Elginite helping bring economic stability to Iraq

As the ominous headline scrolled across the television screen - "Green Zone under attack" - Mark Vargas knew that his mom, constantly checking the news while he was in Iraq, would worry.

It was midafternoon when Vargas' mother, Gineen Vargas, learned of that Green Zone - or safe zone - attack while at her Elgin home. "You're rocked in your world a little bit," she said. "That hit close to home."

Working with the Task Force For Business and Stability Operations through the Department of Defense, Vargas, 28, and his colleagues are trying to bring economic stability to Iraq and break the chain of everyday insurgent violence that plagues the lives of citizens there. And despite the danger, he says he's proud to have been a part of that.

On the day of the attack, though, Vargas, knew his reassurances that he was protected by some of America's finest military held no sway over his worried mom.

"I immediately called her and she was already in tears," he said of that day. "I did say, 'Yes, we're on lockdown right now. I can hear gunfire, rockets, but I'm in a very secure area, I know what to do, we've got a lot of great people to protect us."

At her end, Gineen Vargas said she knew her son was in good hands. But she knew that her son and all of those in the war zone, be they civilian or soldier, were in danger.

"War is very ugly and messy," Gineen Vargas said. "Shrapnel fire and rockets and all ... they don't have any biases on who they hit. We were very concerned for him and for all of those out there."

Sometimes those rockets hit close, too, Mark Vargas acknowledged. And he knows that his proud but worried parents are glad - relieved - that he's home from the war zone after 11 trips there in 16 months. Vargas returned to the U.S. for good in March and says he doesn't plan on "pressing (his) luck" anymore with another trip.

It was sometimes difficult to be in the middle of a country torn by war, he admitted. "I carry a piece of shrapnel in my pocket," Vargas said of one incident when a rocket hit about 100 yards away. "That was a very close call. It rocked everything. There's dust everywhere and alarms going off. Shrapnel everywhere. It also reminded me of how precious life is. This stuff is real."

Speaking from his Washington, D.C., office, Vargas said he's also proud he's been part of rebuilding a war-torn nation and feels it's vital Americans know of the good that is happening in a country many know only from headlines. It's particularly vital, he says, that people understand how financial stability can ease the violence there.

"If you look at a map with red, yellow and green - red being dangerous, green being safe," Vargas said, "you'd see how many (areas) were red in Iraq. We'd go in and open a factory and you'd see the colors move from red to yellow to green. We had the mentality that the faster we do our job, the faster our men and women will come home."

Many of the Iraqis who were planting roadside bombs or committing violent acts were doing so because they needed the money paid by insurgents, Vargas said. "It wasn't because they wanted to," Vargas said. "It was because they had to.

"Literally overnight Iraq lost all of its infrastructure, meaning it lost all of its leadership for hospitals, schools, state-owned enterprises (such as factories), and it put a lot of people out on the street," he said. "The average Iraqi worker supports eight dependents versus the average American who supports four. In 2006-07, unemployment was established at almost 60 percent.

"The best way to greatly decrease the terrorist organizations' footprint is by getting these people back to work," Vargas said.

By reopening factories, bringing in experts and working to stabilize the economy, that unemployment is now less than 19 percent, Vargas said.

There were nerve-racking moments, but Vargas said the satisfaction of knowing he was helping overrode the fear.

"I knew what I was signing up for," said Vargas. "I felt that as an old man in my rocking chair when the war in Iraq comes up, I wanted to be able to say I contributed, that I was a small link in helping bring stability to a war-torn nation."