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The GI's weapon of choice in Iraq: dollars

Jan-29-2004 » Filed Under: Iraq News

I was glad to see that Congress recently boosted funding of the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) in Iraq.

[Link to Full Article]

By Dan Murphy, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

BAGHDAD – In November, the deadliest month for US soldiers in the occupation of Iraq, angry and sometimes desperate calls began streaming back to the US from commanders, complaining that the government wasn't giving them what they needed to battle an intensifying insurgency.

But the front-line soldiers weren't calling out for more ammunition, armor-plated Humvees, or night-vision goggles. Instead what they wanted was a little money, enough to restart the Commander's Emergency Response Program, or CERP, a decentralized aid program started shortly after the US occupation began.

The grants, ranging from as little as $1,000 up to $30,000, were designed to get money flowing back into the economy fast. Potholes were filled, schools refurbished, and irrigation canals - choked off by weeds and silt for decades - restored in 12,000 projects across the country.


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