In Memoriam - Nicole Suveges It is with great sadness that we inform you of the tragic death of Nicole Suveges, our social scientist team member assigned to the Iraq Human Terrain Team (HTT) IZ3, in support of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division based at FOB Prosperity, Baghdad, Iraq.
Nicole was killed on June 24, 2008 when a bomb exploded at the District Council building in southern Sadr City where she was attending a meeting of the District Advisory Council, which was scheduled to elect a new chairman. Eleven other people, including two soldiers and a member of the State Department Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (E-PRT), were killed in the attack. Nicole died instantaneously in the explosion. Another HTS member was injured but is currently in stable condition. The reduction of violence in Sadr City in recent months has allowed the US military to improve delivery of essential services to the population and to facilitate effective municipal administration. The HTT and the E-PRT were attending this Sadr City District Advisory Council meeting to mediate disputes within the Sadr City leadership, and facilitate the development of a more representative local government. This activity was part of an ongoing HTT effort to facilitate collective reconciliation among Iraqi civil society groups. Nicole had almost completed a PhD in political science at Johns Hopkins University. Her dissertation was titled "Markets & Mullahs: Global Networks, Transnational Ideas and the Deep Play of Political Culture." Formerly, she served in Sarajevo as an Army Reservist in support of SFOR/NATO. For the past two years, Nicole had worked in Iraq, initially as a project lead for polling and later as a subject matter expert for Multinational Corps Iraq (MNCI). Thanks to Nicole's professional competence and wonderful work ethic, Human Terrain Team IZ3 was quickly and enthusiastically embraced by their Brigade Combat Team. IZ3 is the primary cell responsible for political, cultural, and tribal engagements for the Brigade Commander, and Nicole was instrumental to the preparation, development and analysis of these engagements. Thanks to her, the Brigade became an exemplar for political and tribal dialogue, which is the key to both a stable and functioning government for Baghdad and ultimately for all of Iraq. Nicole enthusiastically embraced the challenges posed by working in a war zone, believing that social scientists could make the greatest contribution at the tactical level. She wrote, "HTS is the first effort to make social scientists and other HTT personnel available at the brigade - read local - level. This is where the war in Iraq is being fought, and it is about time that they are afforded the same capabilities that their higher echelons have. The burden that HTS has taken upon itself is to provide trained and knowledgeable personnel who can provide 'outside of the box' thinking, function as a team, and be a true asset to the brigades to which HTTs are assigned." We will remember Nicole for her intelligence, personal courage, warm personality, and tremendous dedication to her work. In the last e-mail we received from her, she wrote: "I love this job!" Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and teammates at this time. She will be greatly missed. Steve Fondacaro Montgomery McFate Human Terrain System News on Nicole Suveges Secretary of Defense Medal for the DEFENSE OF FREEDOM Print Media Civilian employee from Wauconda killed in Iraq. Chicago Tribune/Associated Press. June 25, 2008 Available online at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-iraq-illinoisanki,0,7877215.story Gamel, Kim and Yacoub, Sameer N. US forces face spike in deadly violence in Iraq. Associated Press. June 25, 2008. Available online at: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD91HGLR80 Glenn, David. American Graduate Student Dies in Iraq in a 2nd Loss for Army's "Human Terrain" Program. The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 25, 2008. Available online at: http://chronicle.com/news/article/4737/american-graduate-student-dies-in-iraq-in-a-2nd-loss-for-armys-human-terrain-program Lissau, Russell. Ex-Mundelein woman killed in Iraq remembered as 'an amazing person'. Daily Herald. June 26, 2008. Available online at: http://dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=212488 Wiggins, Ovetta. Johns Hopkins Grad Student Dies in Iraq. Washington Post. June 27, 2008. Available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR2008062603604.html Broadcast Media “Four Americans Killed in Sadr City Blast”. Associated Press. June 25, 2008. Available online at: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD91HGLR80 Schuh, Mike. "Johns Hopkins Grad Student Killed in Iraq”, WJZ in Baltimore. June 26, 2008. Available online at: http://wjz.com/local/hopkins.grad.student.2.757695.html Sterling, Joe. "American grad student dies in Iraq" CNN. June 26, 2008 . Available online at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/26/iraq.american.death/?iref=mpstoryview "Suburban woman killed in Iraq" ABC 7 Local News. June 25, 2008. Available online at: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6228124 Blogs Dawson, Mark. Nicole Suveges, a funny kind person, has died on an HTS mission in Iraq. Ethnography.com Blog. June 26, 2008. Jarvik, Laurence. Hopkins Grad Student Killed In Iraq: A sad email from Johns Hopkins President William Brody, Laurence Jarvik on line Blog. June 26, 2008. Available online at: http://laurencejarvikon line.blogspot.com/2008/06/hopkins-grad-student-killed-in-iraq.html Small Wars Journal Blog. More on Sadr City Bombing. June 25, 2008. Available online at: http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2008/06/more-on-sadr-city-bombing/ Military & Aerospace Electronics - The Mil & Aero Blog on Nicole Suveges. June 25, 2008. Available online at: http://www.pennwellblogs.com/mae/2008/06/technology-firms-tap-military-knowledge.html |
