Page 252 - Global Project Management Handbook

LESSONS LEARNED: REBUILDING IRAQ IN 2004 12-13

pipe line that could be repaired in a few days, they did not blow up major oil facilities.
Further, for the most part, none of the projects was attacked by the insurgents, A cou-
ple of exceptions being a military training facility that was attacked and a school that
was attacked just prior to the election in January 2005. But the school was attacked
because it was a polling place, not because it was a school.

The Transition

The original mission of the PMO was to rebuild Iraq, and the PMO was both a
policy/ strategy-setting organization and a project-implementation organization. The
PMO was a policy/strategy-setting organization in that leaders of the PMO worked
closely with the Iraqi ministers to create the rebuilding strategy. This all changed on
June 30, 2004.
During the first half of 2004, the CPA occupied and ran Iraq. The leader of both
Iraq and the CPA at this time was Paul Bremer. On July 1, 2004, the coalition running
Iraq switched from a mode of “occupying Iraq” to a mode of partnering with Iraq to
run Iraq. At this time, Allawi was appointed president of Iraq, the CPA as an organiza-
tion ceased to exist, and the U.S. State Department moved into Iraq. At this time, the
State Department began to lead the U.S. operations in Iraq, and the PMO was renamed
the Project and Contracting Office (PCO).
For the PMO, now the PCO, the significance of this change was that PCO became
a project-implementation organization only. Strategy and policy formulation and man-
aging the relationships with the Iraqi ministers became a U.S. State Department
responsibility. The State Department created the Iraq Reconstruction and Management
Office (IRMO) to lead the Iraq reconstruction effort. Figure 12.5 illustrates the rela-
tionship of IRMO, the PCO, and other key stakeholders.

Prime
minister
IRMO planning and
Ministry of
development
Iraq reconstruction cooperation
management office

Iraqi Needs
ministries
Needs
PCO
Multinational
forces
Project and
Regional
contracting office
governorates
and cities
Implementation
FIGURE 12.5 The Iraqui Reconstruction and Management Office (IRMO) is established.