A comparison of Iraq’s economy during and after Saddam Hussein’s era “Iraq's economy has been grossly mismanaged for 40 years, and its people desperately need an alternative strategy to supplant the failed policies of its dictator. Sound economics are needed to help them rebuild their lives and their country after two decades of wars and four decades of repression under the current regime” (Cohen). Iraqis have shown to have much better lifestyles after the fall of Saddam Hussein; it’s like life was once pumped again to Iraqi neighborhoods after years of oppression and poor economy. Saddam Hussein's regime has succeeded in bankrupting the country even though it boasts 112 billion barrels of oil in reserves--the world's second largest after Saudi Arabia's (Cohen) by forcing Iraqis to go on pointless wars on Kuwait, Iran and purchasing weapons, it not only shed billions of dollars; it also shed more than a million lives .The current era has brought economic improvements to Iraqi citizens that made their lives better. …show more content…
In Hussein’s era, all government jobs were mandatory if you wanted to work in the afternoon; the fees were only amounted to 3000 Iraqi dinars (estimated 2.69 US dollars). It made the society suffer and rot in poverty; a person couldn’t buy anything of sufficient value with 3000 Iraqi Dinars. People had to work in private practices in the afternoon to live comfortably. In the current era government jobs can pay as high as 1000000 Iraqi dinars (897.75 US dollars) and it’s not mandatory to work in a government job unlike Hussein’s era; it made citizens live more comfortably and increased their buying capacity which improved the economy. Plus there wasn’t a need to work in the
Michael Klare's Blood and Oil Michael Klare has written an interesting and very relevant book, dealing as it does with the politics of oil, US foreign policy, the Middle East, and the causes of terrorism. He writes with a clear purpose and that is to argue that America's "securitization" of oil and its willingness to use military force in order to secure its supplies of oil have been a major mistake. His main argument is that ever since the meeting on the Suez Canal in February 1945 between Ibn Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, and President Roosevelt, that America has supported despotic regimes in the Middle East in exchange for guarantees of oil supply, and that this is a deal, which undermines American commitment to and support for democracy and freedom. Furthermore, Klare believes that unless American policies change dramatically, there is likely to be an increase in conflict over oil, as countries such as China, which is dependent on imported oil (like the U.S.), attempt to secure their own oil supplies. Oil is a finite resource, which will be in increasingly short supply over the next few years, and production may now be near its "peak." In short, he believes that America must act now to move to a post-oil economy, taking exceptional measures to reduce the use of petroleum by motor vehicles and to introduce alternative fuels. ...
In 1991, Saddam Hussein decided to declare massive aggression on the countries bordering Iraq. The most affected country was Kuwait. Due to the nature of their ties with the United States, Iraq had a well organized and equipped army that was capable of causing massive instability in Kuwait. The United States could not let this happen because of the importance of Kuwait to the US. Kuwait and the US were heavily involved in the oil business with Kuwait being one of the biggest oil suppliers in the world to the US. The aggression by Saddam Hussein to Kuwait was also a major threat to other Arab nations in the region that had formed trade ties with the US. The involvement of the US in this aggression became the first major predicament that President Bush faced regarding foreign policies and relations. The US could not allow Saddam to take over the Arab nations as that would pose a major threat to the supply of oil to the US. In addition, Iraq would have control over 20% of the world’s major oil supplies in the world. As a result President Bush responded to the Iraq despot’s power play with Kuwait to mobilize a global coalition with Arab nations in “Operation Desert Storm” that repelled Saddam Hussein’s aggression in 1991 (Crab and Mulcahy 255).
In September 1980, a very destructive war with Iran was started by Saddam Hussein. This was a result of an invasion in Iran. This invasion spurred an eight year war. Saddam used c...
Iraq and Kuwait were some of the biggest oil producing countries in percentage. The author claims that before the war they engaged into numerous arguments in regards to their oil business. At this time the author explains that Iraq requested for a reduction in the price of oil, but Kuwait didn’t want and this caused a lot of loss for Iraq. Iraq, as put by the then foreign minister Tariq Aziz, is said to have expressed his concern on the kind of losses that were occurring in the tune of billions on their oil business as prices per barrel dropped. All that Iraq wanted from the lowering of prices on crude oil was to help them clear their debt with Kuwait (Fitzgerald 7).
Saddam Hussein was a dictator, who through intimidation and force maintained his grasp on power. These are tactics used by many governments throughout the world, ironically including the Amercian government. Saddam had a history of human rights violations and corruption, although compared to other international leaders his transgressions can be considered moderate. For example, in countries such as Rwanda and Sudan far more extreme measures have been taken by leaders, while the international community did little. The Iraq war is based far more upon oil and power then it is freedom. Seemingly, the Bush Administration and their corporate allies saw an opportunity to control the world’s second largest supply of oil and thus, like any savvy businessman would do, exploited it.
The Iraq war, also known as the second Gulf War, is a five-year, ongoing military campaign which started on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by U.S. troops. One of the most controversial events in the history of the western world, the war has caused an unimaginable number of deaths, and spending of ridiculous amounts of money. The reason for invasion war Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, which eventually was disproved by weapons inspectors. Many people question George W. Bush’s decision to engage a war in Iraq, but there might be greater reason why the decision was made. The ideas of George W. Bush might have been sculpted by one of the greatest works of all time, "The Prince."
