Empowering citizens Engaging governments Rebuilding communities

“
The partnership with CSP made these
things possible. Finally, people saw that
it was worth kicking out al Qaeda”
—Andrew Wilson
never thought an NGO could operate like that, in that
type of environment. We didn’t go through any training
where we were taught, ‘Go find your local NGO. They’re
going to help you win the war.’ They’d be stupid not to
teach that now.”
A year after the Ramadi stabilization effort began, in
October 2007, Gartner and Charlton were among more
than 400 attendees at a grand opening ceremony
for the Ramadi Business Center. Local leaders,
Iraqi government officials, business owners, military
personnel, US congressmen, and media attended
the ceremony, which Ramadi Mayor Ayadah called “a
shining day in the history of the Al-Anbar governorate.”
Within two years, the center had become a locus of
economic development. In November 2009, more than
4,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate representatives
from Jordan, Turkey, and the United Arab
Emirates and other countries gathered at the business
center for the Al-Anbar Trade Fair. According to USAID,
which offers ongoing support for the business center,
more than 300 Iraqis a month were receiving vocational
skills training at the same location in courses
that range from secretarial skills to corporate sales
and accounting, from how to apply for a job to how to
write a business report. Qassim Mohammad Abed,
governor of Anbar province, praised the trade fair and
the business center for demonstrating that Ramadi
and the governorate of Al-Anbar were again “open for
business.”
“The 17th Street Market, that was a huge turning
point,” Wilson said. “Before long, John McCain, Joe
Lieberman, and people like that were coming to Anbar.
That dramatic difference that life was getting better in
Ramadi, it all had to do with CSP. Neighborhoods were
being cleaned up, soccer leagues were starting, and
businesses were opening. It wasn’t all done by the
military. The partnership with CSP made these things
possible. And when you add them up, it’s like the
straw that broke the camel’s back. Finally, people saw
that it was worth kicking out al Qaeda.”
While many projects were driven by military or USAID
considerations, the operational reality in Iraq was
that close coordination of all CSP stakeholders was
needed to complete projects. “In a stabilization
program, relationships, particularly with the military
but really with any involved decisionmaker, are key
success factors,” Ismael said. “CSP was unique in
that USAID was working right alongside the military,”
Gartner said. “The key to CSP’s success was the
military buying into it. If the military sees you as a
resource, and you have resources to bring to the table
to directly support counterinsurgency efforts, then it
will work.”
2
A complete stabilization package
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