of the Pacific's and the University of San Francisco's schools of dentistry and the San Francisco Dental Society garnered two tons of dental textbooks to replace the lost texts.

• In Najaf, the army engineers have their hands full with a number of security and other infrastructure projects:
  

  An Iraqi female police station tops the list of more than a dozen active construction and planned projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District in Najaf.

  The female police facility will be used to train female cadets to properly search other females at the many checkpoints and security stops throughout Iraq. The contract for the facility is expected to be awarded by the middle of July and carries a price tag of about $150,000.

  Three other police station projects will be under construction by the middle of July and are in Waf’a and Najaf city. Two are police stations and one will be a headquarters building. The projects carry a price tag of $130,000 for the Waf’a police station, $158,000 for the Najaf EOD station and $26,000 for the Najaf headquarters facility. Planned improvements include new windows, doors and security walls.

  Other projects planned in the city include the Al Shorta Substation with a cost of $3.8 million and a water treatment unit at Rmol Al Shebl for $215,000 and the Najaf Teaching Hospital. The hospital is a viable operational outpatient clinic capable of outpatient surgeries and emergency room visits is ready for the next phase of renovation which will include an industrial kitchen, multiple stories and many outlying buildings. The project has a total cost of more than $15 million.

• This sort of good-will actions are regular fixture among the troops:
  

  Despite the blistering summertime heat, more than 200 children and community members gathered at the Bayaa Youth Center in the Al Rashid district to participate in a uniform and wheelchair distribution, followed by a soccer game July 13.

  “The event was outstanding and turn-out was great,” said Capt. Jeffrey LaPlante, commander of Company B, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

  “When we arrived, a group was already practicing hurdles at the track and kids were playing soccer,” said LaPlante, a native of Lakeland, Fla.

  The Bayaa Neighborhood Council had been conducting public assistance projects to improve the quality-of-life of residents in their neighborhood during the past two weeks.

  In addition to the soccer match that afternoon, a community health screening was conducted where more than 300 people were treated for minor illnesses by Iraqi doctors and given food and other humanitarian aid.

  The community program also provided complete soccer uniforms, soccer balls, and a variety of other items for the 240 children involved in the Bayaa Youth Soccer League. There was enough equipment to outfit 15 teams.

  Program coordinators distributed wheelchairs to disabled persons in the area.

• It's not just the Americans - Australian soldiers will soon be contributing to reconstruction of southern Iraq:
  

  The Australian government will fund community projects in southern Iraq worth A$2 million, including the building of an ambulance station and mobile health clinic.

  Defence Minister Robert Hill said the A$2.3 million worth of projects would be coordinated by a working group within the Australian army's Al Muthanna Task Group (AMTG) and would ensure Australia left a lasting legacy in southern Iraq...

  The projects include the construction of a veterinary centre in the rural centre of Darraji, a veterinary medical storage facility at As Samawah, renovating the As Samawah grain silo laboratory, providing equipment for Al Muthanna media outlets, constructing an animal waste disposal unit in As Samawah, building an ambulance station at Al Khidr, providing a mobile health clinic for the Al Muthanna province, renovating a community centre at Al Salman, and supplying water testing kits for the Al Muthanna province.

• More here.
  


• The Romanians and the Italians are training the Iraqi troops:
  

  At the moment, the Romanian forces, in cooperation with Italian Multinational Specialized Unit (MSU), have finished the first two training courses, based on teaching techniques, procedures and tactics in Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) with a duration of three weeks, completing the last course in the first week of July.

  Captain Laurentiu Matei, Chief of the Security Sector Reform project from "Călugăreni" said: "Iraqi soldiers are very interested in what we are teaching them and they were improving from week to week".

  Led by Captain Marius Serban, about forty Romanian instructors are currently participating in the training duties of the IA held in White Horse IA base (10 km from Camp Mittica) using their knowledge and skills for the benefit of the IA officers and soldiers.

• And this from the Italians: "The Italian government has granted 300,000 dollars to the cultural centre in Nassiriya, the city in the southeastern Dhi Qar province where Italian soldiers, part of the US-led multinational force deployed in the country, are based. The centre, on the ground floor of the province headquarters, will have state of art material and equipment and will include a theater, a library, a cinema, a meeting room and a modern media equipment."
  


• Also: "Italian troops are renovating al-Nasiriya’s General Hospital at a cost of $2 million... The hospital is vital for the nearly one million inhabitants of Dhiqar Province of which Nasiriya is the capital, as it is the only provincial health institution with the ability to carry out major operations. But most of the hospital’s medical equipment is either outdated or idle. Lack of funds and resources prevented its rehabilitation. The work by the Italians is the first attempt to repair the hospital since it was built in the early 1980s. A huge fire last year had damaged several wards in the 10-storey building."

SECURITY:

• There is no doubt that the highest security priority in Iraq at the moment is to train the sufficient number of soldiers and police, so that Iraqis themselves are able to defend themselves and take on the insurgency and terrorism.
  


• It might be the most dangerous job in Iraq, but there is no end to recruits:
  

  Less than an hour after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives vest outside an army recruiting center here Wednesday, killing at least six people, Iraqi security officials were talking about the next working day.

  "We'll be open first thing in the morning," said Sgt. Abbad al-Zarah, a commander with the security platoon in charge of securing the site. "And there'll be recruits."

  The morning blast outside the center was the seventh attack there this year, including a suicide bombing 10 days earlier at the same gate that killed 21 would-be recruits, the Interior Ministry said.

  But the barrage of lethal attacks has not stopped recruits from returning. Two days after the July 10 attack, where a bomber snuck past guards and detonated a bomb among waiting recruits, a line formed on Damascus Street for applications.

  "I had to turn people away," said Ahmed Hatem Muhsin, a guard at the gate. "People in Iraq are strong. Stupid and strong."

• Another story here: "Defiantly, they ignore the bombs and queue to join the Iraqi army".
  


• Training courses continue to graduate soldiers and junior leaders:
  

  A new crop of Iraqi soldiers and leaders completed their training at Kirkush Military Training Base here on July 13. Basic Combat Training Class 11 held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the eight-week course on the 13th of July. The Iraqi Training Battalion trained the group of over 990 recruits... The same day, the base also held a passing out ceremony to celebrate the tandem graduations of the Iraqi Army's Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant Courses. Soldiers from across Iraq attended the four-week courses run by the Iraqi Training Brigade. The courses are designed to foster leadership in the growing Iraqi noncommissioned officers corps. More than 230 soldiers completed the Squad Leader Course and 42 graduated the Platoon Sergeant Course.

• There's also training for female soldiers:
  

  Breathing, squeezing the trigger and keeping the enemy in sight are just a few of the technical shooting techniques taught by 1st. Sgt. Amir Jabar Taleb of the 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, 6th Division, to some of the first female Soldiers inducted into the Iraqi Army.

  For the first time in Iraq’s history, Iraqi leadership at an Iraqi base conducted an all-female IA basic training course. Over the past two weeks, 27 female recruits have had intensive training to learn the necessary skills to become a Soldier.

  "They learned how to use weapons, map reading and battle tactics to engage the enemy during combat,” said Brig. Gen. Jaleel Khalaf Shawail, commanding general of the 1st Iraqi Army Bde., 6th Div.

• More troops and navy personnel have graduated in the south:
  

  The tenth division on the Iraqi army and navy force has organized two separate celebrations for the graduation of two new classes of volunteers in Basra city. Brigadier general Saad Al Harbia, commander of the second brigade of the tenth division, said, "180 volunteers have finished their major training to join the division forces, after they received various military sciences in theoretical lectures and mobilization exercises, in which officers from the Italian and Romanian forces working within the multinational forces, have participated.
  In Om Qasr region, the navy and coastal defense force has conducted the ceremony for the graduation of a new group of volunteers to support these growing forces with new elements that are capable of protecting the national waters and coasts.

• US Air Force personnel have done a good work training the new Iraqi air force: "Pope maintainers were chosen based on their skill levels and backgrounds for an elite, six-month mission involving the new Iraqi air force. Later, they learned not only would they be teaching the new Iraqi 23rd Transportation Squadron on how the United States Air Force does business, they were empowered to create the entire training process." It hasn't been a simple task; breaching technical language barrier is never easy. In addition, the Iraqi personnel were used to working on old Soviet equipment. But the mission has been accomplished: "After months of training and bonding the training paid off. The peak of Sergeant McDaniel’s Air Force career was when he flew on an Iraqi Air Force C-130 into a combat zone while being piloted by Iraqi pilots. 'Over and over they said, tell people in the U.S. about us how we appreciate the freedom we have been given and appreciate all the military has done and sacrificed for us,' said Sergeant McDaniel."
  


• Iraqi Navy prepares to take over the security of territorial waters:
  

  Commodore Task-Force (CTF) 58 Royal Australian Navy (RAN) commodore Steve Gilmore said the Iraqi forces are currently part of the task force, which includes US, British and Australian coalition forces charged with protecting and patrolling the Gulf.

  He said their mission is to detect, deter and deny terrorists or extremists posing a serious threat to key maritime infrastructures in the region, such as the Iraqi oil terminals.

  "As part of our mission, we are also integrating the Iraqi naval force into our task force," he said.

  "They are actually replacing coalition units rather than working alongside them."

  Cmdr Gilmore, who was speaking on board guided missile cruiser USS Normandy which is anchored at Mina Salman, said they are beginning phase two of the three-phase process of preparing Iraqis to take command control of their waters.

  "Over the next 12 months the pieces will be put together after the Iraqi Navy take on new equipment and achieve higher training and expertise," he said.

• Iraqi police also continues to be trained: "Almost 200 cadets became full-fledged Iraqi police officers in a graduation ceremony July 23 – the last such class to be trained by Task Force Liberty. The new officers spent over two weeks at the 4th Iraqi Army Training Academy here and learned a variety of things, to include hand-to-hand combat, urban tactics, arrest procedures, search techniques, traffic control points, in addition to rifle and pistol training." Says Cadet Unis Hamid Salman Almujami: "I want security for Iraq, for my family, my children’s family, and even visitors from outside Iraq, because this is a free country... Everyone is welcome here, except for terrorists, because we want to live in peace."
  


• With more and more trained recruits swelling the ranks, Iraqis are assuming greater security role. In the last week, Iraqi and American authorities have formed five joint committees charged with transforming security responsibilities from Multinational forces to Iraqi security troops.
  


• "Army Major General Joseph Taluto, commander of the multi-national division in the north-central part of the country, told reporters in Baghdad July 15 that Iraqi security forces 'are already conducting over half of the operations that we do.' The Iraqis are either integrated into coalition operations or carrying them out with minimal coalition support, Taluto said, and 'that’s a huge accomplishment'." With boots on the ground, Sgt. Robb Kidwill who's teaching Iraqi troops leadership procedures at Forward Operation Base Cobra with the Tennessee Army National Guard's 278th Regimental Combat Team, says: "We have slowly transitioned from a point where we led to a point where we assisted, and now we are in a mentoring role in many ways."
  


• On 12 July, Iraqi army battalion trained by Bulgarian and Polish soldiers has taken over control of an area in southern Baghdad.
  


• In Kirkuk, the American troops are also stepping back:
  

  As the battle against insurgency continues in Iraq, U.S. forces in Kirkuk are taking the backseat and putting Iraqi police (IP) up front and in control.

  Soldiers of 3rd platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 116th Brigade Combat Team have been working with the Kirkuk police for almost six months and said they feel confident that it's time for the Iraqis to be seen as in charge.

  "The Iraqi police have been running traffic control points (TCP) since May and they have been doing a pretty good job," said Staff Sgt. Brad E. Attebery, a Soldier with the 3rd platoon and native of Weiser, Idaho. "Now we stay out of sight so the town of Kirkuk sees its police out in front doing their job."

• Read also this story of a true pioneer, the 34-year old mother of four, Sgt. Bushra Jabar, the first woman in her unit:
  

  As Jabar strides down the street, she draws snickers from women covered from head to toe in abayas (robes and veils).

  "For them, it's amazing," Jabar said. "Maybe it's the first time they see a woman with a uniform or with pants."

  The young girls she meets are fascinated, asking her questions and posing with her for pictures.

• Meanwhile, first all-female police station has been opened in Najaf, to deal with cultural and religious sensibilities that prevent male police officers searching female suspects.
  


• And this is what they are fighting against - a TV program that documents the confessions of Sheik Zana, leader of a Kurdish jihadi cell, who for a decade has been terrorizing the north of the country in cooperation with Islamic terrorist groups. Iraqi viewers have seen taped confessions before, but this case is different. "Sheik Zana's confessions, delivered in Kurdish, stand out because he and his followers had a habit of videotaping not only what appear to be horrific murders and rapes, but also sex among themselves and with the young men whom they were trying to recruit for their cause."
  


• In the stories of security cooperation from ordinary Iraqis:
  


• "An East Baghdad resident alerted Iraqi Soldiers that a terrorist was preparing to fire a rocket at around 8:30 a.m. July 10. Coalition Soldiers responded immediately and cordoned off the suspected site. After searching the area, the Iraqi Soldiers discovered the rocket ready to be fired from an improvised launcher and safely disarmed the rocket launcher and took it back to their base. The terrorists were not seen or captured";
  


• Army Major General Joseph Taluto, commander of Task Force Liberty which is active in cities of Balad, Kirkuk, Tikrit and Samarra, reports a 150 per cent increase in tips from the public about weapons caches and suspicious vehicles and individuals;
  


• On 15 July in Baghdad, "soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, captured three personnel, all positively identified as targets. The 2-156th personnel knocked on doors when the targeted houses turned up empty, and citizens of the neighborhood led soldiers to the suspected terrorists";
  


• "A group of Iraqis stopped a Task Force Baghdad unit patrolling in southeast Baghdad July 15 and told the Soldiers they’d found some weapons. The patrol followed the Iraqis to the site and found two mortar tubes and three base plates, one rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 17 mortar rounds, 39 artillery rounds and 25 boxes of hand grenades";
  


• A cache of mortars was placed on the side of the road for a patrol from 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division to discovered on July 22, in the same spot that locals have previously placed ammunition for collection. Says Maj. Russ Goemaere: "We would prefer civilians not place themselves at risk by handling munitions in this manner. We would prefer they just tell us where to find the munitions so we can remove them safely. We are pleased, however, that the citizens of Iraq are supporting the cause of democracy and helping to protect their community".
  


• In other recent security successes:
  


• On July 10, "during a routine patrol in the Ameriyah District... Iraqi and Coalition Forces noticed a black BMW parked in the driveway of a house that was typically unoccupied. Soldiers searched the house and found a bag of raw C-4 plastic explosives and four other containers believed to be filled with explosives." More weapons and munitions were found inside the house;
  


• The capture of Khamis Farhan Khalaf Abd al Fahdawi, known as Abu Seba, a senior Al Qaeda operative suspected of the murder of the Egyptian diplomat; he was among 30 suspected terrorists arrested in Ramadi on July 10;
  


• Twenty two suspects rounded up during the latest phase of Operation Scimitar around Fallujah in the run up to 11 July;
  


• "Iraqi Security Forces and Task Force Baghdad soldiers wounded and captured a suicide bomber today [July 14] before he could blow himself up near a Coalition checkpoint in central Baghdad";
  


• Thirty nine suspects arrested in joint American and Iraqi operations in Baghdad on July 15;
  


• Seventy seven suspects, including some wanted terrorists, arrested in Fallujah and throughout Diyala province on 16 and 17 July;
  


• On 17 July, soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, fended off two suicide car attacks while on patrol in Rawah, near Syrian border;
  


• "Multi-National Forces from Task Force Freedom and Iraqi Security Forces detained eight suspected terrorists during separate operations in northern Iraq [Mosul and Tal Afar] on July 17";
  


• Three insurgents killed and 29 suspects captured by Iraqi security forces and Task Force Baghdad soldiers in a series of operations in and around Baghdad on July 17;
  


• "Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces from Task Force Freedom seized a large weapons cache, detained eight suspected terrorists, and killed five terrorists during operations in northern Iraq July 17 and 18. Iraqi Police with support of Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment seized a large weapons cache during a raid operation in western Mosul July 18. The cache consisted of over 1,000 mortar rounds, over 25 mortar firing systems, 150 rockets, 450 rocket propelled grenade rounds, 26 RPG launchers, numerous missile firing systems, shape charges, improvised explosive devices, and over 30 assorted rifles";
  


• Twenty suspects detained and an arms cache recovered during operations in Tal Afar, Mosul, and Rawah on July 18;
  


• "Soldiers from the 256th Brigade Combat Team and the 6th Iraqi Army Division are taking part in Operation Warrior’s Rage, a series of 'cordon and search operations and combat patrols,' officials said Monday [19 July]. Some 70 suspected insurgents were snared in what the military called 'targeted raids' seeking specific individuals";
  


• On July 19, a joint American/Iraqi raids in Baghdad's Ameriyah district and Al Dora neighborhood "led to the capture of four suspected terrorists, including an individual believed to be a mid-level terrorist cell leader with ties to Ansar Al Sunna... During operations July 18, the military reported that Iraqi security forces and Task Force Baghdad soldiers detained 17 individuals and uncovered as many as six roadside bombs at various locations... The previous day... in a large military operation in east Baghdad, Iraqi Special Police commandos raided 19 targets and captured 24 more terror suspects";
  


• Fifty suspects captured on the first day of a new security operation by Iraqi troops in Baghdad on July 19;
  


• "Security officials said the Interior Ministry has discovered an insurgent plan led by one of the high-ranking official of the ministry. The plan was to blow up the ministry and the headquarters of the Magaweer forces (commandos), and bomb the al-Shaab stadium with mortars during the final match of the Iraqi League. The plan also was to assassinate some of the Arab and foreign ambassadors of Egypt, Bahrain, Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon to rid Iraq of Arab and foreign diplomats";
  


• "The 1-24 U.S. Infantry Regiment along with the 1st Battalion 3rd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division make two discoveries over the last 72 hours [to 21 July] that gathered enough weapons and explosives to kill thousands of people. U.S. Forces uncovered a hidden cache of weapons in the floor of a chicken coop in Mosul. The weapons and explosives include 26 surface-to-air missiles, 700 mortar rounds, 450 rocket-propelled grenades, and 150 57-mm artillery rockets. Iraqi forces made their discovery about 60 miles south of the Mosul location in the town of Qayyarah, where they confiscated six 1,000 pound bombs in a raid";
  


• "U.S. soldiers captured nine terrorists July 22 after they were seen placing an improvised explosive device... The soldiers saw two vehicles pull to the side of a road north of Forward Operating Base Kalsu. Nine men armed with AK-47 assault rifles got out and began placing an improvised explosive device. The soldiers engaged the men with small arms fire and captured five wounded terrorists. Four others, one of them wounded, fled and were captured by another U.S. patrol";
  


• Iraqi security forces arrested 119 suspects, including three specifically targeted individuals and discovered variety of weapons in security operations in and around Baghdad on July 22 and 23;
  


• Twenty two suspects, including eight Egyptian nationals, arrested after a gunfight when the Iraqi police stormed a building in the Yousefiyah district of Baghdad on July 23;
  


• "A suspected mastermind of last week's devastating attack in Musayyib was captured during a raid by Iraqi forces in which two of his associates were killed, police said Saturday [July 23]... the suspect was captured in a raid in the nearby town of Jarf al-Sakhr";
  


• "Soldiers from the 150th Engineer Battalion, 155th Brigade Combat Team, captured more than 100 suspected terrorists [on July 24] near Owesat. The soldiers also seized and destroyed a cache of weapons that included 186 mortar rounds, three 122 mm artillery rounds, 65 hand grenades, 500 pounds of explosives, rocket-propelled grenades, launchers, small-arms ammunition, and aiming equipment";
  


• A weapons cache discovered and secured by the Ukrainian troops;
  


• The capture by Iraqi commandos of Hamdi Tantawi, an Egyptian associate of Al Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a raid on a farmhouse near the town of Yusufiya on July 27.

Writes Jennifer O'Doan, now a political science major at Northern State University:

I have been skeptical of the national media coverage of the War on Terrorism since my return home from Iraq. Immediately I noticed that each day the death count of American soldiers was given, yet it was a rare occasion to see coverage on the accomplishments being made over there. I began to feel as though the consensus of the news media was that news from Iraq wasn't news unless it was bad news...

I understand that not all people agree with this war, but the broadcasting world is doing a huge injustice to soldiers by using its weight to levy against an already diminishing support for the war. If we only count the bodies but never mention the accomplishments, we are undermining everything each of our soldiers has done...

The media needs to recognize the accomplishments of our soldiers. Wouldn't all of you like to know what our troops are dying for? In the hearts of those families and friends who have lost soldiers to this war, there is no accomplishment in Iraq worth the life of the ones they love. But for every solider who walked an extra step or lent an extra hand to ensure that his or her mission was completed to make those accomplishments happen, it is worth it. That's why so many give their lives.

It's not just for the sake of our soldiers, but also for the sake of Iraqi people, who are also making the ultimate sacrifice for peace, democracy and normalcy, that we should hear the full story.

As always, if you have tips for future editions, email goodnewsiraq “at” windsofchange “dot” net.

« ok, I'm done now

SOCIETY:

• According to the latest survey conducted by the Euphrates Development and Strategic Studies Center in provinces of Karbala, Najaf, Babel and Baghdad, while the opinion is almost evenly split on the question whether the constitution drafting process will finish on time, 53% of those polled thought the performance of the presidency council acceptable, 20% considered it as very acceptable, and only 26% thought it unacceptable. 51% of respondents trust the government to some extent, 21% have very strong trust in it, while 27% of surveyed do not trust it at all.
  


• The constitution drafting process is progressing well:
  

  Although Iraqi lawmakers acknowledge that drafting a permanent constitution is one of the biggest challenges facing the country, the team charged with producing the document are cautiously optimistic that they will complete the job on time.

  Lawmakers are up against an August 15 deadline to finish writing the constitution, a daunting task considering the disputes that have taken place so far even over who should sit on then 55-member drafting committee.

  The drafting team now has to grapple with the controversial issues of federalism, the role of Islam in governance and the status of oil-rich Kirkuk.

  “We hope that, God willing, things will go well and we’ll finish our work on time, particularly if we deal with the thorny issues in a way that satisfies all parties,” said Humam Hammoodi, head of the Constitutional Drafting Committee and a member of the ruling United Iraqi Alliance.

  The committee, which was formed in mid-May, now meets every week and has divided into five groups each dealing with a different topic: the basic principles of the constitution, rights and liberties, laws and the formation of the state, federalism, and final principles.

  “There are differing viewpoints among committee members, but this doesn’t mean there is no agreement at all among them,” said Sadi al-Barzinji, a committee member from the Kurdish Alliance. “Whatever the differences, they can be solved through democratic dialogue.”

• As another story reports, "Humam Hamoudi, head of the committee to draft the constitution, said rapid and intensive meetings are underway with Sunni Arabs regarding possible disagreements. The meetings are meant to prevent a delay in the drafting of the constitution. He added the draft will be done with by August 1, as was decided earlier. He said they have agreed on many issues but there are still some contentious points, like federalism and the authority granted to the region's rulers." The Shia establishment is onboard too: "Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), has arrived in Najaf to meet top clerics to discuss the status quo of Iraq and the drafting of the constitution. The clerics agreed upon having all the different Iraqi spectrums participating in the drafting of the constitution and the political process with out marginalizing any of them."
  


• But the constitution drafting process will soon involve consultation that goes well beyond the committee or even the National Assembly:
  

  Baha' Al-'Araji, a member of the constitution drafting committee told Al-Mada paper yesterday that there are going to be 5 spots in each Iraqi province where citizens can find designated boxes where they can put their opinions and suggestion as to the process of writing the constitution. Only Baghdad will be an exception due to its high population so there will be 5 spots in each main quarter in the capital. One million "suggestion forms" are planned to be distributed nationwide soon and there will be specialized teams to read, sort the received forms and prepare summaries that will eventually be submitted periodically to the main committee.
  He also mentioned-according to the paper-that the committee has already purchased air time on satellite channels and columns space on papers (ten in total) to publish/broadcast materials of value to constitutional education to help people get a better understanding of the process.

• You can also read this short vox populi from the Iraqi street about the new constitution.
  


• And there are other favorable signs for bigger future Sunni engagement in politics:
  

  Several Sunni Muslim clerics have prepared a decree calling on members of Iraq's disaffected Sunni Arab minority to vote in coming elections and participate in the writing of a new constitution, a prominent Sunni leader said...

  Adnan Dulaimi, who heads the Sunni Endowment, the government agency responsible for Sunni religious affairs, said the framers of the decree, or fatwa, would seek the support of other groups in the fractious Sunni community. If broadly embraced, Dulaimi and other Sunni leaders said,... the decree could pave the way to full political participation by a segment of Iraqi society that boycotted elections in January and has scant representation in the current government.

  The push for the fatwa, together with formal approval by Iraq's National Assembly on Monday of the addition of 15 Sunnis to the committee writing the new constitution, suggested that slow and often contentious efforts to bring Sunni Arabs into the political sphere were beginning to bear fruit.

• In another report: "Sunni clerics in Iraq are preparing to hold a general conference by the end of this week. The conference will include edicts to allow participations in the political process, the referendum on the constitution, and the coming elections. There will also be edicts that prohibit targeting the supreme election commission members in Baghdad and other provinces. The conference will ask all Iraqis to reject sectarianism and ethnicity and to stop targeting the clerics and men of thought, especially the Shia clerics."
  


