Iraq's reconstruction and development

[SubWater]

Iran prepared to open $3bn LOC for Iraq reconstruction projects: Jahangiri
Thu Mar 8, 2018 6:36AM

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Iranian First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri (C) is welcomed by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (2nd L) at the airport in Baghdad on March 7, 2018.


Iran says it is ready to provide Iraq with a line of credit (LOC) worth up to three billion dollars to pave the way for the Iranian private sector’s active participation in the reconstruction of the neighboring country.

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri made the statement at a Wednesday meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad, saying the two sides should work to remove the restrictions in bilateral banking relations, which he said is the main obstacle to closer trade ties between the two nations.

Jahangiri, who is in Iraq at the head of a high-ranking politico-economic delegation for a three-day visit, hailed Iran-Iraq ties as “strategic,” noting that the many commonalities between the two nations can lay the groundwork for the promotion of bilateral economic ties.

Iran and Iraq need a “comprehensive roadmap” for their economic cooperation, which would serve as a basis for their business ties, the senior Iranian official added.

Jahangiri underlined the need for connecting Iran-Iraq railways, saying the route will enable Iraq to have access to the Central Asia and China and link Iran’s railway to the Mediterranean.

Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri (L) and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi shake hands in Baghdad on March 7, 2018.
He also called for the promotion of cooperation with Iraq in other areas, including pharmaceuticals, energy and customs.

Abadi, for his part, hailed the historic ties of the Iraqi and Iranian nations and underlined the need for enhancement of mutual ties in all the political, cultural and economic arenas.

The Iraqi premier expressed gratitude for Iran’s role in the country’s reconstruction and noted that the Iranian private sector has made significant investments in the process.

Iraq is reeling from Daesh’s three-year terror campaign, which has taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure and economy.

Iraqi armed forces, backed by Iranian military advisors, fully liberated their homeland from Daesh terrorists last December.
http://www.presstv.com/DetailFr/2018/03/08/554736/Iran-Iraq-Jahangiri

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

April 2018 Large Drop In Violence In Iraq

http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.ca/2018/05/april-2018-large-drop-in-violence-in.html

 

[Hindustani78]

BAGHDAD — In the middle of Baghdad’s busy commercial neighborhood of Karrada, where most retail outlets sell home appliances, shoppers can now also buy handguns and semi-automatic rifles legally for the first time in decades.

After the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, illegal weapons trade flourished across the country. Looted guns from ransacked police stations and military bases were sold in streets and public areas to residents seeking to protect themselves in a state that was largely lawless.

The authorities have since been battling to curb illegal weapon sales and the government has stepped up efforts to control gun ownership through regulation.

The latest initiative came into force this summer and allows citizens to own and carry handguns, semi-automatic rifles and other assault weapons after obtaining official authorization and an identity card that also details the individual’s weapons.

 

[Solomon2]

Iraq makes 'great progress' in selecting compromise candidates for president, prime minister

Former Iraqi President Fuad Masum, center, leaves the presidency headquarters in the peace palace after the inauguration ceremony for the newly elected Iraqi President Barham Salih, center left, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018. Iraq’s new president takes office ... more >
Guy Taylor - The Washington Times - Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Don’t look now, but democratic politics is in full bloom in Baghdad.

Fifteen years after President George W. Bush faced derision for seeking to implant by force a representative democracy in the heart of the Middle East, Iraq’s political class has just navigated a major — albeit messy — transition of executive power in which popularly elected parties engaged in horse-trading to produce moderate, compromise candidates for president and prime minister.

“Iraq is starting a new phase, a new era,” Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Mahjoub said Wednesday, a day after the Iraqi parliament broke months of deadlock after an inconclusive May election to select Barham Salih, a British-educated Kurdish engineer well-known to Washington, as president, and veteran Shiite politician Adel Abdul-Mahdi as prime minister.

SEE ALSO: Despite independence referendum, Kurds lack clout, international backing to carve out own state

In a political landscape riven by sectarian tensions and the rivalry between Iran and the U.S. for influence, both men are considered reliable, middle-of-the-road choices.

