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I
n the period immediately after the Iran-Iraq War ended, roughly
half of Iraq’s oil revenues were spent just to repay the country’s
war debt. Because Saddam needed huge amounts of money to
rebuild his country, he turned to the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) for help. OPEC is a
cartel
made up of
developing countries that are among the largest global exporters of
oil. It attempts to manage world oil prices by setting production quo-
tas for its members, in order to control the amount of oil available
for sale and keep prices at a high level. In 1989 Saddam asked OPEC
to grant Iraq a larger annual quota. Pumping more oil would enable
Iraq to bring in more income, which would help the country recover
financially. When OPEC refused Saddam’s request, Iraq’s leader
demanded that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait cancel their debts. The dic-
tator argued that his war with Iran had been waged to defend the
Arab world, and that because they had benefitted, they should par-
ticipate in the cost. Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait balked.
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U.S. soldier William Highsmith sits with a young Iraqi boy outside a Baghdad clinic where
members of the First Armored Division and Iraqi medical professionals are teaching a class in
preventive medicine. The task of rebuilding Iraq after the war’s end in April 2003 proved
harder than most people expected.
Iraq at War
and Rebuilding