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First Person

Photo: USAID/Ben Barber

“I saw that Americans are here to help us and take us from the pits. Saddam the criminal did nothing for us. The Americans gave us food and gave us elections in the neighborhood. The people chose me to be on the council.”
- Council Member Shatha Hadi

U.S. civil affairs troops and USAID, working in cooperation with the Coalition Provisional Authority, organized meetings of local citizens in eighty-eight neighborhoods -- each area selected an advisory council to deal with local issues from sewage to security. The neighborhood councils in turn chose nine district councils such as the Karkh Council, and those sent representatives to the 38-member Baghdad City Council.

Shatha Hadi stands in front of a meeting of her Karkh District Council, one of nine in Baghdad that were set up with U.S. aid after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The councils deal with roads, sewage, security, education, power and other issues. Hadi was also selected by the Karkh Council to represent the area on the Baghdad City Council.

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