The Next Generation

We had the opportunity to speak to an outstanding group of students at Central Pennsylvania College yesterday. We talked to them about the mission of The Bisbee Project and our efforts to serve as a "scouting agency for talent", looking for dedicated and energetic individuals willing to give careers in service a shot. Whether it's military service on the front lines of American foreign policy or pitching in to improve our local communities, those who serve are those who really make a difference in all of our lives. Central Penn is a great school that produces graduates in business, communications, information technology, criminal justice and homeland security management. We talked to a number of motivated students who are on the brink of making that leap into their future careers, and we wish them all the best of luck.

Our visit was covered by a number of media outlets, and there are some links below.

CBS News 21 News at 10

ABC 27 News at 7

WHP CBS News 21 News at 6

Baghdad follow up

I got through to a number of my Iraqi friends and colleagues in Baghdad over the past week since the explosions last Sunday that demolished portions of the Baghdad provincial government headquarters, a Ministry of Justice building and other government facilities in downtown Baghdad.

I first got a hold of Rasul, a staffer who worked closely with me on issues pertaining to the committee responsible for the administrative relationships between the Provincial Council and Baghdad's local district and neighborhood councils. He assured me that he was fine, but many of his co-workers were injured in the blast, some of them fatally.

I also spoke with Faisel Shuber, a district council member from one of Baghdad's suburban villages and one of my oldest friends in Baghdad. He had just come from meeting with PC member Mohammed al-Rubeiy and district council member Kadem al-Shimary; he said they were fine and that none of the current PC members were killed in the blast. As Sunday is the beginning of the workweek in Baghdad, this is extremely fortunate -- not only for those individuals and their families, but for the functioning of local government in Baghdad.

The council reportedly met at their usual weekly meeting on Tuesday, but at a different location -- to demonstrate their resolve in the face of a terrorist act specifically targeting them and their efforts to rebuild their capital. Another friend of mine from the Adhamiya neighborhood, Omar al-Rahmani, said he was on his way to the council building at the time of the blast and therefore narrowly missed possibly becoming one of the hundreds of casualties in these attacks. He assured me that Ms. Shatha al-Obedie, longtime media spokeswoman for the provincial governor, was not injured in the blast. Omar did explain how the blast at the Ministry of Justice also levelled a local kindergarten, adding to the horror of the event. Families have been searching for their children in the rubble over the past week. Please take a moment to offer your thoughts and prayers to the victims of this attack, and wish the people of Baghdad the fortitude to maintain their resolve in the face of the continuing challenges they face.

In other news about friends and colleagues in Baghdad, I am sad to post that former Baghdad Provincial Council member Dr. Kamel al-Shabibi passed away last week. He had traveled to the U.S. to undergo heart surgery, but suffered a heart attack before reaching surgery. He spent his last days with the family of his brother, who as an American citizen who has lived in the States for decades since emigrating from Iraq, worked at the US Embassy as an agriculture advisor to the reconstruction effort.


Dr. Shabibi was a fabulous gentleman, and was widely considered the "elder statesman" of the Provincial Council during his term, which overlapped my tours in 2005-06 and again in 2007-08. Respected for his wisdom and candor in a volatile environment sorely lacking in both, he served as an excellent moderator between the US Embassy and the Baghdad provincial government throughout many difficult situations. He was gracious with his time; weighing in on the heaviest issues complicating our joint reconstruction efforts as well as just being an enjoyable presence at our more social gatherings. A number of us gained extraordinary insight into Iraqi culture and politics just by having some tea with him; his overall impact on our reconstruction efforts is incalculable.

He was an extraordinary presence in the drive to improve access to microfinance in Baghdad, bringing capital to Baghdad's new generation of entrepreneurs and building strong institutional relationships between the Provincial Council and Baghdad's local district councils. While rarely touted as one of the critical components of the "surge" strategy that pulled Baghdad back from the brink of civil war in 2006-07, these economic initiatives, led by courageous individuals like Dr. Shabibi who refused to submit to naysayers and doubters, were instrumental -- and will continue to have an impact on the long term development of Baghdad and the wider Middle East.

He will be remembered as a friend, as a confidant, as a negotiator, as a leader, as a patriot, as a visionary, and as a generous man and a kind soul.

(In the photo above, I am standing to the left of Dr. Shabibi. We were attending a training sessions for new council members at the Rashid Hotel in early 2007.)

