Iraq’s ‘barrels of honey’…

Before the 2003-U.S. invasion Iraqis were promised barrels of honey. The occupiers and their lackeys spoke of turning the country into a place even better than Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Hong Kong.

After more than six years maximum Iraqis now want is a return to the pre-invasion days.

This ambition is not confined to ordinary Iraqis. Senior U.S. officials and Iraqi government ministers aspire to take the country to that stage.

But many might have forgotten that Iraq of those days was under former President Saddam Hussein and his Baath party which the U.S. and their Iraqi lackeys toppled.

They overthrew the regime because they believed it was corrupt socially, economically and financially. In terms of human rights violations it was thought to be the ‘worst’ in the world.

Many have also forgotten that the regime was under punitive U.N. trade sanctions. It had not direct access to its oil royalties 30% of which went to war reparations.

Today, a U.S. official or an Iraqi government minister would openly brag if the performance of an economic sector reaches a pre-war level, i.e. Saddam Hussein’s level.

Unfortunately, there is very little in the country today which can surpass or even match conditions under Saddam Hussein.

And this is a good benchmark to measure whether the U.S.-controlled Iraq has been progressing or digressing.

Source: Azzaman