Wracked in recent years by sectarian violence and economic collapse, Iraq has been enjoying a quiet resurgence this year even as its neighbors in the Middle East are striving to stave off economic meltdowns in the face of political unrest.
Iraq’s stock market surged nearly 25 percent in the first two months of the year, and a record $20 million of investment funds flooded into the country from the U.S., Europe and other Persian Gulf states, even as other Arab stock exchanges fell by a collective 15 percent.
Iraq’s economic renaissance began with little fanfare in December after the United Nations voted to recognize its newly formed government and lift long-standing sanctions against the country, said Kenneth Kuhn, president of Global Capital Investments, a Chicago investment firm that specializes in Iraqi stocks.
With some of the biggest untapped reserves of oil in the world, Iraq also is benefiting from the surge in oil prices to more than $100 a barrel on worries ignited by the Middle East unrest.
Despite an outbreak of street protests in February by Iraqis demanding better services and jobs, Mr. Kuhn said, the demonstrations were different from those in other countries because they were not aimed at unseating the democratically elected government.
Risks remain in the war-ravaged nation, Mr. Kuhn said, but he thinks Iraq is at the beginning of an economic revival that could make it a beacon of stability and prosperity after years of having the region’s most stricken and violence-wracked economy.
“It’s a market that’s at an historic bottom,” he said. “They’re not out of the woods yet by any means, but it could be like being in China and Brazil 20 years ago” for businesses and investors willing to go out on a limb and tap into Iraq’s potential growth.
Although memories of the years of war and violence linger, Iraq has several reasons for optimism, Mr. Kuhn said.
The U.S. and other Western powers, after spending hundreds of billions of dollars and sacrificing thousands of lives to liberate the country from dictator Saddam Hussein and establish a fledgling democracy, now want Iraq to succeed.
With violence down by 90 percent since 2007, the International Monetary Fund last month found that Iraq had achieved economic stability with declining inflation and projected that its economy would maintain superlative annual growth rates of more than 10 percent in coming years.
Marine veteran Clay Hunt had a tattoo on his arm that quoted Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien: "Not all those who wander are lost."
"I think he was a lot more philosophical about life than a lot of us are, but trying to search for some inner peace and the meaning of life, what was the most important thing," said his father, Stacy Hunt.
His son's quest ended last week when he took his own life at his Sugar Land apartment.
The 28-year-old had narrowly escaped death in Iraq four years ago, when a sniper's bullet missed his head by inches. But he wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt over the deaths of four friends in his platoon who weren't so lucky.
"Two were lost in Iraq, and the other two were killed in Afghanistan," said his mother, Susan Selke. "When that last one in Afghanistan went down, it just undid him."
In many ways, Hunt's death is all too familiar: the haunted veteran consumed by a war he can't stop fighting.
Suicides among Texans younger than 35 who served in the military jumped from 47 in 2006 to 66 in 2009 — an increase of 40 percent, according to state records.
The problem seems increasingly intractable. Efforts by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to stop the alarming rise in military suicides nationwide through training and screening have had limited success.
Quote by wickedpam:
Just got off the phone with our PM and looks like 1 teabag Sec has resigned after last Thursday's meeting
Quote by BobR:
pha-la-la-la-la... la-la-la-logical
Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
Just got off the phone with our PM and looks like 1 teabag Sec has resigned after last Thursday's meeting
![]()
I keep forgetting to ask you how that went.... What brought it about??
Quote by Raine:
So I'm pretty excited! We were given the green light to visit/tag along with our nephew's school trip to DC this week!![]()
I can't wait to see him and his buddies.
Quote by Scoopster:
Mala, if we're ever on Survivor I'm totally forming an alliance with you.![]()
Quote by Scoopster:
Mala, if we're ever on Survivor I'm totally forming an alliance with you.![]()
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
Just got off the phone with our PM and looks like 1 teabag Sec has resigned after last Thursday's meeting
![]()
I keep forgetting to ask you how that went.... What brought it about??
The condensed version is that somehow I accidently pitted one bully against another and split the group!
The long, detailed version is drama!...
Quote by Raine:Quote by Scoopster:
Mala, if we're ever on Survivor I'm totally forming an alliance with you.![]()
ME TOO!
BRILLIANT!
Quote by BobR:Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:Quote by wickedpam:
Just got off the phone with our PM and looks like 1 teabag Sec has resigned after last Thursday's meeting
![]()
I keep forgetting to ask you how that went.... What brought it about??
