Most of us are sick of hearing about all the horrible things that happen in Iraq without ever hearing about any of the good ones. That's not because horrible things don't occur every day somewhere in the country. It is that such accounts do not form part of the solution, and this is a view held with particular passion by Americans working for the improvement of Iraq, such as Maurey Blake Bond, Business Development Director for the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IACCI).

He cites the success of projects such as those managed under the I-BIZ (Iraqi Business and Industrial Zone) program, the work of the US Army Corps of Engineers and Multi-National Corps-Iraq (MNC-I) or C9 as examples of those many micro-economic miracles that usually fail to make the headlines.

I-BIZ is an initiative intended to give Iraqi companies better access to US contracts, to establish security to let Iraqi companies develop, and train individual Iraqis in skills such as carpentry, plumbing and electrical work. It consists of a contracting office, two Iraqi industrial plants - one for producing concrete and the other for crushing rock into gravel - alongside shipping and receiving yard and a skills training area. It also has the potential to save the US government a significant amount of money by using cheaper Iraqi labor for many jobs usually performed by other contracted foreign nationals.

The I-BIZ is only one small tactical victory in need of a much larger strategic or political triumph. Some scholars and foreign policy experts claim that one of the major lessons of Vietnam is that tactical victories do not equal success at the strategic or political level. But as a collection of many small steps, it is part of a series of US-military sponsored economic reconstruction programs that are helping to put Iraqi citizens - small-engine mechanics, well drillers, plumbers, air conditioning repairmen, carpenters and welders - back into employment.

“I-BIZ is a program that provides secure locations on or next to military bases for privately-owned, small and medium sized Iraqi businesses employing Iraqi workers,” explains Bond. The program, he says, injects money into the Iraqi economy while boosting social stability by providing jobs to Iraqis.

I-BIZ-affiliated ventures employ more than 1,400 Iraqis with annual salaries totaling more than US$10 million. Successful businesses that participate in the I-BIZ program include building trades, vehicle-repair, retail shops, cement and asphalt, metal cutting, trucking and generator repair.

The I-BIZ program is growing, Bond said, noting it is now being implemented on 11 coalition bases, with plans to expand it to 14 bases before the end of the year.

The successful Iraqi First LOGCAP (Logistics Civil Augmentation Program) and Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone programs are direct results of the directives of General David Petraeus (commander of Multi-National Force Iraq) early in 2007.

The Iraqi First LOGCAP program provides a conduit for Iraqi businesses to sell their products and services to coalition customers.

“The movement is to put Iraqis first in purchase decisions,” says Bond. LOGCAP, he said, is the name of the military logistics contracting and purchasing system. LOGCAP is a prime example and one of the programs in which Iraqi First is being applied.

“We are helping to direct more and more jobs supporting this contract to Iraqis,” continues Bond. “In addition, the military is directing more purchases of products to Iraqi suppliers. The goal is to have Iraqi workers and Iraqi suppliers to be a significant part of the total logistics support.”

Today, about 4,000 Iraqi citizens are holding jobs as part of the Iraqi First-LOGCAP program. At some installations, Iraqi citizens make up more than 50% of the work force. Iraqis also have a growing presence in both professional and administrative positions. Another new initiative is exploring ways to hire Iraqis through Iraqi-government-sponsored vocational technical schools.

The Iraqi First-LOGCAP program is also about buying Iraqi products for use on US Army bases. This is significant since the US military in Iraq bought more than $182 million worth of Iraqi products and services over the past year. For example, a recent business transaction with an Iraqi plastics factory resulted in the reopening of three plastic-bag production lines.

LOGCAP-affiliated purchases have involved more than 200 Iraqi vendors providing thousands of items and products. Iraqi-supplied goods and services include construction materials, metals, tools, plastic spoons, heating and cooling equipment, as well as maintenance, laundry and food service and supply services.

For now, many visitors to Baghdad admit they shocked at what they see in terms of the local electricity, water or sanitation systems. Iraqis, meanwhile, express genuine concern about how much better Americans are living in Iraq than Iraqis themselves. But things have started to change, by all accounts, and some Iraqis have started to see that some things might be improving for them, too.

By Trevor Lloyd-Jones, Gulf News, September 10, 2008 (excerpts)