Iraq needs a public works program.

Back in the 1930s, Roosevelt (and Hitler for that matter) solved the problems of poverty and discontent in the country by having the government hire the unemployed to work on public works projects, such as road construction. Iraqis need jobs, running water, and dependable electricity. Jassim cautions me, though, that there is currently too much corruption in Iraq leave it to the Iraqis to do this. An outside employer would have to come in and manage Iraqi laborers.

"one of the main resons behind the curent situation in Iraq now is the lack in all of basic services, if people find power, safe water and jobs the violance would minimize remarkabaly"

Jassim: the situation here getting more horrible
Jassim: life is impossible
Karen : How do you think that the Iraqi people would respond to a public works project? The government would hire people to build the infrastructure to provide reliable running water and electricity. Do you think that people would participate? It seems to me that the average Iraqi needs a job, water, and electricity
Jassim: yes
Jassim: well people will cooaperate as long as the see a real project
Karen : do you think that the current government would fund such a project?
Jassim: the problem is not in funding Karen, it is in the corruption
Jassim: also it seems that they have no willing to implement such as those projects
Jassim: Iraqis were always prefare that American do it by them selves without any intervention from Iraqis
Jassim: there were many projects like this but it resulted nothing due to curroption
Karen : It seems to me that the Iraqi people would be more likely to put pressure on the militias to stop the violence if they had their basic necessities met. It would cause the Iraqis to feel more responsibility and pride in the situation in the country if they were to be the ones building the infrastructure...don't you think?
Jassim: yes sure
Karen : so, there needs to be a way to do such a project without corruption
Jassim: one of the main resons behind the curent situation in Iraq now is the lack in all of basic services, if people find power, safe water and jobs the violance would minimize remarkabaly
Jassim: yes and the only way according to Iraqis to do it is implementing it by American completely
Karen : it really sounds like a public works project would be ideal. That was the solution found by both President Roosevelt in the USA and Hitler in Germany in the 1930s. They were able to maintain order and keep people happy. (Granted, Hitler abused it, but it still solved the basic problem of discontent in the country)
Jassim: I do not say that those American companies are no curropted too but with a good supervision by USA government they would do a good job after all
Karen : What about Americans supervising and funding the project, but hiring Iraqis to actualy do the work?
Jassim: not that usefull
Karen : why not?
Jassim: I mean if they hire Iraqis to cunduct it
Jassim: corruption is horrible here Karen and cunducted by political parties
Jassim: as an example
Karen : well, I was thinking of foreign (hopefully not corrupt) managment and Iraqi laborers
Jassim: if I was a manager of a such project I would face a great pressure by those parties and militia to employe their members in it even if they are curropted or want to ruin the work or not suitable to this work
Jassim: I'm talking about managing not workers
Jassim: laborores
Jassim: look
Jassim: when IRC was here and when forighn people were working freely in Iraq we could implement good projects
Jassim: but later when forighns had to leave and Iraqis to cunduct the work , the projects turned to a crap
Jassim: I'm not saying here that Iraqies are curopted people while forighns are not
Jassim: it is only that forighns have a good mechanizms to supervise
Jassim: and I think that in many cases the forighns gave the leader ship to Iraqis to allow them to steel and they have a share in the stolen money
Karen : I see
Karen : so all the managers need to be foreigners
Jassim: so I say again that if USA and government improved the basic services and life condetions here in Iraq then the situateion would not be like this for sure
Jassim: we all were expecting a plan like Marshal plan in Germany after WWII but this did not happen totaly
Jassim: not all of them
Jassim: they have to follow the suitable criteria in selecting the managers, Iraqis or forigners
Karen : what factors would be important for a suitable manager?
Jassim: I mean you can not put a militia member to run a global human organization here
Jassim: honesty, ability, capability and good expeariance
Karen : so a political judgement would have to be made to avoid having milita members
Jassim: it depends on the one who will select
Jassim: there were a good plans here to improve situations here like training abroad, improve basic services and so on but it failed because they didn't practise it well
Jassim: I refere many of that failuer to Iraqis after all
Karen : *nods*
Karen : I guess it's really hard to go from the kind of corruption prevalent in a dictatorship to the kind of interest in the public good necessary for a capitalist democracy
Jassim: yes right
Jassim: it is a long way but we can make it if we go in the right way, now we are not heading in the right way
Jassim: people need much to learn