The condensed version is that somehow I accidently pitted one bully against another and split the group!
The long, detailed version is drama!...
Awesome!Once they figure it out, it will already be too late.
So does that mean you'll no longer be president? It's a one year term thing?
Quote by BobR:
Aisha Tyler is killing me![]()
Quote by Raine:
Ok, I gotta say I am TOTALLY with Gawker on this one.
What the hell do these PSA's mean???
Quote by Raine:
Please, sit down before reading.
Fox news pulls another *Some Say* out of it's ass...
People Think Head Scars Prove Obama’s Had Brain Surgery
But, please take time to read the comments.
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Please, sit down before reading.
Fox news pulls another *Some Say* out of it's ass...
People Think Head Scars Prove Obama’s Had Brain Surgery
But, please take time to read the comments.
oh lord![]()
Quote by Raine:
Can someone explain to me why Sherrod Brown is so upset about Dayton not getting a Space shuttle?
NYC is getting the Enterprise, currently housed as the Smithsonian Air and space museum complex in Dulles. The Smithsonian Air and space museum as said to be getting Discovery and Florida and California are getting the other 2, Atlantis and Endeavour.
Quote by TriSec:
Hey folks!
I've been a Member of the USAFM since about 1992. It's every bit as significant and impressive as the NASM. There are many historical aircraft in the National collection that are listed as "one of only two remaining of this type". Usually, the other one is in Dayton.
I can see the local pol being upset that they're not getting a shuttle, actually. (The Apollo 15 capsule is in this museum - it flew with an all Air Force crew).
I did not know the Enterprise was being moved. I think I would disagree with that. Unfortunately, the logical choice for the Smithsonian (Columbia) is no longer with us. (Aside - the Enterprise never went into space. It was the concept demonstrator and only flew on a 747 and a handful of free-glide tests to see if they could actually land the thing.)
Quote by TriSec:
Hey folks!
I've been a Member of the USAFM since about 1992. It's every bit as significant and impressive as the NASM. There are many historical aircraft in the National collection that are listed as "one of only two remaining of this type". Usually, the other one is in Dayton.
I can see the local pol being upset that they're not getting a shuttle, actually. (The Apollo 15 capsule is in this museum - it flew with an all Air Force crew).
I did not know the Enterprise was being moved. I think I would disagree with that. Unfortunately, the logical choice for the Smithsonian (Columbia) is no longer with us. (Aside - the Enterprise never went into space. It was the concept demonstrator and only flew on a 747 and a handful of free-glide tests to see if they could actually land the thing.)
Quote by Raine:
Well, DC is getting the Discovery, this has been all but confirmed.
So we are losing Endeavor, which most people don;t even know is here, and getting Discovery. And Mala, NY will take GOOD care of Enterprise, it won't be that far from the Jacob Javits center..... Home of the NY ComicCon
Thank you Scoop for explaining that. I wasn't aware.
NY has the Intrepid Air and Space museum, and I know that American Instruments Laboratory was an early part of the creation of the Space Shuttle. It used to be on Long Island, specifically, Deer Park. My grandfather worked there. One of his last projects before retiring was for the space shuttle project. All he ever told me was that he was working on some tiles for a new space ship.
I figured it out after he died in 1986.
Quote by Scoopster:
Hang on.. what did I do?![]()
Quote by wickedpam:Quote by Raine:
Well, DC is getting the Discovery, this has been all but confirmed.
So we are losing Endeavor, which most people don;t even know is here, and getting Discovery. And Mala, NY will take GOOD care of Enterprise, it won't be that far from the Jacob Javits center..... Home of the NY ComicCon
Thank you Scoop for explaining that. I wasn't aware.
NY has the Intrepid Air and Space museum, and I know that American Instruments Laboratory was an early part of the creation of the Space Shuttle. It used to be on Long Island, specifically, Deer Park. My grandfather worked there. One of his last projects before retiring was for the space shuttle project. All he ever told me was that he was working on some tiles for a new space ship.
I figured it out after he died in 1986.
Still don't like losing stuff to NY!And to be honest, I do think the Enterprise should stay in Dulles, but I guess that just the Smithsonian and Trekkie geek merging.
On a side note - I want to go to NYCC since I can't seem to get to San Diego.
Quote by wickedpam:
On a side note - I want to go to NYCC since I can't seem to get to San Diego.