Al Jazeera: Arab world set to foot the war bill

Al Jazeera ^ | 4/15/3

[WaveThatFlag]

The US-led war on Iraq could cost as much as $1,000 billion in lost production in Arab countries, a UN economic seminar in Beirut warned on Monday.

“A dark cloud is covering the whole world and the Arab region in particular,” said Mervat Tallawi, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA).

She estimated the cost of the war at a trillion dollars in lost gross domestic product, on top of the $600 billion lost due to the 1991 Gulf War, at the start of a four-day session.

Tallawi added that between four and five million jobs had been lost following the previous Gulf War and the figure was expected to rise between six and seven million as a result of the current conflict.

“In the past 10 years, average per capita income in the Arab region has been the lowest in the world, largely because of the fall in the price of oil,” said Tallawi.

Over the years war and civil strife have conspired to divert the resources and energies of many ESCWA members from their development objectives, she added.

Tallawi said the region’s woes included, “a fall in interest rates, an increase in military spending, which reached double the international average, a fall in tourist and transport income, particularly among airlines, a rise in the cost of insurance and reinsurance as well as a decrease in trade between Arab countries.”

She also cited, “the degradation of the environment following military attacks and the use of arms of mass destruction, cluster bombs…as well as human, civil and military losses."

ESCWA would concentrate its efforts on a “limited number of priorities,” such as water, globalisation, social policy and technology and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq, said Tallawi.

ESCWA member states are Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

[WaveThatFlag]

In the past 10 years, average per capita income in the Arab region has been the lowest in the world,

Interesting, except that the comlete opposite is actually true.

[SC_Republican]

Oh well, the price of supporting terrorists is a b!tch, ain't it?

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[Ingtar]

And how did they have so much in sales to a country under embargo? I thought we were starving the Iraqis </sarcasm>

[Naspino]

So they lose a TRILLION dollars due to three weeks of war in another country? I think they are predicting losses due to an increased American presence. Smuggling weapons will be far more difficult and they would have got away with it too if it weren't for us meddling kids.

[steve-b]

as much as $1,000 billion in lost production in Arab countries

Other than pumping oil (which isn't affected all that much by this war), the Arabs don't have an economy within two orders of magnitude of this absurd figure.

[thoughtomator]

GNP of all Arab countries combined doesn't equal a trillion dollars. So unless we have somehow put a complete stop to all economic activity in the Middle East, these claims can't even be remotely true.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Per capita income in the Arab world is atrociously low because their nations are oligarchies, with governments that are corrupt and incapable of doing the activities necessary to service a middle class populace.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...“A dark cloud is covering the whole world and the Arab region in particular”...

The root cause of this "dark cloud" is Arab-sponsored radical islamic terrorists who want to kill innocent Jews and Americans.

[Cicero]

No one is forcing Arab countries to increase military spending.

The arabs probably will lose some income when the price of oil drops. Too bad. Maybe they should diversify.

[valkyrieanne]

There's a dark cloud covering the Arab world alright, but it's not us. "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not with our stars, but within ourselves that we are underlings."

[WaveThatFlag]

This is quibbling, because I agree with you, obviously, but Iran and Turkey have a combined GDP of $1 trillion. Of course, neither is an arab state...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Correct. The arab elite has been doing pretty well and couldn't give a rip about the Arab street.

[metesky]

And the Arab attack on 9/11 cost us at least that much.

[Paraclete]

It looks to me like they need to get some manufacturing going in those countries. They may have oil, but it's counter-balanced by the arid land. Also, if they would improve the security climate they might have a thriving tourist industry. The Kurdish area looks to be a beautiful area in Iraq.

[Polybius]

So they lose a TRILLION dollars due to three weeks of war in another country?

That was my first thought.

Funny how the article never explain just how this bizarre economic phenomenon works.

[Leisler]

The Swiss and the Swedes never made any money during the war. Nope. Not a cent.

(insert cricket sounds here)

[jonathanmo]

I think that this kind of report truly shows the lack of reality-based thinking that occurs in the Arab world. The "West" is so utterly alien to them that all they have are just bizarre rantings and ravings. They truly remind me the old "cargo cults"...that's why I dismiss anyone who worries about the "Arab street"... their thinking is truly primitive and shallow and there is no way for us to understand them...

[Polybius]

They truly remind me of the old "cargo cults"...their thinking is truly primitive and shallow and there is no way for us to understand them...

As a result of recent anthropological research, the "cargo cult" belief system - "the U.S. Government is a god that showers us with riches" - is now very easy to understand.

It turns out that the "cargo cult societies" were actually Democrats shipwrecked on those Pacific islands. ;-)

[Gothmog]

This reminds me of a time a few years ago when I had a brief stay in Nashville. A tornado hit the city and did some damage. A couple hours later as I was stuck in traffic leaving the city, the radio news broadcast:

[Paraphrased]: 'Joe Smith of the Nashville Commission To Duck Responsiblity And Make Things Up just released a statement saying that damage to the city was $1.1 million' (or whatever.)

The news a few minutes later added [paraphrased]: 'An area is officially declared a disaster zone and eligible for federal funds if damagae exceeds $1 million' (or whatever.)

In other words, just 2 hours after the tornado struck, some bureaucrat was magically able to determine that the level of damagea was just above the federal limit so the city could raid federal tax money to pay for the damage.