Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
Darned good idea. As an adjunct to it, consider using the same type of workforce in local planning and rebuilding as well, especially at the village level.
This approach to things is the first lesson I learned when I hit the ground in Kurdistan in 1994, having left the Army and begun working for USAID. It was hardly a new concept then, and is a mainstay in the relief and development arena. I'm sure Stan can attest that demining programs in a number of dicey countries have been huge employers, keeping guys who are often local military (or militia or paramilitary or what-have-you) veterans gainfully employed and thinking about something other than why they're not able to feed, clothe and shelter their families (both immediate and extended).

It has been very worrisome to me since both Afghanistan and Iraq began that our own government chose to go the "big corporate" route, often with way too many human resource imports. My boss in Kurdistan was very proud of the fact that we contracted with LOCAL contractors to execute many large-scale jobs, keeping the majority of the capital flowing in the local economy. We had pretty good luck clearly explaining that US contracting regulations required X, Y, and Z, and if they wanted to do business with us, they'd need to meet the criteria. We had some death threats and the like from contractors who didn't make the cut, or whose bids were outside the acceptable range, but that goes with the territory. Also, we faciltated the rebuiding of tens of thousands of village homes using materiel procurred through local contractors (and purchased either inside Kurdistan, or in immediate neighbor countries) and engaged the returning villagers in the re-building process.

I'm way out of the loop on how things work at the senior command levels these days (not that I understood it when I was in, either), but there should be some serious push-back from the commanders on the ground when so many projects and programs are out-sourced as has been the case since 2001.

The same holds true for importing "hot" techincal solutions to problems, from replacement parts for electric turbines to manufacture of prosthetic limbs - the quick, sexy imports may solve some short-term problems, but it is wiser to seek long term solutions that can be sustained locally. A high-tech wheelchair from the US doesn't last very long on the streets of an Iraqi village, and then what's the guy got? A high-tech door stop.

We're long past the point where these critical little tidbits should be being rediscovered with each passing conflagration.

Cheers,