Baghdad blasts

The Baghdad provincial government was one of the apparent targets in yesterday's attack in downtown Baghdad. Dozens of staffers and provincial employees were killed and injured in the blast. I have not received word of any Provincial Council members killed; Governor Salah was in Washington attending an economic conference and immediately flew back to Baghdad. PC member Mohammed al-Rubeiy has been quoted in several news stories, stating that 25 PC staff members have been killed. I will repost news here as I get it from individuals on the ground there in Baghdad and elsewhere.


from WSJ.com
Deadly Blasts Rock Baghdad, Killing Dozens
By GINA CHON


BAGHDAD -- Two powerful suicide car bombs near high-profile government offices rocked the capital on Sunday in the deadliest attack here in more than two years, killing at least 147 people and raising fresh worry about the capabilities of Iraq's security services ahead of national elections scheduled for January.

The Ministry of Interior said that in addition to the dead, more than 500 people were injured. Charred bodies, limbs and the smoldering shells of dozens of cars littered the area. The explosions also shattered windows throughout the nearby Mansour Hotel, which houses the Chinese Embassy. Some ceilings collapsed.

The blasts, which the government said bore the signature of al Qaeda in Iraq, most damaged Baghdad's provincial headquarters and the nearby federal Ministry of Justice. Many of the protective blast walls surrounding those buildings collapsed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the site of the attacks and blamed al Qaeda and members of the Baath party. His office said in a statement that the explosions were meant to create instability and to stop the January parliamentary elections.

President Barack Obama called the attacks an attempt to "derail Iraq's progress." He said the U.S. "will stand with Iraq's people and government as a close friend and partner as Iraqis prepare for elections early next year." The president spoke with Mr. Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani by phone to express his condolences.

On a roll...

Steve's new business venture COGSTER.COM is up and running and driving the local economy of the State College, PA area forward. Check out the latest on YouTube...

It's Not Just Lunch

Counterinsurgency is a full spectrum activity. While I typically discuss the political and social aspects of the campaign I was involved with during the surge, called the Baghdad Security Plan, or Operation Fardh al Qanoon (Arabic for "Enforcing the Law"), it is important to understand its critical security components as well. We talked about these "kinetic operations" at the Q&A session following my talk at the State College Rotary Downtown Club meeting on Thursday. The Downtown Club is one of five Rotary Clubs in the State College area, attesting to the strength of community service in the region.

Reacting to the unconventional nature of the military's role in Iraq, units deploying there began organizing themselves differently than they typically would for the large-scale combat operations that standard doctrine calls for. These novel adjustments, over several years of deployments, crystallized into new standard operating procedures that assigned certain units and staff positions to supporting either "kinetic" or "non-kinetic" operations, simply meaning those during which you intend to shoot bullets and those where you don't. In most Army divisions you would now find a two-star general in command, a one-star in charge of kinetic and another one-star responsible for non-kinetic operations. My work on the PRT in Baghdad was intricately linked to this one-star general and his staff as we developed the strategies and policies related to rebuilding and supporting Iraq's government service infrastructure and civil-society institutions. But we never worked in a vacuum; our strategies were closely coordinated with the kinetic operations that involved raids on insurgent strongholds, cordon and search missions and the security of key infrastructure facilities.

I was asked about the foreign fighters that served as main driver for the insurgency, and where they were now that the levels of violence have decreased. I replied frankly that our operations successfully neutralized a number of these fighters, and broke up the networks they used to plan and execute attacks on US forces and Iraqi civilians. A typical set-up involved a foreign fighter, backed by al-Qaeda funding, sub-contracting his work out to local Iraqis. These locals would be employed to set IEDs for passing US convoys, sometimes making a hundred or two hundred dollars for a successful attack, a substantial sum in Iraq. Getting the video of the attack could double that amount. Our counterinsurgency strategy involved getting intelligence on these networks, killing or capturing the foreign-financed leader, and then making an effort to create alternative employment opportunities in those areas where local Iraqis may be susceptible to the financial incentives of supporting the insurgency.

Therefore our overall strategy involved an extraordinary amount of coordination between the combat operations, and the campaigns of economic and political development targeted to support the ability of Iraqi government institutions to effectively and equitably provide services to the population.

This week's horrific attacks in Baghdad underscore the fact that while the insurgency may be down, it is certainly not out.

