Services Have Gotten Worse Returning

Services Have “Gotten Worse”

A returning aid worker for the AFSC says of Iraq:

Finally, the city grew too dangerous for Westerners and they left, concerned that they were putting not only their lives in danger but also the lives of the Iraqis that they interacted with.

McDowell’s job had been to assess the conditions in Iraq and see how humanitarian resources were being used, as well as to work with new Iraqi non-governmental organizations and help with larger projects such as water sanitation.

What he saw wasn’t good.

“In the past two years, rather than seeing an improvement in services, (Iraqis are) seeing a continual decline in those services,” McDowell said.

That’s gone hand in hand with a decline in security.

The American invasion, unfortunately, was undertaken in a manner that allowed chaos to take over.

On one hand, people were thrilled that Saddam’s regime was overthrown. On the other hand, McDowell said, “I don’t know anybody that would tell you conditions are better. They are worse. Obviously, there were problems under the regime. But they could walk the streets. Their kids could go to school. They felt safe – as long as they didn’t engage in politics.”

Thanks to Henry Myers for the tip.