• Meanwhile, in the National Assembly, free-ranging debates make it the first for the Middle East:
  

  Death or torture awaited members of the former rubber stamp parliament if they ever had the courage to criticize the former regime. Today the country’s elected deputies openly pour their wrath on government officials in open sessions which many Iraqis hail as harbinger of a new era.

  It was not surprising therefore to see the deputies adding the presence of U.S. troops in the country to their agenda this week as well as corruption in government ministries and terror attacks.

  “Iraq’s sovereignty is an issue of paramount importance … It is the responsibility of this assembly to take a decision whether to approve or reject the extension of the multinational forces in the country,” declared Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi.

  While the deputies freely discussed the pros and cons of the presence of U.S.-led troops in Iraq, there were no calls for their immediate withdrawal under current circumstances.

  More important for other deputies were issues related to the reports of massive corruption in government ranks and the escalating terror and insurgent activities in the country.

• As the new habits of debate and openness grow, Iraqi democracy also continues to benefit from increasing ties with overseas. For example, another two cities are becoming twinned:
  

  The IVC of Philadelphia announced today that it is participating in the U.S. Department of State's "Partners for Peace" project with Mosul, Iraq.

  Through IVC, officials from Iraq's third largest city will visit Philadelphia to learn about democratic governance. Committees in both countries will work to improve humanitarian conditions in Mosul.

  "The IVC of Philadelphia is eager to partner with Mosul's leaders and citizens to support their transition to a democratic society," said Nancy Gilboy, President of the IVC of Philadelphia. "We've spent 51 years administering democracy-building programs and the past eleven years working with the former Soviet Union. That experience means we can hit the ground running with Mosul. We have humanitarian aid waiting to be shipped and a committee of Iraqi-Americans and generous citizen diplomats ready to help. For years, citizens in the Philadelphia area have shared their professional expertise and opened their offices and homes to guests from emerging democracies. We now look forward to engaging them with this important Mosul partnership."

• The United Nations, meanwhile, is supporting Iraqi civil society:
  

  With 4,000 new non-governmental and civil society organizations (NGOs) mushrooming in Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s one-party rule, the United Nations is holding a three-day workshop for some 30 Iraqi human rights defenders in Amman, capital of neighbouring Jordan. The workshop, from 27 to 29 June, seeks to strengthen the capacity of NGOs for advocacy work and human rights promotion at the national, regional and international levels, help to develop strategies for past, current and future human rights violations, and build a network for sharing information and developing collaboration.

• USAID is meanwhile supporting the development of better financial practices throughout Iraqi bureaucracy:
  

  To assist the Government of Iraq (GoI) to meet generally accepted standards in budget execution, USAID is working through partners under the Economic Governance II program to implement a state-of-the-art Financial Management Information System (FMIS) that will provide tools for federal financial management. Under Phase I of the project, 57 FMIS sites will be established at Ministries, spending agencies, and governorate treasuries by the end of June 2005. Under Phase II, a further 128 FMIS sites will be put in place. FMIS orientation and computer skills training courses have been completed at 55 out of 57 of the Phase I sites while hardware has been installed at 44 out of 57 sites. By June 30, it is anticipated that all equipment will be installed and tested at Phase I sites.

• And the Japan International Cooperation Agency has commenced statistics and economics training in Amman, Jordan, of employees of various ministries and government agencies. Jordanians themselves are conducting environmental awareness training for employees of several Iraqi ministries.
  


• Out in society, after decades of censorship, Iraqis re-discover the escape of books:
  

  In a narrow alley off Mutanabi Street, Baghdad's main book market, the Dar al-Bayan bookshop is full of dust and classics. Old men sip tea in the back and talk of times past, before dictatorship, when poets and intellectuals made life here bright.

  On the street outside, the new Iraq presses in. Card tables covered with computer manuals, cell phone booklets and how-to guides compete for space on the sidewalk. A vast array of religious books, banned under Saddam Hussein, pack the stalls.

  As Iraqis struggle to make sense of the chaos and violence that has consumed their lives over the past two years, books offer some solace.

  "Reality now is very strange," said Mufeed Jazaery, who was Iraq's culture minister in the recently departed interim government. "People are trying to put their feet on the ground, but they find themselves still hanging in the air. Is it quiet, or will there be another storm? Is it black or is it white? Is it moving, and if so, in which direction?"

  But as well as showing a changing Iraq, books also reveal a dividing line between those who grew up before the years of dictatorship - who reach for history texts to understand what has happened to their country - and younger Iraqis straining to find answers to more immediate questions about their lives in self-help and how-to books, romance and religious titles.

• "Chaos and violence" might have indeed "consumed" Iraqis' lives over the past two years, but prior to that their lives were hardly examples of normalcy. The difference is that back then they didn't even have books for consolation.
  


• In dealing with the legacy of the past and returning back to the Iraqi people some of their stolen national wealth:
  

  The 170 palaces of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein are to be turned into cultural centres, research institutes and libraries, Iraqi Culture Minister Nuri Farhan al-Rawi said...

  "We have already put an appropriate request to the American cultural attache," al-Rawi told delegates to a UNESCO conference on stolen and illegally exported cultural objects.

  At the present, most of Saddam's palaces are occupied by American and British soldiers of the occupation force in Iraq, al-Rawi said.

• And in another aspect of dealing with the past, "the Human Rights Committee in Baghdad province council of has established a Social Liability Fund to support the families of martyrs through designating a sum of 50,000 dinars for each family and 10,000 dinars for each child of the martyr families, who were executed during the former regime, in addition to the terror martyrs."
  


• In media news, "the first independent broadcast station in southern Iraq is on the air.
  

  Al Mirbad Radio hit the air waves on June 20, the BBC reported. “Welcome and Good morning, this is Al Mirbad Radio, a new voice for Southern Iraq,” were the first words broadcast by the station. The BBC World Service Trust, the British network’s charitable arm, built and established the station in Basra with funding from the U.K. government. In its efforts to develop more independent and skilled media, the trust also conducted training courses for 80 journalists earlier this year in Amman. The trust also trained a group of Iraqi engineers on installing and operating the station’s equipment.

• Meanwhile, BBC is gaining considerable audience throughout the country:
  

  BBC World Service is the biggest speech radio station in Iraq, according to new audience figures released.

  Weekly audiences in the country have increased to 3.3 million (22%) from 1.8 million weekly listeners (13% of the radio audience) last year - an increase of 1.5 million.

  The independent surveys also show that 43 per cent of opinion formers in Iraq listen every week.

  The increase follows the rapid establishment of BBC FM relays in key parts of the country, including of Baghdad, Mosul & Irbil, Kirkuk, Al-Nasirya, Basra, Al-Kut, Salahuddin and Al-Amara.

• And yes - reality TV finally made it to Iraq. And also yes - "May You See Prosperity and Deserve It", the show that follows a young couple in the run-up to their wedding is a huge hit. On a more serious level, read about the Italian contribution to restoring Iraq's cultural heritage.
  


• Lastly, improving security situation is having one unusual side-effect - it's getting easier to buy alcohol:
  

  Faisal Faris’ cart on al-Haifa Street looks like any other boiled beans stall, but it is actually a cover for a far more serious trading operation. A secret drawer hides Faris’ real commodity – alcohol...

  But even though they still cannot openly peddle their goods, alcohol sellers say business has been improving in the last few months.

  Faris said that Iraqis were buying more alcohol because the security situation in his area has improved, since Iraqi forces cracked down on the insurgents. Now that militant activity has died down, people are less afraid of being attacked if they are found to be drinking.

ECONOMY:

• America and Iraq are formalizing their economic ties with a view to even closer relations in the future:
  

  The United States and the U.S.-backed government in Iraq have signed a formal agreement aimed at boosting economic ties between the two countries, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Monday.

  The pact, which could lead to a free trade agreement between Washington and Baghdad, was signed during a meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Joint Commission on Reconstruction and Economic Development in Amman, Jordan.

  The trade and investment framework agreement, or TIFA, establishes a joint council to work on a wide range of commercial issues, USTR said.

• To help reform the economy, and to increase the flow of international aid, which has stalled in part because of the lack of such progress, the Iraqi government will be instituting a far reaching program of restructuring:
  

  War-torn Iraq is working to reduce state hand-outs that consume more than 80 per cent of its gross domestic product in its drive to qualify for debt relief and IMF support, the central bank's chief economist said.

  Mudhir Salih Kasim said in an interview Iraq is committed to phasing out subsidies built-up over decades as the oil-based economy became more centralised, especially under the rule of former president Saddam Hussein.

  "These levels are unheard of in the rest of the world. The government realises the issue is very sensitive and could spark uprisings," Kasim said yesterday, referring to the potential for popular unrest as subsidies especially on food, fuel and electricity, were reformed...

  "Iraq has agreed to restructure the subsidies system, not scrap it altogether, in meetings with donors and creditors. The reform will move the economy, even if there is no fall in the level of violence," he said...

  Iraq expanded hand-outs and subsidies to help people cope with crushing sanctions imposed by the United Nations from 1990-2003, which contributed to the economic collapse of the country with the world's second largest world reserves.

  This came on top of $120bn of debt mostly accumulated in the 1980s to finance an eight-year war with Iran.

• Part of any economic reform effort will be a program of privatization of state-owned enterprises. USAID is there to help, laying groundwork: "Officials are working on improving Iraq's private sector through legislation. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Private Sector Development (PSD) program staff recently met with six members of Iraq’s Legislative Committee on Privatization to discuss privatization experiences in other countries that might have relevance for Iraq and ways of moving forward in order to strengthen the private sector. As a result of the meeting, PSD project staff will continue to provide the Legislative Committee with support in developing model legislation that can serve as the basis of privatization in Iraq."
  


• Some privatization is already on the cards, as the government wants to reactivate government-owned factories, which constitute the bulk of Iraq's industry, but are currently laying idle:
  

  The Ministry of Industry and Minerals plans to privatize 10 major industries, according to Usama al-Najafi, the minister.

  “The ministry is prepared to turn 10 of the public sector companies over to mixed or private ownership,” he said.

  He said the companies’ Initial Public Offering will be announced soon through the Baghdad Stock Exchange.

  The public-owned companies include “two cement factories and pharmaceutical and iron and steel firms,” the minister said.

  If the privatization goes through it will be the first time for the pharmaceutical and cement industries to be transferred to private ownership.

• Meanwhile, the government will be spending $1 billion for the support of Iraq's reviving private sector. On a smaller, local scene: "The Karbala provincial council has decided to allow foreign companies to invest in Karbala according to special conditions or partnerships. Council spokesman Ghalib al-Dumi said approval has been granted for investment in the fields of oil, electricity, and the sewage system. The council has already made agreements with some companies."
  


• In banking news, 29 June saw the official launch of credit card in Iraq: "For the first time, we will have an Iraqi credit card, which is certain to increase trust between shopowners, creditors and customers, and to contribute to the development of banking in Iraq," said the director of the Central Bank of Iraq in the southern city of Basra, Zuhayr Ali Akbar." In other banking news, Al Rasheed bank is also now providing an option to customers of opening bank account in foreign currency. And two new private banks have been established recently:
  

  Al Mansur Investment Bank, with a capital 55billion dinars (about 38 million dollars), and Tigris and Euphrates Bank for Development and Investment, with a capital of 25 billion dinars (about 17 million dollars)... The announcement for the establishment of the two new banks comes a few days after the end of underwriting in two other private banks: Ashur International Bank and the Islamic National Bank, in which Iraqi investors and Arabs residing in the UAE have participated in establishing them, which gave them strength and increased the demand for underwriting in their shares.

• To further help along the reform of Iraqi banking sector, USAID is conducting workshops for the industry workers. USAID is supporting the development of Iraqi micro-finance industry through training of its professionals:
  

  The PSD program recently provided financial analysis training in Amman, Jordan to 26 middle- and senior-level managers from two organizations in Iraq’s emerging non-bank microfinance industry. By the end of the one-week course, attendees improved their skills in conducting financial analyses, preparing financial performance reports, and making recommendations to improve the financial performance of their organizations.

  The course was one of a series of training modules designed to move the organizations toward becoming sustainable non-bank credit, or microfinance, institutions that lend money to small businesses and farmers.

  A stronger, non-bank microfinance industry in Iraq will help empower thousands of poor families to better realize their potential through savings and credit programs for small enterprises.

• USAID is also assisting small businesses throughout Iraq in an effort to boost the country's private sector:
  

  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) recently supported training events for Iraqi small and medium-sized enterprises and approved 14 small business grants... Recent training activities included sessions for 31 small businesses in the non-permissible areas of Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk; and trainings for 13 consultants in Baghdad who will provide business planning services to Iraqi companies for the purpose of accessing credit under the Iraqi Middle Market Development Fund (IMMDF) and other credit programs.

• And here are two success stories of Iraqi Stock Exchange: Warka Investment Bank, whose shares have increased in value by 287 percent in less than a couple of months, and Pepsi Baghdad.
  


• Speaking of soft drinks, that old symbol of American imperialism is coming to Iraq: after absence of 25 years, Coca Cola is opening a bottling factory in Iraq to supply the local market.
  


• In Baghdad, an old institution revives:
  

  After years of absence, Al Nahr Street in Baghdad is back to life and to the women, who never left it all their lives until the end of the 80s of the last century. This street has turned into wholesale markets, after the Iraqi families found it hard to visit it, due to the bad economic conditions. For those who do not know the street well, Al Nahr Street is also known as Al Nisa Street, or the street of beautiful girls, as the majority of its visitors are women for the fact that its stores are specialized in selling women's clothes and for its fame for having jewelry stores, gold and silver and other jewelry. Even if we have seen some men walking in this street, they are there to buy a gift or something for their wives or sisters.

• German journalist reports that the northern Iraq is thriving:
  

  Rashid Tahir Hassan’s office in the Kurdish Ministry of Finance resembles a small Kurdish memorial. On the wall behind his gigantic black desk hang two pictures of the legendary Kurdish fighter Mullah Mustafa Barzani in heavy gold frames; on the console underneath is a plate with his likeness. The room is adorned with photographs of Kurdish villages and the city of Erbil, the seat of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. Hassan himself seems to embody the Kurdish mentality. When he has something positive to say, he looks melancholy. "Since the Fall of Saddam Hussein the Kurds have been born again," said Rashid Tahir Hassan, lowering his eyelids and pausing. He takes a sip from his glass of tea and glances out the window. Then he adds, "We no longer live from one day to the next; for the first time in our history we are planning for the future."

  A glance out of the window of the Director General for Finance of the Kurdish regional government shows how far the future of Kurdistan has already flourished: around the Ministry of Finance, as in many places in the city, buildings are shooting up. Apartment buildings, offices, warehouses, it looks as if everywhere in Erbil is under construction...

  Travelling by car from Erbil to Suleimaniyah, it’s difficult to believe that this part of Iraq has anything to do with the country known from the TV news. While car bombs explode daily in Baghdad and new mass graves are discovered around the so-called Sunni Triangle, the Kurds are experiencing a regular boom. Not only is Erbil under construction, but also in Dukan new roads are springing up, and in many villages vacation homes are being built. The demand for home ownership and the wish for improvement in the infrastructure are so great that the cement factory in front of the gates of Suleimaniyah has been put back in operation.

  The clearest sign of the new boom in Kurdistan is the increase in salaries. Before the fall of Saddam Hussein a white collar worker earned 22,000 Iraqi dinar per month (around $148)--today 158,000, according to the Ministry of Finance. A clear sign of the upswing is the fact that Kurds have meanwhile become too expensive for some jobs. On the side of the road between Erbil and Suleimaniyah you discover tents with Iraqi and Chinese flags in honour of guest workers from China. Thirty-eight men from Beijing who speak neither English nor Kurdish nor Arabic are widening Kurdistan’s highway network. They sleep at night on cots in tents on the edge of the construction site. In Suleimaniyah you find more guest workers from their own country...

  In the streets of Suleimaniyah, not only is there more security than in Baghdad but also more freedom than in the southern part of the country. You see women with and without headscarves, you see them in black garments or in jeans with tight t-shirts, you see them openly drinking beer in the afternoons. In restaurants and on the streets you hear cell phones ringing, whose rings sound like pop versions of eastern music.

• Perhaps the most delicious irony comes from Nazar Kahailany, Kurdish dissident who was tortured under Saddam Hussein and fled to Germany 20 years ago: "We always believed that only communism would free us from Saddam Hussein. Now we’ve learned that we needed the Americans for that." Here's another report from the booming Suleymaniyah, this time from an Iraqi blogger Omar: "I have to admit that this is the highest rate of construction one can find in the whole country and the streets and market places were so busy and crowded especially in the late afternoon and early evening."
  


• A recent trade delegation to Great Britain from southern Iraq was also at pains to remind the world that the situation there is very different to what the news coverage suggests:
  

  The delegation included senior southern members of the Iraqi transitional government, politicians, lawyers and the editor of a newspaper in Basra.

  All wanted to stress that the image of Iraq as a place of almost daily atrocities was based around events in Baghdad.

  "People need to understand that Baghdad is hundreds of kilometres away and in the south there is peace, " said 'Abd al-Karim Mahmud Al-Muhammadawi.

  One of Iraq's leading freedom fighters, he battled against Saddam's Ba'athist regime from the southern marsh region for 17 years earning him the title of "lord of the marshes".

  Now he is a leading figure in the movement to re-establish southern Iraq as a commercial centre which capitalises on the region's wealth of oil reserves and a vast workforce.

  "We are ready to do business and we want people to come to Basra, see that it is a safe and stable place with huge resources," he said.

• The authorities have signed a contract with an American car company to produce 90 thousand sedans, 130 thousand pickups and 10 thousand 4-wheel-drive cars a year. Meanwhile the number of old used cars is steadily decreasing throughout Iraq in favor of new models.
  


• A new program is trying to bring back Iraqi expats and utilize their skills in new Iraq:
  

  The third Iraqis Rebuilding Iraq (IRI) candidate recently traveled to Baghdad to start his 12-month assignment as Director General for Government Communications at the Council of Ministers Secretariat.

  Al Asaadi came across the IRI program while he was searching the internet for possible job vacancies in Iraq through the different well-known recruitment agencies and channels, for he was an Iraqi expert interested in supporting his country by applying his expertise and skills to serve his fellow people.

  Al Asaadi said that the IRI program was the only program that looked for Iraqi experts to take assignments in Iraq, and it was the only program that stressed having expert Iraqi citizens living abroad to take up assignments through the support of the IRI program.

• More here.
  


• In oil news, despite constant sabotage, oil exports in June have increased slightly over the May figure. In the south, "workers in South Oil Company are continuing in erecting and operating modern technological equipments, which were contracted to be supplied by Italian and French companies, in the very significant Majnoun oil well. This participates in doubling the current production to 100 thousand barrels a day, within the first stage of the local investment of the well."
  


• A major expo in a few months' time will link Iraq's oil and gas sector with expertise and investment from major international industry players:
  

  A projected $ 35-40 billion (Dhs 128.55-146.92 billion) is up for grabs as contractors vie to participate in rebuilding the Iraqi oil sector.

  OGS 2005, the premier Arab Oil and Gas Show which is to be held from November 7 to 9, 2005, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, is expected to be an important link between cutting-edge technology providers and investors in Iraq's resurgent Oil & Gas sector.

  In the 12th edition of its showing, OGS will provide companies with a platform to network and discuss business prospects, innovation and issues related to exploration, extraction, processing, storage, transportation and security in the oil and gas industry. "With investment in Oil & Gas infrastructure growing exponentially all across the GCC region, investors are increasingly on the look-out for technologies and services that provide the optimum combination of high return on investment and competitive edge in a dynamic global market-place.

• Iraqi authorities have also awarded their first tenders in a year to oil fields in Kirkuk, to ExxonMobil Corp., Total SA, Repsol YPF SA, and Tupras. Meanwhile, "eleven oil fields in southern Iraq, capable of boosting the country's production to three million barrels a day will soon be tendered to international investors." Says the oil ministry's spokesman, Asim Jihad, "We will seek foreign investments, that will allow us to develop our industry but without paving the way for foreign monopolies to take over."
  


• There is also increasing oil cooperation with foreign countries, for example Iran. And with Kuwait: "Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) intends to renew its contract with Iraqi authorities... The contract which includes supplying Iraq with oil products is expected to be renewed by Aug. 1."
  


• The U.S.-Iraq Joint Commission on Reconstruction and Economic Development has recently announced the development of the Iraq Oil Training Program, a $2 million training scheme for the Iraqi oil and gas sector. Says the Regional Director Carl Kress: "The IOTP is a significant step forward in supporting the modernization of Iraq’s oil industry, bringing together the U.S. public and private sectors to deliver the best available training in the oil and gas sector – for the benefit of the Iraqi people in the rebuilding of this vital sector... We expect USTDA’s investment in this project will be supplemented by substantial U.S. private sector and university resources, resulting in immediate and medium term training and capacity building benefits for the Ministry of Oil.”
  


• You can also read this story about the high-level debates about the future equitable management of Iraq's oil wealth.
  


• In comunication news,
  

  Iraq has announced that it will launch a bidding process for new mobile phone licences in July in London, five months before the licenses held by three main regional firms are set to expire.

  'We will announce the opening of the process of bidding for the new mobile licences for Iraq... by holding a conference in London July 21-22,' Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission chief Siyamend Othman said.

  Egypt's telecom giant Orascom controls Iraq's central region, while mobile phone operations for the south are managed by Atheer, a branch of the Kuwaiti firm MTC, and the north is in the hands of Asiacell, a consortium of Iraqi and Gulf firms.

• As the report says, "communication experts predict there will be 5 mln mobile phone users in Iraq within three years and 8 mln within 10 years."
  


• "Iraqna's staff members have been taken captive and harassed, its infrastructure sabotaged and its network constantly jammed during US military operations," says this report on Orascom's operation, yet the Egyptian-owned company has proven to be a success story:
  

  Iraqna's subscription fees are now as low as $17 compared with $70 a year ago, but service in certain areas goes down for days sometimes...

  The company, which started in the Baghdad area and expanded to central and western Iraq and the southern port city of Basra, reported revenues of $63 million in the first quarter of 2005, up 200% from the same period one year ago.

  Despite its problems, Iraqna's service has been popular in a country where mobile phones were virtually non-existent under ousted president Saddam Hussein...

  As it seeks to hold on to its Iraq franchise, Orascom has sponsored the national football team, supported universities, helped people rebuild homes destroyed in the violence and funded a charity started by Kadhim al-Sahir, Iraq's best known pop star.

• Orascom intends to invest $2.5 billion in the Iraqi telecommunications market.
  


• In other communications news, Iraq's state-owned telecommunications company is launching a new and improved long-distance and international call system. And Iraq is also regaining its rightful place in cyberspace:
  

  Iraq hopes to bolster its sovereignty by putting the country's official domain name on the Internet within weeks.

  "We hope to announce very soon the return of Iraq's domain name '.iq' back on the Internet," Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission chief Siyamend Othman said on the sidelines of a forum in Jordan on developing his war-scarred country.

  "We are at the final stages of negotiations for the return of '.iq' and we are quite optimistic that we can do so in the coming weeks," Othman added Tuesday.

  Iraq is negotiating to get its place in cyberspace with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an international, non-profit organisation that is responsible for Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

  The former head of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, Paul Bremer, asked ICANN in 2004 to take ownership of '.iq', which was initially registered several years ago.

  Business leaders in Iraq say the ability to create a presence on the Internet with websites ending in '.iq' will be a boost to commerce.

• In transport news, the Baghdad-Basra service commences successfully:
  

  Aboard Flight 15, over southern Iraq - The smiling flight attendants strode down the aisle of the Boeing 727 in crisp green uniforms, handing out cold cans of soda and pieces of cake.

  But it was more than just the food service, a throwback to another age of aviation, that brought a sense of relief to the passengers.

  Just minutes earlier, the plane had leveled off after a steep corkscrew ascent from Baghdad International Airport. It was cruising now at 23,000 feet. In one piece.

  No smoke trails from surface-to-air missiles, no rocket attacks, no mortar hits.

  "The flight will be good, God willing," Awadees Razoiam, 55, an oil geologist, said as he bit into his cake.

  Such is the scene aboard the Iraqi equivalent of the New York-to-Washington shuttle - a 55-minute hop between Baghdad and the southern oil city of Basra that costs $75 for a one-way coach ticket. The flight, begun this month, is the first domestic service operated by state-owned Iraqi Airways since the American-led invasion.

  There are no frequent-flier benefits and no free newspapers at the gate. But the flight allows quick and safe passage (relatively speaking) between the capital and the city at the heart of Iraq's economy, making it perhaps the most significant in-country transportation development since the war.

• And up north: "The Sulaimanyah International Airport, SIA, is ready to open, according to Kamaran Ahmed, supervisor of the SIA. Ahmed said that this week, the airport will receive the first experimental flight, which will be a plane flying in from Baghdad. After that flight, the airport will officially open. The first official flight will come from Jordan, carrying Planning Minister Barham Salih and Transportation Minister Salam al-Maliki."
  


• Meanwhile, on the ground: "On June 19, Iraqi workers finished construction on railroad stations in Balad and Baiji. These facilities will connect Salah al-Din with destinations throughout the provinces, bringing goods to customers and citizens in distant cities. Two important rail projects have already been completed in Kirkuk: the Kirkuk and al-Maraej stations have been rehabilitated. Throughout the rest of the nation, the Ministry of Transportation has more than 100 rail projects scheduled; 28 are currently being built, while 45 have been completed and are serving the people."
  


• USAID is assisting the growth of Iraqi agriculture through a variety of small scale projects around the country:
  

  - The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and USAID’s Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program will repair two culverts in Babil Governorate that carry water underneath roadways to irrigate farmland. The efficient use of water and functioning irrigation systems are especially important in southern and central Iraq, where there is less rainfall...

