- Defense Institute of International Legal Studies
- DIILS Conducts High Level Anti-Corruption Confe...
DIILS Conducts High Level Anti-Corruption Conference in Baghdad
Representatives of the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies (DIILS), CAPT Lance Gordon, USN; LtCol Paul McConnell, USMC; and Maj Christian Ruwe, USMC; conducted a Combating Corruption and Terrorism Conference 17-21 May 2009 at Phoenix Base in Baghdad, Iraq. Augmenting the DIILS’ team was Maj Christopher Monsey, USAF, from the MNF-I Staff Judge Advocate’s Office.
The five-day conference was hosted and participation organized by the Inspector General, MNSTC-I Command Group. It brought together 35 participants from the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Counter-Terrorism Bureau and the Commission of Integrity. The conference participants discussed strategies and shared insights on how best to battle corruption in Iraq. By facilitating inter-ministerial discussions, the conference provided a unique opportunity for the participants to discuss common issues they face and how they are addressing them.
The program received very positive feedback from participating Iraqi representatives and their U.S. counterparts. Participants noted that while there have been similar subjects addressed in other seminars, this particular seminar included the right combination of Iraqi officials and provided them an open forum to discuss their issues rather than simply being lectured to. Iraqi Col. Ali Adnan, Manager of Special Investigations Committee, Ministry of Interior said, “This is a good conference that allows all of us to come together to find a solution.” Having representatives from many of the other ministries was important because, “there are similar problems among all the ministries and now we are able to share experiences,” said Col. Ali.
Though this conference had been planned for many months, the timing of the conference coincided with Prime Minister Maliki’s recent comments that corruption is a serious problem facing Iraq. He stated that corruption is on the same level as terrorism and said that corruption is “the second insurgency.” British Army Brigadier Mark Lacey, during the conference’s closing remarks, emphasized the connection between corruption and terrorism.
“Bribes enable terrorists to conduct operations, to travel across borders, hide inside borders, and smuggle people, munitions and drugs,” said Lacey. “Corruption steals from the people and undermines legitimate ministry goals, budgets, programs and rob security forces of readiness,” added Lacey.
Both the Iraqi and U.S. participants emphasized that this type of event should be repeated and developed into an in-depth series of workshops and that such workshops should focus on discussion topics that are germane to the current situations being addressed by the Iraqi Government (e.g., anti-corruption efforts in specific ministries). In response, the DIILS team offered to develop, introduce, and facilitate discussions and exercises that will allow Iraqi representatives an open forum to ‘war game’ scenarios.