it the “highway through hell”. Attacks on the road linking Baghdad to Amman occurred so often in 2014 that truckers were paid three times the normal rate to haul goods along the artery. Gangs and militias were a constant threat. The jihadists of Islamic State set up roadblocks, charged drivers a tax of around $300 and even handed out receipts. The road, officially called Highway 10, was recently secured by the Iraqi army. But those who drive on it still face the threat of extortion or attack.
America spent loads improving Highway 10 after 2003, the year it toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s former dictator. Over the next decade, as the war in Iraq dragged on, America spent nearly $12bn on infrastructure in the country. President George Bush touted the improved roads, hoping they would boost the local economy and lead to a reduction in violence.
rose as a result of reconstruction, so too did the number of attacks. “In other words, the political and military mechanisms linked to road-building overpower the wished-for economic effects,” writes Ms Gomez. Why did road-building in Iraq lead to more attacks? One explanation is that roads are important not just for commerce, but also for military operations. American soldiers used the new roads to mount missions and transport supplies—becoming targets for insurgents’ ambushes and improvised explosive devices. The insurgents, too, used the roads to move around and launch attacks. A study in 2010 of America’s war logs from Afghanistan found that 86% of insurgent violence took place near a road.
Ms Gomez also offers another explanation, rooted in the politics of reconstruction. “Roads are a politically charged infrastructure,” she says. Those funded by America were viewed by insurgents as the embodiment of an unwelcome occupation and became “privileged targets”. American officials have admitted that they often failed to win local support for their big projects. The roads to hell were, as ever, paved with good intentions.
I guess the ISIS have something in common with HKprotesters after all...
They couldn't have built more than Saddam did during his reign.
didn’t build the roads out of the goodness of our hearts. we built them to occupy the place. roads are neutral.
Not even going to read this article because it’s moronic to think less roads are the solution you idiot click bait mfers. Shut up. Grow up.
Unfortunately America handed Iraq to Iran after overthrew the former President Sadam Hussain . Barak Obama helped Iran to occupy and annex Iraq.
love it, could it be that the country was flattened under false reasons?
No matter what America does in Iraq , just can't make up for the trauma of the war.
HURT OPENER
Yes
Iran now loses an enemy and has a new ally: Iraq. precisely, it do more harm than good to America.
🤔Same design in vehicles~ who is the traitor and sell American technology to Chinese Communist Party?
Nope. But America invading Iraq did.
Perhaps. Trump has transfixed the media. Even it has forgotten about the war.
Stupid idea of u breaking it and u fixing it
How are you going to export all that oil through dirt roads, right?
Thank you big government
Goddamn Mad Max s%t
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