  - Two media centers in northern Iraq are producing agricultural publications with funding from MOA and ARDI. Support for this activity is intended to increase the government’s capacity to produce high-quality publications that keep farmers apprised of best practices and issues in farming...

  - At a workshop in central Iraq, the MOA and ARDI recently launched a summer rice demonstration activity which could benefit thousand of farmers. During the event, specialists outlined challenges faced by Iraq’s rice farmers and explained how the new project will address these needs...

  - MOA/ARDI staff are also working to support apple farmers. An apple demonstration program, similar to the rice program, has designated several orchards around the country to demonstrate improved cultivation techniques.

RECONSTRUCTION:

• After suspending loans to Iraq in 1985, the Japanese authorities will be resuming the initiative, with a $3.5 billion for the reconstruction work, chiefly in water and electricity. Saudi Arabia will be extending soft loans worth $1 billion for reconstruction.
  


• The United Nations is transferring $200 million from the "oil-for-food"-financed weapons inspections account to the Development Fund for Iraq to help finance the reconstruction effort.
  


• The Ministry of Municipalities and Works has assigned 51 billion and 490 million dinars ($35 million) for administration and construction projects during the current year: "one billion and 750 thousand dinars [$1.16 million] were designated for tiling roads, 5 billions [$3.4 million] for asphalting in the provinces, a 1 billion and 600 million dinars [$1 million] for rehabilitating municipality buildings and departments and 850 million dinars [$0.5 million] for fulfilling the needs of the municipality departments of cleaning machinery... [and] 16.5 billion dinars [$11 million] to execute new commitments and finish former commitments."
  


• Japanese authorities, meanwhile, are building and rebuilding roads in Al-Muthanna province: $862,000 to repair roads in Samawah ("The aid will enable the Department to carry out long-term repair of the damaged roads and to accelerate repair work. In Samawah, reconstruction activities are proceeding in various fields such as roads and electricity. Speeding up road repair in Samawah is expected to improve the traffic situation including alleviating congestion and activating even further the social and economic activities of the Samawah citizens."), $842,837 for Ar-Rumaitha ("With this aid, which will repair roads in the most severely damaged areas in central Rumaitha (a total of 10.57 km), it is expected to contribute to improving the lives of Rumaitha citizens and the welfare and stability of the community."), and $706,000 for Mutawag Al-Chibashi Road ("The aid, which will conduct emergency repairs (asphalt paving) of a part of the road (about 6.7km), is expected to improve the lives of the people in areas surrounding the road and to contribute to building and stabilizing the local community."). Here's more on Japanese road projects in southern Iraq.
  


• In Baghdad, the authorities are completing another housing project:
  

  A state-run construction firm has completed 70% of a major housing project in Baghdad, the Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction said.

  The project in Sabaa Abkar consists of 48 buildings and is expected to cost $5 million.

  The project covers an area of 72,500 square meters and includes a school, car parks and paved roads in addition to a 240-square meter market place.

  The project is one of several currently being implemented in Baghdad and other Iraqi provinces.

• USAID's Community Action Program, meanwhile, is helping small communities around the country help improve their local infrastructure. Currently (link in PDF), the CAP is assisting in installing water pipe, a water pump and a generator, as well as repairing the electricity network to provide potable water for a community of 1,100, 100 km outside Baghdad; in building a sports and recreation center in Wasit governorate; and in repairing 3 km of road in a community outside Mosul.
  


• In new water and sanitation projects, good news for residents of one Baghdad district: "Reconstruction gained momentum in the Nissan district of eastern Baghdad, where major sewer and water projects broke ground in Kamaliya and Oubaidi. After completing a site survey, workers began on the project that ultimately will create a sewer network serving 8,870 homes in Kamaliya. The area has never had underground sewage lines and relies on slit trenches, which leads to sewage pooling in the streets. The project will cost about $27 million and will employ 600 local workers at peak construction times. As the sewer project takes shape, an existing water distribution system will be rehabilitated. About 5,435 homes are slated to receive connections to the water main."
  


• In the district of Abu Ghraib, a new water project costing $450,000 will provide reliable drinking water to 40,000 residents.
  


• Baghdad's municipal authorities are currently conducting talks in Jordan with the representatives of the World Bank regarding the allocation of a $65 million grant for eight major water infrastructure projects in the capital.
  


• And north of the capital: "On June 27, a water treatment project was finished in Kirkuk, which will provide 5,000 people from four villages with clean, potable water, while another began in the northwestern Ninewah province. Eight water projects are programmed for construction in Mosul, and 34 water projects are programmed nationwide. Seven of those are under way, and 18 are complete."
  


• In Diyala province, one USAID project has just been finished (link in PDF): "USAID’s work at water and waste water treatment plants in Ad Dujayl (Diyala Governorate) is complete and the facilities are now servicing the city’s 60,000 residents . Work at the water treatment plant was completed on May 26 and on February 27 at the waste water treatment plant. The new water treatment plant will ensure delivery of a safe dependable water supply to the city. Prior to the work, the water treatment plant operated well below capacity, providing only 33 percent of the potable water needed for the region."
  


• And this joint effort is aiming to improve personal and agricultural access to water in rural areas of Iraq:
  

  As part of efforts to improve the hydraulic infrastructure in Iraq's rural areas, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI) program are set to begin repairs of some discharge regulators – devices that help to limit and direct the flow of water through irrigation canals.

  Improving the hydraulic system in Iraq is central to the MOA/ARDI mission of increasing agricultural production throughout the country.

  In the center and south of Iraq, agriculture relies heavily on irrigation. But unfortunately most canals, drainage and hydraulic structures have not been properly maintained or replaced since they were installed in the 1980s.

  As part of a new project recently approved by USAID, MOA/ARDI will commence repairs on a discharge regulator that provides water to 10,000 donums (2,500 hectares) of land in central Iraq’s Qadissiyah Governorate.

  The increased ability to control water amounts will positively affect the livelihoods of 1,050 farm families who rely on the agricultural production from the adjacent land as their major source of income. In total, more than 7,000 Iraqis will benefit.

• In electricity news, there will be more fuel for the power stations: "The ministry of oil is going to increase daily fuel supplies delivered to the ministry of electricity by 2 million liters to reach 4.5 million liters instead of the current 2.5 million liters of daily supplies. Officials from the ministry of electricity welcomed this step that will 'allow the ministry to operate some idle units and enable the production of an additional 1000 mega watts of electricity' and this will reflect positively on the amount of power available from the national grid." As Iraqi blogger Omar comments: "It's worth mentioning that the peak power production has reached the 5000 mega watts milestone earlier this month and it is planned to increase that amount to 6000 mega watts by the end of this months. I hope their plans are good enough to provide the electricity we need; we've tolerated 15 years of electricity shortages so far and I really don't mind waiting for another year or two if I'm sure that the guys in charge are really doing all they can to improve the situation."
  


• Meanwhile, work at USAID projects around the country continues:
  

  Work continues on the installation of the V-94 combustion gas turbine at the Taza Substation in Kirkuk... The project’s Scope of Work includes the design, manufacture, delivery, installation, testing, and commissioning of one V-64 Combustion Gas Turbine (65MW nominal rating) and one V-94 Combustion Gas Turbine (260MW). Combined, these will supply 325MW to the national grid. The plant’s gas pipeline has also been extended by 15 kilometers to connect to a fuel source. Finally, plant operation and maintenance staff will receive training... Work is continuing on the rehabilitation of two units at the Doura power plant in southern Baghdad. Although its four steam boilers and turbines are each rated at 160MW, all have been poorly maintained for many years, largely due to spare parts shortages. Its cooling systems are now severely damaged so its turbines can no longer be operated at full-load without risk of further damage from overheating. As a result, the plant has operated far below its full-load rating of 640MW.

• Another USAID project is now starting to benefit southern Baghdad: "The new expansion of a power plant in south Baghdad is now producing electricity. The first firing of one of the expansion’s two combustion turbines — Unit 1B — took place a day ahead of schedule. On June 16, engineers synchronized Unit 1B with the grid and established a base load of 95 megawatts (MW). This plant expansion is producing megawatts for the Iraqi power grid before the critical summer peak."
  


• Baghdad airport will, meanwhile, soon benefit from another project: "Work is nearing completion on a project that will allow Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) to achieve 100 percent electrical self-sufficiency. The BIAP electrical system has an generation output design range of 18 to 22.3 MW and consists of three 33kV power transformers, 11kV and 400 V distribution systems, five diesel generators, and numerous smaller emergency generators."
  


• The authorities are also launching a crackdown to restore the integrity of the electricity network, as many Iraqis are illegally connected to the grid and do not pay for the access.
  


• In the education sector, USAID continues to assist Iraqi schools (link in PDF):
  

  A total of 504,458 Secondary School Student Kits have been distributed to students in 2,244 secondary schools in Iraq. This initiative is being coordinated through Iraq’s Ministry of Education (MOE) which will coordinate distribution of the remaining 20,542 kits. Each kit contains 10 Arabic exercise books, one English exercise book, one drawing set, one lab notebook, 12 pencils, four pencil sharpeners, four erasers, a ruler, and a calculator... Ten thousand out of school Iraqi youth aged 12-18 will attend Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) schools beginning in the fall that will allow them to make up for two missed years of primary school in one year. ALP schools will be identified by each Department of Education and will receive special kits for classrooms, teachers and students. The program is being implemented by UNICEF with USAID support. Fifteen ALP resource persons are being trained this month in Amman; each will go on to train 17 trainers in each of the participating governorates. A total of 2,000 teachers country-wide will be trained to teach in the ALP schools, and 1,000 students will be enrolled in each participating governorate.

• Meanwhile, on the local level, "the ministry of education has designated a sum of 30 billion dinars [$20 million] to establish 40 new schools in Nainawa province... the current period would witness establishing 42 rural schools and demolishing 136 schools, built of clay, and replacing them with new schools. In addition, 72 suites would be added to a number of the schools of the villages and countryside in the province."
  


• In higher education, USAID's Higher Education and Development (HEAD) program, is linking American and Iraqi universities to provide Western resources and expertise in rebuilding Iraqi higher education system. In most recent initiatives (link in PDF):
  

  Health faculty members at Jackson State University (JSU) are developing curriculum and course materials that will be shared with two major Iraqi universities... The materials include a Comparative Health Systems course and comparative analyses of health systems in the U.S., UK, Canada, Iraq, Oman, and Egypt. Lectures, suggested reading lists, assignments and sample examinations are also included with course materials.

  Also under the JSU and the Mississippi Consortium for International Development partnership, seven faculty members - primarily doctors and engineers - from several major Iraqi medical education institutes received minigrants for Several laboratories and libraries are being refurbished and reequipped under the HEAD partnership with the University of Oklahoma (UO).

  Biology laboratory equipment was recently delivered to a Basrah university. A UO staff member will set up the equipment and train Iraqis on its use in June. Soil science, veterinary medicine and global mapping laboratories will be established at the five universities participating in the HEAD/UO partnership. UO recently established an advanced geography lab at a major Iraqi technical university which is being utilized by over 400 students, 100 of whom are women. At the new lab, students use modern GIS/GPS technologies to process satellite imagery to analyze changes in Iraq’s environment, climate and infrastructure. UO staff will be conducting workshops and instructing lab staff in the maintenance and use of the equipment and labolatories.

  UO has also refurbished university libraries including the internet computer center and library at the University of Babil which officially opened in May.

• The Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) and the Harvard University libraries will train Iraqi librarians, archivists and information professionals "in the current practices of archives and preservation, automation, collection development, curriculum development, digital libraries, management, reference and organization of knowledge."
  


• Meanwhile, the authorities have assigned additional 63 billion dinars ($43 million) for increased salaries for Iraqi academics. More here:
  

  The salary raise is good news for the university faculty whose members had to make ends meet with an average of 15,000 dinars a month (less than 10 dollars) under the former leader Saddam Hussein.

  The new raise will see salaries of faculty with the title of professor rising up to $1,000.

  It brings salaries at Iraqi universities close to those in neighboring Jordan, so far a magnet for the country’s brain drain.

  Iraq has the highest percentage of people with higher degrees in the Middle East. According to official statistics the proportion of people with Ph.D.s in Iraq is higher even than in advanced countries.

  Iraqi universities run their own post-graduate programs and 390 doctoral candidates are expected to join the University of Baghdad alone this year. There are 12 universities in the country running their own Ph.D. studies.

• In health news, Iraqi doctors are about to be offered greater incentives and rewards:
  

  The Iraqi Ministry of Health (MoH) announced this week that they are going to respond to a request from doctors to increase their salaries.

  "Doctors in Iraq are still receiving insufficient salaries and their work should be respected. We expect that in the coming month their salaries will be raised according to their positions," Jalil al-Shummary, deputy ministry of health, said.

  Under Saddam Hussein's regime, doctors in Iraq received less than US $ 20 per month. After the war that ousted him in 2003, salary increases of up to $ 200 per month were awarded to doctors. The health ministry now hopes to offer further increments of up to 200 percent.

• The World Health Organisation is providing supplies and equipment for various areas of Iraqi health system:
  

  As of mid-June 2005, laboratory equipment, reagents/kits and consumables valued at US$1.87 million have been received in Amman, out of which US$1.5 million have delivered to the Ministry of Health Nutrition Research Institute Food Control Laboratory in Baghdad... Three truck loads of diagnostic kits, monitors and ophthalmology supplies and equipment were delivered into Baghdad this week by WHO. This delivery forms part of the integral support given by WHO to the Ministry of Health under the UNDG ITF Mental Health and Non-Communicable Disease Programme to strengthen health facilities with regards to the reduction and prevention and blindness.

• The WHO is also training Iraqi specialists:
  

  Nine Iraqi technicians arrived in Cairo on the 25th June 2005 to start a period of intensive training courses at the Drug Control, Analysis and Research Centre in Egypt, which are due to last between two -- four weeks each... 37 participants from the Iraqi Ministry of Health the Ministry of Higher Education this week completed the first National Training Course on Management of Public Health Risks in Disasters and Complex Emergencies, being conducted by WHO in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre.

• In other WHO contribution: "The World Health Organisation has pledged a sum of six million dollars to support a polio vaccination campaign in Iraq, which the Iraqi health ministry has been bringing to all the provinces of the country... [According to ministry spokesman], 'the initial results demonstrate that the first four days of the campaign, had achieved success in 90 percent of the cases, but we hope that in the fifth and sixth day to cover 95 percent of the cases predicted for the first phase, regardless of the difficulties that the medical team has been facing in certain regions because of the ongoing fighting and high temperatures'."
  


• In other recent health news: "On June 22, one of 167 medical clinic projects planned for the country got under way. A $656,000 clinic in the Khanaqin district of Diyala province, in which Baghdad is located, is one of two programmed for construction in the district. Both are now under construction."
  


• Lastly, the southern marshes destroyed by Saddam are strongly coming back to life:
  

  Water now inundates 3,350 square kilometers of Iraqi marshes which the former regime had drained and turned into desert, according to the Minister of Water Resources Abdulatif al-Rashid.

  In a statement faxed to the newspaper, Rashid said his ministry has completed what he described as “two strategic projects” in the area which made the inundation possible.

  Rashid said flooding the area with water was not the only goal of his ministry.

  “The ministry is pressing ahead with efforts to reclaim the land, provide water for irrigation and boost agriculture,” he said in the statement.

  “The ministry has succeeded in expanding the flooded areas which now form 40% of the southern marshes,” he said.

  The news is a major success story for a government embroiled in corruption and a bloody war against mounting insurgent attacks.

  Water now flows into scores of small rivers and streams the former regime had either blocked or filled with earth.

HUMANITARIAN AID:

• USAID is working with the disabled in one province (link in PDF):
  

  USAID’s Community Action Program (CAP) partner working in As Sulaymaniyah conducted a ten day workshop for people with disabilities. The training covered two key areas: training of trainers, and advocacy and fundraising for associations of disabled people. Participants included representatives of the disabled community and staff from the CAP partner in the region. Participants returned to their governorates planning to conduct presentations that would promote the rights of the disabled and demonstrate techniques to include persons with disabilities in the community. These presentations will raise awareness among community leaders and members about the issues disabled people in their community face. Commenting on the benefits of the training, one participant said, “The end of the ten-day training marks the beginning of a lifelong journey.”

• Italians are making a valuable contribution to health system in Baghdad:
  

  As insurgents continue the upsurge in attacks in Baghdad, the Italian hospital there is one of the few foreign hospitals continuing to treat Iraqi citizens, despite the deteriorating security situation and the incidents of foreigners being kidnapped. The hospital director, Dr Donato D'Agostino, of the Italian Red Cross, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that "the organisation was set up in Baghdad in April 2003 with Italian Red Cross employees as well as Iraqi support staff." Since then it has treated 21,000 gravely ill people and 11,000 emergency cases.

  The hospital's work is spread over two main sections, one for burn wounds and one for children's illnesses, and also includes an emergency burns unit and a day clinic.

  "There are beds for 150 patients a day and another 40-50 burn victims. We have twelve Italian staff and 95 Iraqis, including 60 doctors and nurses," said D'Agostino.
  "The hospital, which is completely free, is run along European lines and we have trained Iraqis who will carry on our work when we leave Iraq," he told AKI.

• Here's more of Italian medical assistance:
  

  A flight carrying a group of 50 Iraqis, including 13 people requiring bone-marrow transplants, their relatives and donors, on Friday left Baghdad for Rome, Italy where they will receive free medical treatment as part of an Italian government-sponsored programme...

  During the programme's first phase, Iraqi patients will be treated by the Italy-based Mediterranean Institute of Haematology, while in subsequent phases, Iraqi doctors and other medical workers will receive training in Italy.

  In term of the agreement, the Italy will support the creation of bone-marrow transplant facilites at hospitals in Baghdad, Mosul and Nassiriya.

• A 14-year old girl continues to receive medical attention in the United States:
  

  Still healing from her second major facial surgery, Eman Hashim will stay in the United States this summer, rather than return to her native Iraq this month, as planned.

  The 14-year-old girl, born with a severe facial deformity, will live with a host family in Virginia Beach and will likely have a third surgery in September.

  Her father, Khalid, plans to leave for Iraq on July 19 but will come back to Hampton Roads before the next operation, said Lisa Jones, a spokeswoman for Operation Smile. The Norfolk-based nonprofit group has paid for Eman to have surgery here two years in a row.

• Every little bit helps as local communities become motivated to help:
  

  Graham Leonard, an East Tennessee native and former Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, was asked by the Sevier County Democratic Club to share his experiences as an embedded journalist for the Beirut Star for five weeks this past spring. About 100 residents attended the town meeting held at Sevierville Civic Center...

  While Leonard was "praising the positive work in Iraq of Tennessee's 278th National Guard," he mentioned in particular the great work the soldiers are doing to help the children of Iraq and their schools.

  "Leonard asked if we were sending things to Iraq and said, 'Don't send them candy. Send school supplies - the schools are desperate for basic school supplies,'" said Anderson.

  That statement became a call to action for the Democratic Club and its Young Democrats, and within three weeks, a yard sale had been organized to raise funds for the project in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way...

  The money raised bought 11 boxes of notepads, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, modeling clay, scissors, paper, construction paper, dry erase boards, tape and other items.

  In addition, Donna and Joey Strickland, local business owners and members of the Democratic Club, personally donated three boxes of inflatable Frisbees, yo-yos and plastic rulers to send.

• So you too can make the difference.
  


• US troops in Iraq are overwhelmed by public support for one of their programs:
  

  Task Force Baghdad Soldiers said they have been overwhelmed and overjoyed by donations Americans have been sending to a program designed to provide school supplies, clothes and toys to Iraqi children.

  The Iraqi Schools Program, founded by Maj. Greg Softy in August 2003, is currently being managed by the Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd infantry Division. Softy was the squadron operations officer with 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division.

  Iraqi Schools is a widely-successful program that links the American people at home with an actual neighborhood of Iraqis who need help. The enormous generosity of Americans has allowed 3rd Bn., 7th Inf. Reg., known as the Cottonbalers, to distribute vital school supplies, medical supplies and clothing to local Iraqis in need.

  As of May 25, 42,682 packages had been received with 1,013,274 pounds of school supplies, clothing, and toys distributed in the West Rashid area of Baghdad.

• There is also help from the neighbor:
  

  Syria has been supplying Iraq with water since mid-June in a show of solidarity with the Iraqi people "who are passing through very delicate circumstances", the state-run al-Thawra newspaper reported Tuesday, quoting Syrian Irrigation Minister Nader al-Buni. Al-Buni told al-Thawra that Syria has supplied Iraq with 670 million cubic metres of water per second from the Euphrates River over the past two weeks, adding that the supply will continue for the next three months.

THE COALITION TROOPS:

• The troops continue to collaborate with local authorities to improve the conditions of local residents:
  

  In the midst of rebuilding a nation, local leaders here also want to rebuild their image with their citizens and their potential voters.

  Much like U.S. military leaders and supporters of the coalition forces here, Iraqi governors want their residents to read about more than suicide car bombings and watch news coverage that includes more than insurgent terror.

  They want them to know they are working to stem the violence while fixing leaking sewer systems, collecting trash and figuring out ways to get more electrical power into cities throughout north-central Iraq.

  “We know that terrorism targets everybody,” the governor of Kirkuk province, Abdel Rahman Mostafa, said at a press conference in Baqubah, in neighboring Diyala province. “It concerns a lot of people.”

  The governors from Kirkuk, Diyala, Salah Ad Din and Sulimaniyah gathered Saturday for a bi-monthly meeting with U.S. generals whose troops patrol the same provinces. The governors condemned the violence and said they are working together to come up with strategies to beat the insurgents. But they also said they are working hard to collaborate on improvement projects, such as sewage, utility and school renovations.

• As the report notes, "in Diyala alone, $207 million has been earmarked for 260 improvement projects ranging from building a hydroelectric dam to buying medical equipment for hospitals to repaving roads, according to Capt. Myers Smith, a project coordinator for the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, which is working with the New York guard in Iraq. A map in Smith’s office shows the hundreds of ongoing projects. Right now, the process of prioritizing, writing specifications, bidding and approving projects is a joint effort by the Americans and the Iraqis, Smith said."
  

• The troops around Balad are trying to make a difference in every small way they can, while at the same time preparing the local authorities to take over more responsibilities:
  

  Soldiers from Task Force Liberty are working to improve the way of life for Iraqis while also teaching them to develop reconstruction projects on their own.

  Task Force 1-128 is helping local villages to facilitate projects that will aid them in getting clean drinking water, renovating their schools, improving their agriculture and receiving supplies for their medical clinics.

  Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, Wisconsin Army National Guard and Troop K, 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, Tennessee Army National Guard, make up TF 1-128 and are actively working to train and prepare the local Iraqi security forces and government officials to take control of everyday operations in Iraq...

  [Capt. Paul] Shannon said his Soldiers are not conducting large reconstruction projects; they are just trying to improve the villages a little bit at a time.

  "It is not much," he said. "I am not building entire schools at this point. I am just fixing roofs that leak, providing fresh water tanks for the children, small things of that nature."

  The Soldiers have been helping improve a water treatment plant, the roofs of a school and local clinic, but soon they will be turning these types of missions over to the city council and local security forces, Shannon said.

• The troops are also engaged in an ambitious program of health infrastructure construction:
  

  With its infant mortality rate for children under 5 a staggering 14.2 percent and 12.8 percent for children under 12 months old, Iraq needs much more than a temporary solution to its crippling dilemma.

  According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, these figures have risen sharply since 1991. Now, with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District (GRS) and the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), 150 new primary health care facilities, of three different types, are being built, with 60 scheduled to be constructed in the southern Iraq, according to Juan Vargas, PCO health program manager.

  “This project was coordinated at the Ministry of Health in Baghdad,” said Vargas. “Project sites were based on demographics and needs. The ministry decided which type of clinic they wanted at each location.”

  The $80 million program for the 60 southern clinics does not include administrative costs, according to Dr. Shah Alam, GRS program manager. The figure does include program and medical equipment costs.

  “The nice thing about it is there is a real need for the clinic program and it feels good to know that something good is coming to the people.”

  He said that each clinic would cost about $800 thousand to build, and another $500 thousand in medical equipment costs, bringing the total package for each clinic to $1.4 to $1.5 million.

• Again around Balad, troops are working to improve the quality of drinking water for the locals:
  

  Turning on the kitchen sink to get a glass of clean water is not an option for Iraqis here, but Task Force Liberty soldiers are helping to change that by bringing fresh water close to their front doors.

  The area has palm trees, green grass, fresh crops and a variety of water sources to include canals, lakes and streams, but the villagers still don’t have fresh drinking water. That is why the soldiers from Task Force 1-128 are installing water treatment facilities to turn these non-purified water sources into drinkable water...

  [U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jean] Briggs said they began the project by purchasing four water purification systems for the area and have been working with local Iraqis to run water lines to their homes.

  “Task force commanders have been paying locals to lay down pipe from the water tanks and run it along the roads,” Briggs said. “We install spigots in front of each house.”

  Providing clean water for the Iraqis is important Briggs said, but they hope someday the Iraqis will get purified running water in their homes.

  “It is the best we can do right now,” he said. “It is a quick fix until we get to a point in this whole operation where we can install plumbing directly into the homes, but for them, it is a big step just to have it at the front door.”

• Water is also on the mind around Yusifiyah:
  

  The Tigris River is the lifeblood of the Arab J'Bour village and other rural farming communities in Yusufiyah , Iraq . With that in mind, 48th Brigade Combat Team civil affairs Soldiers paid a visit to the Yusufiyah water pumping Station on July 4 to follow up on the progress of military engineering efforts there.

