The reconstruction of Iraq is held above our heads like a promise and a threat.
August 29th, 2003
The reconstruction of Iraq is held above our heads like a promise and a threat. People roll their eyes at reconstruction because they know (Iraqis are wily) that these dubious reconstruction projects are going to plunge the country into a national debt only comparable to that of America. A few already rich contractors are going to get richer, Iraqi workers are going to be given a pittance and the unemployed Iraqi public can stand on the sidelines and look at the glamorous buildings being built by foreign companies.
Riverbend, the newest Baghdad blogger taking the world by surprise with her incisive commentary and resilient wit. Just like with Raed, people are wondering if she’s for real. But William Gibson makes a compelling argument for her authenticity: “I have doubts about the assumption that there could not be, today, in a population the size of Baghdad’s, Iraqi’s in their mid-twenties whose English is fluent and idiomatic.”