Rebuilding the Infrastructure of Iraq, Essay Example

The presence of the US military forces in Iraq resulted in an end to an oppressive rule of Saddam Hussein. However, American soldiers were recognized as liberators for only a fleeting period, after which, they were supposed to leave Iraq and go home. Nevertheless, Americans could not go home, as far as loads of work was to be done: the political authority of Iraq had to be recreated and the whole national infrastructure had to be built from scratch. Even now, many Iraqi people are short of basic amenities like drinkable water, often suffer from power outages, and have yet to profit from their country’s colossal oil prosperity. This paper will focus on rebuilding the infrastructure of Iraq, as viewed from the military and civilian perspectives.

The United States of America had established expansive goals for providing necessary services in Iraq, but restricted performance measures introduced confrontations in determining the general impact of the venture. Moreover, The U.S. rebuilding program had bumped into difficulties with incapability of Iraq to maintain new and rehabilitated infrastructure projects and to tackle fundamental maintenance needs in the electricity, water, and sanitation areas. According to some experts, the most considerable upgrading occurred in the telecommunications sector of Iraq. “According to the Brookings Institution’s Iraq Index, the number of telephone subscribers in Iraq is greater than 7 million, well over the estimated prewar level of 833,000 subscribers” (Iraq’s Faltering Infrastructure, 2006). In the electricity segment, the Iraqis’ ability to operate and preserve the power plant communications, transportations, and equipment supplied by the United States continues to be a challenge at both the factory and office levels. Nevertheless, Iraq is setting records in electricity production generating more than 4,000 megawatts daily, as a result of enhanced maintenance and a drop in radical attacks. In the sanitation and water sector, undependable power to direct treatment factories, scarcity of extra parts, and deprived maintenance procedures have limited the ability to enhance and rebuild the infrastructure. While in certain cities people receive up to ten hours of water supply every day, inhabitants of the rural area may get mere four hours of water supply daily. “An Oxfam International report concluded upwards of 70 percent of the country did not have access to clean water in July 2007; 80 percent still lacked effective sanitation” (Rebuilding Iraq, 2008). In healthcare section, much effort was thrown to building new clinics, which turned out to be minor help to Iraqi citizens, as far as only half of the built hospitals nationwide could function, due to problems with the two already discussed sectors of the country’s infrastructure. The transportation sector succeeds in being rebuilt with up to 98% of the railway stations being reconstructed and the national airport being reopened to civilians. However, similar to obstacles facing the oil and water areas, attempts to restore broken transportation lines have been decelerated by security risks. Iraq’s educational system seems to be the only sector where the infrastructure and reforms have actually positively worked out. Teachers are being paid, students are going to schools, giving Iraq a chance to become an educational center of the Middle East again.

After conducting careful research, I can conclude that Iraq is slowly coming back to normal life. Though United States is investing millions of dollars into the infrastructure of Iraq, the process of rebuilding and restoring is slowed down by a constant threat of new attacks. Moreover, the biggest barrier for renovating Iraq’s infrastructure remains corruption, which is widely spread from teachers to government officials.

References

Iraq’s Faltering Infrastructure. (2006). What progress has been made rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure? Retrieved April 5, 2009, from http://www.cfr.org/publication/10971/iraqs_faltering_infrastructure.html#4

Rebuilding Iraq. (2008). Status of Government Services. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from http://www.cfr.org/publication/15019/