  Thousands of families rely on the water supplied by the pumping station. A predominantly farming region, the need for water factors greatly into the community's ability to flourish.

  Servicing a vital irrigation reservoir, the pumping station feeds from the only abundant water source, the Tigris River . Maintaining functionality of the pumping station has been challenging...

  Initial surveys indicate 12 pumps are needed to supply the region, but current power availability levels only allow eight to operate. The plant has its own generators, but they are old and require constant repairs. Wiring problems are also an issue. A new generator was recently delivered to the site and the 48th BCT has arranged for two more to be delivered by mid-July. This will benefit farming efforts enormously.

• As local apricot farmer Hamid says: "I thank you for everything... My dream is to one day visit your country and repay you for all of your kindness, God willing."
  


• In Babil province, soldiers from Task Force 2-11 are helping the locals with a variety of projects to improve local areas:
  

  Six Iraqi flags stand in a room where U.S. Army Lt. Andrew Browne meets with Hadi Bardi Khadum, an Iraqi contractor. For 45 minutes, Lt. Browne and Khadum discuss a project to clean irrigation canals in the North Babil province.

  North Babil is a predominantly agricultural province located 30 miles south of Baghdad. Due to a buildup of sediment, vegetation, and pollution, many of North Babil's canals are unsuitable for irrigation.

  Browne and Khadum plan to clean nine kilometers of the canals within ten days. Within 30 days, the projects Browne has assisted with will have cleaned over seven times that amount.

  Over the course of the conversation, the two men look over a map of North Babil, they review a contract, and they discuss long-term effects of the project for the people of the province. With the assistance of an Iraqi translator, Browne and Khadum agree to a start date.

  The meeting marks business as usual for Browne, who serves as Task Force 2-11 Armored Cavalry Regiment's Civil Military Operations (CMO) officer.

  The CMO officer ensures projects in Task Force 2-11's area of operations are properly funded. Project funding is supported in-theater as a part of the Commander's Emergency Response Program.

• Humanitarian missions continue, like this one:
  

  On June 24, 2005, soldiers from Headquarters, Charlie Battery and Headquarters Colt Team of the 2nd Battalion 114th Field Artillery, headquartered in Starkville, Miss., commanded by Lt. Col. Gary Huffman, in cooperation with the Iraqi Army, conducted a Medical/Humanitarian Assistance Mission at the Al Talia School near Forward Operating Base Lima in Karbala. Their mission, designed to provide basic medical and humanitarian assistance to the local population, resulted in the screening, treatment, and referral of approximately 250 people by a medical team that included doctors, nurses, and medics from Iraq and the United States in Karbala. Soldiers distributed 300 bags filled with food, water, and other supplies useful to a family household. During the operation the soldiers cooperated with the Iraqi Army in providing security and quick reaction forces. Prior to the mission they assisted with key planning and coordination that resulted in successful support for the Coalition and Iraqi Army Personnel involved in the effort.

• Sometimes humanitarian missions combine health support with other humanitarian elements:
  

  Soldiers from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry; C Company, 199th Forward Support Battalion; and 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery, all of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division held a medical clinic and distributed supplies at a school in the Hateen area of Baghdad July 5.

  Maj. Kathy Champion, from Olympia, Wash., commander of A Co., 448th Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to 256th BCT, is also a physician.

  "As long as I’m helping the Iraqi people I’m doing my job, whether I’m serving as a doctor, or as a civil affairs officer," she said...

  The event was coordinated by leadership of A Co. 3-156th, and 1st Lt. Jeremy Falanga from Baton Rouge, La., executive officer for the company, said the collaboration of many elements, beginning with the Iraqi population, is what made the day a success.

  "We set everything up through the local officials, and they spread the word to the community that we were going to provide medicine and health care today," he said.

  He added that another group of Soldiers gave the citizens something to go home with.

  "We also had the 1-141st doing Kids for Kids, passing out school supplies, school bags, and toys," said Falanga.

  Kids for Kids is a program started in February 2005 by Soldiers from 1-141st FA. It began as a tasking from their higher command which they developed into the website, www.childrenofbaghdad.com, asking for clothing, toiletries, and everyday necessities for Iraqi children. The site resulted in thousands of donations from the United States over the past several months, and it will soon expand even more.

• This Indiana serviceman is on a mission to help Iraqi children:
  

  The children had no shoes.

  They were running and playing in glass, trash and even sewage, hoping the soldiers in the convoy would toss them a treat.

  The sight of their small, bare feet deeply affected U.S. Army Capt. Doug Hedrick, Indianapolis, who was riding from Baqouba to Baghdad in Iraq.

  "I sat in silence feeling overwhelmed with how many different ways these children need help," Hedrick said in an e-mail to fellow members of Grace Community Church in Noblesville.

  Then it hit him -- what he calls God's intention for his tour of duty. Hedrick, 36, knew he wanted to take part in a humanitarian project. And there it was, as plain as -- shoes. He was going to help supply new shoes for Iraq's kids.

  The soldier is a chaplain with a medic team. "Live a Life Worth Living!" is his motto on his e-mails.

  Too often, the worthy life and attendant acts of kindness in Iraq are eclipsed by suicide bombers and other horrors. Too often we get only the stories and images that leave us discouraged or terrified.

  Not today.

  Hedrick's project is "Noah's Shoes." He is fascinated with the biblical story of Noah -- a time when "God decided to give the human race a future hope." The people of Iraq, he said, are in that same place, in a season of new beginnings.

• Soldiers continue supporting Iraqi education system. In a southern province, the Army engineers have completed a school reconstruction program:
  

  Headmasters at three mud schools took charge of their new brick and concrete replacement schools as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Southern District signed the schools over to the education minister in the Babil Province after local laborers completed the three projects May 15.

  All three mud school replacement schools boast 12 classrooms instead of the usual six, according to Valerie Schaffner, Buildings, Health and Education project manager for the mud school replacement projects. The usual six-classroom design was geared to smaller rural areas, servicing about 100 students, and the schools in Babil - Yaum Al Huria; Al Masoodi and Al Ma’rij - serve 275, 370 and 590 students respectively.

  “The cost was about $160,000 per school,” said Schaffner. “That includes storage space, student and teachers’ bathrooms, electricity for fans, a partially paved playground area and a security fence around the school.”

  She added that, because of security risks in the area, no opening day ceremonies were be held. These schools will be getting some new furniture for the teachers and the headmasters’ offices.

  Schaffner said that originally, 38 schools mud schools were to be replaced throughout southern Iraq, but that the number has increased to 40.

  “We saved enough in negotiations to build two more, which we are now writing contracts for but are not yet advertised,” said Schaffner. “The $4 million program, funded by the Iraq Restoration and Reconstruction Funds, now is paying for 40 new schools, 36 of which are the standard six-classroom design and four – these three in Babil and one more in the Karbala Province – are of the larger, 12-classroom design.”

• Meanwhile, Utah National Guardsmen are trying to help Iraqi schoolchildren and in the process win some young hearts and minds:
  

  The children run along the edge of the road as the trucks rumble by. Hands outstretched, hoping for candy and small toys, they bend their fingers into awkward "thumbs up," "OK" and "V for victory" signs.

  Many of Iraq's adults may long ago have grown tired of seeing American troops on their streets, but soldiers in the area of Najaf, about 80 miles south of Baghdad, say the country's children are different.

  "Amerikee," the children yell, again and again, whenever they see passing GIs...

  "They seem to love the Americans and we need to work with that," said Jolleen Larson, whose husband is a member of the 115th Maintenance Company of the Utah National Guard. "We want them to have more experiences of seeing Americans really trying to help them."

  To that end, Larson and other Utah Guard family members have begun to collect supplies for two Najaf-area schools adopted by American soldiers, including many from the 115th.

  The schools are small and simple. Built by the British in the 1930s, one was crumbling when the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit came upon it last year. The unit built a new building and furnished it with new desks and blackboards. In their off hours, soldiers like Rusty Larson are now building school furniture - desks for teachers, bookcases and other items specifically requested by the headmaster.

• In other similar recent action: "U.S. soldiers from Task Force 1-128 and the Iraqi army took a day off from their normal security patrols June 28 and handed out school supplies, clothes and shoes in a few small villages during a combat patrol. The soldiers distributed more than 60 boxes of goods containing more than 100 pairs of shoes, assorted clothes and hundreds of pounds of school supplies such as pens, pencils, notebooks and paper to children and families in the villages of Albouhaswa, Ahmed Hajam and Jaafaral Jalaby."
  


• The troops also try to supplement the work of the over-stretched and under-resourced Iraqi health system:
  

  As the story goes, a good Samaritan helped an injured stranger along a well-traveled road in the Middle East more than 2,000 years ago.

  Today, hundreds of miles farther east, reservists of the 433rd Medical Squadron are working with about 140 Airmen of the 59th Medical Wing at Wilford Hall Medical Center here, Army medics and Australians to help those who need medical care -- friends and strangers alike.

  "We see everybody, Iraqi army, coalition soldiers and bad guys," said Col. (Dr.) Russ Turner, the 59th Aeromedical Dental Group commander deployed as commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad Air Base, Iraq. "We don't turn anybody away, because there is nowhere to go."

• And in public health, the troops are also introducing programs to keep the streets cleaner:
  

  Along with human waste and other sewage, solid waste has inundated Baghdad’s streets for decades, contributing to sewer backups, disease, and a tainted water supply.

  With the establishment of all-Iraqi contracted neighborhood dumpsters, trash collection and removal teams, and trash transfer points, the practice of littering the streets is slowly starting to change.

  "We are working with the Iraqi communities to train them on proper trash removal plans," said Lt Col. Jamie Gayton, commander of 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

  Trash removal was the focal point of essential service support for 1st Cavalry Division when they arrived in Baghdad in 2003, and has continued to be a priority for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team since early this year, Gayton said.

• USAID provides grants for cleaning projects. As the report notes, "currently, there are 96 surface cleaning projects ongoing in the 2nd BCT area of operations, employing 6,800 Iraqis. In the second week of June, 946,000 pounds of trash were collected in east Baghdad – 418,000 pounds more than were collected six weeks ago."
  


• The troops are also training Iraqi fire-fighters:
  

  Actions speak louder than words - particularly in Iraq. Such is absolutely the case, every morning, when Baghdad Fire Chief, Laith Abbas, gets out of bed and heads to work.

  Each day, he faces the reality that there is a significant “price on his head” by those who would destroy efforts to build a democracy in Iraq. However, for the good of the country, there are those - like this intense, wiry professional - who strive each day, one difficult step at a time, to build their part of what they hope will soon become an active, viable democracy...

  Recently, he took a moment from his hectic schedule to view fire fighting training by the teams from seven of Baghdad’s fire stations, representing slightly less than 10% of Baghdad’s total firefighter force. On this sweltering 120 degree afternoon, these activities were being conducted by Staff Sgt. Michael DiDonato, of the 443rd Civil Affairs Battalion in the Government Support Team, of the 3rd Infantry Division. Chief Abbas paused briefly from his “active observation” to note that “before the war, we had only empty fire trucks that did not work and no equipment.” And training in those days? “None,” conveys his rueful expression.

  But such is no longer the case. “Sgt. D,” as the Iraqis he teaches fondly call him, cites that over the last nine months nearly 500 of Baghdad’s fire fighters have undergone various aspects of training. Some of the training that he has overseen includes first aid, drivers training, engine driven water pumping, drafting from a water source, advancing a hose line into a blaze, application of fire foam and thermo imaging camera work.

• It's not just the American troops. Here's the latest Italian contribution:
  

  An inauguration ceremony has been held to open a bridge built by the Italian contingent in the Dhi Qar governorate in the south of Iraq where the force is based. The iron bridge - which is around 60 metres long and four and a half metres high - crosses a stretch of public water known as 'Saddam's river'.

  Ahmad al-Shaykh, the vice governor of Dhi Qar, told Adnkronos International (AKI) at the inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by the commander of the Italian force in Iraq, that "the bridge, built in a remote agricultural area, responds to the needs of farmers, by making it easier for them to sell their produce."

  "This project is part of a series of civil initiatives the Italian forces have offered the city in all sectors," he explained. The Italian troops also defused two bombs that had been planted close to where the inauguration ceremony was being held.

  The Italian contingent in Iraq has also offered to pay for a green belt of trees which will be planted around the new Dhi Qar University, which is to be built in the western part of Nassiriya. The rector of the university, Riyad Shantah, told AKI: "the green belt will be ten kilometres long and will surround the university buildings to protect them from the dust of the city, which is a particular problem during the summer." He went on to add: "next year the university has decided to open a department for the teaching of the Italian language in the arts faculty and another faculty in the Jabaysh area in the lake district, which will be completely funded and equipped by Italy."

• Lastly, not forgetting that the Iraqis themselves contribute in various ways to the Coalition effort, read the story of this Iraqi refugee who has now returned to his country and works as a translator for the American troops in Fallujah.

SECURITY:

• Despite the perception of spiralling violence, the official Iraqi count of civilian and security casualties indicates that violence has actually decreased in June. While the numbers are still high, "in June, data provided by the Iraqi ministries of defence, health and the interior showed that 430 people had died in attacks and 933 were wounded, a drop of more than one-third from May's death toll of 672 dead. The number of wounded was down by 20%."
  


• There is also some cautious optimism from military commanders in Iraq:
  

  U.S. and Iraqi forces have "mostly eliminated" the ability of insurgents to conduct sustained, high-intensity attacks in Baghdad, the top U.S. commander in the Iraqi capital said Friday.

  Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr. said in a video-teleconference interview from Baghdad with reporters at the Pentagon that offensive operations by U.S. and Iraqi troops in recent weeks had sharply reduced the number of insurgent bombings. But he cautioned against concluding that the insurgency has been broken.

  "It's very difficult to know it's over," Webster said.

  There were 14 to 21 car bombings per week in Baghdad before the May 22 start of the U.S. portion of the latest offensive, dubbed Operation Lightning, he said. That has dropped to about seven or eight a week now, Webster said, attributing the improvement to the disruption of insurgent cells and the availability of more and better intelligence.

• There are also indications that terrorists are starting to lose the propaganda war in the Arab media. While the US is still being blamed for the violence, Iraq's suicide bombers are getting increasingly bad press:
  

  Al Jazeera - often accused by the Americans of stirring anti-US feeling - has adopted less of an "Us and Them" approach.

  The militants are no longer referred to as the "resistance" but as gunmen or suicide bombers.

  Eyewitnesses are shown denouncing them as "terrorists" - condemnations that are echoed by a parade of Iraqi officials and religious authorities.

  One recent attack drew this comment from the al-Jazeera reporter: "Most of the time it's civilians who pay the price for the violence that has cost thousands of their lives".

  Al-Jazeera's main rival, the Dubai-based al-Arabiya, has also shown little sympathy for the bombers - a recent report, instead, painted a favourable picture of British soldiers patrolling Basra...

  In Iraq itself, two of the most widely available channels, al-Iraqiya and al-Sharqiya, have consistently portrayed the suicide bombers as trying to destroy the country rather than liberate it...

  Iraqi papers have also increasingly expressed anguish and anger over the civilian toll, with one paper, al-Bayan, recently commenting that " terrorism had exceeded all moral limits".

  Another Iraqi paper, al-Dustur, has called on Iraqis to wake up to the fact that they are the targets of terrorism and to unite to fight back against it.

  In the wider Arab world, several newspapers have condemned the killings in Iraq - for example, the Saudi al-Jazeera - unconnected to the television channel - said that they were a "black mark on the whole Islamic world".

• There are reports of conflict between Iraqis and Al Qaeda fighters - the so-called "red on red" fighting:
  

  American troops on the Syrian border are enjoying a battle they have long waited to see - a clash between foreign al-Qa'eda fighters and Iraqi insurgents.

  Tribal leaders in Husaybah are attacking followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist who established the town as an entry point for al-Qa'eda jihadists being smuggled into the country.

  The reason, the US military believes, is frustration at the heavy-handed approach of the foreigners, who have kidnapped and assassinated local leaders and imposed a strict Islamic code.

• There are also reports that approaches by people connected with the insurgency to American authorities have doubled since the January election.
  


• Meanwhile up north, "for the first time, hundreds of Qayara citizens of Mosul have demonstrated to protest the insurgency. More than 1,500 civilians and military personnel from different villages south of Mosul gathered in Qayara city to denounce the insurgency that is overwhelming Iraq. The demonstration comes at the initiative of clerics, Imams, and government officials who feel the necessity to announce their stance against terrorism. They want to prove that most Iraqis oppose terrorism, which will be defeated by the will of Iraqis."
  


• Staff Sergeant Geoff Wagner is part of the 155th Armored Brigade of the Mississippi Army National Guard also sees positive trends:
  

  He says thanks to the combined efforts of the American troops and Iraqi military and law enforcement personnel, the number of car bombings and other incidents involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are decreasing, and the terrorists are having a hard time finding recruits.

  "Over the last two months," Wagner notes, "I can count probably ten terrorists who have blown themselves up trying to set IEDs. They're just not trained, and they're taking quick money, and there are just not enough people to actually perform the job."

  Although the terrorist insurgents have been very active in the area where the 155th is deployed, Wagner says because of the activity of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi police as well as the U.S. soldiers, much of that movement has dissipated since the U.S. troops got there. "Actually, we were taking anywhere from 15 to 20 bombing attacks in a week's time," he notes, "and now it's less than five. So the terrorists are moving out of our area, and they're having a lot of difficulty recruiting."

• You can also visit this safest town in Iraq:
  

  The raging violence and mounting insurgent activities in Baghdad and many other areas make it hard to believe that there is a violence-free spot in Iraq. But thank God there is at least one place with low crime incidence and almost no bombs.

  That place is the city of Kut, 100 kilometers south of Baghdad and home to about 500,000 people.

  In this city the nascent police forces have almost full authority. It is the place where the rule of law and not the gun prevails.

  “We have a high degree of cooperation between the security forces and the citizens,” declared Latif al-Tarfa, the governor of the Province of Wasit of which Kut is the capital.

  “I do not say there are no attempts to sow sedition and incite violence in the province but with the help of our residents we have managed to foil all of them,” he added.

  “We are proud of our social coexistence which we have enjoyed for decades and would not let that be undermined,” he said.

• In Baghdad, paradoxes of security situation:
  

  During a week when insurgents killed at least 15 U.S. soldiers across Iraq, four American soldiers on a foot patrol through the middle-class Karada district of the capital felt secure enough to stop at a kebab stand for shawarma sandwiches, greasy slices of chicken wrapped in pita bread.

  "I'm encouraging soldiers to perform more dismounted patrols and to have more face-to-face interactions with Iraqis," said U.S. Army Col. Edward Cardon, commander of a 3rd Infantry Division brigade that covers much of Baghdad. College student Degha Abdul Hamid drove a girlfriend to the lively Zayona commercial strip to shop for shoes and handbags, a previously unheard-of foray for the two single women since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq more than two years ago.

  "It's better now, much better," Hamid, 28, said. "I feel safer and I stay out later."

  Life these days in Baghdad is paradoxical.

  On one hand, the level of bloodshed caused by the insurgency continues to increase. At the same time, with Iraqi police and soldiers maintaining an increased presence on the streets, controlling traffic and fighting everyday crime, many residents say they feel secure enough to attempt to lead more normal lives.

• Read the rest of the article; there's plenty interesting anecdotal evidence there.

• Speaking of Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers from the 6th Battalion of the 5th Division have now officially taken over from the American forces the control over security in the so-called "Green Zone", which houses most of the government and administration buildings.
  


• And in Mosul, Army Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, commander of the Multinational Force Northwest, reports that the Iraqi troops are also making progress, with more troops coming onboard from training every month and insurgent attacks decreasing slightly. Meanwhile, "on June 1, in the first move of its kind, coalition forces officially transferred full responsibility for security at a base in Dibbis to the Iraqi army."
  


• Training of Iraqi security forces continues. NATO is finally coming onboard to help with this task:
  

  The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has announced the opening of a new training centre in the capital, Baghdad, for Iraqi security forces…

  "We have reached a consensus that it will be a better way to serve the Iraqi forces with a better equipped and specialised centre inside the country," NATO spokesman Robert Pszczel said from the Belgian capital, Brussels.

  The centre will be located in the Rustmiyah district, southeast of the capital. NATO advisers will be offering training and education on human rights law to Iraqi officer

  "We expect that the centre will be fully equipped and ready for work at the end of September and as soon as it starts, it will be training more than 1,000 Iraqi officers annually," Pszczel added…

  Sami added that more than 4,000 officers had already been trained by NATO in Iraq or in courses conducted outside the country.

• Read this three part series about the long and arduous task of building Iraqi security forces from scratch, including the construction of physical infrastructure:
  

  Sonny Sebastian is running ahead of schedule, and he wants to keep it that way.

  Sporting an orange hardhat, the 50-year-old Texan ambles from one building to the next to check the progress on the construction of a $16 million academy for the Iraqi Border Police. He talks with a foreman, points here and points there, and then moves on to another supervisor.

  Originally scheduled for completion in August, the academy may open next month. Located in Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, the 22-building academy will include barracks, a dining hall, classrooms and an armory.

  “The key to building in Iraq,” said Sebastian, a project manager for ECC International, a civilian contractor, “is to let them work the way they know how to work, with an emphasis on quality.”

  There are hundreds of other major projects for Iraqi security forces that are either completed, in progress or on the drawing board. Of the $5.2 billion already allocated to Iraqi security forces, $1.7 billion has gone toward constructing or improving facilities, said Lt. Col. David Youngberg, an Army comptroller based in Baghdad.

• At Forward Operating Base O'Ryan near Balad, "Coalition soldiers are working around the clock to make sure their Iraqi counterparts are ready and capable of protecting Iraq and its citizens":
  

  U.S. soldiers from 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry are helping the country’s soldiers transition into overseeing the missions being conducted in their area of operations.

  At the Iraqi army training facility here the soldiers are taught how to set up traffic control points, identify improvised explosive devices and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, conduct personnel searches, distinguish between insurgents and civilians and how to react to enemy contact.

  Task Force 1-128 soldiers from 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry Regiment, Wisconsin Army National Guard and Troop K, 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Calvary Regiment, Tennessee Army National Guard are conducting the training.

  The Iraqi army soldiers are doing well with their training said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. John Macullouch, an instructor with Troop K.

  “I don’t feel that they will have any problems taking over the area,” Macullouch said. “We have spent a lot of hours with these guys.”

• The latest to join in the force:
  

  The Iraqi Army activated its 5th Brigade, 6th Division during a ceremony at Muthana Airfield June 29.

  Iraqi soldiers in the eight-week long program received tactical and strategic training to allow them to defend their country against enemy threats...

  The brigade, made up of more than 2,500 Iraqi Soldiers, began training April 18 at Muthana Airfield. Soldiers from 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment worked with the fledgling Iraqi Soldiers.

• On the police front, most recently, "the Iraqi Police Service graduated 172 police officers from advanced and specialty courses at the Adnan Training Facility July 7... The courses consist of Basic Criminal Investigations with 66 graduates, Critical Incident Management with 30 graduates, First Line Supervision with 25 graduates, Violent Crime Investigation with 31 graduates, and Interview and Interrogation with 20 graduates."
  


• Under the new agreement between the US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales and Iraqi authorities, FBI and other American law enforcement agencies will help Iraqi police investigate high-level crimes such as murders and kidnappings, where the local police is lacking sufficient forensic expertise.
  


• There is also training of Iraqi officers:
  

  Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade graduated from the first organized Iraqi Army Leadership Training Course at Forward Operating Base Justice.

  “This is just another important step forward and another first for this outstanding Iraqi Brigade,” said Brig. Gen. John Basilica, Jr., commander of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “The development of a professional noncommissioned officer (NCO) corps is critical to the combat readiness of the unit.

  “This is the first of many courses that will be conducted to train the NCOs of the 1st Iraqi Army Brigade,” Basilica added. “What is especially important is the cadre duties were also shared by the Iraqis and thus their ownership of this program is established from the beginning.”

• Benefits of close interaction can go both ways: "An interesting experiment is going on in the northeast corner of this city. Members of the Iraqi Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are sharing living quarters on a small base. The intent of the experiment is to help the Iraqi soldiers learn more. But it has had an unanticipated side effect: Some marines are picking up new skills. Pfc. Mark Britton has learned Arabic."
  


• US Navy will be becoming more involved in the training effort in order to speed it up:
  

  U.S. Navy leaders are ready to pluck more sailors off ships and deploy them to Iraq to bolster U.S. efforts in training Iraqi forces, the chief of the U.S. Navy Reserve said Wednesday.

  “Are we going to take some sailors from the sea and put them ashore to answer this call?” Vice Adm. John Cotton said during an interview in Naples on Wednesday. “The answer to that is a resounding yes.”

  Last week, Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, urged Pentagon leaders to add Navy and Air Force members to ground elements in Iraq to speed up training of Iraqi security forces.

  “Our NATO partners have promised to lend their efforts to training Iraqi security forces,” Skelton said. “They must get more engaged and soon. We have embedded trainers in transition teams with the Iraqis. We must commit even more trainers to this effort.
  “If that means moving more Air Force and Navy personnel to Army billets to free them up for this mission, we need to do this,” Skelton said. “We need to accomplish this mission as quickly as possible because time is not on our side.”

  Cotton did not elaborate on when more sailors may be sent to Iraq, but he pointed out that the Navy Reserve already has added cargo handlers to ground missions in Kuwait. And reservists recently trained 450 customs inspectors who are operating in Kuwait and Iraq, Cotton said.

