Minister of state for the armed forces Nick Harvey revealed yesterday that the UK is spending a total of £342,000 on training the Iraqi security forces.
The money is part of a £6.8m fund to support projects in Iraq in the current financial year. This fund – the “middle east north Africa conflict pool” – is “designed to support the development of the effective and accountable public institutions to protect citizens and deliver services in Iraq.” It’s managed by the MOD, the FCO and the Department for International Development.
£6.8m seems a tiny figure to spend on developing effective institutions compared to the billions spent on bringing them to the ground in the first place. And £342,000 seems an extraordinary amount to spend on training security services in a country that is still extremely dangerous to live in.
The UK government spent a total of £32.8m in aid in Iraq in the 2008/09 financial year. This is in comparison to the £1bn a year it spent at the height of the war. It seems to justify this low spend on aid by mentioning the country’s oil reserves, meaning potentially huge wealth. But this wealth is in no way benefiting the country at the moment.
Foreign companies are battling for contracts to mine it, and Iraq just doesn’t have the infrastructure to do so itself. If ordinary Iraqis ever do see the benefits of living in an oil-rich region, it will be years down the line. Iraq needs investment, and if the country that helped bring it to its knees won’t help, who will?
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is spending £147m on projects that “enhance bilateral relations with Iraq” in the current financial year. But none of these projects are focused on helping to rebuild the basics, or improve quality of life. They include projects like training for journalists, a human rights public awareness campaign and an electoral awareness project. The FCO's work that is funded by the conflict pool mentioned above includes the development of the criminal justice system and the creation of scrutiny committees.
The UK is failing in its duty to improve life in Iraq for the people who live there. The government was fully complicit in turning that country into a complete mess and it should be spending more on cleaning it up. If you're less than convinced that Iraq is a terrible place to live at the moment, there are plenty of videos over at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting Youtube channel, including this one on social and health care rights.
Image via The U.S. Army's Flickr