Violence in Basra rooted in oil smuggling

BASRA, IRAQ – This once-placid port city is looking a lot like the mob-ruled Chicago of the 1920s, an arena for settling scores between rival gangs, many with ties to the highest echelons of local and national political power.

Basra’s sudden political troubles and violence are rooted in a bloody competition for control of millions of dollars in smuggled oil, residents and officials say.
Not only is Basra falling apart, but the means to reverse the trend are disappearing.

The educated middle classes — the people who know how to run the city — are leaving Basra in droves. Nearly 60 university professors have left out of frustration, officials said.

“There are no technocrats in the government,” Shara said. “If there were such specialists, they could address reconstruction and we would have improved services.”

Houston Chronicle