• Speaking of navy, the Sector Guardian exercises have recently tested the readiness of Iraqi Navy to protect oil installations. The exercises were part of qualifications for patrol boat officers. Iraqi coast guard is also playing an increasing role on Shatt Al Arab:
  

  The Shatt, as it is commonly called, is also the latest front in the Iraqi government's efforts to police the country's borders. The Iraqi coast guard has been newly reconstituted, with 400 men and 34 boats, most of them donated by the British government. The coast guard's most pressing mission is to fend off pirates and to clamp down on the smuggling of gasoline and scrap metal from Iraq; they also have more banal concerns, such as stemming the flow of Iranian pilgrims trying to cross into Iraq illegally by boat.

• Lastly, in an overview, you can read the reflections of Gen. Babakir Shawkat Zebari, chief of staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces, on how much the Iraqi forces have progressed over the course of the past year, and on a more personal note, the profile of one Iraqi soldier, Corporal Arkan Fawaz Mahmood, stationed outside Fallujah.
  


• Security infrastructure also continues to be built for the Iraqi security forces. The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence has recently announced the completion of construction of a new $770,000 recruiting center for Iraqi military, police and border patrol officers. "The recruiting center is located in northeast Iraq, near the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniyah. The station will support the U.S.-led Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq, which is working to train Iraqis as security forces." Overall, the Center "has awarded $175.9 million in task orders for work in rebuilding Iraq since January of this year. AFCEE has been working to rebuild security and justice facilities in Iraq as well as airports, water systems, military barracks, schools and municipal facilities. The U.S. Air Force and its contractors have made it a point to employ Iraqi workers, including engineers, architects and skilled laborers. Together, they employ between 3,000 and 4,000 Iraqis."
  


• The enormous task of equipping Iraqi army also continues - as this report says, "everything from computers to clean underwear":
  

  Capt. Julius Boyd is a supply officer for an impatient and under-equipped army.

  Boyd, 36, of War, W.Va., is tasked with handing out the uniforms, guns, computers, night-vision goggles, trucks and the dozens of other pieces the Iraqi army needs. He’s trying to outfit an entire brigade, more than 3,500 soldiers, with enough gear to fight their own war.

  “Come on! Come on! Come on!” he yelled Monday morning at a group of Iraqi soldiers who had come into Forward Operating Base Gabe for their daily pickup. “Move! Move! Move!”

  The Iraqis responded, though few spoke English. They’ve learned the routine.

  Almost daily, a group of Iraqi soldiers comes with three or four trucks to pick up supplies at Gabe. The soldiers are from the 2nd Brigade of the 5th Division of the Iraqi army, and they live on an adjacent Iraqi base.

  Each day, Boyd has his inventory list of serial numbers and quantities to track just how much is going next door. It’s a test to make sure the equipment — all paid for with U.S. money — goes to the right soldiers within the designated units, Boyd said. As a part of an advisory team helping the Iraqis train their army, Boyd tracks the shipments by paperwork, makes the Iraqi officers do the same, then compares the lists.

  Here’s a sampling of what Boyd has given out in the past 90 days: 4,430 uniforms, 2,016 helmets, 870 flak jackets, 123 handguns, 26,000 pairs of underwear, four copiers, three ambulances, 141 pairs of binoculars and 451 pairs of running shoes.

  “We’re dressing them from top to bottom,” he said.

  In all, $5.2 billion has been allotted for training and equipping Iraqi security forces.

• The United Arab Emirates are purchasing from Switzerland 180 surplus M113 armored personnel carriers and will be donating them to the Iraqi armed forces.
  


• In stories of increasing security cooperation from Iraqi civilians:
  


• "An Iraqi army unit captured five suspected terrorists June 28 after an Iraqi citizen told the soldiers about a terrorist safe house in northern Baghdad's Rabi district. The Iraqi soldiers found two rocket-propelled grenade launchers and two RPG rounds in addition to the five suspects." As Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, a Task Force Baghdad spokesman says: "The Iraqi people are tiring of the insurgency. Both hotline and in-person tips have increased greatly... A big reason for the increase in tips is because of the Iraqi soldiers taking the lead during raids and operations. The Iraqis will talk to their own soldiers much more readily than to coalition forces."
  


• Thanks to a tip from a local who led the soldiers to the location, the 116th Armor Regiment has secured the biggest weapons cache in the Kirkuk province on June 29. Says U.S. Army 1st Lt. John Thew, B Company, 3rd Battalion 116th Brigade Armor Regiment: "We have found in one day, what usually takes four months";
  


• In two separate incidents on June 29 and 30, Iraqi locals have helped the American troops find more than 4,000 pounds of high explosives located near Kirkuk Air Base;
  


• "An Iraqi citizen’s tip helped Task Force Baghdad Soldiers find and disarm a roadside bomb in east Baghdad before terrorists could use it. The civilian told the Soldier he’d seen a five-gallon gas can lying in the median of a major highway at 9:30 a.m. July 2... The team investigated, found a 122-millimeter mortar round wired to a radio, and safely detonated the bomb"; another tip on the same day led soldiers to a suspicious vehicle which turned out to be a car bomb;
  


• "On July 5, an Iraqi citizen told U.S. Task Force Baghdad soldiers he'd seen three men digging holes in the area of a subsequent roadside bomb attack against coalition forces. The man offered to lead the patrol to the attackers' houses and identify the men. Just before midnight, the soldiers searched two houses in the Risalah district of southern Baghdad and captured three men the Iraqi citizen identified as the men he had seen placing the bombs";
  


• On July 7, a local resident in east Baghdad informed the troops about a roadside bomb. A day later, in two separate incidents also in east Baghdad, Iraqi citizens having observed terrorists placing a roadside bomb tipped off Iraqi police, and provided information leading to an arrest of an illegal weapons dealer;
  


• A civilian walked to the gate on a US base in Baghdad on July 9, and informed and the led the personnel to four unexploded rounds;
  


• "Task Force Liberty soldiers detained 13 people suspected of making and emplacing improvised explosive devices during a pair of raids in north-central Iraq July 10 and 11. Nine people were detained near Tikrit after soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team received a tip from a civilian. Three of the people tested positive for contact with explosives, and the group was in possession of weapons, ammunition and IED-making materials".
  


• Many security successes don't make the news at all. Iraq the Model blog has performed an invaluable service of scouring the Iraqi media over a two-day period (25-26 June) to report these:
  

  - 1st regiment/2nd commandoes brigade arrested 43 suspects in Al-Doura district while the 2nd regiment/1st brigade arrested 2 terrorists in Shu'la district.

  - The interior ministry announced the beginning of operation lightning-1 in Babil province which is going to be a joint effort between the Army and the local police forces. The 1st wave of raids resulted in arresting 43 suspects and confiscating 10 vehicles used in terror attacks against Iraqi civilians and security forces.

  - A force from the Iraqi army backed by Polish troops raided terrorists hides in the areas of Jibla and Rashad in the same province and arrested 8 terrorists and confiscated their Ak-47's.

  - Police forces in Kerbala arrested 20 terrorists and confiscated 6 suspicious vehicles and disarmed 2 vehicle-born bombs.

  - In Zangora area near Ramadi, Iraqi and American troops arrested a terror cell leader named 'Jbair Grayen Al-Jiblawi who's one of Zarqawi's aides in Anbar province.

  - In the north, 3 members of the Ansar Al-Sunna army were captured in Mosul; one of the 3 terrorists carried a Saudi ID.

  - In Tikrit, multinational forces arrested 3 roadside bombs-makers and in Kirkuk 10 suspects were arrested. The men are supposed to be responsible for some missile attacks in the city. Explosives' ingredients and blast capsules were found during the search of the arrest scene.

  - In Abu Ghraib, Al-Muthana brigade arrested 19 terrorists and found amounts of weapons and detonation devices as well as vehicles that were prepared for performing terror attacks.

  - In Al-Kasra neighborhood in Baghdad, IP men and American explosives experts failed an attack with a car bomb that was parked in the heavily crowded main commercial street in the district. A shop keeper was suspicious of a car that was left in front of his shop, the driver claimed that the car broke and that he's going to find a mechanic but the shop keeper didn't believe the story and called the police and it was found later that the car contained a large bomb that was a mix of artillery shells, TNT rods and gas containers. By 1 am, the area was evacuated and people were told to keep a distance from the car. The explosives experts detonated the car in its place as it was impossible to move it away. No casualties happened but there was some inevitable material loss in adjacent shops.

  - In Tal-afar near Mosul, Iraqi and American troops killed 15 terrorists in clashes that took place yesterday.

  - Police patrols in Dibis town arrested two terrorists while they were trying to plant a roadside bomb on the main street in the town.

  - One of the most important successes was arresting one of Izzat Al-Douri's relatives along with 3 of his bodyguards.

  - Iraqi TV announced Khalid Sulaiman Darwis (aka Abu Al-Ghadia Al-Soori) was killed during a raid as part of Operation Spear in Anbar province.

• In other security successes:
  


• "On June 17, Multi-National Forces in the Baghdad area conducted operations to capture a reported bomber who worked for the Zarqawi, Al-Qaida terrorist network in Iraq. Though the individual in question fled prior to the forces raiding the home, they did seize a substantial weapons cache. Weapons and extremist items found at the home included: two S5K launchers; two S5K modified rounds; five rocket propelled grenades and seven RPG launchers; five PG-7 rounds; four PG-7m rounds; 16 PG-7 propellant charges; 11 AK-47s; more than 50 ammunition magazines; 5,000 rounds of AK-47 ammunition; three RPK machine guns and 5,500 rounds of RPK ammunition; six RGD-5 grenades, and nine AK magazine vests. Most of the weapons were found packed into four large bags. Twelve terrorist 'masks' and various extremist materials were also found at the home. Additionally, Multi-National Forces found a variety of bomb making materials and explosives in the home";
  


• The death in an airstrike outside Qaim of Abdullah al-Rashud, one of the only three out of Saudi Arabia's top 26 most wanted terrorists still at large;
  


• Iraqi and Coalition Forces captured 16 terror suspects, seized weapons and foiled bomb attacks against a police station and four other targets in and around Baghdad June Tuesday [21 June]. In northern Iraq. Task Force Freedom troops killed one terrorist and injured another after the two detonated an explosive device that struck a Coalition convoy. Iraqi and Coalition forces also detained five suspects and seized a weapons cache near Mosul;
  


• The capture on June 21 of Muhsin Abu Sayf, a doctor and interprter attached to an Al Qaeda kidnap cell;
  


• The shootout on June 22 in Baghdad's al-Jamaa neighborhood, which left dead five suspected members of Al Qaeda "apparently waiting to carry out suicide bomb attacks";
  


• On 23 June, the total of 91 terrorists and insurgents were arrested throughout the country, including "4 wanted terrorists were captured in Tikrit and other 18 suspects in the north western sector... two IEDs makers were arrested also as well as 7 men suspected of being responsible for assassinating a member of Baghdad's city council.
  In Mosul, two significant arrests were made when the security forces captured 2 of [previously captured Al Qaeda leader] Abu Talha's senior aides namely Abu Sarhan and Abu Nabhan who surrendered without any resistance... In Baghdad, 28 suspects were captured by Iraqi soldiers with support from American troops. In Baquba, 2 terrorists attempting to perform an attack with a vehicle loaded with explosives were arrested at an Iraqi army checkpoint south of the city. In Adhamiya, A'amil, Saydiya and Yarmouk neighborhoods in Baghdad, 20 terrorists and suspects were arrested during raids carried out by special forces teams of the interior ministry. In Al-Risala district south of Baghdad, a tip came from an Iraqi civilian lead to the arrest of 8 suspects who fled a spot from which the interior ministry complex was attacked. This arrest was done by task force Baghdad";
  


• A concerted assault against a police station in Bagdad, involving 100 insurgents, beaten back by the Iraqi police on June 24, with 10 insurgents killed and 40 captured. "By 6.30am a police machine-gunner on the roof at Baya'a helped turn the tide, firing volleys which forced attackers to take cover and enabled his comrades to take better positions. Residents of the mixed Shia and Sunni neighbourhood made at least 55 phone calls informing the police of insurgent movements. Some fired on the attackers";
  


• Six suspected members of a rocket cell arrested by Iraqi police in Kirku on June 25;
  


• The arrest outside of Mosul on June 26 of Hilal Hussein al-Badrani, the Saudi-born leader of the major Al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna;
  


• The arrest on 27 June of one of the senior Al Qaeda figures, Sami Ammar Hamid Mahmud, also known as Abu Aqil, thought to be responsible for kidnapping foreigners and Iraqis;
  


• On June 28, soldiers in Baghdad followed 200 meters of a detonation cord from the site of an explosion to a nearby house and arrested seven men inside who were acting suspiciously. On the same day, near another blast site, another man was caught with $1,000 in sequential bills;
  


• "Iraqi security forces detained eight suspected terrorists June 29 in eastern Baghdad during combined operations... Seven of the suspects were found with material used for the production and emplacement of roadside bombs. One had false Palestinian documents";
  


• "Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured nine terror suspects, seized a weapons cache and disabled terrorist bombs before they could be set off during operations in and around Baghdad June 29";
  


• "Task Force Liberty soldiers found and destroyed eight different caches in Kirkuk province June 29 and 30. Several hundred artillery and mortar rounds of various sizes were destroyed in the operation. Unexploded ordnance was found at several different locations around Kirkuk, including 162 130 mm rounds, 141 122 mm rounds, 100 152 mm rounds, 91 120 mm rounds and 26 82 mm rounds";
  


• In the last few days of June, "US-led forces detained more than a dozen suspected militants in a counterinsurgency sweep through the western Anbar province as part of a sustained effort to disrupt the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq... The raids have also netted several hundred mortar and artillery rounds along with explosives, rifles and two roadside bombs"; overall, 45 suspects were arrested (including foreigners) and thousands of pounds of explosives seized;
  


• "Multinational forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), detained 12 suspected terrorists and seized weapons in Mosul, Iraq, June 30"; nine more suspects captured over the next two days;
  


• The lockdown in late June of Buhriz, a town of 57,000, northwest of Baghdad, to ferret out the insurgents; more than two dozen suspects were detained and enough explosives confiscated to construct 160 car bombs;
  


• "Iraqi Security Forces captured seven terror suspects June 30, all of whom are thought to be involved in plotting or carrying out attacks against Iraqi Police stations in central and south Baghdad";
  


• "Iraqi Security Forces from the 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Division and Coalition forces from the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, uncovered seven weapons caches, a car-bomb factory and a roadside bomb making factory late afternoon on June 30 in the Industrial area, northeast of the Saddam Mosque during a patrol to disrupt terrorist activity... The Iraqi Soldiers discovered the car-bomb factory with a vehicle rigged with explosives at an automotive repair shop in Ramadi. A bomb-making factory was located at a second location with 45 fully prepared roadside bombs inside";
  


• On 1 July, American troops operating outside the town in Hit in western Anbar province defused 9 roadside bombs and arrested 10 suspects; "Some Marines took some time out to e-mail family and friends from an Internet room at the school where the trigger wires for the roadside bombs were found";
  
  Three weapons caches discovered by Task Force Baghdad soldiers on an island along the Tigris River near the city's Al Rashid district on July 1; another two caches uncovered the same day in Al Rashid itself and in Abu Ghraib;
  


• On 2 July, "soldiers of 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry, 155th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), caught and detained three people suspected of emplacing improvised explosive devices northeast of Musayyib today. A patrol spotted a cordless phone with wires protruding from it in a hole in the road, military officials said. Explosive ordnance disposal team members discovered two 130 mm artillery rounds wired to a long-range cordless phone. The soldiers saw three people lying in a field nearby and detained them for questioning";
  


• The capture on 2 July of one of Al Zarqawi's top aides, Abdul Hamid Mustafa al-Douri, the head of Al Qaeda in Salahudin province; "Douri, a relative to Saddam Hussein's top aide Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and a former engineer in Tikrit municipality, was suspected to be behind several car bombings on the Iraqi police and army";
  


• "Iraqi Soldiers from Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade foiled a terrorist car bomb attack while patrolling in the Ameriyah district of west Baghdad at around 6:00 p.m. July 3"; on the same day, Iraqi police successfully fought off an attack on a police station, capturing a quantity of weapons and munitions in the process;
  


• Forty suspects detained in a joint raid by Task Force Baghdad and Iraqi Army soldiers on July 3 in a area south of Yusufiyah;
  


• "U.S. and Iraqi troops swept through a western Baghdad neighborhood on Monday, arresting about 100 suspected insurgents in a fresh crackdown near the city's airport" over the Fourth of July weekend;
  


• "Task Force Baghdad Soldiers detained a suspected terrorist caught red-handed trying to detonate a roadside bomb, and captured two terror suspects trying to avoid a traffic control point in early morning operations July 4";
  


• On July 4, a weapons cache was seized by the US troops in a house west of Risalah; stupidly for the insurgents, the find was a result of a random knock-and-search operation and the house in question attracted attention because of the anti-Coalition writing on its walls;
  


• One insurgent killed while attempting to place a road-side bomb in Tal Afar and five suspects arrest in Mosul on 4 July;
  


• "Iraqi army soldiers detained 152 suspected terrorists July 4 during search operations in Baghdad. Coalition soldiers assisted the 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, in the early morning operation. Six Egyptians were among foreign fighters detained, officials said. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, detained two people suspected of terrorist activity July 4at a checkpoint in eastern Mosul. Iraqi police discovered an anti-aircraft missile system near Diwaniyah on July 4. An Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team and a coalition quick-reaction force removed the device, described as a portable, shoulder-launched, low-altitude SA-7A missile system";
  


• 
  Two weapons caches uncovers in western Abu Ghraib district on July 1 and 4;
  


• "Terrorists fired upon Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, patrolling in Abu Ghraib around 7:30 p.m. July 5. The Iraqi unit fought back and detained 12 of the attackers. The soldiers positively identified one of the men as a known bomb manufacturer";
  


• "U.S. and Iraqi soldiers conducted a cordon-and-search mission in the early-morning hours of July 6 to search for terrorist cells in western Baghdad... The result was the capture of seven detainees, five AK-47 assault rifles, two pistols, up to 20 fully loaded magazines, and assorted weaponry and documents, including material for making identification badges for U.S. contractor Kellogg Brown & Root, and possible imagery maps of the area. Not long after the first detainee was positively identified, he provided intelligence of a nearby meeting site. Upon searching the specified location, forces arrested a man and a woman who were making false KBR badges";
  


• On July 7, Iraqi and Task Force Freedom soldiers killed one terrorist and detained 24 suspects during operations in Mosul; they also killed another one and detained further 16 suspects around Tal Afar;
  


• "On July 7, Iraqi police patrolling in Baghdad's Ghazaliyah area stopped a suspected vehicle-borne IED carrying three suspected terrorists"; before the car could detonate, all three terrorist were killed in gunfire. "One compound guard reported he'd seen one terrorist trying to trigger a detonation device before being shot. Upon closer inspection of the vehicle, police discovered four 55-gallon drums connected to the car battery. The drums contained 600 pounds of homemade explosives";
  


• "U.S. Marines said on Saturday [9 July] they had launched a new counter-insurgency operation, the latest in a series of sweeps designed to root out militant bases in Iraq's Euphrates valley. Operation Scimitar involved about 500 U.S. troops and 100 Iraqis, making it about half the scale of Operation Sword and Operation Spear in the past three weeks. The military said the Marines had detained 22 suspected militants since the raid was launched in secret in the village of Zaidon 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Falluja on Thursday";
  


• On July 9 in Baghdad, American and Iraqi security forces defused explosives outside the Kuwaiti embassy, arrested five suspects in Abu Ghraib district and one wanted terrorist in the business district, and disabled four roadside bombs;
  


• "Kurdish security officials said Sunday [10 July] they had arrested suspects from six different terrorist groups that they believe help form wide insurgent training and support networks inside Iraq and have links with international terrorist organizations";
  


• Two suspects arrested in a terrorist safe house in Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad on July 10; more suspects arrested while staking out and photographing a checkpoint; and a major bomb defused in central Baghdad;
  


• Fourteen insurgents killed by the US Army in two separate incidents in northern Iraq on July 10 and 11;
  


• Thirteen individuals suspected of involvement in making and placing roadside bombs arrested in and around Tikrit on July 10 and 11;
  


• The capture of Abu Abd Al-Aziz, Al Zarqawi's number one man in Baghdad, on July 11.

Psychiatrist Graham W. Hoffman joined the Army Reserve after September 11 and has completed his second tour in Iraq, “treating mostly 20-something First Infantry Division soldiers (and some Iraqis, too) for post traumatic stress disorder." Says Hoffman: "The Iraqi civilians were very nice to us again, even though Samarra had a lot of insurgents for much of my time there. And the kids love us, especially the little girls, who seem to feel all this democratic change will be good for them in particular. The whole ‘mission’ is starting to feel like Peace Corps work, albeit you still have to be well armed. I am a political left-winger on most things, but on the Middle East business I think we are doing the right thing, mainly because that’s what all these Iraqi civilians kept telling me. Not sure why you don’t hear that kind of stuff on the media, except that most civilians there would consider it suicide to say good things about Americans on-camera.”

Iraqi people are slowly regaining their freedom - and their voice. It's their Fourth of July, too.

As always, if you have any tips for the future edition, please email goodnewsiraq “at” windsofchange “dot” net.

« ok, I'm done now

SOCIETY:

• Partial results of a new study of public opinion in Afghanistan, "Voices of a New Afghanistan," compiled the Washington non-partisan think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, paint a picture of a country where people no longer think that terrorism is a threat, don't consider drugs a high priority, and are impatient about corruption, crime, and international assistance being slow to materialize. Overall, though, the Afghans are optimistic about their future and offer "resounding support" for the Karzai government. The full report should be available in mid-July.
  


• A new voter registration drive is off to a good start for the October election:
  

  Voter registration for September elections in Afghanistan has been overwhelming despite security worries including an attack on a registration site at the weekend, organisers say.

  No one was hurt in the attack in the southeastern province of Paktika on Saturday, but police battled gunmen for hours, delaying the site's opening, Bronwyn Curran, a spokeswoman for the Afghan-UN election body, said on Monday.

  She said security and other problems, such as sandstorms and flooding, had prevented registration at 59 of 1052 stations nationwide, but 73,000 people had registered in the first two days of the month-long process that began on Saturday.

  More than 10.6 million people registered for October's presidential polls won by Western-backed incumbent Hamid Karzai.

  Parliamentary elections are set for 18 September and organisers aim to register up to two million people who were either too young for the October vote, did not previously register, lost their registration cards, or have moved.

• Meanwhile, the candidates' list is being finalized:
  

  On June 4, the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) issued the Preliminary Candidate List, and from June 4 to June 9 individuals had the opportunity to file a challenge against any prospective candidate with the Electoral Complaints Commission.

  The ECC received over 1138 challenges against 556 candidates.

  Citizens from across Afghanistan exercised their right to participate in this process and the broad public response was an encouraging sign of the Afghan people’s desire to hold a fair election.

  After reviewing the challenges, the ECC has advised the JEMB of 233 candidates who must be provisionally disqualified from standing for office due to their failure to meet the requirements for candidacy.

• The Coalition forces will be providing increased security for the election: the Netherlands are sending a marine battalion, Spain 400 soldiers, France 300 troops and some airplanes, Romania is sending 400 extra troops, and Austria additional 100. Overall, 2000 more NATO peacekeepers will be deployed throughout the country at the election time.
  


• Under an agreement signed with the UN Development Programme, the European Union has committed itself to contributing another 11.5 million euros ($13.7 million) towards the parliamentary election, bringing its total contribution so far to that purpose to 34 million euros ($40 million). Finland will be donating 2 million euros ($2.4 million) for that purpose, and Sweden is sending election observers.
  


• In order to provide more information about the election to the voters, the Afghan government has launched this new initiative:
  

  Afghan voters with questions on the 2005 Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections may now call a toll-free phone number from anywhere in Afghanistan, and have their questions answered personally.

  By dialling 1 8 0 from any mobile or landline phone, callers will be connected to a Voter Information Centre staffed by operators ready to answer their questions in Dari, Pashto or English from 7am to 7pm every Saturday to Thursday. The number will not be available if called after hours.

  The Voter Information Centre was launched this week and has already handled more than 150 public telephone enquiries.

  As JEMBS staff, Voter Information Centre operators have been trained to answer any question relating to any aspect of the 2005 electoral process.

• USAID is also supporting the growth public awareness of the poll:
  

  To prepare Afghans for the September parliamentary elections, USAID launched four new civic education programs. Two of the projects aim to better familiarize women on the election process: the funding of election content in eight consecutive editions of the popular women’s magazine “Mursal” and the broadcasting of radio shows on elections and the democratic process produced by an Afghan women’s mobile radio station. USAID is also funding the development and broadcast of nine radio quiz shows, testing listeners on the elections, the Constitution and Afghan history. Also, 12 radio dramas were produced and broadcast on 27 radio stations. Lastly, a theatre campaign is working to ensure that Afghan citizens receive the information they need to complete registration and participate fully in the elections process. Theatre inaugurations were recently held in Kabul and Herat. Approximately 150 people attended the highly successful show in Herat, including senior members from the provincial government and Kabul University. The Kabul inauguration was attended by 50 people, including members of the press. Inaugurations are scheduled this week in Kandahar, Mazar, Jalalabad and Khost.

• USAID is also providing media training for Afghan political parties: "The second advanced political party media training concluded on June 8, with an additional six parties receiving certificates. Program highlights included the second of four press conferences, in which party representatives organize and participate in weekly discussions of a different issue. Also, as part of the training, participants visit Internews and Pajhwok news agencies to gain experience in writing, editing, and producing various media messages. This provides a much-needed understanding of the best ways to present brief and clear messages to the media. The third of four groups commenced training on June 13."
  


