Like a Country Without Oxygen

摘要

It might seem obvious to say that baghdad is in bad shape, but that's the first thing I noticed when I was there recently. I don't mean the effects of bombs and mortars. I mean it just looks shabby— the poorest oil-rich capital I've ever seen. It reminded me more of a South Asian or African city than the capital of what was for decades the world's second largest petroleum exporter. Saddam Hussein built grand palaces for himself, more than 50, including one in Tikrit that reportedly has over 250 buildings. He made sure that there were excellent roads so that his Army could move freely across the country. And that's it. But there is little evidence of the oil wealth anywhere else. Add to Saddam's ruinous reign 13 years of sanctions, three wars and an insurgency, and you have a country that is truly devastated.