Army Lt. Col. E.J. Degen works with 6th Iraqi Army Division before their validation exercise during his recent deployment to Iraq. About a month later, the Iraqi division assumed battlespace inside Baghdad.Baghdad is a new city, cleared of trash and with sewer, water and electricity systems being built or restored, he said. Hospitals are up and running. Commerce is flourishing, and mom-and-pop businesses have popped up everywhere. Children run around in their school uniforms, reporting to classrooms where they no longer use textbooks that open with Saddam's picture and propaganda.
"It's just incredible," Degen said of the progress. He said he's impressed that the Iraqis are exhibiting "a lot of determination to fix their environment and make it better."
One of the biggest changes, one Degen worked with directly during his recent deployment, is in Iraq's security forces. "I never would have believed that they could have built up those forces that fast," he said. As they grow in number and capability, Iraq's army and police forces "are very open to our ideas and our concepts," he said. "They want to learn from us and be like us because of how good they are."
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