• There's also assistance from France: "In the build-up to the September polls, a five-week technical training course for 120 newly-appointed administrative officers of the Parliament Secretariat began here on Saturday [11 June]. About 120 employees, recruited from amongst 780 applicants, started undergoing the training being imparted by French experts and interim secretariat officers at Istiqlal High School." Also, 60 staffers of the Afghan Statistics Center of the Ministry of Economics will be trained by their Iranian counterparts.
  


• The Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development is helping to nurture Afghan civil society through its work at creating Community Development Councils throughout the country. Other international agencies, meanwhile, are assisting the development of Afghan judicial system. Building on the recently enacted reformist Juvenile Code, "a new partnership between the Afghan Ministry of Justice, UNICEF and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will help to strengthen the juvenile justice sector in Afghanistan.
  

  The partnership, which will be officially launched on Saturday 18 June, will see UNICEF and UNODC providing a range of training and technical support to up to 250 legal professionals, juvenile judges, juvenile prosecutors, social workers and juvenile police on issues including the new Afghan Juvenile Code, children's rights and international legal standards. UNICEF and UNODC are currently working in close cooperation also to support the Ministry of Justice, together with UNDP, for the Priority Reform and Restructure (PRR) initiative with the Juvenile Justice Department.

• Afghan prisons are also getting a new legal framework:
  

  A newly-ratified law is expected to bring significant changes to Afghanistan's crumbling prisons and ensure the basic rights of thousands of inmates in the country's jails, law experts said in the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday.

  The 54-article law has been designed to bring the nation's prisons and detention centres up to minimum international standards.

  "The new law says the prison system has to achieve the goal of rehabilitation of prisoners and to deliver a person back in to society as a law abiding individual," Giuseppe di Gennaro, a senior legal reform advisor of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) said.

  The law was ratified on 31 May after two years of work by national and international experts. It was drafted by the government of Afghanistan, with support from the UNODC and the government of Italy, which is the lead nation working on the reform of the Afghan justice system.

• And USAID continues to work on renovating Afghan legal infrastructure:
  

  On June 20, a ceremony was held to celebrate USAID’s completion of the rehabilitation of Jabal us-Saraj Tower in Parwan province. The tower serves as part of the district’s courthouse, and has significant historical value not only to the people of Jabul us-Saraj, but to all of Afghanistan. The tower was used as a headquarters during the anti-Soviet struggle by the Northern Alliance. To date in FY05, USAID has constructed/rehabilitated 20 judicial facilities. An additional 9 facilities are on target to be completed by the end of July.

• In women's affairs, President Karzai has creation of a new Inter-Ministerial Task Force to eliminate violence against women. "The Task Force's members... would include high ranking representatives from Supreme Court, Attorney General's office, Women Affairs Ministry, Justice Ministry, Interior Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Health and Human Rights Commission."
  


• On the non-government level, CARE USA is helping to provide education for girls and women who missed out in the past:
  

  Meet Farzana. She’s the principal of Sha Shaheed School, a school for girls who missed years of their education during the five years of the Taliban’s rule. The school is one of nine supported by CARE’s Out of School Girls Project that provides fast-track education for girls by teaching two years in one.

  During the Taliban years, Farzana and her family fled to Pakistan, and she was able to work. However, after September 11th, her family moved back to Kabul and Farzana was able to keep working. She’s 28 years old and single, which is unusual for a woman her age in Afghanistan, and lives with her father. While her brothers and sisters are all married, she tells us that her father is open minded and encourages her to pursue her career.

  The Sha Shaheed School teaches 360 girls who come in six days a week, either for the morning or afternoon, for their classes. Most of the girls are between 10-14 years old and were in school before Taliban, but had to stop going to school for five years when the Taliban didn’t allow girls to be educated.

  These girls are now much older that the kids in their grade and CARE aims to provide a fast-track education so they can rejoin the school system at the appropriate age.

• Participants in other similar programs are already starting to graduate: "After a lapse of more than a decade, the first batch of 23 girls Tuesday completed their high school education in the southern Kandahar province, a former stronghold of Taliban who had banned female literacy in Afghanistan. Kandahar Education Department chief Hayatullah Rafiqi told Pajhwok Afghan News after the passage of 11 long years, the girls graduated from the Zarghona Ana High School in Kandahar City."
  


• Read also this story of an Afghan woman who combines business with social statement:
  

  Sara Rahmani never bought her own burqa during the Taliban regime, which forced women to wear the all-encompassing garment.

  But now the Taliban regime is gone, and Rahmani is burqa-happy. She buys burqas by the dozen. Rahmani, a clothing designer who has started her own company, then has her tailors cut up and resew the burqas. The result: the burqa shirt.

  "I thought to myself, the Taliban period is finished," Rahmani said. "What should we do with all these burqas?"

  Rahmani and her clothing line say much about the possibilities in the new Afghanistan--in Kabul, at least. She is a woman running her own company, something impossible only a few years ago and still unusual enough that she was picked to meet First Lady Laura Bush when she visited in March. Rahmani also was featured in Afghan Women and Business magazine. She is 34 and still single--a rarity in Afghanistan.

  Rahmani, who favors a classic, conservative look of a gauzy head scarf, a gray pantsuit and black heels, is also challenging convention. She is taking an item like the burqa--still worn by women in most of the countryside and the city--and changing it.

• Rahmani employs 11 people, including 10 widows and orphans, and while making it in business is tough, she's actively pursuing opportunities overseas.
  


• Global refugee numbers have reached the lowest levels since 1980. The last four years have seen continuing consecutive falls in numbers, with another 4% fall in 2004. Overall in that period, some 5 million refugees were able to find their way home, with 3.5 million of them going back home to Afghanistan. The internally displaced are also now slowly making their way home:
  

  For three years, Zhare Dasht camp, located on a sun-baked plain in southern Afghanistan, has sheltered nearly 500,000 internally displaced people. Many have now decided it is time to return home.

  The camp was built by the UN refugee agency, with the support of donors and partner agencies, in early 2002 to house Afghans who had been forced to leave their homes elsewhere in the country. Many were Pashtuns from the north who feared persecution following the defeat of the unpopular – and largely Pashtun – Taliban.

  Zhare Dasht also became home to thousands of farmers left destitute by years of drought; a drought which also left many of Afghanistan's nomadic Kuchis unable to continue their traditional way of life.

  Within the camp, UNHCR, with the Afghan government, provides residents with access to water, sanitation, school and medical facilities.

  But the pull of home is still strong. Already, more families have returned home this summer than in all of 2004.

• And the local authorities are trying to help some of the returnees:
  

  The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs started distribution of plots to returning refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kabul and Parwan provinces.

  Hafeez Nadeem, an official at the ministry, told Pajhwok Afghan News 1,500 plots would be distributed among refugees and IDPs in Kabul's Kalakan district and 10,000 in Bagram district of the Parwan province.

  Engineer Sami, an advisor to the ministry, said 50,000 plots of lands would go to refugees and IDPs in 19 provinces of the country by the end of March next as part of a programme for settlement of the down-and-out families.

• USAID continues to provide major assistance to the Afghan health system: "In FY2005, USAID will support the construction of 277 health facilities. To date, 32 clinics have been completed and 204 are under construction." And in the combined United Nations and NGO effort:
  

  A project, co-sponsored by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), got under way in Afghanistan today with the arrival in Kabul of donated production machinery for the country's first-ever generic medicine factory, which will eventually produce 300 million to 400 million tablets of safe, urgently needed analgesics and antibiotics for local use.

  The machinery will equip a newly-constructed factory named Baz International Pharmaceutical Company Limited. The locally produced generic medicines will significantly improve the availability of safe, effective and affordable medication in the country, UNDP said.

  The plant will be fully Afghan-owned and will be managed by Dr. Karim Baz, an experienced local doctor. Approximately 40 local employees will be taught relevant operating skills and production technology.

• Afghanistan is winning another war against disease:
  

  Gada Mohammad is a resolute foot soldier in Afghanistan's battle against polio, tramping up remote mountains to search out children and give them their pink vaccine drops.

  He might be about to win the war.

  Afghanistan looks to be on the verge of eradicating polio, just as a flare-up in another remote corner of the world has led to the crippling children's disease leaping between continents...

  Afghanistan has been doing its bit. It had 27 polio cases in 2000, four last year and only one so far this year.

• And a new campiagn aims to cover 100 per cent of the targetted population by 2009: "The Public Health Ministry said on Monday it would vaccinate babies and mothers as part of a national campaign to control mortality rate among them. Health Minister Mohammad Amin Fatemi said they would immunize kids under nine months and mothers (15-45) against whooping cough, measles, tetanus (DPT) throughout the country."
  


• Pakistani authorities have delivered another 10 of the promised 45 fully-equipped ambulances, bringing the number so far to 33. Spain, meanwhile, will "equip 24 health centers in the southern Badghis province with drugs, medical equipment and other necessities" and upgrade the Badghis hospital from 30 to 70 beds.
  


• USAID is also active supporting the growth of Afghan education system:
  

  As the number of children attending school increases, USAID is responding by building or rehabilitating additional schools. In FY2005, USAID has constructed 136 new schools, with an additional 150 schools under construction. In addition to facility construction, USAID supports the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education and the Academic Council on Education to improve policy formulation, strategic planning and program development, and monitoring and evaluation. In addition, USAID has trained over 7,500 teachers in formal classroom settings, and 65,000 teachers in remote areas through the Radio Teacher Training Program.

• USAID will soon be busy with a major construction project:
  

  The United States of America will reconstruct Ghazi High school with international standards. The USA will invest $6 million through USAID for reconstruction and furnishing of the school.

  Dr Zalmai Khalilzad the US ambassador in Afghanistan told Bakhtar News Agency that, the engineering design of this school is drawn by Afghan engineers and the new school will have 4 blocks for classes and administration offices, football, volleyball and basket ball grounds, gymnasium, car parking, an entertainment park, auditorium and laboratories.

  The construction work of this school will start at the end of this year and will be finished in two years.

  He added that the new school will have 78 classrooms and can accommodate 6200 students at a time.

• Two new schools, each able to take in 1,500 pupils, have opened in Bagram district and Sinjit Dara of the central Parwan province. The schools were a joint project of the local Provincial Reconstruction Team and UNESCO.
  


• In higher education news, "the American University of Afghanistan's new female dormitory, which has been established with assistance of the Afghan Wireless Communication System, AWCC, was opened [recently]... The foundation of the three-storey building of new American University of Afghanistan was laid in the southwest of Kabul earlier this year. The initial academic programmes will include majors in information technology, business management and public administration."
  


• Denmark has also been active in the area of education: "The Danish support to the Ministry of Education has already resulted in a new curriculum for 22 courses, better training of teachers, publication of 3.6 million schoolbooks and the construction of new schools." Overall, The Danish contribution is worth DKK 670 million ($108 million) and will extend at least until 2009. Meanwhile, the Afghan-Turkish School in Kabul has organised the first science fair in country's recent history.
  


• University of Massachusetts is helping with education of Afghan women:
  

  When word spread in one Afghanistan village that literacy courses were available for women, the response was immediate. The small classroom quickly filled and those left outside crowded around windows to peer in.

  "It was hard to keep the women out," said Frank McNerney, a doctoral candidate at the UMass Center for International Education.

  The windows remained open because no woman would be shut out, McNerney recalled.

  In a country where women crave education after decades of repression at the hands of the Taliban and others, a teacher is a like a beacon, a light through a window.

  "People are really hopeful right now. They see education as their ticket to a better life," McNerney said.

  Afghanistan is the latest outreach project for the UMass center, said David Evans, the center's director for more than 30 years. It creates and implements educational systems in developing countries. The programs range from graduate policy planning in Malawi to the very basic - teaching reading to the illiterate in rural Afghanistan.

  The center recently won a $4.3 million subcontract to work with the Boston-based Management Sciences for Health to help rural women understand community health issues and ultimately train others. Evans said the UMass center was brought on board when the Boston agency realized it couldn't recruit enough women who had the basic education level necessary to even reach the training courses.

• Speaking of educating Afghan girls read this inspirational story of one family which is trying to make a difference in remote area of the country:
  

  A jumble of small plastic sandals covers the landing in front of the narrow mud-walled room. The boisterous sound of schoolchildren fills the space as they shout out the letters their teacher points to on the blackboard.

  Inside this nondescript house at the foot of the Hindu Kush Mountains in central Afghanistan, an ordinary event is taking place in extraordinary circumstances. In an area where the nearest school is several kilometres away and is only open to boys, girls between the ages of six and 18 are learning to read and write in the home of a family who, until last year, were refugees in Iran.

  Mohammed Sadiq and his wife fled their native Parwan province following the invasion of the Soviet army. For 19 years they lived in neighbouring Iran, raising four daughters and two sons and waiting for a time when they could return to Afghanistan. Last year after contacting UNHCR, they decided to make the journey.

  "We left because of war. We returned because of peace," says 18-year-old Parween. A confident and well-spoken young woman, she, like all of Mohammed's children, spent her entire life in Iran before returning to the isolated hilltop village of Khan Baihi.

  "I am an educated man," says Mohammed. "And it was my strong desire to educate my children." Though he struggled at times to meet the cost of schooling, Mohammed ensured his daughters always attended classes. When he returned to his home, he found that the education he had worked so hard to provide for his children was denied the girls of the village. He decided to provide an alternative.

  "A few months after we returned, I went to the mosque when I knew all the men would be there praying. I said to them, 'My daughters are educated and they can also provide your children with an education.' We created a classroom in our house and that was how it began."

• USAID continues to support the development of the Afghan media:
  

  Sayara, a USAID-supported media NGO held its second national university journalism student convention in late May. Almost 100 students from various universities participated in the 3-day event. During the convention, the students considered such issues as Afghans taking control of Afghanistan’s future, the role of the media in Afghan democracy, and goals for Afghanistan to achieve by 2005.

  Pajhwok, a USAID-supported national news agency, recently secured a two year subscription contract from the Combined Forces Command. This is in addition to other newly signed contracts with Azadi newspaper, World Bank, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Canadian Embassy. To date, the news agency has received $5300, has unpaid contracts worth $36,803, and has signed agreements for a monthly income of $8983.

  In addition, in late May the Afghan National Television switched over to a new digital system. The conversion from analog to a digital system took two years and was finalized with financial assistance of $7.4 million from the Government of Japan. Additionally, according to the state-owned newspaper Anis, the Italian government just inaugurated an Internet centre for Radio and Television worth US $1.4 million.

• In the latest development, Radio Voice of Paktika, the first independent radio station in the Paktika province has been officially opened. "Established by Internews Network with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Transition Initiatives, the station began broadcasting April 4. Radio Voice of Paktika has a potential audience of almost 200,000 with a 45 meter mast, one of the tallest of any FM station in Afghanistan. The station broadcasts nine hours a day with both in-house programming and material from the daily news and entertainment program." You can also read this report about how "Music soothes extremism along troubled Afghan border."
  


• Iranian government is helping the development of local culture. Among the projects: establishing an Afghan-Iranian research center in Kabul, providing books for university libraries in Kabul, Balkh, Bamian, Herat, and Jalalabad, and founding a printing house at the Kabul university.
  


• Meanwhile, two Afghan artists have recently received international recognition:
  

  Two artists from Afghanistan were chosen by a panel of five Taiwan judges from among the contestants in the Venice Bienniale International Art Exhibition as winners of the first Taiwan Award over the weekend.

  Linda Abdul and Rahim Walizada were each awarded a trophy made out of a brick produced in Taiwan 200 years ago and a cash prize of US$20,000 by Tchen Yu-chiou, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Cultural Association.

  Abdul, who is an Afghan refugee, had to choke back tears when she accepted the prize from Tchen.

  She told the 50-odd audience at the award ceremony that she loves her country's culture, which was seriously damaged during the civil war, and would like to draw the world's attention through her art to the disaster facing the Afghan people and their culture.

RECONSTRUCTION:

• Good news for the financial stability and governance of the country: "The Ministry of Finance met a significant milestone by exceeding the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) total domestic revenue generation target of $256 million for Afghan FY1383 (March 21, 2004 – March 20, 2005). As of May 16, approximately $260.6 million has been collected for FY1383 and this figure could increase upon final reconciliation at the end of May. Total domestic revenue increased 20% from FY 1382. Customs revenue figures were also impressive – $150.3 million was collected for FY1383, an increase of 38.9% from FY 1382. Customs revenue served as 58% of the total domestic revenue collected, helping to sustain the funding of Government of Afghanistan (GOA) programs and services. USAID is helping the GAO achieve this goal by strengthening human capital at a ministerial level, streamlining the GOA’s payment systems and establishing a modern tax system by implementing appropriate laws and regulations."
  


• In foreign assistance to Afghanistan, Denmark is contributing another 90 million euros ($110 million) for projects in the areas of "human rights, reconstruction of the public sector, humanitarian work and education."
  


• And the British government has earmarked another 35 million pounds ($61 million) to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) in 2005-06. "The ARTF is a multi-donor trust fund set up by the World Bank in 2002 to coordinate donor funding to the Government of Afghanistan's recurrent costs and selected reconstruction activities. It supports Afghanistan's budget and applies strict fiduciary monitoring to these expenditures."
  


• Japan also continues to contribute: "The Japanese embassy in Afghanistan has signed contracts with 14 local and international non-governmental organisations, NGOs, to carry out 18 projects worth a total of 44 million US dollars. The projects granted by the Japanese government include construction of schools, roads and bridges, digging of wells and establishment of handicraft education centres. They will be carried out in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar and Khost provinces." As part of that assistance:
  

  The government of Japan has agreed to provide $1,870,449 in grant for launching different welfare projects in three provinces. The projects included reconstruction, health and vocational training, which will be started in Kabul, Kandahar and Faryab provinces... [and] establishment of educational and cultural centres and imparting training in carpet weaving and health.

• There is also financial assistance from the World Bank: "World Bank (WB) has agreed to release a grant of $265 million for uplift projects in Afghanistan during the current year... Aziz Shams, press officer for the Finance Ministry, said highways construction, health and education sectors and capacity-building were the main areas where the governmental intended to utilise the amount."
  


• One of the first trade fairs have taken place in the capital:
  

  Food items, construction material and industrial and technical products from 19 countries would go on display at an exhibition here from today, officials said Monday.

  Bacu Company, a member of the six-firm Gohar Group, will organise the international trade event, which will conclude on June 13. The group is currently operating in Dubai and the United Kingdom.

  Siywash Abbasi, an official of the Gohar Group in Tehran, told Pajhwok Afghan News 75 companies would display their products including cake and cookies, motorcycles, computers, construction cables, etc.

  The US, the UK, Australia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan and other southern countries will be taking part in the trade fair.

• American business organization is helping Afghan women to enter into the world of business:
  

  It's dubbed the "Style Road Trip." In late May, some two dozen Afghani businesswomen arrived in New York to participate in an intensive three-week program designed to promote and develop entrepreneurship among Afghanistan's women. For most of them, the program, sponsored by the Business Council for Peace (Bpeace), was their first trip outside their war-torn nation. The participants are mostly engaged in apparel, accessories, and home décor manufacturing businesses. The program includes visits to top American designers such as Eileen Fisher and celebrity favorite Behnaz Sarafpour, seminars at the Fashion Institute of Technology and side trips to the beach for a Memorial Day barbecue and sightseeing.

• This is a story of one of the women on the trip:
  

  After living as a refugee in Pakistan for 13 years, Laila returned to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in 2003... "I heard that the Karzai government would bring peace and the Taliban had left," she says.

  Having spent those refugee years working variously as a teacher, carpet designer, in marketing and sales, and as an administrator for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and later Medecins Sans Frontieres on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Laila, 36, decided that she wanted start her own jewelry business.

  Although she had put together $4,000 from her savings and pension from UNICEF, she still faced a series of economic and social hurdles. For one, some of her in-laws insisted that a woman should stay at home. But she persevered, with the support of her husband, taking English and computer classes. Eventually she opened a small jewelry store and importing business. "I saw that there was a good market in Kabul," she says.

• You can also read the interview with Bpeace's Toni Maloney as well as learn more from BPeace itself about their work in Afghanistan. There is also a nice photo essay about one visit on the trip. And here's another story about the work of the Business Council for Peace:
  

  Conflict in the Middle East didn't keep Rangina Hamidi from returning to her Afghanistan homeland.

  She was born in Kandahar, but her family moved to Virginia after Hamidi was threatened by war-related forces for going to school in Pakistan.

  After Hamidi graduated from the University of Virginia five years ago, she moved back to Kandahar, where the Taliban had been ousted by U.S. military action.

  There, she founded an embroidery business that employs about 300 women who work at home.

  Now, a Roanoke business and an international peace organization are helping Hamidi build economic vitality for her employees in Kandahar.

• Speaking of women in business, "a federation of the Afghan businesswomen will be established in a month with a start-up fund from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)...
  

  Chairman of Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce Hamid Qaderi said the USAID had promised to donate six million dollars for funding the project. He hoped the creation of the businesswomen federation would boost business concerns belonging to women besides enabling them to play a more active role in the country's reconstruction and economic development.

• Work by USAID to construct three industrial parks in major Afghan cities continues:
  

  In Kabul, major design work, including survey processes and the design of all infrastructure, is completed. Contracts for the related sectors have been awarded. Construction activities are estimated to be 75% complete, with land preparation work, sewage system, interior water system and communication construction work nearly 100% complete.

  In Kandahar, design work is approximately 80% complete. The designs of the land preparation, roads, sidewalks and sewage system are complete, and the design for electricity is underway and expected to be completed soon. Sixty percent of contracts have been awarded to date. Site preparation and securing the area is well underway. A monitoring team visited the project site last week and found that the surface runoff channel and ditch which were started in late March are about 90% complete. Site leveling and preparation are in progress.

  In Mazar-i Sharif, design work is 40% complete and contracts have been awarded for 20% of the work. According to the site monitoring reports, excavation and concrete foundation are completed, and stone masonry work is underway.

• India is helping Afghanistan to receive more electricity:
  

  In a major move to help war- ravaged Afghanistan rebuild its infrastructure, India today agreed to construct a 220 KV double circuit transmission line to start power supply from Uzbekistan to Kabul and a power sub-station in the Afghan capital... The transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul would be implemented within a period of 42 months, he said, adding that the entire expenditure would be in the nature of assistance or grant to Afghanistan.

• A major new link is being developed between Afghanistan and Tajikistan:
  

  Efforts to boost the economies of both Tajikistan and Afghanistan moved one step further on Saturday, when Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Afghan President Hamid Karzai laid the foundation stone for a US-funded bridge across the Pyanzh River.

  "The Nizhiniy Pyanzh bridge will unlock the economic vitality of the two countries through expanded trade opportunities, advance Tajik-Afghan efforts to combat international terrorism and weapons and drug trafficking, and improve international cooperation in the region," US Ambassador to Tajikistan, Richard Hoagland, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

  Once completed in 2007, more than 1,000 cars and trucks are expected to cross daily to take goods between the two countries.

  "At the moment, only one bridge, between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, links the goods of South Asia to Central Asia," Hoagland explained, noting the economic potential to the region, reminiscent of the Great Silk Road and trade network that connected East Asia with Europe and beyond.

  The bridge is 672 metres long by 11.5 metres wide and built to international seismic standards. It will link the border crossing town of Nizhniy Pyanj, Tajikistan, with the town of Shir Khan in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province.

• To help improve the transport in the country, Afghan authorities took the delivery of 42 buses donated by Pakistan. "Pakistan has already donated 200 trucks, 23 ambulances and 25 passenger vehicles to Afghanistan as a token of friendship. Islamabad had earlier pledged to Kabul a phased delivery of 100 Japanese Hino buses, of which 35 were handed over in the first week of May." Another 23 buses will be donated shortly.
  


• In Kabul, work has started on widening of the road leading to the Kabul airport. Speaking of airports, a local one in the north is getting an upgrade to enable it to receive international flights:
  

  Transport and Aviation Minister Enayatullah Qasemi Saturday [24 June] inaugurated expansion and up-gradation work of the Mazar-i-Sharif airport.

  Speaking on the occasion, Qasemi said the project would be completed during the next three years. He said a new terminal would be erected besides installation of new machinery and equipments and improving the electricity system to bring it at par with international airports.

  The project will cost $20 million. The area of the airport will be expanded to create space for more flights. The airport is so far used for local flights.

• In related developments, "the government of Afghanistan has established a separate airline to serve tourists in Afghanistan. Uqab (Eagle) airline will take tourists to historical places in Afghanistan. Syed Makhdoom Raheen, minister of information, culture and tourism, told reporters on Saturday that the first flight of this newly formed airline took place yesterday, having taken tourists from Kabul to central Bamiyan province. This airline is currently operating with five helicopters."
  


• In communications news, Bamyan gets connected: "The first-ever internet café was opened here... by the National NGOs Coordination (NNC)... The $20,000 project was funded by a US charity based in Memphis, Tennessee State, as well as the Korean International Cooperation Agency working in Afghanistan. Abdul Qayyum, head of the NNC, said people could surf the 12 computer sets connected to the internet as a mode of local and international communications." Meanwhile, "work on laying Internet cable in all districts of Jalalabad will kick off in the next two months. The facility will be provided by the Afghan Cable in all districts of Jalalabad... So far the Afghan Cable has provided connections to over 7,000 houses in Jalalabad."
  


