Inside The Pentagon
by Elaine M. Grossman
November 3, 2005
Page 4

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U.S. To Create Three Reconstruction Teams In Iraq By Month’s End

U.S. civil and military leaders in Iraq will put together three “provincial reconstruction teams” by the end of this month, aimed at spreading stability and economic growth outside the nation’s capital, according to officials in Washington and in the region.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, is introducing the so- called “PRT” concept to the Persian Gulf nation after using a handful of such teams in Afghanistan, where he previously served as American envoy.

The first Iraq teams will be dispatched to Hilla, which lies about 60 miles south of Baghdad, and to Mosul and Kirkuk in northern Iraq, Inside the Pentagon has learned. The groups typically number about 100 officials and include experts in stability and reconstruction.

PRTs will “work with local leaders and work with the military to focus stabilization in the aftermath of military operations,” says one U.S. official. They will also “engage with the new government after the [December parliamentary] election to make sure that [it has the] capacity and ability to deliver services,” the official says.

—Elaine M. Grossman

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