A few weeks before I left Baghdad, I was invited downtown to one of the city's notable social clubs. I visited with some of the middle aged and older professional gentlemen that made up the bulk of the club's membership, many of whom were enjoying a mid-day Scotch. We had lunch in the club's dining room, and then popped our heads into the main ballroom, where there was some kind of festivity occurring. It turned out to be a graduation ceremony for the Baghdad School of Dentistry. About a hundred or so of Baghdad's future dentists were having a party with their families, celebrating the completion of their training and the beginning of their new careers. I like to relate this anecdote when I talk about Iraq because it reflects what I refer to as the surprising element of the mundane to be found there. Over the past few years we have been made painfully aware of the roadside bombs, the suicide market attacks, and the strife of sectarian violence. But there's a lot going on there that we don't hear much about, that frankly may have a lot more impact on Iraq's long term future. Like dentists.

As always, we enjoyed the opportunity to visit with the community leaders found within the ranks of the Rotary Club; people who know that the future of a great community like State College doesn't stay great without the hard work of selfless individuals. Special thanks to Cathy Brown and Don Bedell, pictured here with me and Steve.

Scholarships for Service: DRAKE and GAGE COOPER

Drake and Gage knew from an early age that the Army would be an important part of their lives. These twin brothers from Port Matilda, PA will both be attending Susquehanna University in the fall and will both be pursuing Army officer commissions through the ROTC program there. Their scholastic talent, drive and dedication to careers in service made them exceptional candidates for our Scholarships for Service awards. But what makes these two young men truly remarkable and worthy of our respect is their unflinching devotion to such a life in service with the full knowledge of what it may cost.

When they were just boys, their mom and dad got divorced. The strain of a military marriage was just too great on the couple. Drake and Gage's father had enlisted in the Army Reserves while he was still in high school and was well into a career of active duty service that had him based all over the world in places like Korea, Ft. Drum, New York, Ft. Knox, Kentucky and Ft. Lewis, Washington. Despite a long-distance relationship with their dad, the boys kept close by talking often and visiting whenever possible. As they got older, they started talking to him about careers in the Army. He advised that, if they were really interested in the Army, they should give officer's training a shot. When they started doing their college search, they took their dad's advice and also looked into ROTC programs.

Gage and Drake often joked and chatted with their dad, a Stryker commander and platoon sergeant, when he was deployed to Iraq in 2007. Supporting the "surge", the 2nd Infantry Division deployed a Stryker Brigade Combat Team to Baghdad for a 15 month tour in mid-2007. Those early months of the surge have been among the most intensive for combat units in Baghdad over the entire conflict in Iraq. Regular contact with their dad helped the brothers cope with the distance and the uncertainty, and they often got to share their thoughts on life after high school graduation.

On September 5, 2007 Gage and Drake were told that their father had been killed in Iraq. Compounding the tragedy of this loss, they learned that their father's death was due to the grossly negligent conduct of a fellow soldier, who accidentally fired his weapon while the two were in their quarters on base. Sergeant First Class David A. Cooper Jr., a decorated soldier and respected leader, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Their father's death did not deter them from considering military service. Nor did it obligate them, they said; influencing their choices in an attempt to respect his memory. "We just think the Army is a good career path for us," Drake said.

The two live with their mother and stepfather in a beautiful rustic house nestled in a verdant hollow just outside of Port Matilda. I was able to spend part of an afternoon with the young men and talk about their plans for the future. The two have an easy, level-headed demeanor about them that exudes a comfort level within their own skins, a quality rarely found in many recent high school graduates. Gage explained, "Our Dad was really laid back. We definitely got that from him."

They don't get too uptight about trying, or not trying, to be similar - a common malady among twins. "We have a lot of the same interests, and we've had a lot of the same experiences. It's not that surprising that we end up doing a lot of stuff together," Drake said, when I asked them about the decision to go to the same college and join ROTC together.

"We really liked Susquehanna University and the town of Selinsgrove," Drake said. "Coming from Port Matilda, we just didn't want to go somewhere really big." The two had made several visits to Selinsgrove during their college search, where they have some friends. As someone who grew up there, it wasn't really until recently that I could fathom why anybody would go there for college. Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I can now fully appreciate the charms of my hometown and the campus that really makes it a great place.

Susquehanna is apparently very happy to have them as well, as their ROTC scholarship is being augmented by the school in order to cover some of their additional expenses like room and board. Affiliated with the program based at Bucknell University (in neighboring Lewisburg, PA) ROTC at S.U. is attempting to expand by attracting exceptional students like Drake and Gage. This is in noticeable contrast to our nation's so-called elite universities, like many Ivy League schools, where ROTC has been all but banished. As move-in day approaches at S.U., the brothers look forward to the move to Selinsgrove, and their futures.

