IRDC (Iraq Reconstruction and Development Council) was a group of 150 Iraqi expatriates —most of whom were American citizens— recruited by the Pentagon in March 2003 to assist the Coalition Forces with post-war reconstruction planning after the second Gulf War. The group was headed by Emad Dhia, a former Pfizer Corporation executive. The group was supervised by
Abram Shulsky's Office of Special Plans unit in the Pentagon.
The 130 or so exiled Iraqi included professionals, academicians, and technocrats who joined the IRDC worked as advisors for the senior advisors of the
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
.
The group was the brainchild of Deputy Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz (born December 22, 1943) is an American political scientist and diplomat who served as the 10th President of the World Bank, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, and dean of Paul H. Nitze Scho ...
and Under Secretary
Douglas Feith
Douglas Jay Feith (; born July 16, 1953) is an American lawyer who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from July 2001 until August 2005. He is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.
Feith has been descri ...
to bolster cultural awareness and Iraqi outreach. First ORHA and then the
CPA used the IRDC's members as technical advisors to Iraq's ministries and provincial offices. Some CPA officials had concerns that some IRDC members brought potentially troublesome political baggage with them, including ties to factions controlled by exile politicians.
The group was later marginalized and sidelined by Americans who view them as foot soldiers rather than partners in policy-making and left shortly after deployment in 2003.
[{{cite web, url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2003/08/11/exiles-feel-shut-out-of-iraqs-reconstruction/, title=Exiles feel shut out of Iraq's reconstruction - Baltimore Sun, publisher=]The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
, access-date=2014-11-26
The group was dissolved in June 2004, and some of its members preferred to stay in Iraq.
Some prominent IRDC members:
* Emad Dhia - Director
* Ghanim El Shibly - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
* Sinan Al Shibibi - Central Bank of Iraq
*
Sami al-Askari - Baghdad Central and Ministry of Religious Affairs
* Dr Muhammed Al Rubaei - Ministry of Higher Education
* Dr Muhammed Al Najim - Ministry of Higher Education
* Bassim Hilmi
* Adel Rahumi - Baghdad Central
* Dr Hassan Al Janabi - Ministry of Irrigation
* Tawfiq Al Yasiri - Ministry of Interior
* Ibrahim Al Zubaidi - Ministry of Culture
* Ibrahim Ahmed - Ministry of Culture
* George Bakos - Baghdad Central
* Dr Ghassan Ibrahim - Ministry of Electricity
* Abud Khadim - Ministry of Sports and Youth
* Harry Habib - Ministry of Electricity/Baghdad Central
* Hamid Al Kifaei - Ministry of Culture
* Lamya'a Al Gailani - Ministry of Culture
* Mohammad Abdul Jabbar Al-Shaboot. Ministry of Culture
References
Coalition Provisional Authority