Struggle for Iraq's Future

Since the withdrawal of US occupying forces, international attention has shifted away from Iraq – but life for Iraqis has become no easier. Deadly bombings are still all too common, sectarian violence has soared and all-pervading corruption means that massive inflows of aid and oil income have made very little difference to crucial issues like security, healthcare and power availability. Now, Iraqi lawyer Zaid al-Ali sets out why and how the post-occupation Iraqi government has failed to achieve legitimacy or improve its citizens' lives. He argues that the ill-planned US intervention destroyed the Iraqi state, creating a black hole which corrupt and incompetent members of the elite have now made their own. In particular, al-Ali demonstrates how Iraqi politicians and the political system have failed to address Iraq's problems. The system of government put in place after 2003 has made Sunni/Shia/Kurd divisions worse rather than better, and created a dysfunctional state where the legal system is in crisis, human-rights abuses are commonplace and the natural environment, already degraded by Saddam Hussein's destructive projects, is worsening every day. This is a vivid, informed and ultimately very sad book.