A Dentist’s View of Baghdad or You think dealing with a PCT is “challenging”?

I had archived this link and forgotten about it, I think it gives some perspective on HTM01-05, PDS plus and the vagaries of government policies here in the UK. It comes from January 2009 and was first published in Iraq Tomorrow.

A Dentist’s View of Baghdad

Two recent stories from an Iraqi blogger provide an interesting snapshot of Baghdad as the city catches its breath.  He is a dentist who has a hard time practicing his profession because his clinic has no electricity.  Electricity is still minimal in most of Baghdad, and this is normal.  It is also normal for there to be endless traffic jams interrupted by checkpoints, manned by Iraqi soldiers who are often overwhelmed, as reported in this story from another Baghdad dentist.

Even with all of this, Dr. Mohammed runs into a different kind of inconvenience that he had not expected.  He goes for a bite to eat, only to find the corner store next to his clinic closed for renovations, paid for by the US Army.  In the big picture, the store is part of an on-going effort by the US military to rebuild Iraq, or at least lend a hand.  The overall impact of these projects is questionable, though there have been some prominent successes, such as the US-funded rebirth of Abu Nuwas street.  In Dr. Mohammed’s view, in a city where progress is often hard to see even a small step forward is a good thing.  The rebuilding projects create jobs, improve the neighborhood’s appearance, and indirectly reduce the chances of violence.

But as the local pharmacist describes the project to Dr. Mohammed, he becomes angry.  In his view, the Americans are paying for it with Iraq’s oil money, which they stole.   For him, nothing can overcome this perceived injustice, not even the fact that the supposedly stolen money is being re-invested where it can help Iraqi people.  Dr. Mohammed disagrees, but does not challenge the pharmacist’s main perception-that the US is stealing Iraqi oil.

The pharmacist’s information is wrong, of course.  Though there has been much talk of using Iraq’s oil revenues to fund reconstruction, the effort has been funded almost entirely by the US taxpayer so far.  In the meantime, the only oil production contract Iraq has signed since 2003 is with a Chinese company.  Overall there is very little evidence that the US as a whole has profited financially from its involvement in Iraq.  The perception, however, is difficult to defeat.  From an Iraqi perspective, for the US to occupy their country and not profit simply does not make sense.  They cannot see the powerful internal political forces which have mostly driven US decisions.  Perceptions like these make it hard for some Iraqis to accept successful US aid projects for what they are-help in a time of need.
In another entry the dentist shares some of his experiences as a patient, and his assessment that all is not well with the Iraqi health services.  Many clinics lack the basic equipment they need to help patients, and an almost impossible beauracracy prevents them from getting what they need.  More serious than these material shortages is the lack of good doctors, many of whom have fled or been killed.  These factors have created a dangerous situation where even a dentist has great trouble finding proper care for his infected tooth and his pregnant wife.  Dr. Mohammed’s prognosis for ordinary citizens in this system is not good.
These stories and others like them, while only snapshots, show a scarred city with many wounds left to heal.