A UN report fails to mention US occupation in Iraq as the casue of decline... Instaed it had this to say:
Impact of Conflict on Unemployment in Iraq Damages caused by insurgents and the lack of new investment affected adversely most productive sectors, particularly in high violence regions. Iraq faces serious socioeconomic problems as a result of growing unemployment. The loss of jobs, low rates of investment, and internal displacement lead to instability in the Iraqi labor force. 4. The cause-effect relationship between unemployment, poverty, and violence creates a vicious circle. Unemployment leads to delinquency, which in turn decreases investment. This leads to less demand for labor, causing more unemployment, and consequently further increase in delinquency. Such a situation has direct effect on the general psychology of the average population. A feeling of uncertainty hovers above the country, creating a growing inactive class. Most ominously, this inactive class has disregarded the idea of seeking a job for three main reasons: the political-sectarian situation, the lack of security, and psychological disturbances. Psychological disturbances have a major impact on the non-working class, especially among the youth. Many youngsters are not attending schools anymore, and adolescents are not seeking higher education. This issue is very critical since it has a major impact on the nature of the future labor force in Iraq. If this trend persists, the reduction in illiteracy rates witnessed over the past two decades would reverse. This will eventually lead to more poverty and more delinquency, leading to an economic crisis. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html