“We have made great progress,” Mr. Mahjoub told reporters during a roundtable discussion at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington. “It was unexpected for things to go that smoothly,” he said. “The Iraqi people are very optimistic about these events and about these nominees.”

The Trump administration on Wednesday echoed his hopefulness.

“These are people that we know pretty well,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “They’ve been around the Iraqi government scene for some time.

“I’m very hopeful that we can continue to work with the Iraqi people and the soon-to-be-completely formed new Iraqi government to deliver against that,” Mr. Pompeo said.

The process wasn’t always pretty.

Mr. Salih discussed “building out” an “Iraqi government of national unity that was interested in the welfare and the future good fortunes for the Iraqi people,” though he expressed concern about Iranian interference in its neighbor’s internal affairs.

The issue of Iranian influence looms large. In addition to sharing a more than 900-mile border with Iran and hosting more than 2 million Iranian pilgrims annually to Shiite holy sites in Iraq, the Iraqi electricity sector depends heavily on Iranian natural gas.

Mr. Salih and Mr. Abdul-Mahdi face daunting tasks — not only of trying to jump-start Iraq’s badly damaged economy and healing searing ethnic tensions after four years of war with the Sunni extremist Islamic State group, but also of balancing relations with the U.S. and Iran.

Baghdad considers both to be allies, even as Washington seeks to isolate Iran and to crush its influence in the Middle East through renewed U.S. economic sanctions as part President Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Irannuclear accord.

Iran’s hidden hand?

Mr. Pompeo made no secret Wednesday of his frustration over what the administration describes as Iranian meddling in Iraq.

He blamed Tehran-backed proxies for recent attacks on American diplomatic posts there — including a rocket strike targeting the U.S. Consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra that prompted a withdrawal of U.S. personnel from the facility.

“We can see the hand of [Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,] and his henchmen supporting these attacks,” said Mr. Pompeo, who suggested that the administration is weighing military strikes or some other form of retaliation against Iran-backed proxies in Iraq.

The issue is sticky for Baghdad, which denies the existence of such proxies.

“There are no forces or military groups in Iraq that receive orders from abroad, whether from Iran or from another country,” Mr. Mahjoub said. “I’m not aware of the source of the information that Secretary Pompeo has regarding the Iranian role in the threats against the U.S. Consulate in Basra.”

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman said recent protests and violence in the south were “a normal expression of democracy” and that Iraqi officials “regret that some riots happened and some facilities were attacked.” Many of the protests have centered on the region’s weak economy and the poor state of public services.

Mr. Mahjoub said he hopes Iraq can be “a bridge” between Washington and Tehran and urged U.S. diplomats to return quickly to the consulate in Basra, where Iran’s consulate was also recently attacked.

“Iraq doesn’t want to see the relationship between Iran and the United States affect the relationship between the United States and Iraq,” he said.

For now, the emergence of Mr. Salih and Mr. Abdul-Mahdi, appears to be something Washington and Tehran agree is a good thing.

Iran praised the result of the coalition talks Tuesday night, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman expressing hope that it would result in the strengthening of “age-old, firm and brotherly ties between the two neighbors,” according to Iranian state media.

Compromise candidates

Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraq’s presidency — a largely ceremonial role — is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shiite and the parliamentary speaker is Sunni. The speaker position remains up for grabs.

Mr. Salih and Mr. Abdul-Mahdi are long-standing members of Iraq’s political class over the past 15 years.

Mr. Salih has served as Iraq’s planning minister and prime minister of the self-ruled Kurdish region.

Mr. Abdul-Mahdi emerged as a compromise candidate after two Shiite-led blocs led the May voting but failed to secure an outright majority. He had strong backing from Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a fiery nationalist whose followers won the most seats in the May elections and who formed a bloc with the current prime minister, Haider al-Abadi.

The other bloc, which is dominated by politicians and militia leaders closer to Iran, initially rejected Mr. Abdul-Mahdi but then agreed to support him after Sunni and Kurdish parties rallied to his side, a Shiite politician who took part in the discussions told The Associated Press.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric and an influential political voice, had made it clear through mediators that the job of prime minister should not go to someone who held the post before and urged consensus. “The opinion [Tuesday] was to have Abdul-Mahdi tasked quickly in order not to delay the process any further,” the politician told the AP.