"Doing ROTC while attending college is going to be cool," Drake said. "It's a really good way to blend our academic and career interests." Gage added, "We'll have a lot more purpose at school, knowing that what we're doing there is connected to our future jobs."

Drake is thinking about a major in Ecology, reflecting his love for the outdoors and the importance of environmental issues. But he's also thinking about law school and service in the JAG corps, he says. One of his favorite activities at Bald Eagle High School was 'Mock Trial', where he and Gage joined other students in a competition based on public speaking, litigation tactics and understanding the legal process. Their team advanced to Districts the past two years. Gage plans to major in History, possibly specializing in military history. Apparently he's joining quite a lineage of history buffs in the family, following after his dad and grandpa.

We wish Drake and Gage the best of luck in adapting to college life and in their eventual pursuit of military careers as U.S. Army officers. We are humbled by their extraordinary courage, and we are thankful that there are outstanding individuals like these men ready and willing to answer the call of service that our communities and our country greatly need. We are proud of you.

Drake and Gage are pictured above holding a photo of their father, SFC David Cooper Jr., taken in the turret of the Stryker he commanded in Baghdad.

The Hussein Chronicles

Some of you may recognize Hussein, a friend of mine who worked with me in Baghdad as an interpreter during both of my tours, in this photo. This is a shot from last week during our first bowling outing in Squirrel Hill since Hussein arrived in Pittsburgh last winter. Neither of us could be considered 'avid' bowlers, or even 'proficient' bowlers. Frankly, it's a stretch to even call us bowlers at all. But we settled on bowling as the evening's activity and gave it a shot. My initiation into the sport began at a young age in Selinsgrove at Super Bowl 522, with the after school program run by Mr. Rutkowski. He always hovered over anybody with two strikes in a row, to be there if they pulled off the "turkey." Most of us choked under the pressure. Hussein told me about the times before the war when his dad took him to the bowling alley in the Rasheed Hotel. If that name rings a bell, it's because that's one of the most famous landmarks in downtown Baghdad and the place where many foreign journalists stay and report from when in Iraq. Located just on the edge of the International Zone, it has also served as one of the most popular places to conduct diplomatic business in Baghdad. I have to admit that after two and a half years of nearly daily meetings at the Rasheed, I had no idea there was a bowling alley there, apparently under one of the night clubs. Hussein's father was killed in a suicide bombing in 2006 at a market a few blocks away from the Rasheed. His mother was also injured in the blast, but has since recovered and soon hopes to join Hussein here in Pittsburgh. Nearly every member of Hussein's family chose to serve as interpreters. Hussein worked with me both while I was in the Army and with the State Department and also ran missions with Blackwater security teams. His mother worked at the US Embassy, and his sister Wafaa served with Army units at Camp Liberty on the outskirts of Baghdad. Wafaa just arrived here in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, also under the Special Immigrant Visa program, set up to expedite the immigration of Iraqis who served with the U.S. Government. Hussein was able to bring his wife Nour and little boy Suleyman to the States as well. We've had good news on the job front lately, as first Hussein got a job as a security guard and then his wife was able to get a job in the same building on the cleaning crew. Wafaa is working on getting some interviews lined up. They are adapting well to their new lives but it is certainly full of challenges. While most of the people he works with have been friendly and helpful, he does feel that his Arab appearance and accent throws some people off at times and he has overheard some prejudiced comments. He has even found that mentioning his pride at serving with Americans in Iraq has sometimes backfired, due to the inescapable politics that unfortunately tend to dominate that entire topic. For many of us, the war will never be as personal as it has been for somebody like Hussein and his family. Keep them and the many others affected by this conflict in your thoughts as they continue their own personal reconstructions.

Bellefonte Breakfast and Baghdad

One of the things Steve and I really enjoy about getting out and about to the communities that make up Central PA is that fact that we always meet such great and fascinating people. It's a common trope of Hollywood that small towns are filled with either dullards or psychos, and those of us who have lived a significant part of our lives in small towns know that's not the case. In fact, in an age when global travel and communication are so prevalent, it's often the case that people from small towns have extraordinarily worldly experiences. Through our work with The Bisbee Project we stress that the distance between small-town Pennsylvania and American foreign policy is not very far at all. Just consider the number of PA National Guardsmen - our nation's largest contingent currently serving abroad - who have spent the past several years rotating between their hometowns and the front lines of our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seen in this respect, America's small-town values are thus probably the largest component of our entire foreign diplomatic effort. That's something to think about.

