Seven years after the US-led invasion, Iraqis count the cost  

Posted by Big Gav in

The SMH has an article on the formal end of the US occupation of Iraq - Seven years after the US-led invasion, Iraqis count the cost.

KARADA IN STREET should be Avenue of the Victors. A colourful commercial strip in the capital, it is an enclave of Iraq's Shiite majority, which has been in the ascendancy since the demise of the dictator Saddam Hussein.

But with the formal end today of the US combat presence in their country as another milestone in the journey of their chaotic lives, many on the Karada In pavement wondered about the price they were paying for being rid of a tormentor.

Demographic maps of today's Iraq reveal that the Shiite regions are the least educated, most impoverished and most underfed. Resource maps reveal they have the bulk of the country's formidable oil and gas reserves and, despite their great political strength, they have been unable to harness the latter to ameliorate the former in the seven years since liberation in April 2003.

Awaiting the call of the mosque to signal the break of their Ramadan fasting on Sunday evening, shoppers were subdued, revealing mixed feelings about the US draw-down to 50,000 troops, whose brief from now on is ''liaison and training'' - unless they are needed for combat.

In street interviews with the Herald, there was a sense that the price for all the trappings of a freer society had been too high. Others had little confidence in their political leaders' ability to take them to the bright future that ought to be achievable with Iraq's resources treasure trove.

Most expressed a fear that the US departure left them vulnerable to the worst element of their own society. And a few questioned how, apart from toppling the dictator, despite their military and diplomatic might, the Americans had made such a hash of the post-invasion years. Selling women's headscarves from a stall, Adel Abbas, 30, rated the demise of Saddam as the only good thing the US had done. "They could have been more clever than to create so much chaos here. They demolished everything. They have left us with nothing - not even a government." ...

US taxpayers have spent more than $US700 billion but potable water is scarce, health and education services function badly and, worst of all, with constant temperatures of nearly 50 degrees through the long summer, Iraqis have electricity for only a few hours a day and petrol is often in short supply. Government is missing in action. Corruption is chronic.

0 comments

Post a Comment

Statistics

Locations of visitors to this page

blogspot visitor
Stat Counter

Total Pageviews

Ads

Books

Followers

Blog Archive

Labels

australia (619) global warming (423) solar power (397) peak oil (355) renewable energy (302) electric vehicles (250) wind power (194) ocean energy (165) csp (159) solar thermal power (145) geothermal energy (144) energy storage (142) smart grids (140) oil (139) solar pv (138) tidal power (137) coal seam gas (131) nuclear power (129) china (120) lng (117) iraq (113) geothermal power (112) green buildings (110) natural gas (110) agriculture (91) oil price (80) biofuel (78) wave power (73) smart meters (72) coal (70) uk (69) electricity grid (67) energy efficiency (64) google (58) internet (50) surveillance (50) bicycle (49) big brother (49) shale gas (49) food prices (48) tesla (46) thin film solar (42) biomimicry (40) canada (40) scotland (38) ocean power (37) politics (37) shale oil (37) new zealand (35) air transport (34) algae (34) water (34) arctic ice (33) concentrating solar power (33) saudi arabia (33) queensland (32) california (31) credit crunch (31) bioplastic (30) offshore wind power (30) population (30) cogeneration (28) geoengineering (28) batteries (26) drought (26) resource wars (26) woodside (26) censorship (25) cleantech (25) bruce sterling (24) ctl (23) limits to growth (23) carbon tax (22) economics (22) exxon (22) lithium (22) buckminster fuller (21) distributed manufacturing (21) iraq oil law (21) coal to liquids (20) indonesia (20) origin energy (20) brightsource (19) rail transport (19) ultracapacitor (19) santos (18) ausra (17) collapse (17) electric bikes (17) michael klare (17) atlantis (16) cellulosic ethanol (16) iceland (16) lithium ion batteries (16) mapping (16) ucg (16) bees (15) concentrating solar thermal power (15) ethanol (15) geodynamics (15) psychology (15) al gore (14) brazil (14) bucky fuller (14) carbon emissions (14) fertiliser (14) matthew simmons (14) ambient energy (13) biodiesel (13) investment (13) kenya (13) public transport (13) big oil (12) biochar (12) chile (12) cities (12) desertec (12) internet of things (12) otec (12) texas (12) victoria (12) antarctica (11) cradle to cradle (11) energy policy (11) hybrid car (11) terra preta (11) tinfoil (11) toyota (11) amory lovins (10) fabber (10) gazprom (10) goldman sachs (10) gtl (10) severn estuary (10) volt (10) afghanistan (9) alaska (9) biomass (9) carbon trading (9) distributed generation (9) esolar (9) four day week (9) fuel cells (9) jeremy leggett (9) methane hydrates (9) pge (9) sweden (9) arrow energy (8) bolivia (8) eroei (8) fish (8) floating offshore wind power (8) guerilla gardening (8) linc energy (8) methane (8) nanosolar (8) natural gas pipelines (8) pentland firth (8) saul griffith (8) stirling engine (8) us elections (8) western australia (8) airborne wind turbines (7) bloom energy (7) boeing (7) chp (7) climategate (7) copenhagen (7) scenario planning (7) vinod khosla (7) apocaphilia (6) ceramic fuel cells (6) cigs (6) futurism (6) jatropha (6) nigeria (6) ocean acidification (6) relocalisation (6) somalia (6) t boone pickens (6) local currencies (5) space based solar power (5) varanus island (5) garbage (4) global energy grid (4) kevin kelly (4) low temperature geothermal power (4) oled (4) tim flannery (4) v2g (4) club of rome (3) norman borlaug (2) peak oil portfolio (1)