Mr. Abdul-Mahdi, an economist by training who comes from a prominent Shiite tribe based in southern Iraq, spent several years in exile in France, where he worked for think tanks and edited magazines in French and Arabic.

He joined Iraq’s Communist Party in the 1970s but later switched to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an exiled opposition group established in neighboring Iran. He remained with SCIRI, which emerged as a powerful religious party after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion until the party split last year, when he became an independent.

After the invasion, he served as vice president, finance minister and oil minister. He has 30 days to submit his Cabinet to parliament for approval.

Iraqi officials said they expect the process of putting together a new government to go quickly.

“If we had gotten these two guys four years ago, it would have been a totally different situation,” one official said.

Mr. Mahjoub told reporters that Mr. Abdul-Mahdi’s background in economics fits precisely with what Iraq needs right now.

“He is one of the leading experts in economics in Iraq and in the world,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. “This gives us hope that Iraq can overcome its economic crisis.”



Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC.

 

[Saddam Hussein]

Baghdad tram/metro (above surface) has been approved, will be built by Hyundai with Alstom trains

 

[yavar]

U.S military force mission in Iraq under Trump presidency Farsi subtitle

 

[Aramagedon]

A beautiful square in Baaghdaad:

 

[Alshawi1234]

I made this thread but haven’t posted in a few years now.


Just felt like I should post to keep this thread alive and also give an insight about the current developments in Iraq to those who are still following.


After the military defeat of IS with great efforts and the blood of the Iraqi people from all sects, the security situation is now stable most areas with terrorist attacks to their lowest since 2003. Saying that, IS still operates in small pockets and poses a threat to security. Although they do not control any land, they carry out assassinations, kidnapping, and sabotage operations between time and time. Usually in small groups/ hit and run tactics. They have little support in Sunni communities unlike before. IS supporters/ families are seen and outcasts and shamed within the Sunni community. Most of the Sunni communities are activity working with and informing the security forces of any IS movements. This wasn’t the case prior to the war with IS. Sectarianism and distrust was widespread between the security forces and the local population prior to 2016.


The overall way of thinking of the Iraqi population has changed drastically after the war with IS. The Sunni population has strong anti-IS sentiments. Most Of the Sunni population are criticizing sunni politicians and religious scholars and blame them for the wars, destruction and implanting hate and sectarianism which eventually lead to the destruction of their cities.


The Shia population may be even more open and extreme to their criticism towards the Shia religious scholars and politicians. They too blame their politicians and religious scholars of using religion as a tool for control and eventually leading to wars, hate and sectarianism which lead to the death of hundreds of thousands since 2003. Shia youth are openly criticizing what was once “holy” and “sacred”.


There is extreme resentment by both sunnis and Shias against the religious and political authorities which are actively ridiculed and condemned openly in the streets and on social media. The same politicians who once used religion/ sectarianism in order to gain popularity and support against the other side (Sunni/Shia) have allied with was once the “enemy” after the elections in order to get important positions in the government. The political structure has also changed from a sectarian alliance to an alliance based on money and positions.


As of right now. The government is run between By different cross-sectarian political blocs. These blocs agree on who gets what ministry/ provincial council and other important offices. Once the agreements are made, the political blocs use their positions in order replace the old top officials with theirs and start to milking the federal budget.


Corruption is done through contracts worth millions and sometimes billions of dollars. These contracts are given to people within the political blocs at inflated prices. Usually what happens is only a small percentage of the money is spent on a failed project while the rest is taken by the politicians and officials.


Unfortunately these political parties also control the “anti-corruption” and elections comities. This practically means they make laws which insure that they keep getting re-elected into power and also cover up for their own corruption.


The Iraqi economy is probably less than 10% of its actual potential. There is still no proper banking system with most people still dealing with and hiding cash stacks under their beds. Government systems are outdated and many of them still work with hard paper documents which are easily destroyed and hard to track as opposed to electronic documents. This seems intentional to help cover up their corruption.


