Gina-Marie CheesemanWord to Senator Boxer: Iraq’s Economy is in the Toilet
April 14th 2008 07:20
During the Senate Armed Services April 8 panel Senator Barbara Boxer asked General David Petraeus why the U.S. still pays the Iraqi militia. “We should not be paying off that militia. We have nothing but raging deficits. Why wouldn't we ask them to pay for the cost of that program?”
The reasons why Iraq is not able to pay its militia are simple: Life in Iraq is rough, and the economy is weak. Forty-three percent of Iraqis live on less than a dollar a day, Oxfam International reported last July. The unemployment rate in Iraq as of May 2007 was 60 percent in areas where a curfew was not in effect, according to a Brookings Institute report. The consumer price inflation in 2006 was fifty percent. Forty percent of Iraq’s professionals have left the country since the 2003 invasion by U.S. troops.
“Unemployment and underemployment continue to be major challenges,” a March 2008 Congressional report stated. A Brookings Institute October 2007 report stated, “Iraq's economy is struggling along. But it is not doing nearly enough to create more jobs.”
Poor healthcare and food shortages
The healthcare situation is critical in Iraq. From 2003 to 2007, 34,000 Iraqi physicians left Iraq, and another 2,000 were murdered. As a result there is a shortage of physicians in Iraq. The March Congressional report stated that Iraqi healthcare “capability and capacity enhancements suffer from corruption and inefficiencies in the Iraqi medical supply distribution system.” The shortage of physicians “impedes healthcare delivery.”
According to the U.S. State Department’s weekly reports on Iraq for this year, there are food shortages in Iraq, thousands of refugees, and not enough electricity. Oxfam International’s July 2007 report on Iraq stated that sixty percent of Iraqis utilize monthly food rations, a little less than half of the population lives in poverty, and child malnutrition rose nine percent during the last four years.
The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization stated in its July 2007 report that the “overall food security situation” in Iraq “continues to be adversely affected by conflict and security problems.” The UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq said last month that four million Iraqis suffer from food shortages, and forty percent do not have safe drinking water.
The news organization Reuters reported in February that Iraq could face wheat shortages in 2008. Data obtained by Reuters shows that only 2.1 million tons of wheat were imported by Iraq in 2007, about a third less than in 2006 or 2005.
Refugees and internally displaced people
State Department reports refer to internal refugees in Iraq as internally-displaced persons (IDPs). Although “displacement rates have decreased,” according to the reports, “the humanitarian situation of the IDP population continues to deteriorate.” Housing for IDPs is the “primary need.” A third of all IDPs that have been assessed said their homes have been occupied by other people.
Independent journalist, Dahr Jamail, wrote in December that during the U.S. troops surge “the number of Iraqis displaced from their homes quadrupled, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent (IRC). By the end of 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there are over 2.3 million internally displaced persons within Iraq, and over 2.3 million Iraqis who have fled the country.” Iraq’s population is around 25 million.
Refugees International, a non-governmental organization, called Iraq’s refugee problem, “the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis.”
Between 1.5 million to 2.2 million Iraqis fled to Syria, according to the IRC. A UNHCR report in February stated that refugees coming back to Iraq from Syria slowed, and more Iraqis were leaving than returning. Most Iraqis who returned did so because they could no afford to live in Syria. According to a UNHCR survey, less than 18 percent of all Iraqis returning to the country did so by choice.
Electrical problems and shortage of safe drinking problem
Electrical blackouts are frequent in Iraq, particularly in Babil Province, according to a January 28 State Department report. The report stated that Babil threatened to cut its power plants off from the national grid “due to frustration over electrical blackouts.” Tahseen Sheikhly, spokesman for the Baghdad security plant, said, ““Sewage, water, and electricity are our three main problems.”
In May 2007 Iraqis had an average of ten daily hours of electricity in their homes, according to the Brookings Institution. Baghdad homes only had an average of 5.6 hours. Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Baghdad homes had an average of sixteen to twenty-four hours of electricity.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq reported in July 2007 that Iraqi homes only had an average of one to two hours of electricity a day. The pre-invasion average was 16 to 24 hours, according to a Brookings Institute report.
“Electricity demand continued to outpace supply. Although electricity generation produced record levels through December 2007, the system underwent a sharp decline in mid-January 2008,” according to the March Congressional report. The Iraqi electrical sector suffers from reduced water levels at hydroelectric plants, fuel shortages, equipment failures, and damage to power line segments.
