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Blogger’s Roundtable: PRTs in Iraq

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08.04.2007 at 12:32pm

The Small Wars Journal / Small Wars Council participated in a Blogger’s Roundtable on Friday with Philip Reeker, US Embassy, Baghdad. The subject was Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Iraq.

Participants included Andrew Lubin of On Point, Grim of Blackfive, Dave Dilegge of Small Wars Journal / Small Wars Council, Austin Bay, Richard Fernandez of The Belmont Club, David Axe of Aviation Week, Charlie Quidnunc of Wizbang and Jason Sigger of Armchair Generalist.

As soon as DoD posts the transcript of this roundtable we will place a link here.

SWJ BLUF (On Edit – this is my take-away from the roundtable – opinion on the matter)

The PRTs are a critical component of the population-centric “new strategy” for Iraq to include one of its tactical elements — “the surge”. Criticisms of those executing the grassroots (local level) nature of the PRT program are not only unwarranted, they are detrimental to the success of ongoing operations.

A reality check boils down to reconciliation on a national level is not moving forward — those “in-country” are painfully aware of the “Washington Clock” and are exploiting the only viable option available – working at the local level to provide at least a solid base in terms of rule of law, infrastructure, economic development, governance, and public diplomacy. National-level reconciliation might very well be enabled by these grassroots efforts.

Hindsight 20 / 20 as it is, maybe a bottom-up approach should have been a lynchpin of OIF from the very beginning.

Mr. Reeker led off the roundtable with an overview of the PRT program. See this earlier SWJ post for PRT background details.

SWJ Blogger Roundtable Notes

Q. Normal makeup of a PRT and specifics on Anbar PRT? (On Point)

A. Constant challenge of security vs. openness. Do what you can, but for the most part PRTs can get out with escorts. DoS security regulations not designed for Iraq, wouldn’t even be in Iraq if regulations were adhered to. But, the military can get out and about so State is too per Amb. Crocker — it is a priority.

Makeup of PRTs differ from one province to another. Based on needs of particular team. PRTs can ask for what they want. Typical / standard — Civilian leader, Deputy (military), Rule of Law Coordinator, Economic Advisor, Agriculture Advisor, Security, Civil Engineering, Local Governance Team, Public Diplomacy Assistant. Again, each PRT differs depending on location, on-ground sit and whether embedded with BCT or not.

Q. PRT recruiting process – needs? (Blackfive)

A. Will get back with contact in Washington for PRT recruiting. Mil-Bloggers have an audience with backgrounds / experience that would be good for PRTs.

Q. Are PRTs engaged in any direct political work to influence the grassroots to marry up with the higher level political goals of the United States and Iraq? (Belmont Club)

A. Political process has been much more difficult than anticipated. But on the local level there have been some major positives steps. Anbar — reconciliation (Tribal Chiefs accommodations — common interests). Whether local progress can seep into central government efforts is a very good question — very hard. Result of legacy Baathist rule that destroyed / disrupted social structures. Progress requires time.

Q. PRT training and / or education prior to deployment? (Small Wars Journal)

A. Will follow up with more details. They go through a PRT course at possibly the Foreign Service Institute, security course (s). Trying to add more of culture / regional courses. Specialized members bring their expertise with them. Once they get in Iraq they go through orientation training at the Embassy. When join PRT they enjoy “being on their own” — setting their own priorities.

Q. Goldwater / Nichols II for Civilian Agencies (Interagency) — would it be of use now in Iraq? (Austin Bay)

A. Worthy points, initiative to create rapid reaction capability at State (Amb. Pascal’s earlier efforts — Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization). Teams with specialization (like military) and capability to rapidly deploy. Identified as what we need — but do not give up traditional diplomacy. State does not have the personnel / resources like the military. State stepping up to the challenge. Efforts to integrate USAID, Treasury, Justice, etc. New territory for State, whatever comes out of Iraq we will have learned some new ways of doing things in the Interagency realm.

Q. Do we have the time to be doing the grassroots efforts while learning 3 ½ years into OIF? (Austin Bay)

A. Much harder than many people anticipated — time is an issue. Hindsight is 20 / 20, we are were we are and we are on it — do what we can do to help the Iraqis.

Q. Grassroots effort to reform Iraq at the local level is doomed until national reconciliation, how do you react to that assessment that “grassroots” is a wasted effort? (Aviation Week)

A. We’ve seen progress at the local level. Is it enough? No, but if you only try to reform from the national level outwards that won’t work either. So we’ve gone back to the most basic elements — tribes, family. No perfect answers but you have to think about it from both ends. PRTs designed to go out to the local level to get things moving. Also working the central level.

Q. How do those in the opinion-writing business who support the surge explain how would things be so much better if we stay around 18-24 months. Do you need a diplomacy surge? (Whizbang)

A. The diplomatic surge, if you want to call it that, was designed for three phases until the end of the year, up to 600 people on staff in the PRTs. That goes on while we try to focus on getting the Iraqis to take advantage of the surge.

Update: Blogger’s Roundtables and PRTs in Iraq – MountainRunner

… I want to talk about the loop I didn’t even know existed three weeks ago. The loop is DOD’s connection to new media, providing information directly to influential bloggers as well as traditional media. It is doing a tremendous job of making resources available to new thought leaders that have either direct or (often deep) indirect connections to traditional media, not to mention John Q. Public in the US and around the world.

DOD’s outreach program is smartly run. The Chief of New Media Operations, Charles “Jack” Holt, is an old hand at public affairs and in personal conversations gets the perception problems of the US military with both the domestic US audience and where they are operating. He knows and has seen Americans on deployment in hotspots in the Former Yugoslavia Republic, as it true today and even when things were safer in Iraq, American forces roll up in full battle rattle ready to engage the enemy and not the public. It is the latter that requires the engagement and the attention.

Compare this effort by the DOD by State’s. The Provincial Reconstruction Teams, the topic of the Friday, Aug 4 call, is focused on this engagement with the people, resulting in what Grim at Blackfive.net noted was an unusual appearance of State on the DOD conference call. But where else would the PRTs go to get the word out? State isn’t doing outreach. They don’t even know how. Karen Hughes’ office, the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, uses “four or five” bloggers to surf the blogosphere, find misleading and wrong statement, and correct them with official US government statements.

Pressured to do the same, DOD’s Jack Holt decided to provide access to thought leaders in the blogosphere directly, providing unvarnished, unfiltered information into the debate…

Selected PRT Background Links

Provincial Reconstruction Teams – Department of State Fact Sheet

Expanded Provincial Reconstruction Teams Speed the Transition to Self-Reliance – White House Fact Sheet

Provincial Reconstruction Teams – Wikipedia

Initial Benchmark Assessment Report – White House

Reconstruction in Iraq: The Uncertain Way Ahead – Center for Strategic and International Studies

Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq – United States Institute of Peace

Military Must Fill Iraq Civilian JobsWashington Post

Pentagon to Fill Iraq Reconstruction Jobs TemporarilyNew York Times

Negroponte Advises New Diplomats to Seek Challenging PostsNew York Times

Iraq Rebuilding Short on Qualified CiviliansWashington Post

The President’s Civil Reserve Corps – MountainRunner

Iraq- PRTs Help Iraqis with Rule of Law and Connecting With Central Government – Civil-Military Relations Blog

Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project – PCR Project Blog

Interagency Transformation, Education & AAR – National Defense University

Agency for International Development – Department of State

Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization – Department of State

SWJ Reference Library Interagency Page

Current PRT Job Opportunities – Department of State

Current PRT Job Opportunities – Department of Defense

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