IRAQ: I’m from the government...

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Mamoun Sami Rasheed, the jumbo-sized governor of Anbar province, walked briskly through the narrow halls of Haditha’s hospital, hearing complaints and pleas for help. An aide took notes and, at Rasheed’s nod, dispensed money to the neediest cases, usually women with sick babies.

Later Rasheed, dressed in a floor-length black overcoat, held three town meetings where Haditha residents begged for help from the provincial government, based in Ramadi.

The sessions were part of what the Marines call ‘helicopter engagement,’ an attempt to introduce provincial politicians to their constituents.

The Marines provide the transportation — Rasheed arrived in an Osprey — and the security. Dozens of such sessions have been held in the last year across the sprawling province as the danger from armed insurgents has lessened.

The goal is to ‘restore a balance’ between the tribes and the government, said Maj. Gen. John Allen. ‘People want to be led by the sheiks but governed by technocrats,’ he said.

—Tony Perry in Haditha, Iraq