Iraq Private Sector Falters

The Coalition can do more for the recovery of Iraq by buying more supplies in Iraq instead of in surrounding countries.

The New York Times reported August 11, 2008 in this article that "the number of Iraqi government employees has nearly doubled since 2005, while private enterprise has failed to flourish amid the damaged infrastructure."

The article does not mention that Coalition Forces import nearly all of their supplies from surrounding countries, namely Kuwait, Turkey, and Jordan, instead of using their massive logistical requirements to incubate Iraqi businesses. The imports amount to hundreds of 40-foot refrigerated trucks, flatbeds, and tankers per day, such as those operated by the company Agility, which celebrated sending its 100,000th truck into Iraq for Coalition Forces almost a year ago, in November 2007.

In addition to hiring contractors to import materials including food, fuel, water, spare parts, and construction materials, Coalition Forces hire foreign companies under the LOGCAP contract to provide "field operations such as dining and laundry facilities, housing, sanitation, waste management, postal services, and morale, welfare and recreation activities; and other operations, including engineering and construction, support to communication networks, transportation and cargo services, and facilities maintenance and repair.

What if we purchased some of these materials from the Iraqis? If they built the Ziggurat of Ur over 4100 years ago, surely they can construct brick barracks today. We should be looking at ways to actively build industry in Iraq, even if it means loaning billions of dollars and creating free trade zones on our bases. The goal is not to save money, although we might, but rather to create jobs and a viable economy that will keep growing after we leave.

This article highlights a recent initiative to incubate Iraqi operated vehicle maintenance businesses on Anaconda, one of the largest US logistical bases in Iraq, and demonstrates that the security obstacles are not unsurmountable. Vehicle maintenance is not enough, however, as those jobs won't last when the US departs; Iraq needs to build exports.

Access to the world market is a necessity, and the formation of the Iraqi Trucking Network is a positive step, although of course they need something to ship, and its area of operation seems to be limited (the article says it operated successfully between Fallujah, Al Asad, Taqaddum, Ramadi and Jordan: all Sunni dominated areas in Al Anbar province).