2007 Press Releases
Rice Pays Surprise Visit to Iraq, Highlights Rebuilding Partnerships
(Secretary meets with Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kirkuk)
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
State Department Correspondent
December 18, 2007
Baghdad – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise one-day visit to Iraq December 18, first meeting with members of a U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to discuss its rebuilding and stabilization efforts before traveling on to meet with top officials in the capital.
Rice began her unannounced visit with a stop in Kirkuk, a mainly Kurdish town in the oil-producing Tameem province north of Baghdad, where she was briefed by PRT Leader Howard Keegan on his team’s reconstruction efforts in partnership with local Iraqis.
Accompanied by Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Department of State Special Coordinator for Iraq Ambassador David Satterfield, Rice also met with local leaders led by Provincial Council Chairman Rizgar Ali.
After the visit, Keegan told the U.S. Embassy press office that his team briefed Rice on a number of PRT projects including a vocational technical school (VOTEC); an Iraqi business women's center as well as the rehabilitation of a sewing factory worth $2 million. Since 2003, the U.S. Government has spent $32 billion on reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The Iraqi Government has budgeted more than $9 billion of its own funds toward economic development in 2008.
Keegan said the sewing factory was especially important because “it will employ approximately 500 women, many of whom are the sole breadwinners in their families because they are widows.”
The PRT leader said The Kirkuk Center for Business and Professional Women recently had its first regional meeting on CEDAW (UN Convention for Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women) hosted by the Center and the Global Justice Center from New York.
More than fifty women and men attended the event and “will now focus on forming committees and advocacy groups to address the legal applications of international and Iraqi law in this area,” Keegan added.
He said the Secretary was also briefed on agriculture and its critical role for employment in the province, information Rice later used in her official meeting with provincial officials where she stressed continued support by the U.S. Government toward the vital sector.
As it stands, PRT training programs aimed at small farmers in Tameem province is “producing tangible results,” Keegan said. Thirty-eight training workshops have been conducted in conjunction with the provincial Director General of Agriculture and Kirkuk University and over 1,500 farmers have acquired modern techniques in agriculture, animal husbandry, and prevention of livestock diseases.
The PRT training also facilitated the establishment of new groves for fruit and olive trees using modern irrigation systems, resulting in production rate increases of over 30% and increased revenue for the farmers due to higher quality, value-added crops and products for market.
Other PRT achievements in Kirkuk, Keegan mentioned, Include: The Ministry of Industry and Minerals’ recent approval of the rehabilitation of a Cotton Gin in the city. The cotton industry was a stable industry in Kirkuk and its revitalization will generate many jobs and eventually help spur economic growth. The equipment and required specifications for the rehabilitation will be well over $2 million. The PRT is now working with the gin manager and engineers to obtain the equipment and resources needed to revitalize the industry in Kirkuk.
The PRT leader said Secretary Rice made it plain that “like most people in the world, the Iraqi people are looking at quality of life issues such as employment decent, clean towns to raise their families and the opportunity for a normal stable life.” She added that “We are long term partners in these efforts and that the PRT, Embassy and U.S. Government are all committed to helping the Iraqis achieve these goals.”
First established in Iraq in 2005 by President Bush and inaugurated by Secretary Rice in November that year, PRTs are a Department of State program employing civilian-military units to assist provincial and local governments to deliver essential needs like schools, roads and sewage and water services. A major focus is also to build local and regional capacity in governance.
The all-volunteer teams are led by a State Department official with a military deputy. Specialists from agencies like USDA, USAID, DOJ and Army Corps of Engineers round out the PRTs located in all of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Since the Surge of Summer 2007 a number of “embedded” PRTs or EPRTs have been established to work closely with the U.S. military in Anbar and areas of Baghdad as part of President Bush’s “New Way Forward” strategy.
As of mid-December 2007 there were 28 PRTs located in all 18 of Iraq’s provinces -- 15 embedded with military units -- staffed by approximately 700 people. Since 2003, the U.S. Government has spent $32 billion on reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Iraq supported by PRTs.
After her Kirkuk visit Rice continued on to Baghdad where she met with President Nouri al Maliki and had lunch with Prime Minister Jalal Talibani. The Secretary also met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and later attended a joint press conference with the foreign minister at the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC) located in the Green Zone.