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| Iraq |
| TELECOM SUMMIT |
| 2003-12-15 |
| Leaders throughout northern Iraq assembled in Mosul Saturday morning to discuss the progress in telecommunication made between the joint efforts of Coalition Forces and Iraqi citizens, and to develop a regional strategy for the next phase of communications. Iraqâs two largest cities, Mosul and Baghdad, each had representatives â various signal officers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) spoke on behalf of Mosul, while Baghdad was represented by Col. Tom Catudal, chief telecommunications adviser to L. Paul Bremer, Coalition Provisional Authority civilian administrator. Telecommunication experts from Dohuk, Kirkuk and Irbil were among the other major players in the summit. âI think you all know that telecommunication in northern Iraq has really led the way for the rest of Iraq,â said Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, 101st commander. âThe accomplishments here really have been extraordinary.â Communications ranks second on Petraeusâ project funding list, having spent nearly four million dollars on such acts as restoring phone lines, donating computers and telephones, and purchasing new equipment from the United States. Only reconstruction efforts to schools have taken more Coalition capital than communications advancements in northern Iraq, said Lt. Col. Welton Chase, Jr., 101st signal officer and commander of the 501st Signal Battalion. The 101st Airborne Division has already completed 31 major communications projects in northern Iraq, including its donation of 212 computers to the Mosul University, an act which cost $99,790. The division is also responsible for 11 new internet cafes for the use of Iraqi citizens and the complete reconstruction of several post offices in the Nineveh Province. Thirty-two long-term communications projects are still in effect for the 101st, as well as 21 short-term projects, Chase said. âWeâve had a lot of projects completed already, and weâve done so through relatively little investment,â Petraeus said, noting that many U.S. businesses, such as ATT and Bell South, have helped Coalition Forces by donating optic fiber to repair telephone lines, therefore helping to maintain a reasonable budget throughout reconstruction efforts. âWhat has made all of our success here isnât just the dollars â itâs not the even the donations â itâs really the initiative that [Coalition Forces and Iraqi citizens] together have demonstrated.â Petraeus led the meeting by explaining the progress and the hindrances that have faced his soldiers throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom, then exchanged his ideas for the future of communication in Iraq with the handful of Iraqi telecommunication directors representing various cities in Nineveh Province. âOur vision for Northern Iraq is a very modern region in which people from many different ethnicities, tribes and religions work together, do business with each other, and they are all supported and enabled by a first-rate telecommunications system,â Petraeus said. âSignalersâ of the 101st are presently involved in dozens of missions across northern Iraq, including acquiring a modern cable splicing machine from the United States, a purchase of approximately $42,000, said Maj. Jim Enicks, division communications officer. Currently, many Iraqis mend frayed telephone cables by hand. Coalition Forces have also been active in getting Iraqi children on-line, working with computers, a goal which would improve both education and communications in Iraq. After opening the Scientific Club, a computer and Internet lab for children in primary and secondary school, to significant success, the 101st now plans to provide 17 new computers. At the conference, Chase stressed to the Iraqis on-hand that when much of the 101st redeploys in February back to the U.S., the ensuing team of Coalition Forces in the area would help add to the success already made. âAll of you know that the Coalition Forces here are transitioning,â Chase said, âbut we have great soldiers coming, and they will not leave our support. They will continue the process weâve started toward a better Iraq.â |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #1 "Can you hear me now? Good, thank the U.S." |
| Posted by: Les Nessman 2003-12-16 12:33:11 AM |