Is Iraq Nearing its Recovery Tipping Point?

[SocalDinar]

Is Iraq Nearing its Recovery Tipping Point?

Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971 08.22.2013 - 5:05 PM

 

 

During my research trip earlier this summer to Iraq, I had reported on some glimmers of progress, especially in southern Iraq. Citi Bank is opening an office in Baghdad, and Boeing delivered to Iraqi Airlines the first of several 737s last week. Baghdad has long lagged behind the rest of Iraq, however, as first Iraqi Kurdistan and then southern Iraq began to take off. No longer. Finally, the face of Baghdad is starting to change for the better:

Retail heaven has come to Baghdad. The capital’s commercial district has been transformed with the arrival of Mansour Mall. On Sunday, hundreds of people were walking in droves leading up to the giant structure, in their best dress, with women glammed up in make-up and high heels and ready for a night on the town. It was like a carnival, or a parade. “All of Baghdad is here,” my dad said, chuckling, as we strolled through the place. “In the past, they would drive all the way north to Erbil to go to Majdi Mall…”

There’s electricity and air conditioning, a luxury in central Iraq amid the searing 45°C temperatures. Finally, there is a place where people can hang out indoors and keep away from the summer heat. And for the first time in at least two decades, recognized brands are being stocked in the stores. There’s Koton, LC Waikiki, Ecco, Clarks and Geox, but those stores are alongside a fake “Aldoo”. That goes the same for food: there’s a “Krunchy Fried Chicken K.F.C”. Talk about contrasts: the sham poultry purveyors caught my attention as we walked by a shop that had Rolex and Raymond Weil watches on display….

Certainly terrorism remains a problem. The worst thing the United States can do is urge a compromise that will effectively reward extremists for conducting terrorism. And with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani permanently incapacitated mentally and physically from a stroke he suffered in December 2012, many unresolved political and communal issues will remain unresolved until elections next year. Still, in any war-weary country, there is a tipping point to confidence in recovery. And it seems despite the pessimism in the West, resilient Iraqis are pushing their country toward that positive tipping point.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/08/22/is-iraq-nearing-its-recovery-tipping-point/

 

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

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Thank you for a swell article, SOCALD... 

perhaps if rumours of the evil maliki fleeing to London are true, even the air should smell sweeter.

 

Though what the terrorists will do now without their leader remains to be seen....

may be easier to round them up and eradicate the majority of them.

 

Perhaps rumours of the Yanks going back in to establish a permanent base there was more than

they could take, eh?

[SocalDinar]

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Thank you for a swell article, SOCALD... 

perhaps if rumours of the evil maliki fleeing to London are true, even the air should smell sweeter.

 

Though what the terrorists will do now without their leader remains to be seen....

may be easier to round them up and eradicate the majority of them.

 

Perhaps rumours of the Yanks going back in to establish a permanent base there was more than

they could take, eh?

Well he's in India for the next 4 days.

Thanks Sqtfury

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

Well he's in India for the next 4 days.

Thanks Sqtfury

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So we've been told...Iraq to Iran to the US to India....  sounds right....

 

but did anything other than the 1 article we've seen today reveal a change

in venue for him or his family?

His absence from the lives of the Iraqi people would be a good thing.

[vomer]

Well he's in India for the next 4 days.

 

 

Wow, I didn't know there were golf courses in India.

[gymrat76541]

Despite whatever else is happening, Iraq is moving forward. Yes, we see violence taking place inside the country, and I think this is somewhat normal for them. They are used to violence; shiite against sunni and terrorist against everyone.

Progress in slow but it is steady.

This is why I believe in an RV.

Iraqi people are a proud bunch; I ain't figured that one out yet. They may appear uncivilized & wipe with their hand instead of TP but they are like a TimeX; takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

 

GO RV