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Log inDiplomat hopeful, sees Iraqi progress
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Diplomat hopeful, sees Iraqi progress
by Outspoken on Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:46 am
Diplomat hopeful, sees Iraqi progress
By Rich Hewitt
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
The situation in Iraq has improved in the past several months, according to a career diplomat with ties to Maine.
If that trend continues, it could signal the start of a reduction in the U.S. presence in that country, said Kenneth Hillas, the team leader of the Provincial Reconstruction Team serving in Babil province located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers just south of Baghdad.
Hillas, 55, is a 1976 graduate of the University of Maine and serves on the board of the newly created School of Policy and International Affairs at the university. He also owns a home in Penobscot, although his family is living in Alexandria, Va.
Hillas joined the State Department in 1980. He is a senior foreign service officer and served as deputy chief of mission in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and in Warsaw, Poland, until this spring when he volunteered to join the PRT effort in Babil.
"It looked like a valuable effort," Hillas said Monday in a telephone call from Al Hillah, where he is stationed. "I thought it would be rewarding professionally and personally; and when a friend in the State Department asked me about it, I decided to do it."
Hillas completed a four-month temporary tour of duty in Babil this summer and returned recently to begin a one-year tour there.
PRTs are special units that work in conjunction with Iraqi leaders on security and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. While U.S. military units concentrate on security issues, Hillas works mainly with political leaders on a variety of projects that affect the lives of the residents of the province.
The PRT doesn’t actually do the construction work, although the military units often work on some projects. The team members are specialists in different areas and assist Iraqi leaders as they work through the process.
"We help coordinate, plan and execute the projects," Hillas said.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168626&zoneid=500
(Photos courtesy of Kenneth Hillas)
By Rich Hewitt
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
The situation in Iraq has improved in the past several months, according to a career diplomat with ties to Maine.
If that trend continues, it could signal the start of a reduction in the U.S. presence in that country, said Kenneth Hillas, the team leader of the Provincial Reconstruction Team serving in Babil province located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers just south of Baghdad.
Hillas, 55, is a 1976 graduate of the University of Maine and serves on the board of the newly created School of Policy and International Affairs at the university. He also owns a home in Penobscot, although his family is living in Alexandria, Va.
Hillas joined the State Department in 1980. He is a senior foreign service officer and served as deputy chief of mission in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and in Warsaw, Poland, until this spring when he volunteered to join the PRT effort in Babil.
"It looked like a valuable effort," Hillas said Monday in a telephone call from Al Hillah, where he is stationed. "I thought it would be rewarding professionally and personally; and when a friend in the State Department asked me about it, I decided to do it."
Hillas completed a four-month temporary tour of duty in Babil this summer and returned recently to begin a one-year tour there.
PRTs are special units that work in conjunction with Iraqi leaders on security and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. While U.S. military units concentrate on security issues, Hillas works mainly with political leaders on a variety of projects that affect the lives of the residents of the province.
The PRT doesn’t actually do the construction work, although the military units often work on some projects. The team members are specialists in different areas and assist Iraqi leaders as they work through the process.
"We help coordinate, plan and execute the projects," Hillas said.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=168626&zoneid=500
(Photos courtesy of Kenneth Hillas)
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
