Photo By Ben Eberle | Vacationers play soccer off the shore of Lake Habbaniyah at the Tourist Village resort...... read more read more
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By Cpl. Benjamin Eberle
1st Marine Logistic Group Public Affairs
HABBANIYAH, Iraq - Marines acted as heavily armored tour guides during a meeting between Iraqi investors and hotel officials Sunday, an effort to attract Middle-Eastern wealth to the dilapidated resort area.
"It's all about trying to get economic development started in al-Anbar province," said Capt. Bryant Butler, commanding officer for Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, and deployed with the 1st Marine Logistics Group.
Butler led the investors and a Marine security element on a three-hour tour of Habbaniyah's Tourist Village, spending time at the hotel and conference rooms, detached lodging units and honeymoon suites, and the existing water and electrical plants. The group concluded the visit with lunch at the resort's restaurant.
Tourist Village was a booming vacation spot before Operation Desert Storm, and it remained prominent until the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2003, Iraqi tourism collapsed and the popular resort opened its doors to displaced Iraqi families, which at times numbered in the thousands.
"Unfortunately, all the bungalows and cottages were packed full of people, and when they left they took a lot of stuff with them," said 1st Lt. Peter D. McGrath, commander for 2nd Platoon, Charlie Battery, head of Sunday's security team.
McGrath, from Plymouth, Mass., said displaced personnel living at the resort have started returning home, leaving about 600 permanent residents in Tourist Village. Many of the cabins are still empty and parts of the resort are in disrepair, but Iraqi and Marine officials have seen some promising signs.
"For the first time since the war started, Iraqi students from different universities came here for spring break," said McGrath, as college-aged tourists played soccer and volleyball a few hundred yards away on the beach of Lake Habbaniyah.
"It's very good, for a beginning ... it's a good cornerstone," said Mohammed Mizhar, who's from Habbaniyah and has been an employee of the hotel since 1995.
He acknowledged the moving parts that must come together before the resort can return to its former prominence.
"It all depends on the investors, the contractors (if an investment is made), and it all depends on the people to get Tourist Town back to the way it was," Mizhar said.
The people in the area have already shown a strong desire to move away from the past, working with Iraqi security forces to keep violence at a minimum. The structures in the area might need some work, but the improving environment is beginning to resemble that of a thriving resort.
"We've become a lot more hands-off," said McGrath. Marine patrols dropped from two a day to only about two a week since Iraqi police started assuming more of the area's security responsibilities in 2007.
"I honestly couldn't tell you the last time there's been an incident in this town," McGrath said. "I feel as safe (in Habbaniyah) as I do in America."
The investors might have strolled through the village with thoughts toward the future, but for one of them it was a surreal trip down memory lane.
Khalid Kabasy was married at the resort in 1984.
"I remember what it was like in the eighties," said Kabasy, "and yes, it has very good potential."
"The investors belong here," said Amir Hamid Hamed, general manager of the resort. "(Tourist Village) has a history, and they're aware of that. It needs help, but there is a future, and hopefully this effort will make that future happen."
High hopes for the future of Tourist Village were obvious as some on the site survey looked at the property the same way a painter looks at a blank canvas.
"There's really too much to visualize – you think of one possibility and new ideas keep popping up," said Al-Saiegh Munther, looking out at the blue expanse of Lake Habbaniyah from the resort's shore. Born and raised in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Munther is a British citizen and contracted advisor to Multi-National Force – West.
"Everyone can think of what was ... forget it," said Munther. "Now we have Marines here and Iraqi police taking over responsibility – let's appreciate (the security) and let's move toward prosperity."
Butler and the Marines of Charlie Battery are preparing to return to the United States soon, but catalyzing economic progress from within will continue to be a goal of coalition forces in Iraq.
"We're here to facilitate in anyway we can," said Maj. Charles R. Donnelly, a civil-military operations staff officer with I Marine Expeditionary Force. "The coalition forces are going to be moving away from supporting with monetary dollars and move toward facilitating (these) private investments."
Another investor visit is scheduled for mid-April.
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2008 03:36 |
| Story ID: | 18259 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 123 |
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