CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – Col. Butch Kievenaar, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and 17th Fires Brigade Commander Col. Steven L. Bullimore met with key community leaders of Basra Province to discuss important issues affecting the community.
Kievenaar used the meeting to address recent issues such as indirect fire attacks on the Basra International Airport and asked that the sheikhs use their influence to help catch the individuals involved in the crimes. He also introduced Bullimore who will be assuming command of operations in Basra Province later this month.
“I want to express how happy I am to be here,” said Bullimore. “My primary mission here is one of transition; we want to complete all training and improvements of the Iraqi Security Forces while conducting a responsible drawdown of U.S. forces.” The sheikhs expressed their gratitude for all Kievenaar and the 2nd BCT have done for the community and welcomed Bullimore and the 17th FB with open arms.
“We appreciate the Coalition forces because they have helped make Iraq safe from a bad regime,” said Sheikh Ahmed Twaiyah al-Karmashy. “With the help of U.S. forces, Basra will develop into a thriving economy because of the opportunity for businesses to rise and the opportunity for tourism to cultivate.”
The sheikhs expressed concerns about their quality of water and the lack of job availability for the citizens of Basra.
“There is a team here from the U.S. to do an agricultural assessment of Basra,” said Kievenaar. “Their assessment will help us build a strong case to acquire more money for agricultural development; however, we need your input on what projects need to be pursued in order to better help the people of Basra.” “We need as many projects as possible to provide jobs for the people of Basra,” said Sheikh Fahad Kalaf Al-Onaan.
“The only way to fix unemployment is to get investment in Basra up, which we will” Kievenaar responded. “This is the economic capital of Iraq and we believe that it will thrive in the future.”