• USAID is helping to make the capital cleaner:
  

  USAID is assisting the municipal government of Kabul to improve the availability and quality of services provided to citizens. In April, the program focused on garbage collection, sanitary drainage system, street maintenance and parks and roadside beautification projects.

  As a result of the garbage collection effort, eleven major dumpsites have been cleaned-up and approximately 250 cubic meters of garbage was disposed. In addition, a door-to-door garbage collection process was enacted in the target district, collecting garbage from 2100 – 2500 houses per week. The project employs ten municipal workers using two dump trucks.

  The sanitary drainage system, or ditch cleaning, also employs ten municipal workers. Through ditch cleaning and the building of a culvert, water is flowing properly and the flooding hazard has been eliminated.

  The renovation of Park Shahr-e Nan is currently underway, with plans being developed for the new design. USAID staff and citizens recently participated in a community service park clean up project.

• World Bank is also assisting with grass-roots reconstruction projects:
  

  The World Bank today approved a US$28 million grant to continue supporting the Afghanistan National Solidarity Program (NSP), which provides resources for reconstruction and development activities at the community level, and for strengthened local governance...

  The NSP provides thousands of rural villages with access to drinking water, small irrigation schemes for agriculture, rural roads, micro hydro-electrical plants and generators for domestic and rural productive activities, training and livelihood projects, schools, sanitation, and clinics among others...

  A critical aspect of this project is the process of decision making surrounding the use of the grants. Building the foundation for solid local governance, consultation, and the legitimacy of local leadership, Community Development Councils are elected through secret ballot. These councils then lead a participatory process in the community to decide how the funds will be used. By May 2005, implementation of the project was ongoing in 8,268 villages, of which 7,348 had elected Community Development Councils, and 9,247 had submitted subproject proposals.

• The program has been a big success so far:
  

  The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) will complete thousands of small reconstruction projects across the country under the National Solidarity Programme.

  Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development Mohammad Hanif Atmar told journalists here on Thursday that as many as 8,300 projects costing $100 million and being executed in 33 different provinces would be completed soon.

  He added the National Solidarity Programme largely focused on potable water schemes, irrigation plans, building schools, upgrading the power system and road construction.

• USAID land-titling efforts also continue:
  

  USAID’s Land Titling Team provided legal assistance on property rights issues to residents of District 7 in Kabul. Residents have requested and received legal assistance on issues including property partition among heirs, mortgage and the legal procedure for obtaining formal deed. Using aerial photography, the Titling Team has completed delineation of 254 parcels of land, including footpaths, mosques, schools, and boundaries of 244 residential houses in District 7. The delineation process involved the full participation of community members. In addition to its usefulness for planning purposes, delineating boundaries with the consent and agreement of concerned residents addresses both actual and potential disagreements relating to property boundaries, which is the main cause of dispute in the pilot neighborhoods.

• One program will seek to help both the people and the environment:
  

  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help conserve biodiversity in selected protected areas of Afghanistan while addressing the basic needs of communities in the buffer zones, through a technical assistance (TA) grant package approved for US$1.785 million.

  The TA is structured in two interlinked components: a protected area component and a buffer zone component.

  The protected area component, financed with $975,000 from the Global Environment Facility, will help conserve global significant biodiversity in selected key protected areas. It will develop management plans and conduct biodiversity assessments; promote capacity building in protected area management; provide basic park infrastructure and field equipment for monitoring and surveying; develop ecotourism by emphasizing links between conservation and benefit for local stakeholders; and support key policy and institutional reforms.

  The buffer zone component, financed with $810,000 from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund from the Government of UK, will link development interventions to conservation goals through conservation stewardship agreements.

  It will conduct participatory assessments of target communities to identify their needs and priorities for action and a strategy to reduce poverty while protecting natural resources. It will also provide skills training and promote the empowerment of women by providing alternative livelihoods.

• Agriculture still plays an extremely important role in Afghan economy and society, and USAID is there to assist:
  

  The economic growth of Afghanistan is reliant on the success of the agricultural sector. Recent estimates are that agriculture’s contribution to the country’s GDP is about 51%, employing 85% of the total labor force. With modern technologies and rehabilitated infrastructure, Afghan farmers can meet food sufficiency requirements as well as increased income and foreign exchange earnings.

  USAID is improving Afghanistan’s irrigation infrastructure as a means of increasing agricultural productivity. Projects include dams, spillway and diversion channels, intakes, and distribution systems.

  The Sar-e Haus Dam is the largest dam in Northwest Afghanistan, providing irrigation for an estimated 600,000 people. USAID is reinforcing the left dam abutment, which supports the weight of the dam. The project is 85% complete, with a target completion date of mid-June. In addition, the old center spillway reinforcement construction is scheduled to begin in August 2005.

  Sar-e Haus irrigation infrastructure projects completed to date include the Mohammed Agha and Moghul Khil Intakes, Zana Khan Dam, Sardeh Irrigation System, Shah Rawan Intake Rehabilitation, Sar-e Haus Dam emergency rehabilitation, and the Sar-e Haus Spillway and Diversion Channel.

• Meanwhile, Afghanistan is one of the developing countries where 15 international agricultural research institutes under the Alliance of the Future Harvest Centers of the CGIAR (the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) are helping to rehabilitate local agriculture: "A Consortium of CGIAR centers, led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), has refurbished Afghanistan's agricultural research stations, established seed testing facilities and trained over 1,000 researchers and farmers. The consortium is helping small farmers grow high-value horticultural and medicinal crops, as well as chickpea, faba bean, potato and peanut."
  


• 
  The US Department of Agriculture is also collaborating with the military Provincial Reconstruction Teams on a series of projects, including distribution of stock, rebuilding farms, construction of veterinary clinics, and many others.
  


• A Pasadena men is helping to diversify Afghan diet and ensure better nutritional and health outcomes:
  

  Steven Kwon believes soybeans can save the people of Afghanistan -- and he's doing something about it.

  A senior nutrition scientist for Nestle USA, Kwon also runs Nutrition Education International, a nonprofit organization he started in 2003 to help reduce mortality rates in Afghanistan.

  One in five Afghan kids die before age 5, Kwon said, and one in six women die during childbirth.

  His solution is offering a better diet through soybeans, which would supplement a traditional diet of naan bread and chai tea. Soybeans are high in protein and soy fiber staves off hunger.

  "Seeing poor people, suffering people, you are compelled to do something from a humanitarian point of view," said Kwon, a Korean man with a soft smile and a gentle demeanor.

  Since starting the relief effort, Kwon has spent his own money and burned up vacation time from his day job on trips to Afghanistan to teach nutrition, consult with agriculture experts and secure the country's endorsements. He's also solicited donations from friends and businesses.

  His efforts have taken root.

  Last year, Nutrition Education International cultivated soybeans on five acres in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan's main northern city. The crop also was planted in a dozen other provinces in April.

  Kwon said that if the harvest is bountiful in October, Afghan leaders would test the plants in all 32 provinces.

  Afghan officials are hopeful. They speculate soybeans could improve health, provide jobs and perhaps supplement the country's opium-producing poppy.

• More on soybeen cultivation in Afghanistan here.
  


• An American non-government group is also assisting:
  

  The US Department of Agriculture would donate 500 metric tonnes of corn oil and 1,500 metric tonnes of soybean oil, for use in Afghanistan, to Mercy Corps, a private voluntary organisation. Mercy Corps will sell the corn and soybean oil in Afghanistan and use the proceeds over a 12-month period to finance rural development activities such as rehabilitating irrigation systems and developing small scale commercial tree crops. Other activities include supporting animal health services, agricultural research and testing agricultural vocational education, as well as strengthening local government capacity through agricultural exchange training.

HUMANITARIAN AID:

• Here are the efforts of two American women trying to help those in Afghanistan:
  

  While women's rights advocates are focusing on the plight of the world's widows today, two local women who lost their husbands on Sept. 11 make it their everyday mission to help Afghan women coping with tragedy...

  Beyond the 11th, a Wellesley nonprofit that raises money for widows affected by terrorism and war in Afghanistan, is also trying to highlight the needs of women who lack money, social supports and legal rights.

  Patti Quigley of Wellesley and Susan Retik of Needham were both pregnant when their husbands, Patrick Quigley and David Retik, were killed aboard two of the planes that crashed on Sept. 11.

  In 2003, they formed Beyond the 11th because they saw that women in Afghanistan also lost a great deal in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and the war that followed.

• American charity is helping the Afghan health system:
  

  CURE International, a Christian nonprofit medical organization based in Harrisburg, was asked by the Afghanistan Ministry of Health to assume management of two hospitals -- one in Kandahar and one in Kabul.

  In Kandahar, more than 10,000 patients are being treated each month. In addition, the CURE Tuberculosis Center treats on average more than 800 patients a month who are suffering from the contagious disease. Unfortunately the number of people with TB is anticipated to rise as some 3 million Afghan refugees return from Pakistan where the disease is rampant...

  American soldiers from Camp Phoenix, near Kabul, allotted funds from a discretionary charity budget to provide a generator for the hospital as well as three water tanks to nourish the patients. Computers were also donated and after they were installed, doctors were immediately punching in data in order to receive vital information to help Afghans in their care.

• Meanwhile, the Afghan Red Crescent Society is planning to make its operations accessible to people from remote areas:
  

  The Afghan Red Crescent Society has planned to move its healthcare centers from urban stations to remote areas in order to reach out to the more needy people.

  Dr Yasmin Yousufzai, heading the ARCS health department, revealed they would shift 10 clinics currently based in Kabul city to its districts in the first phase. She gave no specific timeframe for the shifting.

  Yousufzai pointed out the ARCS ran nearly 50 health centers (clinics) across Afghanistan, most of them based in provincial capital cities.

• There's help for Afghanistan's many orphans:
  

  It is LIFE for Relief and Development's mission to take these children off the streets and into the classroom. In the past, LIFE has supported nearly 1,000-orphaned boys in schools in Laghman and Jalalabad.

  In September, LIFE plans on opening its first school and orphanage for girls and the only school for girls in the Eastern Zone of Afghanistan. The facility has already registered 100-orphaned girls and will support them by providing shelter, clothing and education. This effort will afford the 1st through 5th graders the opportunity to personally combat illiteracy and finally see a bright future.

  In September, LIFE plans on opening its first school and orphanage for girls and the only school for girls in the Eastern Zone of Afghanistan. The facility has already registered 100-orphaned girls and will support them by providing shelter, clothing and education. This effort will afford the 1st through 5th graders the opportunity to personally combat illiteracy and finally see a bright future.

• A British and a French charity combine their efforts to help revive the economic base of one small Afghan community:
  

  Oxfam America and its partner, ACTED, are helping 30 Afghan potters improve the quality of their ceramics, as well as increase their income.

  The village of Kulalin has a rich tradition of pottery making dating back more than 300 years. Like many villages in Istalif, Kulalin found itself on the front line during the fighting between Taliban and Northern Alliance forces in the mid 1990's, forcing the ceramics trade in Kulalin to shut down completely. Houses, schools, and community buildings were destroyed, as well as the workshops and kilns of potters...

  Last year, ACTED, a French organization that helped in rebuilding the village's kilns and workshops, asked Oxfam to support a training program to develop the skills of the potters. Oxfam hired a Pakistani ceramics teacher, Argi Karimi, to evaluate the skills and techniques of Kulalin's potters and make recommendations for improvements. Some of the potters were at first resistant to changing their techniques, especially in consideration of the fact that Argi is both an outsider and a woman. However, they soon recognized and appreciated Argi's expertise.

  Potters in Kulalin traditionally produced large quantities of bowls in each kiln firing, resulting in diminished quality and ultimately a lower price on the local market. The completed pieces, produced in mass quantities, sell for around 6 Afghanis or 12 cents US in the local bazaar or to wholesalers from Kabul.

  Argi is working with 30 potters in the village to improve the quality and marketability of their bowls, from simple improvements such as not stacking their bowls in the kiln during firing to more advanced techniques such as diversifying their designs. In addition to the original bowls, decorated with a simple clear glaze, the artisans are now producing more elaborate pieces-one of many changes that are adding precious value to their craftsmanship.

• A UN body and a charity, meanwhile are trying to improve the economic plight of young people:
  

  The UNICEF and Ashiana will jointly impart vocational skill development training to Afghan children.

  Agreement to this effect was signed between representatives of the UNICEF and Ashiana here on Thursday. Under the accord, 1,000 working children will be educated and trained for developing skills.

  Ashiana is already imparting training to orphan and poor children in carpet-weaving, carpentry, plumbing, computer, mine detection, electronics, drawings and calligraphy. The training will be given at Ashiana centres at Kart-e-Char and Salang Wat.

• Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees is also assisting rural communities:
  

  DACAAR is launching a new microfinance programme under the name DCMS - DACAAR Community Microfinance Services. The objective is to ensure sustainable livelihoods for low-income Afghan households by enabling them to improve their economic status through access to financial services. Both men and women in rural communities in Afghanistan have substantial economic skills which can be productively employed. However, the lack of financial resources limits such opportunities. Over the next five years, activities are planned to cover the six provinces of Ghazni, Laghman, Herat, Paktia, Badghis and Wardak.

  Initially activities will focus on rural villages and surrounding markets, and gradually, operations are intended to expand to semi urban markets. An additional one-year pilot project will be launched in Ghazni city to define a future urban city strategy.

  The six provinces targeted have a total of 7,320 villages with an average of 76 households per village, so in total, DCMS is targeting 50,000 potential clients as receivers of financial services.

• The US Department of Agriculture is providing substantial food aid to Afghanistan:
  

  USDA plans to provide Afghanistan with food assistance valued at nearly $48 million in 2005. Our two countries recently signed a $15-million agreement under the Food for Progress program. The agreement calls for the Afghan government to sell 23,000 tons of U.S. soybean oil. Proceeds from the sale will support development through higher education, rural extension services and institutional capacity building. The Food for Progress program provides for donations of agricultural commodities to needy countries to encourage economic or agricultural reforms that foster free enterprise.

  In 2005, USDA will provide the International Fertilizer Development Corporation and Mercy Corps, Inc., with agricultural commodities valued at $10 million and $2.6 million, respectively, under the Food for Progress Program. Proceeds from the sale of these commodities will be used to support agricultural development programs in Afghanistan.

  Now in its third year, USDA is supporting a project in northern Afghanistan run by the Aga Khan Foundation. The project will use up to $10 million in U.S. nonfat dry milk to conduct school-feeding activities. The donations will consist of surplus commodities under the Section 416(b) program.

  USDA will also donate $10 million to World Vision under the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program to continue the school feeding program in western Afghanistan begun in 2003.

  This assistance will be in addition to the $59 million in U.S. food aid already provided in 2003 and 2004.

• 
  San Francisco students are also helping: "Several North Bay high school bands have joined together to host the McNear's Beach Music Festival, a benefit for schools and youth programs in Afghanistan. The idea for the event came from a group of folk guitar students from Redwood High who wanted to support Afghans4Tomorrow, a nonprofit whose mission is the support of education, health and agriculture projects in Afghanistan."
  


• A Connecticut student is helping here father help the Afghan people:
  

  A Fairfield University senior came up with a unique Father's Day gift for her dad - water and clothing for villagers in Afghanistan.

  Mikaela Conley's father, Army Lt. Col. Christopher Conley, is involved in the U.S. military's efforts to build hospitals, schools and wells in Afghanistan.

  Mikaela Conley and her friend, Aamina Awan, a Fairfield University junior, raised $3,000 for construction of a well in Aloudine village and collected 30 boxes of clothing for the village's 200 families.

• More here.
  


• This girl from Kabul is receiving a gift of life:
  

  Growing up in the slums of Kabul and suffering from a life-threatening heart defect, 11-year-old Vasila Hossaini feared that she may only have a few more years to live.

  That was last year. Today, she's a beaming 12-year-old, with dazzling bright eyes, full of energy and soaking up the atmosphere of New York after charitable donations brought her here and helped pay for life-saving heart surgery at the New York University Medical Center.

  "I got a new life. I am not going to die," the young girl said Wednesday as she met to thank some of her benefactors at a New York apartment. Vasila said she's thrilled that she can now walk, dance and play with other children without the pain and fatigue that once made her feel doomed.

  The hopelessness began to fade when Vasila was discovered in Kabul by two independent filmmakers from the United States, Stacia Teele and Ed Robbins, who had traveled to Afghanistan to make a documentary about the war-ravaged country.

• And this Afghan boy has also benefitted from medical treatment:
  

  Zia Urrahman’s father was surprised and filled with joy when the boy showed how his right arm can move up to his head, a doctor said after surgery Thursday.

  “Everything went real well. Zia is in the recovery area, off the breathing machine,” Dr. John Mancoll, a plastic surgeon with St. Joseph Hospital, said after three hours of surgery.

  Scars from the burns were deeper in Zia’s back and armpit area, which made the surgery that was initially expected to last up to two-and-a-half hours take a little longer, Mancoll said.

  The 5-year-old Afghan boy was burned in a propane explosion at his home near Kabul. Members of the Indiana National Guard’s 76th Brigade, stationed at Camp Phoenix near Kabul, helped arrange treatment at the St. Joseph Regional Burn Center. The Northeast Indiana Burn Council raised money to bring Zia to Fort Wayne, and the hospital donated the cost of the surgeries and treatments.

• In response to recent rains which killed at least 50 people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in several villages in the Badakhshan province, aid organisations are springing into action:
  

  The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that both food and non-food emergency supplies, including tents and blankets, had been dispatched to Faizabad the provincial capital of Badakhshan over the past two days.

  The [Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development] has also airlifted 1,000 tents and 4,000 blankets for further distribution, officials said on Monday. Furthermore, a total of 88 mt of World Food Programme (WFP) assistance including wheat, oil, salt and pulses sufficient for nearly 9,000 people is on its way to reach 1,450 households in flood-affected areas.

  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has also sent aid packages out, including 1,100 family kits and other non-food items to the disaster area.

• The United Nations' World Food Program also continues to assist those most in need. For example, in one week 16 - 22 June 2005, the WFP's help has reached 305,400 people.
  


• Lastly, this valuable work to assist Afghan sportspeople:
  

  The Afghan Sports Federation (ASF) is a non-profit organization based in Fairfax, Va. of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. It is run by volunteer individuals, for the benefit of sports among the Afghan youths and Adults both men and women at every level of excellence in the region, the United States and the world.

  Afghan Sports Federation was formally chartered in 1998 by a group of Afghan Soccer (Football) players and Soccer (Football) enthusiasts in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area who have managed soccer teams since 1979.

  The aim of ASF is to create a center of guidance or counseling for Afghan athletes (men and women) who want to be active in amateur sports or pursue professional career in any athletic field of his/her choice. ASF serves as administrative umbrella to individual and team sports. ASF currently oversees Afghan Soccer League, Afghan Basketball League, Afghan Volleyball League and Afghan Bowling League.

  Over the past four years, ASF as the only official governing body for athletes and athletics in the region has made tremendous contribution towards the rebuilding of sport organizations and sport arenas inside Afghanistan. In 2002, ASF with the support of its affiliates and the Afghanistan Assistance Coordination Authority were able to purchase uniforms and equipments to donate to the Afghan Olympic Committee. In 2003, Afghan Sports Federation with the help from Afghan Olympic Committee, FIFA, Asia Soccer Federation and the Kabul Municipality was able to secure land for Afghanistan Soccer Federation's first ever Soccer Stadium. In 2004, ASF was able to provide assistance to the Afghan National Olympic Committee by facilitating Afghan Athletes participation in Olympic 2004, in Athens.

  Over the next five years, ASF's goal is to assist in building of sports organization and sports infrastructures in major cities of Afghanistan and promote sports among the local population and bring the level of athletic competition to world level standard inside Afghanistan and have Afghanistan athletes participate at the 2008 Olympics on their own merit.

THE COALITION TROOPS:

• Rebuilding Afghanistan, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, is a daunting challenge. Every effort helps, and so the Coalition soldiers are also involved in various projects to improve life around the country, in addition to providing security.
  


• The Coalition forces are filling the gaps in health services devastated by decades of conflict:
  

  As Afghanistan struggles to create a functioning health care system after 23 years of war, military hospitals and mobile clinics run by coalition forces are the only hope for thousands of Afghans of getting adequate medical care.
  The Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989, the civil war that followed it, and the subsequent medieval rule by Taliban militias destroyed what little health care infrastructure existed in the country before the Soviet invasion, and uprooted most doctors and nurses. According to the 2004 United Nations Human Development Report, there were only 210 health facilities with beds to hospitalize patients in the entire country last year. There are only 0.32 hospital beds per 1,000 people, compared to 2.7 beds on average in other developing countries.
  
  There is only one doctor per 10,000 people, against an average 11 doctors per 10,000 people in other developing countries.

• The challenges of recovering from such devastation are tremendous, and in the meantime the troops are finding themselves the health and emergency care providers of first choice in many areas of the country:
  

  The 249th General Hospital from Fort Gordon, Ga., is the largest and most sophisticated medical facility in eastern Afghanistan, and it attracts patients from Khost and neighboring provinces.
  Spc. Stephen Scull, a hospital clerk, said that as of March 4, the 249th General Hospital has seen more than 650 patients in the surgical ward alone. In addition, it treated more than a hundred trauma patients.
  
  The hospital staff also set up regular clinics just outside the camp. At one such clinic Tuesday, Army medics saw 85 patients.
  
  Sgt. 1st Class James Gillen, a medic with C Company, 307th Logistics Task Force, said that often American doctors are the last hope for these patients.
  
  "A lot of times ... they come expecting a miracle," Sgt. Gillen said.
  
  Patients from remote villages, who have never seen a doctor, hitchhike for days on elaborately decorated "jingle trucks" to see a doctor at the hospital. Some in critical condition can be flown in by medevac helicopters.
  
  It is not surprising, then, that providing health care services to the population has become one of the most effective tools in winning the hearts and minds of Afghans, even in areas that were initially hostile to coalition troops, said Lt. Col. Mark McLaughlin, commander of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Asadabad, in Kunar province on the border with Pakistan.

• As this BBC report notes, often the Coalition facilities offer the best hope for emergency treatment:
  

  Cradled in the arms of a US special forces soldier, a fragile young girl is levered on to a Black Hawk helicopter, an American "ambulance of the sky" bristling with machine guns and operated by gun-toting medics...

  Her name is Kamila, and she is eight years old, possibly 10. She has just stepped on a landmine and she is clinging to life.

  The flight to the American field hospital at Camp Salerno, a US base within artillery range of the Pakistan border, takes 20 minutes.

  Treatment in Peshawar, Pakistan, her only other realistic option, would have taken eight hours by land - a journey she would likely not have survived...

  Rushed inside the hospital, where the Stars and Stripes hangs proudly above the operating table, Kamila is sedated, offered more oxygen and given an urgent transfusion.

• The troops are also trying to help rebuild Afghanistan's education system. Read the story of this Californian National Servicemen who for 15 months was working hard to make a difference from Bagram base:
  

  Here's a question that won't appear on final exams at engineering school:

  You've just built a makeshift school to house 300 Afghan girls recently liberated from Taliban laws that forbade them an education. When the school opens, 700 girls show up, many willing to stand for hours in 90 degree heat for the chance to learn.
  Jim Anderson recently finished a 15-month stint in Afghanistan where, as an engineer in the Army Reserves, he participated in the U.S. effort to rebuild the country's post-Taliban infrastructure.

  The will and funds exist to build more buildings, but construction material is scarce. Leaving the children to suffer in the hot sun is not an option. What do you do?

  Lt. Colonel Jim Anderson says he couldn't be happier to be home again after 15 months serving as an engineer with the U.S. Army Reserves in Afghanistan, but he's going to miss the excitement, the challenge and the reward of answering questions like this. (Hint: The answer involves leftovers.)

  "It was just amazing that so much was happening, and so quickly," Anderson said from his office at the Conoco-Phillips facility in Santa Maria. "And the amount of building that private enterprise was doing was exceptional ... People really want democracy and they really want free enterprise."

• Read also this report about the Soldiers of 173rd Combat Support Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment constructing an 84-kilometer road to their base, which will also link 16 small towns with larger centers. Says Army 1st. Lt. Greg Couterier, Assault and Barrier Platoon leader: "The last time that road was built was 35 years ago by the Russians... [The local are] really happy to have us fixing the road."
  


• The troops continue to carry out humanitarian missions throughout the country:
  

  U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules based in Southwest Asia delivered more than 50,000 pounds of civil assistance cargo to Afghans during four airlift missions May 18 to 30 supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Coalition aircraft airdropped more than 6,000 pounds of humanitarian aid bundles near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on May 30. These air drops were part of the larger civic assistance program Combined Joint Task Force 76 that officials initiated to run concurrent with their maneuver operations.

• Near the Bagram airbase, the troops have adopted another village:
  

  About 50 Airmen recently volunteered to organize a container filled with nearly 63,000 pounds of donated supplies for an additional mission here -- the adoption of a village.

  Airman sorted the supplies into groups for males, females, adults and children.

  The Airmen then traveled to a village several miles outside Bagram to distribute the supplies. They delivered bags filled with basic school supplies to about 200 children from Haji Khan Baba, a small village within Afghanistan’s Parwan Province.

  “Each child received his or her own toy and bundle of school supplies,” said 1st Lt. David Knight, a 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron operations officer. “We also dropped off about two pickup trucks full of large bags of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing with the village elder. The toys and school supplies were donated by our troops here and their support system back home. The donated items never seem to stop coming.”

• The troops also get called on to provide emergency assistance, such as this recent evacuation of 119 Afghans stranded by floodwater on a small island on the Indus River near Mehtar Lam in the Logman province.
  


