Former Illinois Commerce Commission chairman killed in Iraq

Former Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Terry Barnich was killed by a bomb while traveling in a convoy in Iraq, according to friends and family.

Philip O'Connor, former ICC chairman who served with Barnich in Iraq, said the 56-year-old Barnich was killed while serving as deputy director for the Iraq Transition Assistance Office for the State Department. Barnich's family was notified of his death Monday.

Barnich's sister, Rochelle Barnich, described her brother as a person with a great sense of humor who had great pride in his country and had been interesting in politics since they were children.

Barnich, who served as the ICC's chairman from 1989 to 1992, also had worked as chief counsel to former Gov. Jim Thompson and a campaign manager for Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka when she ran for governor in 2006.

He took a leave from his job as CEO of Chicago-based New Paradigm Resources Group to work in Iraq.

In a 2007 guest column in the Chicago Sun-Times, Barnich wrote about what he was learning there.

"To those back home who say the Iraqi experience has made the Iraqis unready or incapable for democracy, I say come work with me," Barnich wrote. "I deal with Iraqis who daily brave physical hardship, violence and threats of violence to make their contribution in building a government that deserves the consent of the governed."

And in an interview with National Public Radio reporter Anne Garrels last year, Barnich described some of the difficulties his office faced in improving the distribution of electricity to Iraq.

"The system was designed and operated to give Baghdad (power) 24/7 and to hell with the rest of the country," Barnich told NPR in the April 5, 2008 interview. "When we came in, in 2004, we decided that there should be a much more equitable allocation of power. That's one of the reasons the people in Baghdad are so upset. Because, historically speaking, they're used to power almost all the time."