text: Chapter 7
  THE CHALLENGES OF GOVERNANCE IN IRAQ
  In 2003, perhaps the most volatile site for this ethnic conflict was the city of Kirkuk, located
  in northern Iraq about 150 miles north of Baghdad. The city was located in what was historically
  Kurdish territory, but its population had long been a mix of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrian Christians,
  and Turkoman. Situated in the heart of Iraq’s oil fields, Kirkuk had strategic importance for much
  of the 20th century. Partly for that reason, in the 1970s and 1980s Saddam attempted to “Arabize”
  Kirkuk by forcing Kurds to leave and moving Arab groups in. The arrival of Coalition troops in the
  city in May 2003 opened up the possibility for the Kurdish population to take control once again over
  an important cultural and economic center.
  The 173d Airborne Brigade (173d ABN) took responsibility for the city soon after the toppling of the
  Saddam regime. In May 2003, Soldiers of the brigade found themselves attempting to mediate
  between groups of armed Arabs moving north to ensure the Kurds did not overwhelm the city
  and the Kurdish groups that had begun flexing their muscles by forcibly evicting some Arabs. On 17
  May 2003, this conflict became violent with firefights erupting in the streets of Kirkuk.
  Colonel William Mayville, the brigade commander, recalled that this event served as the “really big
  first lesson into, or insight into what some of the social dynamics in this community at play were.”
  He added, “If you did not address [these dynamics], the consequences could be very, very violent.”
  Instead of finding citizens eager for democracy, the Soldiers of the 173d ABN discovered a
  multiethnic populace interested in removing all vestiges of Baathist power and solving the problems
  of Saddam’s Arabization policies, while also ensuring their ethnic group retained its social,
  economic, and political position in the city. This presented a complex problem to the Soldiers of the
  brigade, the large majority of whom had no experience in politics of any type.
  One of the first recommendations made by brigade officers was the establishment of a multiethnic
  city council that could help redress the grievances of the various groups and begin moving the city
  forward. By the end of May 2003, less than 6 weeks after the brigade arrived in Kirkuk, Mayville
  and his governance team selected 300 delegates from the city, who elected a 30-seat council,
  which included 6 representatives from each of the 4 ethnic groups.
  Working with civilian contract consultants who had partnered with USAID, brigade officers
  convinced the city council to establish a new structure that included five directorates: employment,
  public safety, public works, budget office, and resettlement. The employment directorate would play
  a direct role in enforcing the de-Baathification process and US officers hoped the resettlement
  office could work with both Arabs and Kurds to defuse the tensions caused by land disputes. RTI
  consultants and CA officers also helped the new Kirkuk budget office prepare the city’s budget
  for 2004 and established a citizen’s bureau to help handle complaints from the public.
  Adapted from "On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign: The United States Army in Operation
  IRAQI FREEDOM," May 2003—January 2005
  Support Transitional Administrations
  7-46. When the HN government has collapsed or been deposed, counterinsurgency efforts focus on
  immediately filling the void in governance. In either situation, the reliability and trustworthiness of local
  officials is suspect; due care and prudence are necessary to avoid empowering officials whose interests
  and loyalties are inconsistent with those of the occupying force. For example, a tactical unit may struggle
  with identifying and emplacing a good neighborhood council leader. Tasks may include—
  • Vet Host Nation officials.
  • Reconstitute leadership at local levels of government.
  • Establish interim legislative processes.