I believe we should pay them.
After they pay us for the sanitation plants we built they never had. After they pay us for the electric plants that did not function, that do now.
After they pay us for the schools we built, the books we brought, the roads we built, the infrastructure we provided via our urban planning engineers.
After they pay for the time and labor on the above - we will still owe them a bit.
Then we can bill for the rebuilt cities - the shia now live in communities with services and hope. Schools and stores, jobs and opportunity for some.
They can pay us for removing the tyrant and the cost of military equipment.
They can pay us for the loss of American lives and for the cost of maintaining the stability of Iraq for seven years so they can now be at a point to ask us to pay for their roads.
We can bill for man hours, air hours, fuel costs, food costs ...
When we finish, we can spread the debt they owe us over 100 years and they can pay us in oil, and we promise we will not raise this issue again - unless they raise the issue of their roads again.
Baghdad wants U.S. to pay $1 billion for damage to city
BAGHDAD
Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:44am EST
(Reuters) - Iraq's capital wants the United States to apologize and pay $1 billion for the damage done to the city not by bombs but by blast walls and Humvees since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The city's government issued its demands in a statement on Wednesday that said Baghdad's infrastructure and aesthetics have been seriously damaged by the American military.
"The U.S. forces changed this beautiful city to a camp in an ugly and destructive way, which reflected deliberate ignorance and carelessness about the simplest forms of public taste," the statement said.
"Due to the huge damage, leading to a loss the Baghdad municipality cannot afford...we demand the American side apologize to Baghdad's people and pay back these expenses."
The statement made no mention of damage caused by bombing.
Baghdad's neighborhoods have been sealed off by miles of concrete blast walls, transforming the city into a tangled maze that contributes to massive traffic jams. Despite a sharp reduction in overall violence in recent years only 5 percent of the walls have been removed, officials said.
The heavy blast walls have damaged sewer and water systems, pavement and parks, said Hakeem Abdul Zahra, the city spokesman.
U.S. military Humvees, driven on street medians and through gardens, have also caused major damage, he said.
"The city of Baghdad feels these violations, which have taken place for years, have caused economic and moral damage," he said.
U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq's cities in June 2009 before formally ending combat operations last August. Around 50,000 remain in Iraq but they are scheduled to withdraw by year end.
Baghdad is badly in need of a facelift. Electricity and trash collection are sporadic, streets are potholed and sewage treatment plants and pipes have not been renovated for years.
Iraq has seen growing protests in recent weeks over poor government services.
Zahra said the city's statement issued on Wednesday would be the start of its measures to get the United States to pay for damages but he did not say what other steps might be taken.
iraq
After they pay us for the sanitation plants we built they never had. After they pay us for the electric plants that did not function, that do now.
After they pay us for the schools we built, the books we brought, the roads we built, the infrastructure we provided via our urban planning engineers.
After they pay for the time and labor on the above - we will still owe them a bit.
Then we can bill for the rebuilt cities - the shia now live in communities with services and hope. Schools and stores, jobs and opportunity for some.
They can pay us for removing the tyrant and the cost of military equipment.
They can pay us for the loss of American lives and for the cost of maintaining the stability of Iraq for seven years so they can now be at a point to ask us to pay for their roads.
We can bill for man hours, air hours, fuel costs, food costs ...
When we finish, we can spread the debt they owe us over 100 years and they can pay us in oil, and we promise we will not raise this issue again - unless they raise the issue of their roads again.
Baghdad wants U.S. to pay $1 billion for damage to city
BAGHDAD
Thu Feb 17, 2011 10:44am EST
(Reuters) - Iraq's capital wants the United States to apologize and pay $1 billion for the damage done to the city not by bombs but by blast walls and Humvees since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The city's government issued its demands in a statement on Wednesday that said Baghdad's infrastructure and aesthetics have been seriously damaged by the American military.
"The U.S. forces changed this beautiful city to a camp in an ugly and destructive way, which reflected deliberate ignorance and carelessness about the simplest forms of public taste," the statement said.
"Due to the huge damage, leading to a loss the Baghdad municipality cannot afford...we demand the American side apologize to Baghdad's people and pay back these expenses."
The statement made no mention of damage caused by bombing.
Baghdad's neighborhoods have been sealed off by miles of concrete blast walls, transforming the city into a tangled maze that contributes to massive traffic jams. Despite a sharp reduction in overall violence in recent years only 5 percent of the walls have been removed, officials said.
The heavy blast walls have damaged sewer and water systems, pavement and parks, said Hakeem Abdul Zahra, the city spokesman.
U.S. military Humvees, driven on street medians and through gardens, have also caused major damage, he said.
"The city of Baghdad feels these violations, which have taken place for years, have caused economic and moral damage," he said.
U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq's cities in June 2009 before formally ending combat operations last August. Around 50,000 remain in Iraq but they are scheduled to withdraw by year end.
Baghdad is badly in need of a facelift. Electricity and trash collection are sporadic, streets are potholed and sewage treatment plants and pipes have not been renovated for years.
Iraq has seen growing protests in recent weeks over poor government services.
Zahra said the city's statement issued on Wednesday would be the start of its measures to get the United States to pay for damages but he did not say what other steps might be taken.
iraq
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