Iraq has been tested by the American occupation, a series of crises and a period of sectarian cleansing. And although the country is still torn apart by contradictions, the main thing is that it has not collapsed. This was stated in an interview with Izvestia by the Russian Ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kutrashev.
According to him, in 2003 the invaders entered the country without a plan of action.
“This country is still being formed, but in principle Iraq has passed the test of time. The crisis associated with foreign invasion, occupation, with ISIS, a permanent state of impasse, conflicts, disputes, a period of confessional cleansing – Iraq has gone through all this and has remained one country as before. Yes, it is torn apart by contradictions; there is a very turbulent, difficult political life here. A lot of things don’t work out, but the country hasn’t collapsed,” the diplomat noted.
At the same time, he spoke about the strong influence of the United States on Baghdad. And this applies not only to the military sphere.
“They also have a very significant influence on the Iraqi financial and banking system. In essence, it was created in its present form by the Americans, having closed many of the Iraqi streams on itself. For example, under the current system, funds from the sale of Iraqi oil go to US accounts. The Iraqi economy largely operates on a cash basis. They have their own national currency, and it is used everywhere, but nevertheless, the dollar is also needed, and these dollars come from the USA in cash by plane. Naturally, no one knows the exact figures, but far from one or two billion are brought here in cash from the United States per month. That is, you can imagine the degree of interconnectedness of the economies of the two countries and, in this case, Iraqi dependence,” the diplomat concluded.
