Sitting in the airplane, waiting to fly out of Denver, I stare listlessly out the window. I am empty. The gray clouds above spit gray mist down onto the gray pavement. A raindrop streaks down my window like the teardrop that burned down her cheek when we said goodbye.

 

I met some great people along the way here. A Chilean business owner and I talk about U.S. immigration. I debate U.S. foreign policy in Eastern Europe with a young Hungarian doctoral candidate. A German businessman and I talk about family and life. The world is full of interesting people. 

 

My job here in Iraq is to oversee reconstruction in one of the provinces.

The need is great. Electricity is available only a few hours a day. Water lines are in disrepair, sewage lines are worthless. 

I should first dispel the misconception that we are rebuilding what the U.S. has destroyed. For almost two decades now, the infrastructure has been neglected. When the oil-for-food program began, the last regime allowed the country's infrastructure to fall apart. It's two decades of neglect that we are rebuilding.

None of our projects here are possible without the full teamwork and cooperation of the Iraqis, which is exactly the way it should be. We let community leaders know from the beginning that if we have any trouble, we'll terminate the project and spend our money in a different province.  We get results. Nothing is as effective as threatening to take our money elsewhere. 

I have about 30 or so projects. The real work is done by our Iraqi engineers who are on site every day and keep me updated.

The most common of our projects are buildings: schools, police stations, hospitals. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed more than 1,000 projects here in southern Iraq alone, with 500 more currently under construction.

More than a fourth of our project budget has gone to rebuilding the electrical system. About a fourth to the water system, and almost another fourth to the oil infrastructure. The last fourth has gone to the building projects. 

Reconstruction is the best investment the U.S. has made here.

One of the biggest threats to the U.S. in Iraq is unemployment. Without jobs, the people suffer and the insurgency gains momentum.  Idleness, unemployment, and poverty will destroy everything the U.S. has worked for here. That's why all of the construction on our projects is done by local contractors and local labor. 

The challenges are immense -- specifically security. I'll say no more except that all we can do as engineers here is minimize our risks and forge ahead. 

 

It's a complicated issue, our presence here. But I can say unequivocally that the reconstruction is worth the investment.

The reconstruction is giving jobs to locals; it is energizing the economy; it is helping bring a sense of normality to life here; it is providing basic utilities and services; and it is proving once and for all to the Iraqi people that we really do have their best interests in mind, that we are in this together