Council members express their concerns about Salman Pak to team leaders of 3rd (Heavy) Brigade Combat Team, leaders of the Mada'in Qada council and the mayor at the national police headquarters in Jisr Diyala, Iraq, July 18.By Sgt. Natalie Rostek
3rd Brigade Comabt Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs
COMBAT OUTPOST CASHE, Iraq – Leaders of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team met with the Mada’in Qada mayor and council members July 18 at the National Police Headquarters in Jisr Diyala.
The group met to discuss security, sanitation, supplies, and the relocation of the national police in Salman Pak.
“I am very happy for everyone being here today,” Mayor Abu Bahar said through a translator. “But I am in very much pain and suffering for the people of Salman Pak.”
The main concern, according to Capt. Leon Mathais from the Virgin Islands and the intelligence officer for the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, is the conflict between the Sunni and Shia in the area.
“They have to get past the Sunni and Shia tension,” Mathais said. “They have to understand that they are all working toward the same good. They all want the same things for their families.”
Communication between the two groups is a problem that needs to be addressed in order to bring reconciliation to Salman Pak, said Mathais.
“Everyone can’t be leaders,” he said. “There has to be mutual communication between each side. Once there is open dialogue, the area will get better.”
Currently, the police securing Salman Pak are living and working out of schools, libraries and fuel stations. The local people feel the police are disrupting their community, said Mathais.
“Because there is no designated place for the police to live, they are living off the community,” explained Mathais. “The (residents) see the police who live at the fuel station using the fuel for their own purposes and feel they do not have access to it.”
The meeting discussed ways to alleviate the local citizens’ concerns. Plans have been made to move the police out of the public buildings. The mayor made a short-term goal of delivering bottles of water to the Salman Pak citizens on a daily basis as a priority. There is also a project to clean Salman Pak’s roads.
“Cleaning the streets will do two things,” Mathais said. “It will give them pride in their town and it will also help coalition forces better identify (improvised explosive devices).”
Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., from Prince George’s County, Md., encouraged the Mada’in Qada leaders by telling them he has never seen a better-run government than theirs.
“We have a long way to go,” he said. “We are not there yet but working together we will get there.”
3rd Brigade Comabt Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs
COMBAT OUTPOST CASHE, Iraq – Leaders of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team met with the Mada’in Qada mayor and council members July 18 at the National Police Headquarters in Jisr Diyala.
The group met to discuss security, sanitation, supplies, and the relocation of the national police in Salman Pak.
“I am very happy for everyone being here today,” Mayor Abu Bahar said through a translator. “But I am in very much pain and suffering for the people of Salman Pak.”
The main concern, according to Capt. Leon Mathais from the Virgin Islands and the intelligence officer for the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, is the conflict between the Sunni and Shia in the area.
“They have to get past the Sunni and Shia tension,” Mathais said. “They have to understand that they are all working toward the same good. They all want the same things for their families.”
Communication between the two groups is a problem that needs to be addressed in order to bring reconciliation to Salman Pak, said Mathais.
“Everyone can’t be leaders,” he said. “There has to be mutual communication between each side. Once there is open dialogue, the area will get better.”
Currently, the police securing Salman Pak are living and working out of schools, libraries and fuel stations. The local people feel the police are disrupting their community, said Mathais.
“Because there is no designated place for the police to live, they are living off the community,” explained Mathais. “The (residents) see the police who live at the fuel station using the fuel for their own purposes and feel they do not have access to it.”
The meeting discussed ways to alleviate the local citizens’ concerns. Plans have been made to move the police out of the public buildings. The mayor made a short-term goal of delivering bottles of water to the Salman Pak citizens on a daily basis as a priority. There is also a project to clean Salman Pak’s roads.
“Cleaning the streets will do two things,” Mathais said. “It will give them pride in their town and it will also help coalition forces better identify (improvised explosive devices).”
Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., from Prince George’s County, Md., encouraged the Mada’in Qada leaders by telling them he has never seen a better-run government than theirs.
“We have a long way to go,” he said. “We are not there yet but working together we will get there.”
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