...rather a high-profile political imperative

April 25, 2004 7:38 PM

Aid world rethinks role in Iraq -- As aid agencies continue to evaluate their work in Iraq, many are coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that their decision to deploy was driven more by politics than local needs.
posted by amberglow (2 comments total)

The post seems to state the obvious: that Iraqis had considerable infrastructure, if considerably decayed; they had hospitals, and schools, a good source of revenue, and most things that a modern nation needs to prosper.

Except a legitimate administration. Without which, though they could have had food, they had starvation; could have had medical care, they had illness; could have had any number of amenities, save that every spare dollar not stolen was diverted to weapons.

To fix things, they would only need minimal assistance to get the ball rolling back to prosperity far greater than most of the rest of the world; and large scale reconstruction of major infrastructure.

So what's a NGO to do? Instead of pulling out, or looking for something to do, they should turn around and try to get the Iraqis, who actually do have a great deal, to start helping others. Once the Iraqi economy is in full swing, their extra resources could be a boon to dozens of other countries.
posted by kablam at 9:49 PM on April 25, 2004

Good post, amberglow.
posted by bshort at 8:04 AM on April 26, 2004