A July 2007 Oxfam International report stated that 70 percent of Iraqis did not have access to safe drinking water. “Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare, education, and employment,” the report said. “Of the four million Iraqis who are dependent on food assistance, only 60 percent currently have access to rations through the government-run Public Distribution System (PDS), down from 96 percent in 2004.”
The reasons why Iraq is not able to pay its militia are simple: Life in Iraq is rough, and the economy is weak. Forty-three percent of Iraqis live on less than a dollar a day, Oxfam International reported last July. The unemployment rate in Iraq as of May 2007 was 60 percent in areas where a curfew was not in effect, according to a Brookings Institute report. The consumer price inflation in 2006 was fifty percent. Forty percent of Iraq’s professionals have left the country since the 2003 invasion by U.S. troops.
“Unemployment and underemployment continue to be major challenges,” a March 2008 Congressional report stated. A Brookings Institute October 2007 report stated, “Iraq's economy is struggling along. But it is not doing nearly enough to create more jobs.”
Poor healthcare and food shortages
The healthcare situation is critical in Iraq. From 2003 to 2007, 34,000 Iraqi physicians left Iraq, and another 2,000 were murdered. As a result there is a shortage of physicians in Iraq. The March Congressional report stated that Iraqi healthcare “capability and capacity enhancements suffer from corruption and inefficiencies in the Iraqi medical supply distribution system.” The shortage of physicians “impedes healthcare delivery.”
According to the U.S. State Department’s weekly reports on Iraq for this year, there are food shortages in Iraq, thousands of refugees, and not enough electricity. Oxfam International’s July 2007 report on Iraq stated that sixty percent of Iraqis utilize monthly food rations, a little less than half of the population lives in poverty, and child malnutrition rose nine percent during the last four years.
The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization stated in its July 2007 report that the “overall food security situation” in Iraq “continues to be adversely affected by conflict and security problems.” The UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq said last month that four million Iraqis suffer from food shortages, and forty percent do not have safe drinking water.
The news organization Reuters reported in February that Iraq could face wheat shortages in 2008. Data obtained by Reuters shows that only 2.1 million tons of wheat were imported by Iraq in 2007, about a third less than in 2006 or 2005.
Refugees and internally displaced people
State Department reports refer to internal refugees in Iraq as internally-displaced persons (IDPs). Although “displacement rates have decreased,” according to the reports, “the humanitarian situation of the IDP population continues to deteriorate.” Housing for IDPs is the “primary need.” A third of all IDPs that have been assessed said their homes have been occupied by other people.
Independent journalist, Dahr Jamail, wrote in December that during the U.S. troops surge “the number of Iraqis displaced from their homes quadrupled, according to the Iraqi Red Crescent (IRC). By the end of 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there are over 2.3 million internally displaced persons within Iraq, and over 2.3 million Iraqis who have fled the country.” Iraq’s population is around 25 million.
Refugees International, a non-governmental organization, called Iraq’s refugee problem, “the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis.”
Between 1.5 million to 2.2 million Iraqis fled to Syria, according to the IRC. A UNHCR report in February stated that refugees coming back to Iraq from Syria slowed, and more Iraqis were leaving than returning. Most Iraqis who returned did so because they could no afford to live in Syria. According to a UNHCR survey, less than 18 percent of all Iraqis returning to the country did so by choice.
Electrical problems and shortage of safe drinking problem
Electrical blackouts are frequent in Iraq, particularly in Babil Province, according to a January 28 State Department report. The report stated that Babil threatened to cut its power plants off from the national grid “due to frustration over electrical blackouts.” Tahseen Sheikhly, spokesman for the Baghdad security plant, said, ““Sewage, water, and electricity are our three main problems.”
In May 2007 Iraqis had an average of ten daily hours of electricity in their homes, according to the Brookings Institution. Baghdad homes only had an average of 5.6 hours. Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Baghdad homes had an average of sixteen to twenty-four hours of electricity.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq reported in July 2007 that Iraqi homes only had an average of one to two hours of electricity a day. The pre-invasion average was 16 to 24 hours, according to a Brookings Institute report.
“Electricity demand continued to outpace supply. Although electricity generation produced record levels through December 2007, the system underwent a sharp decline in mid-January 2008,” according to the March Congressional report. The Iraqi electrical sector suffers from reduced water levels at hydroelectric plants, fuel shortages, equipment failures, and damage to power line segments.
A July 2007 Oxfam International report stated that 70 percent of Iraqis did not have access to safe drinking water. “Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare, education, and employment,” the report said. “Of the four million Iraqis who are dependent on food assistance, only 60 percent currently have access to rations through the government-run Public Distribution System (PDS), down from 96 percent in 2004.”
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