http://www.blackanthem.com/News/Alli...hdad4970.shtml












Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq - Throughout communities within the United States, business owners gather to form a tightly wound network to strengthen their local economy. For the past year or so, the Karkh business owners have tried to form their own network in hopes of achieving the same aims.

When Baghdad's Karkh district business owners met at the District Advisory Council Hall March 3 to elect their representatives, they decided they needed more time, to not only figure out who would best represent them, but also needed more time to hash out their newly-formed organization's bylaws.

Maj. James H. Adams, the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, executive officer, of Alexandria, La., said coalition forces, who serve as advisors, couldn't be prouder of the delay.

"This is governance in action," Adams said proudly. "This shows so much functionality. They made a decision and went with it. This showed courage and functionality to make a decision."

Capt. Jason Lewis, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team's Civil Affairs officer, who calls Portland, Ore., home, agreed that the elections should take more time. He said the officers should be those business owners who have done well despite the war.

"They are natural leaders," said Lewis. "They have the power or ‘wasta,' a local term used for people with pull. They can survive the war and drive around in a Mercedes. They are the people you want running Baghdad."

According to Adams, the DAC, which provides legitimacy to the, would-be chamber of commerce, would work together with the organization to enforce standards on other business leaders.

The thought is that the business owners would, according to the bylaws, agree to hire contractors from within their own community who could do the work, do it right, and in a timely manner, thereby promoting a stronger economy for Karkh district of the Iraqi capital.

"We want to put your family, your neighbors, your friends to work ... the DAC has recognized that, and we know that's the way to proceed," said Maj. Chip Daniels, the infrastructure coordination element chief from Palmyra, Pa., to the DAC members and business owners.

In other districts of Baghdad, such as Al Doura, the chamber of commerce has flourished. It's opened more than 170 different shops and numerous markets by using the same principles, according to Lewis.

"We want [Karkh] to learn from the lessons in Doura because it's been successful there," he said. "Businessmen will listen to other businessmen."

For coalition forces, who usually take a back seat to the big decisions made by the DAC, they know that the future of Baghdad, both it economic and security stability, largely depends on the "yea's" and "nea's" in forums like the chamber of commerce.

"The bottom line is the jobs," said Lewis. "I think the insurgency is caused by people not having jobs."

He added that it's not about hiring people to do senseless work, or the "band-aid" method, but rather jobs with viable skills and trades that would ultimately help increase the local market.

"Karkh is right on the cusps of economic surge," said Adams. "This district is going to be a shining star for the rest of Baghdad; it'll be the model for the rest of Baghdad."

The question of how long it would take for Karkh to have a fully-functional chamber of commerce may be answered by U.S. history. Adams draws back to the length of time it took the founding fathers to agree on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

"I think it's more conditions-based than time-based," he said. "You have to first build a functional council before you move on. You can work a timeline, but you have to be willing to deviate from the timeline due to members leaving and other events."

How this works out is something most of the DAC and Karkh residents are interested in seeing. Many of them, according to Adams, eagerly await the decisions so they can just live in peace and have a nice place to raise their children.

"I see this as so monumental," he said. "One-hundred years from now, they can look back - yeah, there were some growing pains, but it was something that worked."