Speaking of diplomacy, I was very proud to meet Bob Lamb (pictured here) at last Friday's breakfast meeting of the Bellefonte Rotary Club. A longtime member of the club, Bob retired to the Bellefonte area after 30 years in our nation's Foreign Service, serving the State Department in our embassies around the world in countries such as Belgium, Cyprus and Liberia. Bob and I shared some other experiences in common, as were are both alums of the University of Pennsylvania (Bob in the Class of 1958; myself a 1994 grad; Steve is Wharton Class of 1997) and were inducted into the Friars society while at Penn. (We did the secret handshake.) Although a very rainy morning in downtown Bellefonte, our breakfast at the Café on the Park - with some of the most awesome oatmeal ever - gave us a great start to our day (which for me, involved returning to Pittsburgh via a still-way-too-many-construction-zones Route 22).

Huntingdon is a Cool Town

During my haitus from Baghdad in the summer of 2006, when I was visiting Steve in State College (he refers to this period as "the occupation"), I spent more than a few afternoons riding my motorcycle around Central PA, touring the countryside at an appropriately leisurely pace. I ride a Yamaha V-Star, which falls into the "cruiser" category of bike, and that acurately describes the particular attitude I have towards riding. A network of lesser-traveled roads stretches out from State College connecting tiny hamlets, winding along streams, carving through farmland and rolling up and over the surrounding hills. You must remain very alert when riding, and this diligence is rewarded in the rich detail you observe in the passing terrain. The road takes on a familiarity that is unknown while traveling the same route in a car. Your relationship is more intimate, and the results of a misunderstanding therefore more potent. Moreso than you ever would in a car, you appreciate air. It's thick, and doesn't like to get pushed around. You feel it change temperature while passing a wheatfield or rounding a shady turn. In short, motorcycle riding makes you become more aware of variables. The essence of cruising is therefore to be found in the fact that even if it's the same road, it's not the same trip.

On one of these jaunts I rolled down Rt. 26 into Huntingdon, PA near Raystown Lake. I eased past the campus of Juniata College and through downtown and pulled over at the point where Standing Stone Creek pours into the Juniata River. A few old railroad bridges cross the creek at that point, and there's a little trail down under the trestles to the edge of the river. Maybe it was the similarity to my hometown of Selinsgrove, with Susquehanna University, that struck me but in any case I took an immediate liking to Huntingdon. "Cool little town," I thought as I remounted and headed east on 22.

On Thursday, Steve and I paid a visit to the Huntingdon Kiwanis Club to give our "What Matters" presentation, and as I rolled into town I saw the banner in the above photograph. Seems like I'm not the only one who got a good impression from this great PA town. Budget Travel magazine put Huntingdon in this year's list of the top five "Coolest Small Towns in America." Cool.


We had a great lunch with the Kiwanis members, and really enjoyed talking about the challenges and rewards of local government with Huntingdon's Mayor-elect Dee Dee Brown and Borough Council President Glenn Stampfle (pictured here). Special thanks to club member Mike Boyle for all the extra help.

State College... and the "Surge"

Last week we delivered our Summer 2009 presentation "What Matters" at the State College Rotary Club. "What Matters" briefly lays out the connections that can be made between a foreign policy issue such as counterinsurgency in Iraq and the importance of community service in Central PA. Sound far-fetched? Not really. Using the events in Baghdad during the "surge" of 2007-08 as a backdrop, we stressed that in order to appreciate when a community is functioning in a positive and progressive way for its citizens, you need to understand that "history" matters, that "service" matters, and that "local" matters.

The surge strategy emerged when thoughtful reflection on "history" provided guidance on what had - and hadn't - been working to bring stability to Baghdad since the 2003 invasion. Policies and operations put in place supported "service" through enabling the return of Baghdad's mid-level officials to their positions in government and enhancing the efforts of civic-minded individuals to bring positive change to their communities. And major improvements were made to the security situation when the "local" concerns of Baghdad's citizens were addressed in important ways.

While many of the challenges faced in Baghdad differ from our day-to-day lives in Pennsylvania towns, a common thread is to be found in how solutions to our problems can be found in a deeper appreciation of the heritage of selfless service cultivated among the men and women that choose to see their personal well-being as intimately connected to the well-being of their local community - and beyond.

Thanks to the State College Rotary Club for their hospitality; and we want to express a special note of gratitude to club member (and retired Marine Corps Gulf War veteran) Eric Loop for making it such a great evening.