What Will It Cost To Rebuild Iraq?

Destroyed buildings are seen in the city of Ramadi, Iraq, Jan. 16, 2016. (photo by REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani)

Omar al-Jaffal, Al-Monitor: What it will cost to rebuild Iraq

BAGHDAD — “Ramadi has turned into ruins,” said Ouda, a soldier who has been fighting in the Iraqi army’s Seventh Division since mid-2015. Ouda took part in the liberation of Anbar province from the Islamic State (IS), which took hold of the city of Ramadi in May 2015.

Al-Monitor met Ouda (a pseudonym), who is a resident of Baghdad, in one of the cafes of the capital during his day off.

He recalled, “We fought with my comrades violent battles to expel radical IS militants in several axes of the city of Ramadi and the province of Hit. The battles wreaked havoc in Ramadi.”

Ouda described the situation in Ramadi to Al-Monitor on condition his real name not be used, because as a soldier he is not allowed to speak with the media.

“Ramadi’s houses and streets are all filled with mines. The entire city will crumble as a result of the vast quantity of mines left by IS,” he said.

Ouda, who is in his mid-30s, said that IS has booby-trapped everything. “Mines exploded all over the place as we moved inside the city. This is IS’ style. It destroys everything.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Iraq is not ready for a program of massive reconstruction while the war rages in the east and north. And once the war is finished .... reconstruction and foreign aid will then be faced with the Iraqi problem of corruption and sectarian divisions. Reconstruction should only come about after the war is over, and there is some agreement among the many groups in Iraq to work together. Unfortunately .... I do not see progress happening on this front for a very long time.