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Economist: Basra youth make up 70% of the popular crowd fighters
11/22/15
When you do not go out in demonstrations near the gates of the giant oil fields in the southern city of Basra, the city of youth unemployed graduates spend their time in a game of dominoes on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab. At night, light the gas fire, burning the sky partly to compensate for power outages. Says a young "We offer oil for the world to give him power, but we live in the dark." The authorities used violence to disperse the demonstrators after the Russian Lukoil oil company threatened to stop production. After the protesters have hope, they abandoned their peaceful protest and called the popular crowd forces to intervene on their behalf.
At a time when the world's eyes to the north of the war on Daash, politicians say in the city to the south is no less a threat, where he says Ali Shaddad Knight, head of the oil in the Basra Governorate Council, said that "Basra is funded by Iraq, and that Iraq's stability depends on the stability of Basra ". It is supposed that Basra would be more of Iraq's provinces success; they are far from the battle lines with Daash, and traditionally more Iraqi city considered open to the world.
And still Iraq engine Basra wherein the ports of Iraq only in oil production, which provides 95% of government revenue. But four decades of wars and international sanctions, neglect and infighting made it a dilapidated city suffers from dysfunction. Fmravgaha worse than lying under the control of Daash Mosul facilities, and power outages most times continue today, it discharged salty, Air performs oil columns and sinks sewage flowing into the rickety to the city of canals was called the day "Venice of the East", cholera back to it. He says one of the members of the local council, "the health system was better under international sanctions."
Because unemployment is heading the youth to join the popular crowd forces which is one of the largest employers there, where the leaders of the crowd says that 70% of the crowd forces come from Basra. International oil companies and operates most of its operations from the outside. Although the local labor less expensive, the Iraqi government is paying foreign companies who are Bastijaarham wages, and this is what multiplies the cost of production per barrel of Iraqi oil compared to Saudi Arabia. Companies and says that foreign labor can be more reliable, but if the security situation is better, even if Iraq pays dues companies were companies have established training centers and universities, as it did in Saudi Arabia.
Companies isolate itself from Iraq and create a vicious circle, the gap widen between them and the local population , grievances escalate, and because of concern that could happen have asked Occidental Petroleum Corporation - the fourth-largest oil-producing companies in America - the last month of the Iraqi government buy its stake in the Zubair field, one of the largest oil fields in the south.
Iraqi politics than of lack of opportunity, where The ruling parties in Baghdad share oil revenues before they send little ones to the south, and the local representatives to freeze the rest.
Basra's governor and head of its board and the Secretary of the municipality all of them belonging to religious parties competing and all of them opposed to the decisions of others and projects, their respective militias competing for control of the streets city. Rashwan said Sharif, a spokesman for a new gathering of computer programmers, that "Basra is similar to Titanica, rich steamer but going to an iceberg." A local journalist says that the middle class owns and sells smuggled out of the country. The city's population vary, reach large numbers of poor and neighboring provinces that do not produce oil, the urban middle class replaced by a more conservative layer. Optical character changed.
According to the local director Jabbar immortality "were not our tribal conflicts, our city was open port on foreign cultures." It is said that Sheikh Zayed Bin Nahyan, the first Prince of the United Arab Emirates, he enjoyed Basra restaurants so make it a model for the city of Dubai. The art scene full of life, vibrant and more throughout the region, while the cinemas is thatched have banned a long time ago because of religious prohibitions, and the balconies of Basra - Aelchenachel - oversees the water channels.
In the city of Amara, about one hour north of Basra, the religious parties to cooperate and be held accountable to each without hampering each other's projects. It has also developed roads and sewer systems and sports facilities, and Chinese contractors walking around in the city without security escorts, and the opening of two new factories will be working next year with gas.
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