But nobody reports the GOOD news about Iraq, we're building SCHOOLS and stuff!

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Sandman


Cute. Take the revenues (not profits) of a single Iraqi company in a sector pretty much guaranteed to grow, wax lyrical about plucky businessmen and the benefits of low income tax, contrast the terrible employment situation with 'vibrancy' and finish off with the suggestion that corruption is beneficial.

well said, Sandman

[Drake Tungsten]

Cute. Take the revenues (not profits) of a single Iraqi company in a sector pretty much guaranteed to grow, wax lyrical about plucky businessmen and the benefits of low income tax, contrast the terrible employment situation with 'vibrancy' and finish off with the suggestion that corruption is beneficial.

I think you missed the part where a London-based firm put Iraqi GDP growth at 17% for 2005 and projects 13% for this year. Of course, if you're representative of the intelligence of the average educated Englishman, the report may be worthless...

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Cute. Take the revenues (not profits) of a single Iraqi company in a sector pretty much guaranteed to grow, wax lyrical about plucky businessmen and the benefits of low income tax, contrast the terrible employment situation with 'vibrancy' and finish off with the suggestion that corruption is beneficial.

I think you missed the part where a London-based firm put Iraqi GDP growth at 17% for 2005 and projects 13% for this year. Of course, if you're representative of the intelligence of the average educated Englishman, the report may be worthless...

I find it hard to believe that in the middle of a Civil War in Iraq that the economy is booming there. The sad thing though about the whole thing is that I think in the end Iraq is going to end up a Islamic state that hates the US.

[Drake Tungsten]

I find it hard to believe that in the middle of a Civil War in Iraq that the economy is booming there.

I find it hard to believe, too. That's why it's good news.

[Sandman]

I think you missed the part where a London-based firm put Iraqi GDP growth at 17% for 2005 and projects 13% for this year.

And the World Bank says 4%. Take away Kurdistan and there's nothing left.

I find it hard to believe that in the middle of a Civil War in Iraq that the economy is booming there. The sad thing though about the whole thing is that I think in the end Iraq is going to end up a Islamic state that hates the US.

If they manage any more free and fair elections, then this one's a shoe-in.

[Drake Tungsten]

Take away Kurdistan and there's nothing left.

Take away Anbar/Baghdad and Iraq is a pretty peaceful place...

[Thue]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
For anyone who's interested in actual good news out of Iraq...

Iraq's Economy is Booming

How many Iraqis does it take to change a light bulb?

5. One to actually change the light bulb, and four to guard him...

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

Cute. Take the revenues (not profits) of a single Iraqi company in a sector pretty much guaranteed to grow, wax lyrical about plucky businessmen and the benefits of low income tax, contrast the terrible employment situation with 'vibrancy' and finish off with the suggestion that corruption is beneficial.

I think you missed the part where a London-based firm put Iraqi GDP growth at 17% for 2005 and projects 13% for this year. Of course, if you're representative of the intelligence of the average educated Englishman, the report may be worthless...

So this is the economic equivalent of schools being blown up raising the number of schools being built?

[Jack_www]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

I find it hard to believe that in the middle of a Civil War in Iraq that the economy is booming there.

I find it hard to believe, too. That's why it's good news.

Good News?? I think it is not happening at all. Even if the economy is doing better, if Iraq keeps going deeper into open civil war and chaos it wont make much of a difference anyways.

[Ramo]

For anyone who's interested in actual good news out of Iraq...

Iraq's Economy is Booming

If I didn't know better, I would've sworn that this quote was written by Ned...

A developing economy basically closed from foreign trade for over a decade is growing by 4% according to the World Bank after sanctions are dropped and lucrative oil production, and the economy in general, are subsidized by billions in reconstruction aid. Wow. I'm both shocked and awed.

[Drake Tungsten]

Good News?? I think it is not happening at all.

Unless you have some evidence to support this conclusion, I'm more likely to believe the analysis of the experts...

If I didn't know better, I would've sworn that this quote was written by Ned...

Ned's posts hardly consist of "here's some good news" and then a link to an article about said good news from a reputable source. If that were the case, the Nediverse would be an eminently reasonable place.

At any rate, I'm surprised to see how well this inadvertant troll has turned out. I didn't think such a simple and uncontroversial post would attract much attention, but I should have known that there are a number of folks on this board who are so concerned with portraying Iraq as a total disaster that they would fall all over themselves trying to belittle any good news coming out of that country. Sad, but entertaining...

[Ramo]

What I find sad is the desperate trumpeting of relatively innocuous news as a great success. By now, it should be pretty evident that outside of Kurdistan, the country's a total basketcase. Whining about lefties not appreciating good news in Iraq is so 2003. And therein lies the path to the Nediverse...

[Drake Tungsten]

What I find sad is the desperate trumpeting of relatively innocuous news as a great success.

I haven't done that in this thread.

Whining about lefties not appreciating good news in Iraq is so 2003.

Ditto.

[Ramo]

Look, the point is that the article is pretty silly. The civil war is continuing to degenerate, leading to lots of bad stuff - not least of which to the country's education system as Boshko's article indicates (particularly for girls). Most of the country is still mired in tremendous unemployment. Professionals are fleeing the country as fast as they can. Inflation has run amok.

Sectors of the economy that are highly dependent on foreign trade are up (i.e. consumer goods imports), but that's exactly what one would have expected since sanctions have been lifted.

Edit: The triumphalism that I was ridiculing is in the article. I assumed that you were endorsing its points by posting it.

[Drake Tungsten]

The triumphalism that I was ridiculing is in the article.

The article hardly seems triumphal. They remind you time and again of the myriad problems still facing Iraq and just how surprising the robust economy is when viewed in the context of the continuing violence.

I assumed that you were endorsing its points by posting it.

What "points" are there to "endorse"? It's a news piece, not an editorial. It contains facts that I'll accept as accurate until someone can provide evidence that contradicts them...