Journal - Part 5

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau recently visited the Middle East. She kept a daily journal. Here is the fifth installment.

By Jo Ann Emerson

Monday, Nov. 10: This morning we are on the way to Kirkuk, Iraq. Historically, the region of northern Iraq has been at the confluence of all the problems here (other than Saddam Hussein). Even though there has been some terrorism here, the biggest problem is ethnic tension.

The majority of people living here are Kurds -- about 40 percent. Approximately 35 percent are Arabs, 20 percent are Turkmen and there are also some Christians. A majority of the Muslims living outside the city are Sunnis, a less extreme sect of Muslims when compared to the Shiites.

There are 850,000 people living in the area, which is situated in the heartland of Iraq and the Middle East: the Fertile Crescent. This is the birthplace of civilization.

Under Saddam's rule, ethnic cleansing of the Kurds was one of the atrocities this region faced. He had an iron fist when it came to northern Iraq. But there are other ethnic groups living here, and without the Baathists, they hope to create a much more civil society.

The region itself is oil-rich. It contains about 6 percent of the world's oil reserves. Kirkuk is the major distributor of liquid petroleum gas in the north. Despite the oil wealth and good land here, Kirkuk is very poor. Saddam kept the people here poor to ensure they were weak and couldn't rise up against him.

There has been little resistance to American troops in Kirkuk. Because of the Kurdish influence and the relative absence of followers of Saddam's Baath party, it is a safer city than Baghdad. The local people related well to us, and we are told they see the U.S. troops as liberators.

I was in the lead jeep as we traveled the dusty roads on the way there. We had a soldier manning a large gun mounted on the jeep. I definitely don't feel the same intensity or apprehension from our troops here in the north though.

On the way, we hear a little about the logistics of the American forces coming to Iraq. Of course, we heard a lot about troops moving up from the south, racing for Baghdad. It's easy to forget that we had troops moving from the other direction too. In fact, Kirkuk was the largest drop zone since World War II. When they assembled and quickly went to work, the U.S. Army troops found lots of missiles and surface-to-air missiles. In March, Saddam had two divisions here. Right after they fled, Kurdish military groups moved in. Instead of maintaining order until the Americans got to Kirkuk, however, there was widespread looting, violence and lawlessness. Order was restored upon the arrival of the American troops, and the Kurds passed control of Kirkuk peacefully.

A priority of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Kirkuk has been restoring the school system. Local officials think they will soon have 60 schools up and running. Just as in Baghdad, there is a priority of getting a local police force going. There are 2,200 police trained by U.S. forces and uniformed by us too.

Col. Bill Mayville is acting as the military governor of the region. He is an incredible leader. When we met him, he had the same determined attitude of the servicemembers we met in Baghdad, but he is an inspiring presence too. He has held town hall meetings for the residents of Kirkuk and set up a governing council. He is doing everything possible to give residents every opportunity to participate in the formation of their own government. It seems to be working.