Sunni city turns to Iraqi government – not U.S. – to fund reconstruction

[unhappycamper]

Sunni city turns to Iraqi government – not U.S. – to fund reconstruction
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, October 25, 2008

TARMIYAH, Iraq — Marketing isn’t exactly synonymous with democracy.

Cynics often dismiss local government’s attempts to win support for pet projects with dirty words like "lobbying," "special interest" or, worst of all, "pork."

Those cynics would undoubtedly have recognized the Tarmiyah Reconstruction Expo that took place Wednesday in this small city just north of Taji. Local leaders unabashedly pressed the flesh at Tarmiyah’s meeting hall to entice government spending into the area.

But such events are hardly the norm in a country that has long depended on American money. Many — probably most — Iraqis instinctively turn to the United States for help with their projects. That has been especially true in Sunni areas like Tarmiyah, which often felt neglected by Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government. In the past, no one would have tried to win over Baghdad, for the simple fact that it would have done little good.

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The city’s efforts to market itself to Baghdad officials showcases an evolving relationship with the Iraqi government that points toward the self-sufficiency and democracy that American soldiers have been working so hard to develop across the country.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58369