Dismal days ahead in
Iraq By Dahr Jamail and Arkan
Hamed
BAGHDAD - Many Iraqis see dismal
days ahead in the face of rising violence and the
decision by the US administration not to seek
further funds for reconstruction.
"It is
obvious that the situation is much worse than it
used to be," retired Iraqi army General Ahmed
Abdul Aziz said. "Can you walk free in the
streets? Did you receive your food ration last
month? It
is
essential for most Iraqis to receive the food
ration just to feed their families.
"When
you go to the hospital, do you find medicines? The
answer is no medicines, no services, no sheets or
pillows, no beds, no nursing and no ambulances to
carry you from your house."
Paul
Wolfowitz, World Bank president and former US
deputy defense secretary, had said Iraq could
"really finance its own reconstruction". But such
words have fallen flat because the state of the
infrastructure is clearly worse now than even
during the harsh economic sanctions of the 1990s.
As the third anniversary of the March 2003
US-led invasion of Iraq approaches, a study by
Linda Bilmes at Harvard University and Dr Joseph
Stiglitz at Columbia University found that "the
total economic costs of the war, including direct
costs and macroeconomic costs, lie between [US]$1
trillion and $2 trillion". A trillion is a million
million.
This money has done little for
Iraq. The situation on the ground remains dire,
with estimates of unemployment at 70%.
"My
three sons have graduated from college, yet they
still cannot find decent jobs because there are no
jobs available," former deputy minister for trade
Dr Abdul Hadi said. The Saddam Hussein regime "did
not allow any of the graduates to be without
jobs", he said. Now, there is even a severe
shortage of teachers in the universities.
"I will not be satisfied until I find that
all the people have the will to rebuild their
country instead of humiliating their brothers,"
Hadi said. "I want to tell [US President George W]
Bush that he has destroyed our country for at
least the next 25 years. He is the greatest
terrorist, Arabs can never forget."
People
have no recourse to law anymore. "We are not
living in a proper way," restaurant owner Qassim
Abdul Hamed said. "We are suffering at the hands
of those who come in their vehicles just to have
meals free of charge."
The restaurant has
to go on serving free meals to the Iraqi police,
he said. "We can't say a word because they have
guns." And the free meals have to be served when
the cost of food has risen because of fuel
shortages. "There have been scuffles in the
restaurant, which we have not seen before," Hamed
said.
Munaim Abid Hassan, a 22-year-old
waitress at the restaurant, said she is working to
feed 12 people in her family, since she is the
only one with a job.
"We used to love the
American people but not anymore," she said.
"Hatred is spreading all over now, and everyone
wants revenge on them. You [Bush] are bringing
disasters to the people of your own country, not
only to Iraqis."
With more than 2,200 US
soldiers killed so far, and more than 100 attacks
on coalition forces every day, occupation forces
appear unable to protect either themselves or
Iraqis. Under the Geneva Conventions, it is the
responsibility of the occupying power to provide
security for citizens.
"The Americans
destroyed everything in Iraq," Aziz said. "I think
every Iraqi should weep all his life over what is
going on. Bush should be among the greatest
terrorists along with his colleagues in Britain,
because they are all criminals who have killed
hundreds of thousands of Iraqis."
