Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

ARTICLE: Economy - In Iraq, a rapidly shrinking outlook for American companies, Peyamner News Agency, 13-Nov-09

The key bit:

Iraq's Baghdad Trade Fair ended Tuesday, six years and a trillion dollars after the American invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, and one country was conspicuously absent.

That would be the country that spent that trillion dollars -- on the invasion and occupation, but also on training and equipping Iraqi security forces, and on ambitious reconstruction projects in every province aimed at rebuilding the country and restarting the economy.

Yet when the post-Saddam Iraqi government swept out its old commercial fairgrounds and invited companies from around the world, the United States was not among the 32 nations represented. Of the 396 companies that exhibited their wares, "there are two or three American participants, but I can't remember their names," said Hashem Mohammed Haten, director general of Iraq's state fair company. A pair of missiles atop a ceremonial gateway to the fairgrounds recall an era when Saddam Hussein had pretensions, if not weapons, of mass destruction.

The trade fair is a telling indication of an uncomfortable truth: America's war in Iraq has been good for business in Iraq -- but not necessarily for American business.

A perfectly fine outcome: we truly "win" when everybody else becomes convinced that they "won" more.

Let's see Noam Chomsky and the hate-American-imperialism crowd run with this one.

Larger reality: outside of oil, Iraq is not a particularly good fit for us economically. The natural networkers there are regional, mid-level players who know how to tap that bottom of the pyramid.

Something to remember as we craft a similar "win" in Af-Pak.