88.2 Billion Dollars Needed To Rebuild Iraq
It will cost 88.2 billion dollars to rebuild Iraq after years of war and economic turmoil.
This was disclosed by the director-general of the country’s planning ministry, Qusay Abdulfattah, at an international conference in Kuwait.
Abdulfattah said about 22 billion dollars will be required in the short term and 65 billion dollars in the medium term, Adulfattah said at the conference, which was arranged to discuss Iraq’s reconstruction.
The housing sector has the most urgent need for funds.
NAN reports that the Iraq War began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a U.S.-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein.
The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government.
UN said an estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict.
The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue.
The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The invasion began on March 20, 2003, with the U.S., joined by the UK and several coalition allies, launching a “shock and awe” bombing campaign.
Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as U.S. forces swept through the country.
The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba’athist government; Saddam was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year and executed by a military court three years later.
However, the power vacuum following Saddam’s demise and the mismanagement of the occupation led to widespread sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis, as well as a lengthy insurgency against U.S. and coalition forces.
Many violent insurgent groups were supported by Iran and al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The U.S. responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U.S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama.
The U.S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011.