• It's not just the American troops. The French battalion medics have recently been assisting one committed and couragous woman to deliver aid:
  

  That day FRENCHBAT Lieutenant Colonel de Camaret (Frenchbat medical chairman) was at the head of a very special mission in the south of Kabul near Baburs' tomb.

  The purpose was to deliver medicine, drugs, and medical tools to AWOSA organisation's dispensary. "All the team was concerned and gave a hand to the project" underlines OR1 Attagnant, a fierce looking but careful medic of the French Foreign Legion.

  After a very charming lady presented the doctor the project she is setting up in the south of Kabul, it was decided to do the best to support this program. The lady's name is Mrs. Sima Tabib, and after more than 24 years of exile in Switzerland she came back to Afghanistan a year ago. She founded AWOSA, a non-governmental organization called "Afghan Woman and Orphan Supporting Association". With her own money she built a dispensary in the compound of the house she was born in (a house which has suffered much in 20 years of war). Very concerned about womens health issues, she employs a doctor, Mrs. Amina Shams, and two senior nurses Mrs. Nouria Karimi, and Soheila Ibrahimi. The medical equipment and facilities were made available with the help of a German based non-governmental organization.

• Lithuanian forces are preparing themselves to take over one of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, leading units from Great Britain, the United States, Iceland and Denmark. "This will the most important mission in the history of Lithuania's military forces," says Lithuanian Defense Minister Gediminas Kirkilas.
  


• And a New Zealand soldier is helping to build the knowledge base at an Afghan hospital:
  

  Urgently needed medical textbooks on subjects ranging from paediatrics and podiatry to neurology and nursing will soon be on their way to an Afghanistan hospital, courtesy of some New Zealand' medical fraternity and a Territorial Force officer, Dunedin anaesthetist Dr John Wilson.

  Dr Wilson, who, as a Territorial Force soldier belongs to the Otago South Regiment, was the medical officer for a rotation of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction team in Afghanistan last year. He is usually based at either Dunedin or Mercy hospitals.

  "In Bamyan where I was based with the NZPRT I helped train some of the nurses and doctors, and also worked as an anaesthetist. The Taliban destroyed most of their textbooks, and they were desperate for textbooks they could consult, both for on-going teaching or when they needed information during a medical procedure."

  "When I left to return to New Zealand they asked me if I could send them a anaesthetics text book. I talked to people I know in Dunedin about the work the PRT is doing, and the need for medical books, and before long I had quite a pile of them. In all about 150 have been donated, on nearly every medical subject you can think of."

• Also, this from the New Zealand contingent: "Kiwi money and manpower is bringing some new beginnings to Afghanistan. Work has started on a maternity ward in the local hospital in Bamyan in a project funded by NZAID. Some New Zealand defence force personnel are there for the laying of the first stones."

SECURITY:

• The authorities are optimistic about the security situation:
  

  Afghan security officials in the troubled south of the country say Taliban guerrillas are finished as a threat on the battlefield but they will be able to stage ambushes and bomb blasts for some time yet.

  The Taliban insurgency flared this spring after a lull over the snowbound winter months, disappointing many in the government and international community who thought the rebels had been mortally starved of resources and recruits.

  But in Kandahar, one of the provinces where the insurgents have been most active, officials said despite the recent violence, the Taliban were now a nuisance, not a military threat.

• Afghan forces are also improving security in the Paktika province:
  

  After a little more than four months of being permanently based here, the Afghan National Army's 3rd Kandak, 1st Brigade, 203rd Corps, is making instability in Paktika Province look like a thing of the past.

  With ANA troops operating out of bases in Shkin, Zormat, Orgun-E, Bermel and Lwara, triumph over anti-Coalition militants in Paktika is becoming more evident…

  In some cases, bases throughout the province that were once Taliban training camps are being taken over by the ANA, said Marine Lt. Col. Tom Beckman, commander of a 17-person embedded training team, who works closely with the Kandak.

  "They're sending a message that we've taken over your base and making it ours," said Beckman. The ANA has played a significant role in bringing stability to the province, Beckman said. "The importance really was putting an ANA face in Paktika Province," Beckman said. Afghans in the province were very receptive to the ANA soldiers when they arrived to the area, Ashraf said…

  What villagers came to understand very quickly was the ANA brought not only security to the province but jobs as well, said kandak commander Col. Anbia, who like many Afghans goes by one name.

  "There are a lot of opportunities for Afghans to find jobs for themselves," Anbia said of the job growth the ANA bases bring to the communities. "Afghans were living in disaster. It was a dark era in the past. Right now, people are recreating a lot of opportunities in Afghanistan. The country is going toward the light."

• And Afghanistan might be landlocked, but its one nautical boundary is now being surveyed to hopefully prevent future conflicts with its neighbor:
  

  A joint Afghan-Uzbek team comprising 40 experts has launched a survey to ascertain if the Amo River has really changed its course, leaving blurred nautical boundaries between the neighbours. Additionally, the surveyors will also determine which country islands on both sides of the river are located in. Isles have formed on either side, but there is no clarity yet which country they belong to.

  The surveyors initiated the difficult exercise after residents of riverine areas griped about frequent flooding – reportedly induced by Uzbek ships navigating there. Uzbek officials repudiate the claim, however.

  The mighty Central Asian river has been ravaging verdant farmlands and buildings in a string of northern Afghan villages. The 2500-kilometre-long Amo River flows through vast swathes of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan – sharing a 1,800-kilometer border.

  Commander Juma Gul Gildi, a member of the survey team, said that "Uzbek ships cruising toward Afghanistan make huge waves that damage areas situated close to the river on the Afghan side"...

  In order to prevent Uzbek ships from straying into Afghan waters, he continued, the delegates would thoroughly discuss and identify nautical boundaries between the two countries.

• Meanwhile, the amnesty program continues to bear fruit:
  

  The highest level Taliban commander to accept the Afghan government's amnesty offer has urged other Taliban members to take up the offer. After three and a half years on the run, Abdul Waheed Baghrani, a 51-year-old tribal chieftain from the northern Helmand province, recently came down from the mountains and surrendered... In return for surrendering, the American forces have organised aid deliveries to his area and have also offered to carry out reconstruction there. Baghrani is happy for the US military to stay in his country until it is able to defend itself, but only if US troops are always accompanied by their Afghan counterparts when raiding people's homes: "They come here to help us, and they should not do anything bad against our people," he said.

• And lower level members of the Taliban continue to integrate back into the society:
  

  Two ex-Taliban insurgents this week began the process of formally renouncing violence and swearing reconciliation to the duly elected government of Afghanistan. They are taking part in the government's Takhim-E Solh, or Strengthening Peace, program. Takhim-E Solh grants amnesty to mid- and low-level insurgents who agree to stop fighting and peacefully enter into civil society.

• Read the rest of the article to learn how the program works in practice. In other recent developments: "After talks with the 'National Unity Commission' in Paktia province, 250 opposition fighters left the Taleban forces and have returned to peaceful and normal life." In addition, "eleven Taliban leaders including some key figures have joined the reconciliation process in the southern Paktia province." "Former Taliban commander Saifur Rahman Sadiq, alias Safi has surrendered on Sunday [19 June] in the southern Khost province." Mullah Osmanullah Osman, Taliban commander in the Yaqubi district of the Khost province surrendered to authorities on June 28.
  


• Also recently, "eighteen opposition commanders affiliated with former prime minister and dissident warlord Gulbudin Hekmatyar have laid down their arms and joined the government" (more on that story here). In Takhar province, former mujahedin leader, Commander Piram Qul, laid down his arms in order to run for parliament. And "six former Jihadi commanders from the southern province of Helmand and the northeastern province of Faryab surrendered arms to the government on June 22." Overall, in the recent progress of the initiative,
  

  about 255 former jihadi commanders have so far voluntarily disarmed to join the upcoming parliamentary polls, says JEMB's spokesman Sultan Ahmad Bahin... The spokesman said the commanders had surrendered more than 2,000 heavy and light weapons... Meanwhile, a spokesman for the New Beginning for Afghanistan said 28 provinces had joined the DDR process, the second phase of which was started on June 2 from Nangarhar. The spokesman said 2056 different heavy and light weapons had been collected during the process.

• Most recently, four commanders in the Badakhshan province, and another 20 local commanders have laid down their arms in the Ghor province on 30 June in order to run in the coming election.
  


• Read also about this successful peacemaking effort:
  

  A conflict which has raged between neighbouring tribes in eastern Afghanistan for six decades, resulting in 60 deaths in the last year alone, has been resolved through the mediation of the United Nations mission in the country, a mission spokesman said today.

  Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that the Balkhel tribe of Paktya and the Sabari tribe of Khost last Wednesday agreed to unconditionally accept the decision of the Jirga of Greater Paktya Elders to end the conflict.

  The settlement came after two months of negotiations involving UNAMA and the three governors of Greater Paktya, who last week held a joint ceremony to announce the pact, along with the Jirga and representatives of coalition forces.

  An immediate benefit of the agreement will be an increase of construction activities in Greater Paktya, Mr. Edwards said. UNHCR has announced its interest in supporting the rebuilding of the road linking the two communities, which has been closed for the last eight years.

• The Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme has officially officially ended on June 30:
  

  The DDR has processed a total of 61,417 former Afghan militia force (AMF) members of which 52,509 have been assisted with reintegration package so far.

  The DDR, which started in November 2003 with Japan as the lead nation and major donor, has so far cost the international community more than US $100 million and is considered a major step towards restoring national security.

  "After today no one will be allowed to use or move weapons other than security organisations or those licensed to do so by the ministry of interior," Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said. According to UNAMA, 34,726 light and medium weapons have been collected under the DDR process, of which 14,754 have been handed to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), with the remainder held by the Afghan National Army.

• Here's one story from the New Beginnings Program:
  

  Sitting with six fellow commanders, Mohammad Daud, a 45-year-old ex-militiaman shared his impressions of a recent trip to Japan, as the former combatants gathered to receive certificates of demobilisation in the capital, Kabul.

  Daud was a leading commander in the southeastern Paktia province, fighting against both the invading Soviet army and later against the Taliban over the past two decades. He is now planning to fight against poverty and illiteracy in his hometown of Jaji, a border district in south of Paktia.

  "We are already too late. The people of Japan collectively started rehabilitation of their country right after the World War II but we are not making any progress in the last three years that war has been over," Daud said while his friends nodded in agreement, sharing Daud's concerns.

  "I think, we should work on education and agriculture for a sustainable development," he said. The ex-commander added that he was impressed with the agricultural and education systems in Japan when he visited Tokyo as part of a 10-day orientation trip organised by the UN-backed Afghanistan New Beginning Programme (ANBP), the official name of Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration of former combatants [DDR].

  ANBP has launched an initiative under the Commanders Incentive Programme (CIP) which grants ex-militia commanders financial assistance, or may send them abroad for short visits to learn from other experiences of post-conflict reconstruction.

  Daud is one of 11 former militia commanders from different military units around the country, that have been sent to Japan in two groups so far.

  He said he was impressed with Japan's forestation and industry, expressing deep concern that forests had disappeared in many parts of Afghanistan after decades of lawlessness and war.

  "Now let's fight against those who cut the trees and make their business, let's urge the local authorities and the tribal councils to encourage people to plant threes," he told other commanders who were on the same visit to Japan.

• Now, USAID is contributing another $3.5 million towards continuation of this valuable program.
  


• Demobilization also affected thousands of Afghanistan's children soldiers:
  

  Sitting around a tailor's table in a tiny shop, Najeebullah and his friends say they are proud to have once been child soldiers because now they are the only literate young people with jobs in Amirbai village, 35 km north of Kunduz, provincial town of the province with the same name in the north of the country. The group has been demobilised as part of a UN-backed programme after several years of life under arms...

  He's one of an estimated 8,000 child soldiers identified by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in post-war Afghanistan. Nearly 4,000 of these children have been demobilised and are actively involved in some form of rehabilitation under a UNICEF programme. The programme also addresses the needs of street children who have missed school through poverty or years of displacement.

  Najeebullah never went to school but managed to learn how to read and write in less than a year after joining an intensive literacy course which is obligatory for all demobilised child soldiers. He chose tailoring as a skill he wanted to master and now, six months later, he earns his living making clothes. He feels he has a future for the first time in his life.

  "I will soon join school as I can read and write now and will also open my own tailoring shop now that I have acquired a profession," he beamed while putting the finishing stitches in a pair of trousers he had made for a young relative.

• Training and equiping of Afghan security forces continue. The authorities are setting up a special police unit in Kabul. Meanwhile, there is more advanced training for Afghan police:
  

  The Afghan National Police graduated 11 police investigators from a course in crime scene investigation June 6...

  The training included classroom instruction and hands-on, practical exercises. Investigators learned about Afghan law and criminal procedures, protection and documentation of crime scenes, proper collection and preservation of evidence, crime scene photography and other fundamentals. They also completed a written examination.

  The Ministry of the Interior officially designated District 10 as the “model” station for Afghan police reform because of its strategic location in the capital. “U.S. civilian police mentors assigned to the District 10 ‘model’ police station project work alongside their Afghan counterparts daily,” said Dave Barrington, a U.S. police mentor with DynCorp International.

• 2,400 recruits a month are now joining the Afghan army through National Army Volunteer Centers. "There are 31 operational NAVCs, with four more under construction. One will be located in each of the country's 34 provinces, with two in the capital city of Kabul." And so, Army training continues to turn raw and enthusiastic recruits into a professional fighting force:
  

  As Afghanistan marches toward becoming a fully democratic nation, the Afghan National Army has marched another class of volunteer soldiers to graduation from basic training.

  Marking the 36th class to complete the training, 591 soldiers graduated from the Kabul Military Training Center on June 12.

  Several countries are involved in mentoring the Afghan basic training instructors, including the United States.

  "We are simply here to guide and give direction. We're like quality control," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Billy Rankin, mentor for the KMTC chief of staff. "It's their army -- some suggestions they like and some they don't like."

  This class was an infantry kandak (battalion). The soldiers learned basic tasks such as patrolling, conducting an attack, combat operations and marching.

  Their training is not finished, however; they still have to complete a field training exercise conducted by the Canadians and will then report to their assignments. This class will bring the ANA strength to 24,710 soldiers when they finish training.

• The growth and increasing professionalism and effectiveness of the Afghan army is in large part due to men like Sgt. Maj. Shamsadin, the command sergeant major of the 3rd Brigade, 201st Corp, a former refugee who returned home to serve in the new army right from the beginning, and has been recently given the official title "Grandfather of the Army" by the Ministry of Defence.
  


• In other recent development, "the Afghan National Army met another milestone recently when the first class of second-degree deminers graduated from a five-week advanced training course."
  


• Security forces are also growing more diverse:
  

  Faozia Mirakai grins widely and holds her gun as if she might drop it. But if threatened, she says, she could be a killer.

  Mirakai wears a green camouflage uniform and tan boots. The young woman punches her fists into the air alongside the Afghan men training to be anti-drug officers. She walks with a slight swagger. She jumps with the men, tries to do one-armed push-ups with them and marches with them. She makes faces at the men and jokes around.

  "Don't try to hit me," Mirakai says, pointing a Czech rifle in their direction.

  In most countries, the sight of a female police officer would hardly be interesting. But this is Afghanistan, where women were banned from working for years. Many women still are forced to stay at home. Many still wear burqas, which cover everything, even a woman's eyes.

• As the report notes, the work of female anti-drug enforcers is essential because of Afghanistan's cultural sensitivities, which prohibit male officers from searching women suspects - 20 of which have been arrested so far, smuggling drugs under their burquas.
  


• Thanks to international assistance, 911 is coming to Afgahanistan:
  

  The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International announced its participation in a project to create Afghanistan's first emergency telephone system...

  The project is being coordinated by the Kabul City Police (KCP) Communications Center Working Group, a joint effort of the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior, the KCP, Afghan Wireless Communication Company, the Roshan Wireless, Task Force Phoenix (the 76th Infantry Brigade, Indiana National Guard, U.S. Army), the German Police Support Projektburo, and the U.S. State Department Police Assistance program.

  The KCP Communications Center project will support this effort by developing a phone system using the existing cellular phone network to provide capabilities similar to 9-1-1 in the U.S. KCP will serve as the model for this new emergency call center.

• Construction of infrastructre for Afghan security forces also continues:
  

  The Military Entrance Processing Station in Kabul is the place where all new recruits will begin their journey to become Soldiers in the Afghan National Army. The MEPS, which is now under construction, is also where some Afghan workers are taking their place in the reconstruction of their country. Maj. Isaac Washington, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ resident project manager for the MEPS facility, said, “Over the next six months, we’ll construct some 12 buildings from nothing to something at a cost of approximately $9 to $10 million. When the buildings are completed at the end of this year, the Afghan National Army will be able to house and feed 2,400 recruits.”

• The center is only one small part of a bigger picture: overall, "the Afghanistan Engineer District (AED) of the US Army Corps of Engineers has built or is currently building facilities at 11 installations to house 35,000 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in different provinces," according to Army spokesman James Yonts. "These facilities would be constructed in Kabul, Kandahar, Khost,Gerdez, Mazar-e-Sharif and Qalat... The projects costing over 814 million US dollars, according to the spokesman, would cover constructing 421 barracks, 73 administrative buildings, 12 dining facilities and 225 support facilities, which include morale, welfare and recreation such as gyms and community centers."
  


• Also recently, "President Hamid Karzai has inaugurated a 70 million US dollar military compound in the southern city of Gardez, capital of Paktia province. The huge compound for the 203rd unit of the Afghan National Army can house as many as 4,500 soldiers. Corps commander Rahmatullah Raufi said that the project was financed with some of the 250 million dollars pledged by the United States for the Afghan army."
  


• Taliban also continue to be disarmed:
  


• On 4 June, an arms caches was recovered in the Dandi Patan district in the southern province of Paktia;
  


• On June 11, two Taliban bombmakers have been identified by the locals in near Deh Rahwod and turned over to the authorities;
  


• "Troops from the 207th Corps of the Afghan National Army seized three trucks loaded with arms and munitions in the western province of Ghor on June 28, said defence ministry spokesman Zaher Murad";
  


• "Officials in the southeastern Khost province claimed recovering huge quantity of explosives and a cache of arms in Mandozai district on Monday [June 27]. The arms were dumped in a madressah, which was abandoned a year ago. On tip off, police raided the building and recovered 400 kilograms of explosives besides a number of rocket bullets, wires, bomb fuses, batteries, remote control bombs and two official number plates";
  


• On June 29, "security officials in the northern Herat province claimed unearthing a dump of arms and ammunitions in Injil and Guzra districts of the province... 250 light and heavy arms including anti-tank and personnel mines had been recovered over two days".
  


• In other recent security successes:
  


• Killing of 10 Taliban in two days of clashes with security forces in the Zabul province in late May;
  


• The capture by the Afghan army of two high-ranking Taliban commanders: "Hajji Sultan, the former Taliban military commander for the western zone of Afghanistan covering Farah and Nimruz Provinces and the Shindand region... [and] Mullah Muhammad Rahim, a former deputy frontline commander from western Afghanistan." Both are accused of orchestrating a string of terrorist attacks;
  


• "Three insurgents were captured and one was killed... following an ambush of Afghan and coalition forces south of Qalat in Afghanistan's Zabul province" on May 5;
  


• The arrest on June 8 of Mullah Abdul Razak, Taliban leader in Arghandab district, just north of Kandahar; "[he] was handed over to coalition forces after being caught traveling in a taxi when troops at a checkpoint recognized his face from a list of photographs of wanted suspects";
  


• Seven Taliban fighters killed in an unsuccessful ambush of a joint Coalition-Afghan patrol in Paktika province on June 9;
  


• Two suspected Taliban arrested during a crackdown in Kandahar province on June 9; BM-12 missiles were recovered from one of the arrested;
  


• Three roadside bombs discovered and defused by the Coalition and Afghan forces around the country on June 13; another three bombs defused on the same day in Kandahar;
  


• Seven Taliban killed, 13 wounded and 2 arrested following a firefight with the Afghan army in Mian Nishin district of Kandahar province on June 15;
  


• "Government forces claimed Thursday [June 16] they had seized sensitive documents containing the satellite phone number of elusive Taliban supremo Mullah Mohammad Omar. The documents were recovered from five Taliban fighters including a Taliban held a day earlier in Gillan district of the southern Ghazni province. The arrests came during a hunt for combatants hiding in the area. Major Dost Mohammad told Pajhwok Afghan News Mullah Naqib, formerly a police chief in a district of the province, was captured at the end of a weeklong search operation for insurgents in the region. He added the search also yielded a truckload of weapons seized from Taliban remnants in Gillan, Maqur and Nawa districts. Earlier during the operation, the intelligence chief of Jawzjan said, Taliban Commander Hazrat Ali was also arrested from the Gillan district";
  


• Two Taliban commanders, Abdul Haq and Mullah Idrees, captured by the Afghan army in south west of the country on June 17;
  


• Between 15 and 20 Taliban killed in an airstrike called following an ambush on a joint American-Afghan patrol in Helmand province on June 19; eight more Taliban killed the same day by the government forces in Zabul province;
  


• The arrest on June 20 of three Pakistanis planning to assassinate the US Ambassador in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad;
  


• The killing of over 100 Taliban in three days of fighting in the Daychopan district of Zabul province between 21 and 23 June; another 80 killed over the following few days;
  


• 60 Taleban killed and 30 captured in the Mian Shin district of the southern province of Kandahar on June 21; you can read this extensive report from the operation here;
  


• Four roadside bombs neuralized throughout the country on June 24; "'Afghan and coalition forces routinely find these devices in Afghanistan,' said Army Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force 76. 'Our forces are getting better at spotting the signs of their presence. ... ( The IEDs ) often are turned in to us by Afghans who are tired of the senseless violence that they cause.' According to O'Hara, the devices usually are placed and detonated by individuals with no real animosity toward coalition forces. 'We often find that the person who places the device or attempts to detonate it is motivated by nothing more than money or fear of reprisal against his loved ones if he refuses the terrorists' demands,' he explained";
  


• Two Taliban commanders arrested on June 26/27 in the Helmand province;
  


• Ten suspected Taliban fighters arrested in the Farah province on June 28;
  


• Five Pakistanis arrested on June 29, on the road to Kandahar, accused of planning terrorist attacks;
  


• "Afghan National police, with assistance of US-led Coalition Troops, have killed five suspected Taleban militants and detained nine others in southern Zabul province since June 2".
  


• Afghan authorities are making slow and steady progress in the fight against drugs:
  

  Afghanistan has embarked on a concerted campaign to tackle its booming narcotics trade, the counter narcotics minister, Habibullah Qaderi announced, following an event that included the burning of 30 mt of refined and raw opium on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, on Sunday [25 June].

  The move marked the United Nations international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

  Afghanistan produced 4,600 mt of opium in 2004, accounting for 86 percent of the total world supply of the highly addictive drug. According to the ministry of interior, Sunday's ritual incineration of drugs seized in recent months was the largest ever. The previous record,13.8 mt of cocaine was burned in Colombia only last month.

  Afghan officials say their 'get tough' policy is bearing fruit and that they are seizing ever-increasing amounts of drugs. Up to 50 drug traffickers are currently being tried in Afghan courts.

  Qaderi said the country was beginning to turn the tide against drugs and hoped for a 30 percent reduction in poppy cultivation this year.

• With foreign assistance, the authorities are trying to dissuade farmers from growing opium:
  

  The government is mulling to invest $2 million in Ghor province to discourage poppy cultivation and provide alternative sources of income to the people.

  The amount being provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will be spent under the National Emergency Employment Programme (NEEP) to provide maximum employment opportunities to the people of that province.

  A team comprising the Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development Hanif Atmar, agriculture experts and provincial officials visited the target areas on Sunday [25 June].

• Other farmers are already receiving assistance: "The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has distributed more than 45 metric tonnes of improved seeds and 232 tons of fertiliser to farmers in the southern province of Urozgan. Ministry spokesman Abdul Latif Rasouli said that 3,500 farmers had benefited from the assistance, provided by USAID, which is part of efforts to end opium poppy cultivation through improved cultivation of alternative crops."
  


• In other recent successes in the war on drugs:
  


• Recovery and destruction in southern Helmand and eastern Nangarhar provinces in early June of 21 tonnes of opium, 180 kilograms of heroin and a significant amount of chemicals used in processing drugs;
  


• "Security officials seized 850 kilograms of hashish in the Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province" in early June;
  


• On June 11, "six smugglers were arrested in the southwestern Helmand province along with 1,690 kilograms of opium";
  


• Two days later, again in the Helmand province, the authorities busted another ring and seized four tons of heroin;
  


• On June 16, "police had seized 89 kilograms of narcotics at two different points on the Kabul-Jalalabad Highway"; also "police in the southern Zabul province arrested two alleged smugglers along with 180 kilograms of heroin";
  


• More than 30 heroin labs destroyed in Jalalabad on June 19;
  


• "Counter-narcotics officials claimed seizing 500 kilograms of hashish in the Niazi Kala area of the Gardez city in Paktia" on June 21;
  


• On 25 June, the police in Helmand province have seized 4 tons of opium and 20 kg of heroin, seizing six people in the operation;
  
  334 kg of opium seized on June 27 in two incidents in Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces;
  


• In late June, "police destroyed seven heroin manufacturing laboratories in the Argo district of the northeastern Badakhshan province. Badakhshan police chief Colonel Shah Jehan Noori said labs were wiped out in the villages of Aab Barek, Dah Dara, Hazar Mashi, Tajikha over three days. Twenty one kilogrammes of opium and four kilogrammes of heroin were also recovered during the crackdown".