Good Work, If You Can Get It

Friends,
Life is not fair in Iraq, unless you work for the government.

Peace and Love
Rev O

Iraq Private Sector Falters; Rolls of Government Soar New York Times

"In it's (private sector) absence, the Iraqi government has been sustaining the economy the way it always has: by putting citizens on its payroll. Since 2005, according to federal budgets, the number of government employees has nearly doubled, to 2.3 million from 1.2 million."

“When people see a sudden pay raise, they will spend,” said Mr. Abbadi, who supported the phased approach to government raises. “To be frank, we have not been fair to the poorer people, or people without jobs, or people not on the payroll of the government.”

"But for most Iraqis, the challenge is getting on the government payroll, not getting off, and they are going at it the Iraqi way — leaning on friends and relatives with connections and scraping up money for the inevitable bribe, typically a month’s salary.
Like so much else in Iraq, getting a job is complicated by politics and sectarianism. While the minority Sunni Muslims run a handful of ministries, they are all but barred from some others. The policy of de-Baathification, aimed at rooting out loyalists to Saddam Hussein after the American-led invasion, resulted in a de facto purge of high-ranking Sunni bureaucrats, a purge that continued informally in certain offices that were permeated by Shiite militias."

"Shiites applying to Shiite-controlled ministries — even for jobs as cafeteria workers — are often required to prove connections, or loyalty, to the right political party." (Rather like our own Justice Department. revo)

Iraq Private Sector Falters; Rolls of Government Soar New York Times
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON