Surge is leading to economic revival in Baghdad

MNFI:

Surge-related crackdowns on extremists combined with infrastructure improvements are helping to resuscitate Baghdad’s business and entertainment districts, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Monday.

“Protecting Baghdad’s citizens is a cornerstone of all of our efforts” as part of the Iraqi capital city’s anti-insurgent campaign, Operation Fardh Al- Qanoon, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark I. Fox told journalists at a Baghdad news conference.

However, reconstruction projects, economic improvements, infrastructure investments and other major renovations are part of overall efforts to help Iraq move forward, he said. Iraq’s recovery in the post-Saddam Hussein era is dependent on progress being made in both the security and economic realms, he said.

Fardh Al-Qanoon, an Iraqi phrase meaning “enforcing the law,” began Feb. 13. It called for dividing Baghdad into 10 districts and creating joint U.S.-Iraqi security stations to put pressure on insurgents. The campaign is being run in conjunction with the surge of U.S. and Iraqi forces into Baghdad and other areas used as extremist havens.

Fox noted that surge-reinforced U.S. and Iraqi military units are pushing the insurgents of the capital city into outlying areas.

At the same time, Baghdad’s business and entertainment centers are starting to come back, thanks to improved security and the completion of thousands of reconstruction projects, Fox said.

As of July 6, more than 3,400 reconstruction projects worth more than $5.5 billion involving schools, highways, bridges, electric power stations, housing, water treatment and sewage plants, hospitals and medical clinics had been completed across Iraq, Fox said.

Another 582 projects worth $2.6 billion are ongoing, he added, noting another 4,300 projects costing $7.9 billion are planned.

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In addition to security programs, “most of the other activities deal with providing services for the Iraqi people,” the Iraqi official said. More than $35 billion worth of infrastructure-improvement projects, such as street-paving and bridge construction, hospital and medical clinic rehabilitation, as well as electric power and water treatment plant work, have been completed in Baghdad alone, he said.

All of these reconstruction programs improve the quality of life for Baghdad’s citizens and contribute to the fight against terrorism, he said.

“There are good things that are happening. We are working on the water and the electricity, of course,” Shaikhly said.

As Baghdad’s quality of life increases, surge operations are helping to improve security in Iraq’s capital city, Fox said. The admiral said he’s planning to eat dinner in Baghdad’s renowned Abu Nuwas Street restaurant and entertainment district.

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The Iraq economy is also surging reflected by the growth of the stock market in the country. This information may come as a shock to most Americans because they have been presented with a story line that the Iraqis are being slaughtered as they go shopping in Baghdad. This is because of the media focus on violence as a metric for this war.