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| Iraq |
| How to Fight the Long War Against Terror (microgrants) |
| 2007-10-23 |
| First micro-grants distributed in Jamia Multi-National Division – Baghdad BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers distributed micro-grants to small business owners in Jamia, a western neighborhood of the Iraqi capital Oct. 17. The Khadra Neighborhood Advisory Council, along with Company B, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, distributed micro-grants to 42 business owners of up to $2,500 to start-up, improve or re-open their businesses. The total amount of money distributed was $100,000. The promise of micro-grant assistance from Coalition Forces and the improved security in Jamia provided by Company B and their Iraqi counterparts, 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army, has allowed the shopping area of Shar Ar Rabee to re-open and to begin rebuilding. Shar Ar Rabee was once a famous shopping area, but violence from the war destroyed the area and prevented local citizens from conducting business. In the past six weeks, more than 100 businesses have re-opened in Shar Ar Rabee, 50 of those in just in the last two weeks. |
| Posted by:Glenmore |
| #4 Zenster: apples and oranges. The Iraqi people are recovering, and the faster they can have a strong economy, the less terrorism "sells" to them. But nukes are an Iranian cultural prerogative, based on a millennium of paranoia and xenophobia. They think that nukes will give them everything they want instantly. Ironically, as it was before, the best non-nuclear defense the rest of the ME has to Iran is Iraq. Because Sunni or Shiia, there are a lot of Iraqis who are nationalists and look at Iran with great suspicion. And they will fiercely fight them if they try anything. And with US guidance and more weapons, the Iraqis will quite possibly kick the Iranians butt. Remember that with all the fighting the Iraqi army has done in Iraq, it is one of the most seasoned armies in the world. And that is a big force multiplier on the battlefield. Finally, the sooner the Iraqi economy is doing well, the sooner they can buy the weapons they need. With some air force and artillery assets, Iraq is going to have one of the finest militaries in the world. The Iranians are still green, mostly conscript, poorly trained, incompetently led, and probably far less inclined to be slaughtered like their parents. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-10-23 22:26 |
| #3 All fine and wonderful but none of it forestalls the overarching threat of a nuclear armed Islam. The effectiveness of microgrants will manifest in another decade or two. Nuclear Islam is already here and needs less than a decade to become an insurmountable and lethal threat to the West. Go ahead, keep financing the microgrants which honorably free so many repressed Muslim women from their durance vile. But NOWHERE make the mistake of thinking this is all that's required to subvert Islam's malign and wholly murderous intentions. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-23 20:10 |
| #2 It's been learned elsewhere that micro grants and micro loans have a very potent effect on an economy. This is because they have several different effects. To start with, it creates a new business or refurbishes an existing business. In turn, that new business needs supplies, which stimulates other businesses. It also needs workers, and small businesses usually employ the majority of people in a nation. It also directly and indirectly pumps money into the local and national economy. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-10-23 19:28 |
| #1 Yet another story which will doubtless go unnoticed by the Drive By Media. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-10-23 19:23 |