Iraq insurgency financing itself
November 26th, 2006 by ashish
In a report outed by the New York Times, the Iraqi insurgency has been described to be self-sustaining. It raises money from oil smuggling, ransom, diversion of money from Islamic charities, etc. This is different from previous years when a lot of the money was money stolen by Baath Party officials as the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein fell.
This is a very dangerous report. The total amount of money raised by the insurgents seems to be equal to the money spent by the US government for Iraq per day. And yet, the insurgency has not been under control. The present situation is also contributed due to many initial mistakes. The dissolving of the Iraqi army and the Baath party structure were some of the biggest mistakes. If the Iraqi army and the Baath party had been allowed to stand (but under control), a lot of the support that the insurgents have currently would have actually been used to crush them. People who help the insurgency in terms of advice and coordination would have been able to resolve the insurgency with much greater control. That in term would have prevented a lot of the sectarian violence that is spinning out of control.
The other major mistake has been that even though the initial support for the American army would have been there, a lot has evaporated because the situation on the ground has not drastically improved. There are still major problems in infrastructure, security is a disaster, and the overall impression of the ordinary Iraqis about the US Government has not been good. In addition, even after 3 years, a neutral and capable Iraqi police and army are not in place. This is one of the major issues that has prevented stabilization of the situation in Iraq.
