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Description
When US and Coalition Forces invaded Iraq in March 2003, the Iraqi people reacted in an unexpected fashion. They stayed in Iraq instead of becoming refugees, and the Iraqi combatants destroyed their own country's infrastructure, to include water and electric lines, government buildings and factories that provided the jobs and goods the population needed. Schools, hospitals and businesses were looted. The oil pipelines and processing facilities were sabotaged, and the workers left because no one was left to pay their wages.
Insurgents scared off the few law enforcement officers who tried to respond, and the Iraqi Army and border police quit and left their posts. The Iraqis had little leadership and plunged into lawlessness. Uncertainty became a way of life for the once powerful country.
During the stability phase that began shortly after the government of Saddam Hussein toppled, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) began working to make positive changes amid the chaos that was Iraq. The problem was that there were not enough NGOs to take care of the Iraqis' needs. A large amount of humanitarian operations fell on the shoulders of the Coalition Forces, called civil-military operations (CMO), especially in the areas the farthest away from Baghdad.
What could the US military have done to get more NGO involvement earlier to support humanitarian assistance and nation-building in Iraq? This article explores the kinds of NGOs that exist and the support the US military can offer to make NGO humanitarianism and nation-building work in conjunction with stability and support operations.
NGOs and Their Challenges. There are no easy answers for the problems involved in supporting NGOs in a combat zone. A good start is arming ground commanders with the knowledge that they need to understand what NGOs do. NGOs range from humanitarian to political to developmental in scope and are not limited to nonprofit organizations.
The US Department... |
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