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Projects in Mosul Point to a Better Life for Iraq

Dec-21-2005 » Filed Under: TF Freedom

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By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, Dec. 21, 2005 – Mosul is a microcosm of Iraq.

It's the second-largest city in the country, and contains all kinds of people who make up the ethnic stew that is this nation.

Shiia Arab, Sunni Arab, Kurds, Turkomen, ethnic Iranians, Assyrians and many other ethnicities settled in Mosul, taking advantage of its location astride ancient trading routes, and amid fertile land that turned the region into the wheat belt of the Middle East.

The city is the capital of Ninewa province. In Judeo-Christian heritage, Ninevah was the home of the prophets Jonah and Isaiah, and it has the largest Christian population in Iraq. Before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, there was even a thriving Jewish population in the city.

Under Saddam Hussein, the city remained a trading hub even as the infrastructure slowly decayed. With its well-educated population, the city did better than other areas of the country.

Upon liberation in 2003, the city was among the first to elect a local governing council. The council - working closely with the 101st Airborne Division - began a number of public works projects to rehabilitate the infrastructure. The Iraqi National Guard began as a small unit in Mosul that helped airborne troopers patrol the city and region. Local officers policed the streets, and in early 2004, the city looked like a success story for a new Iraq. [...]


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