| | How well does this classic stand the test of time?
Ten years after the American invasion, Saddam Hussein's ration card system endures.
However since the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Hussein’s government in 2003, the ration card system has been failing dramatically, plagued by inefficiency, widespread corruption and security issues. The long process of getting flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil, baby milk and other relevant staples from government warehouses into the hands of citizens as well the poor quality of the distributed items has made the ration card system more of a burden than a saviour. Article here
Iraq still enjoys (if that is the word) a state monopoly on oil production.
Iraq will have to make some hard choices to come up with the cash to make these major upgrades. Iraq’s $115 billion of yearly revenues from oil exports provides nearly three-quarters of the income that the government and the nation’s citizens depend on for basic needs and services. The nation would have to devote a significant share of those revenues — about 10 percent — in the next decade to improving its oil fields and facilities. Washington Times here
Bad links, sorry, but it seems that Iraq is wrestling with $130 billion in foreign debt owed to Saudi Arabia (a point from this article), also to Libya and Sudan? I can see them owing to the Saudis, as it was for the service of the Saudi royal house that the US invaded Iraq. How the "loans" from Libya and Sudan came about must be a fascinating story of who profited, and who brokered the deals.
If Leonard Peikoff (as in this lecture audio excerpt) is right, future historians will wonder at the brief, paradoxical cold-war alliance of Objectivists, libertarians and classical liberals - with men whose core values are faith, chastity, humility, fidelity to the national collective, the postponement of happiness into an imaginary after-life, and gratitude to God for His gifts of suffering and pain.
Well, yes, but these are businessmen so that makes it all right...
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