Re:Slightly OT (Score 1)

The poverty of Iraq was, in large part, due to many years of war with several neigbours (such as 10 years of war with Iran). This was followed by years of UN sanctions that prevented the importation of anything useful to the military. Of course, lots of things are useful to the military. In addition, Iraq could not easily export their oil, except under certain conditions (oil for food programme, for example).