Friday, May 28, 2010

Iraq: Paralyzed, Dejected, Corrupt

Robbing the State

By PATRICK COCKBURN
CounterPunch

Baghdad

"....“I have never been so depressed about the future of Iraq,” said one former minister. “The ruling class which came to power after 2003 is terrible. They have no policy other than to see how far they can rob the state.” None of this is very apparent to the outside world because US policy since 2008 has been to declare a famous victory and withdraw its troops....

The reign of the present ruling elite in Iraq may be temporary. Many of the returning immigrants seem to want to plunder as much as they can as soon as they can before relocating to Europe, the US or some sympathetic Arab capital. They may have abler successors. But the failure to form a new government, and the growing perception that the present one is illegitimate, is making Iraq so unstable that it cannot reconstruct itself."

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