If Iraqis get back to work, the sectarian strife would lessen, Chiarelli said. Polls in Baghdad show that if the Iraqi government could improve job satisfaction there by a small amount, “it would have really, really a major impact on the sectarian violence we're seeing,” he said.
ItÂ’s not like there isnÂ’t work to be had. The United Nations estimates it will take $60 billion to rehabilitate an Iraqi infrastructure decimated by 30 years of misrule under Saddam Hussein.
The commander said Marines in Anbar province -- right now one of the deadliest places in the country -- have been working not only to stop the violence with military force, but also to look to a more productive future. “We concentrate on the fight that's going on in al Anbar, but there are lots of fantastic things going on that (Marine Maj. Gen.) Rick Zilmer and his guys have brought on board that have given people out in al Anbar a feeling that their life is getting better and could get a lot better,” Chiarelli said.
“It is in those economic lines of operation and what (the Marines have) done in putting people back to work, what they've done to start to provide basic services to people who haven't had them for so long that has had a tremendous impact out there,” he continued.