UPWARD TREND:

A self-rule test at Iraq ministry: Cash and expertise boost Health Ministry even as doctors face kidnapping and threats. (Scott Peterson, 5/19/04, CS Monitor)

The question facing Iraq's freshly reformed ministries is whether the upward trend of improvements - spurred by huge infusions of cash, expertise, and US-driven reorganization - can outpace continued insecurity and a culture of corruption.

"There are a lot of obstacles," says Saad al-Amily, director of the health minister's office, where five phones sit on the desk, CNN plays on a large screen, and an air conditioner yields a deep freeze.

"The ministry was in a miserable situation before the war, then it was looted," he adds. "That was the real struggle till now."

On March 28, this Iraqi ministry became the first to be granted full control by US authorities, who celebrated its turnaround after "more than 30 years of neglect and isolation." Ministers now have control of eight of Iraq's 25 ministries, with more being transferred each week as officials gear up for the June 30 handover of sovereignty.

Health officials like to weigh their spending today against that of Saddam Hussein, whose 2002 health budget of $16 million for 25 million Iraqis amounted to just 64 cents per person. The 2004 budget is $948 million, with an additional $793 million coming directly from the US - all told, a 100-fold increase.

Took thirty years to destroy them, we should probably have a little patience while they rebuild.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 18, 2004 7:11 PM