Education system lacks as every time a new minister comes in , they change the curriculum so they could steal money through printing and exchanging process. The health system is behind, infrastructure is lagging because of failed projects. Government officials make laws to shower themselves with gifts and excessive salaries and payments. Many undeserving people are receiving thousands of dollars in form of compensations, double/triple salaries and government paid expenses and trips.


The other and biggest issue is armed wings for some political blocs, especially those that are loyal to Iran. Iraq is slowly trying to integrate them under the exclusive command of the Iraqi government. However there are many obstacles. These armed branches existed before but were limited. They grew drastically after the war with IS. Most of them fought against IS but new seem to want to keep their militias outside government control. These militias threaten anyone who stands in their way. In some cases they illegal use their forces to exhort contracts or take important real estate. They are also used to target US bases or foreign embassies and companies in the events of a political escalation between Iran and the west.


Note This does not mean Iraqis are with the sanctions against Iran or wish Iran any harm, in fact most Iraqis stand by Iran and are thankful for their support during the war against IS. But at the same time they’re not happy with the negative interference of the Iranian government in iraq.


Currently laws are in the making to bring all their movements under a central command. It may take some time but it’s slowly going in the right direction.


As for the economy, We’re slowly starting to see projects which were put on hold because of the war with isis. There is still a long way but the ball is slowly moving. I’ll post some of the bigger projects here whenever I have time.

 

[Saddam Hussein]

Unfortunately that's all on spot ^^

 

[925boy]

Unfortunately that's all on spot ^^

Wow, troubling.

 

[Alshawi1234]

Unfortunate, but it’s the bitter truth. We’re hoping for some sort of drastic change within the government to root out corruption. But so far it doesn’t look very promising.

Bad news aside. There are some strategic project on the go. Perhaps one of the most strategic is the Grand Fao port.


It is a large multi billion project to build a port, industrial and logistics city, oil refinery and petrochemical plant and eventually a complete economical city. The first phase of the tide breakers has been complete. The second face which includes basic infrastructure is currently under progress. The port will start with a handling capacity of 1 million TCU and eventually reach 25+million TCU with the completion of the entire new city.

The purpose is to cut transportation costs for iraq and eventually use iraq as a dry canal to transport goods from Asia to Turkey, Syria and Europe via rail. This will cut both transportation time and cost for importers. It will also enable iraq to handle large deep water vessels. Currently most shipments to iraq are unloaded from large vessels and reloaded into smaller ships in Jebel Ali before being shipped to iraq.

 

[aziqbal]

the amount of wealth Iraq had has is unbelievable

enough to probably make roads of gold

I hope they see brighter future

 

[Mage]

Wishing Iraq prosperity. Hope the place if Arabian Nights return to its former glory.

 

[Alshawi1234]

Industrial scale farming has emerged in Karbala with plans to plant over 400,000 trees in the next few years as well as increase agricultural land.

Initial stages include building nurseries and banks for high quality palm trees and other trees which will eventually be used to expand further. The Fadak farm will hit its first capacity at 70,000 trees and eventually expand to 100,000 palm trees. Ongoing studies and plans are ongoing to use the space in between the palm trees to plant other fruit bearing trees.


Alsaqi farms were initially made as a backup plan in case Daish cut if the rivers supply and in case of droughts to supply nearby cities with water. With the threat dwindling and the mass availability of water, the water is now being used to farm new land. First couple years include planting high quality types of crops to use the seeds for future expansion and strengthen the earth. Eventually it will expand exponentially to help iraq gain self sufficiency when it comes to crops.
Part of alsaqi farm will be used to plant 250,000 palm trees in the next years.

Both farms are probably the first large scale palm farms in Iraqi to utilize drip irrigation

Fadak farm

Alsaqi farms

Iraq was once the largest exporter of dates in the world. The first cultivation of date palm trees in history was in ancient Mesopotamia. Hoping to bring some of the former glory back.

Here is a third large scale agricultural project, also in Karbala. Sayid Alshuhada farm

 

[Ravenheer]

Iraq under His Excellence Saddam Hussain Al-Tikriti was like "The Switserland of the Middle East" with great hospitals, big banks, colorfull casino's and large roads. I hope for my Iraqi brothers that those return with thr help of talentfull Turkish construction companies