Iraq War Pre-Surge: Radio Dijla & Ziggurat

[December 12, 2025]  By May of 2007, the preparation for the Surge was fully underway.  Everyday, we brought more resources into play as we readied the Coalition to expand both in personnel and combat capability.  This was a critical phase as we prepared the battlefield for GEN Petraeus’ new military strategy.  Our job as Engineers was to ensure that the infrastructure was available to accommodate these new American and Coalition forces.  As part of getting ready for the Surge, he told us that one of his many priorities was Radio Dijla.  Several of us were in the IZ to hear him talk about radio Dijla; given to key Coalition and Iraqi Government officials.  The idea for the radio station was to create a platform for free expression, giving the Baghdad area a hard-hitting news show that also allowed ordinary Iraqis to call in and express their thoughts without any filter.  This radio programming would give the good guys a way of hearing about problems before they rose up to the government level.  It was also a great Intelligence asset; although I don’t think anyone said that out loud in front of Iraqis.  Being able to discuss the realities of the war on radio was the original intent of the radio station’s founder, Ahmed Rikaby.  His desire was to have on-air debates about the effectiveness of the Petraeus-led Surge strategy.  What we were to discover was that the view of the Iraqis contrasted sharply with the official American military assessment of progress. This platform gave callers a way to vent frustrations about their daily struggles, like power outages, sewage problems, and security concerns.  The radio was a major method of determining if the pre-Surge efforts and later, the Surge effort, was effective for those living in the city of Baghdad and outlying areas.

Also in May, I visited IRMO where we discussed how to manage Reconstruction Funds and to make the Iraqi government transition to an independent entity, where they didn’t have to rely on American troops to keep the violence down to a manageable level.  This is also the time that the mission shifted from Reconstruction to Stabilization and Long-Term Development.  Radio Dijla was one of the inputs that helped underpin the transition.  The American leader of IRMO was MG Jim Snyder; a previous commander of the garrison at Fort Dix, NJ where I first met him.  My visit was personal but I would always pick up valuable information and make contacts that I could later use.  After the meeting with MG Snyder, I walked over to the GRD headquarters compound to talk with some of their key Engineers, both military and civilian.  I now learned that CENTCOM was not supporting our Contingency Construction Authority list and we talked about what we were planning to do about it.  We also talked about the progress of major projects underway in theater and how the US Army Corps of Engineers was managing them.  The most discussed were the Al Assad Detainee Facility, the Anaconda Hospital OHC project, and the GRD Mosul relocation.  Also, while in the IZ that day, I attended a session of the JPC, led by MG Gerald Berragan (British Army KBE, CB), the DCG of MNC-I.  At this particular meeting we had MG Walsh (USACE), USAF MG Darryl Scott (JCCI), Mr. Rick Olsen (DOS Chief of Mission), and other “experts” there to ensure we all had an understanding of what we were up against.  The major topic of the day was to concentrate on what would do the most good for Iraq prior to the actual Surge start.  It was agreed that solving the sewage problem in Baghdad would give us the most bang for the buck.  And it was obvious this was the most visible, as sewage often backed up into the streets in the lower elevated districts in the city. Seeing kids playing in the “street water” didn’t give us a good feeling.  While this discussion was typical of the JPC, I thought they were too far into the weeds.  We could have tackled strategic or operational-level issues first and then get to the sewage (or power, water, trash) problems.  I thought back to my days as a little kid in school, I hated being there, wishing I was not in school, and me staring out the window watching for my dog so we could run and play.

The following day, I would travel to Tallil/Adder, a southern Coalition logistics hub notable for its location near to the ancient Mesopotamian sites like the Ziggurat of Ur.  The base was located about 180 miles southeast of Baghdad.  It sat on MSR Tampa South.  We were fortunate to have this base, as it also had intact runways that the USAF used daily.  The base also provided protection for the MSR and thus was responsible for the protected resupply of Baghdad.  I was interested in the history of Mesopotamia and the historical structures gave me an opportunity to visit some of the sites that I’d only read about in school.  The massive temple, the Great Ziggurat of Ur, is estimated to be four thousand years old, predating even the great pyramids of Egypt.  I learned that the Ziggurat was built by King Ur-Namur for the moon god Nanna (now that’s a weird detail).  The structure was built with what appeared to be crude mud bricks; and an interest to our Engineers.  We were told that Abraham of the Bible was born there and is said to have had one of his homes located nearby.  Later, we visited an Oasis linked to Abraham.  While there, the Iraqi Army had planned to relocate some of their combat power to the oasis, for reasons unknown to any of us.  I thought it unnecessary but I was not keeping up with the Intell C-2 products.  As I was walking through the ancient ruins at the oasis, the Iraqi military began destroying many of these structures (age unknown), presumably to replace them with modern military barracks.  I stopped their Engineers to ask why they were destroying the old one-story mud brick buildings.  I was told that they were just “old stuff.”  The implication was that the buildings were worthless, at least in the view of the Iraqi army.  This is a typical view of history by many from the Middle East where there is no appreciation of ancient architecture.  I will note that much of the Ziggurat had been rebuilt sometime in the recent past, an exception to this idea.  I could not confirm it, but those living nearby said it was Saddam Hussein who had much of the structure rebuilt so that foreign tourists could visit (and spend money to help his economy).  In the area near the Ziggurat, there were the basements of old dwellings with heaps of shards of ancient pottery and construction materials scattered out in the open.  I felt pretty bad for Iraq because they were losing their history, one destroyed building at a time.

By May, the Engineering effort for the Surge required me to see ongoing projects.  I traveled often, mostly in Army Blackhawks because they were much faster than ground convoys, and safer.  I still remembered the incident where several of my friends had been shot down doing exactly the same thing, but I didn’t let it bother me.  It is possible to overcome your fears of death, but it comes with the cost of losing some of your personality.  By this time in the war, I had almost zero fear of death or injury, despite considerable travel by air and ground.  I zig-zagged across the country, linking up with American military Engineers and combat Task Forces who had been stationed in various outlying areas of the country.  Someone had done a great job placing them where they were.  By the time I spoke to them, these Engineers were able to give me a detailed engineering analysis of the potential military capacity at each site.  Sometimes, it would be impossible to use the location; a lack of water and power resources, off the main supply routes, or near an insurgent stronghold.  The latter was not a good reason, but I accepted the analysis nonetheless.  I slept in various locations, usually in the base VIP quarters (typically just one room for senior visitors).  Since I came without much advanced warning, they did provide a liaison officer or senior NCO to brief me and make sure I got a thorough tour.  I was often able to make a quick decision whether any particular base was a feasible location to be used for the Surge or was in need of any upgrade or expansion.

NOTE:  For now, I’m continuing my series on the Pre-Surge as we were readying ourselves for an influx of American units.  I’ve decided not to write my book on this time in Iraq.  I may change my mind, probably not.  What I will do with these articles is publish them in a table-top book – to include photographs from that time – for my grandkids to read.

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Please read my books:

1. “55 Rules for a Good Life,” on Amazon (link here).
2. “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).