In September 1980, Iraq invaded Iran because of a territorial dispute. This led to a long drawn out war that cost many lives and billions of dollars in damages, with either side unable to claim victory. This paper will focus on the three things that distinguish this war from previous wars. First, it was an excessively protracted and attritive war, lasting eight years, essentially destabilizing the region and devastating both countries. Second, it was a disproportionate war in regards to the means employed by either side. Iraq was supported by Kuwait, the United States, and several other Western European countries, allowing them to acquire advanced weapons and expert training (History.com staff, 2009). Lastly, this war used three modes of warfare not seen in previous wars: ballistic-missile attacks, the use of chemical weapons, and attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf (History.com staff, 2009).
In 1980 Kuwait, feared the dominance of Persian in the Gulf area had no option but to support Iraq financially and act as a life tube to the Iraqi military (3).Kuwait sent medical supplies to the wounded Iraqi soldiers and food during these eight years (3). At the end of the Persian-Iraq war, Iraq managed to keep its country and pride safe, but suffered greatly both financially and humanly (2). Iraq had a loaded debt and owed nearly $37 billion to the gulf countries in 1990, due the assistance they gave it to Iraq during the Persian-Iraq war (2). The ruler of Iraq Saddam Hussein asked the Gulf countries especially the UAE and Kuwait to abrogate the debt, believing the loans should be looked at as returning the favour for saving the Gulf region from the Iranian expansionism (2). The Iraqi ruler calls was futile as his demands was rejected by the Gulf leaders (2). This resolution led Saddam to threaten Kuwait (2).
Iraqi culture has one of the world’s most ancient history of culture to date. The country of Iraq has dealt with numerous changes throughout the years ranging from war, economy downfall, and environment changes. Many of the issues that arose had to do with the power and decision making of the former President, Saddam Hussein. The country of Iraq is located north of the Persian Gulf and its population is equivalent to that of California. This paper will discuss the economy in Iraq, as well as the Iraqi culture and their military.
An unstable economy in some Arab countries resulted in a failure to maintain order and democracy. Brownlee, Masoud and Reynolds (2013) claim that the lack of oil resources and currency wealth proved to be impediments i...
Ever the shrewd leader, Hussein realized that the primary way to ensure stability was to increase the standard of living. The fi...
As the Arab Spring enters its second year, major uprisings and revolts have occurred all over the Middle East, pushing for an end to the corrupt autocratic rule and an expansion of civil liberties and political rights. Most recently, images from Syria have emerged, depicting the government’s use of force to suppress the voice of its people. One might ask, “Is this the beginning of a revolution? Is the country on the path to democracy?” To assess this question and examine the future trends in the region, one must look back on the country’s somewhat tumultuous history, the relationship between the citizens and the state, and the political economy.
Woods, Kevin M., Stout Mark E. 2010. “Saddam’s Perceptions and Misperceptions: The Case of ‘Desert Storm’.” The Journal of Strategic Studies (February): 5-41.
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. The US wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein’s regime and bring democracy. To addition to that, US and its allies believed that Iraq had secret stocks of chemical and nuclear weapons, hence Iraq was a threat to the world (Axford 2010). In March 2003, US air bombed Baghdad and Saddam escaped Iraq. The invasion disarmed the government of Saddam Hussein. President Bush in March 2003 gave a premature speech, that tyrant of Iraq has fallen and US has freed its people. President Bush flew into Iraq to show the world that the war is over, even though nothing was accomplished (Kirk et al. 2014). Iraq was facing 13 years of scantions, therefore regime diverted its resources to flexible networks of patronage that kept it in power (Dodge 2007, 88). Iraq faced widespread of lawlessness and after the violent regime changed US could not control the situation. Iraqi civilians were looting, attacking ministries building and this resulted into a series of event (Kirk et al. 2014) . From a military perspective the regime was taken down, but they made no commitment to rebuild or secure the country.
Liberty is the mother of goodness and virtue, and “independence is happiness.” All independent countries and territories have the right to fight for their recourses, especially oil. The Gulf war between Iraq and Kuwait has involved the demanding of annexation of Kuwait’s land to Iraq, declaring it as Iraqi territory. This claim was an excuse to get hold of Kuwait’s sufficient and plentiful amount of oil and recourses. On August 2, 1990 at 2:00am, Iraq secretly commenced an invasion of Kuwait. The state of Kuwait was forcefully annexed, and in a few days Saddam Hussein has proclaimed that it was the nineteenth province of Iraq. Immoral and uncivilized battles have emerged between the two political parties, as well as the loss of innocent and blameless souls. The invaders caused so much destruction to the state's groundwork and infrastructure, and the burgling of homes was widespread. Iraqi soldiers attempted to change all Kuwaiti car license plates to Iraqi ones. Above all, the Iraqi’s treatment to the Kuwaitis was ruthless and merciless. Iraqi troops held thousands of citizens who were questioned in an uncivilized manner. There were also numerous incidents of murders and rape. Kuwait fought blood and tears for their land, oil, and their freedom. ...