For Iraqis, the Choice Is Between Pandemic and Poverty
Nabil Salih
In the streets of Baghdad, Iraqis battle a corrupt political class, war, poverty, and now a pandemic that has ravaged an ailing health sector.
On Baghdad’s al-Rashid street, stalls, tea houses and restaurants serve unmasked customers in crammed markets in spite of COVID-19 rapidly spreading among the populace. This busy street in Baghdad is a testament to pre-existing governance failure that has been felt in many developing countries reeling from the impact of COVID-19 on their economies.
Nearby at al-Rusafi Square, exhausted porters pulling back-breaking cargo intersect in a cobweb of traffic threads under the scorching sun of Iraq’s merciless summer. A horse on a leash looks on as drivers of taxis-turned-buses yell for the last passenger to fill an empty seat. Honking mingles with a stream of slurs spouted off by an angry driver who wants through, but cannot. A daily repertoire of mayhem plays on, and the din resonates across the square where car bombs incinerated many humans in recent years.
People most vulnerable to poverty are presented with no.....
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https://www.globalresearch.ca/iraqis-choice-between-pandemic-poverty/5721524