Oil, The State And Economic Policy In Iraq

Despite the plethora of US and Iraqi government-sponsored meetings inside Iraq, and even more outside, and the numerous documents produced on Iraq

The successive Iraqi governments have failed to produce an integrated long-term economic program. This is invariably blamed on violence, insecurity and Saddam-era economics. Their piecemeal economic policies, however, are not effective because of the political and sectarian infestation of most ministries concerned with reconstruction, manned by incompetent executives. But perhaps the lack of a consensual national vision (strategy and policies) explains why the acute problems of the economy persist. This view is not shared by US officials. For example, in testimony before the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, David Satterfield, the State Department