Word: iraqi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...British lost the battle to stabilize Basra and spent four years dealing with an increasingly chaotic province. Things changed for the better only after March 2008, when local units of the Iraqi army - trained by the Brits and in control of the region from September 2007 - launched an operation to disperse the militias. Now violence has been replaced by an uneasy calm, and with Britain preparing to withdraw all but a small rump of its 4,100 troops by May 31, Basra is daring to dream of peace. (See pictures of Basra back in business...
When Mahmoud voted in the regional elections in January, she opted for candidates she felt could offer "sustained security, jobs for young people and a better Iraq." Voting went off without violence in Basra (the only incident came when an overenthusiastic Iraqi policeman fired a gun into the air to encourage voters into a polling station). The bloc affiliated with Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, benefited from his action against the militias. In Basra, messages of national unity played better than did religious or sectarian appeals. "We have a new breed of politicians who can take Basra into...
Virtually all of Iraq's income comes from oil production, and through its state-run oil company, the country has been working assiduously for more than a year to increase its output. But the government's dilapidated oil facilities have essentially maxed out their production capacity; U.S. and Iraqi officials say any significant rise in production would require massive involvement by foreign firms, which continue to haggle with the government of Iraq over business terms, with little sign of progress toward possible deals...
...lieu of further oil revenue, Iraq will have to raise cash elsewhere to maintain roughly the existing level of government spending, which U.S. and Iraqi officials feel is necessary to keep the economy steady. Despite surpluses and positive economic signs, Iraq cannot currently generate cash on capital markets like other countries by the sale of bonds because of hundreds of unsettled claims worth billions of dollars related to Iraq's 1991 invasion of Kuwait. Scores of possible lawsuits by Kuwaitis and Westerners lurk in countries where Iraq might sell bonds, which could be seized by courts deciding cases put forward...
...moment, and its currency reserves in Baghdad cannot be touched. But any move by Iraq on international capital markets involves a gamble unlikely to turn out well unless Iraq takes steps to settle the outstanding claims, an issue U.S. officials in Baghdad are stressing when talking to Iraqi policymakers in trying to shore up the nation's finances for 2010 and beyond...