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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iraq
Index
Iraq, with its socialist economy, pays considerable attention
to welfare. This regard for social benefits has been increased by
the war. No statistics were available in early 1988 by which to
judge the scope of benefits paid by the government to its
servicemen and their families. Nonetheless, journalistic reports
indicated that martyrs' benefits--for the families of war dead--
and subsidies for young men who volunteer for service tended to
be extremely generous. A family that had lost a son in the
fighting could expect to be subsidized for life; in addition, it
was likely to receive loans from the state bank on easy terms and
gifts of real estate.
Minimal information was available in early 1988 concerning
social welfare coverage. The most recent published data was that
for 1983, when the government listed 824,560 workers covered by
social security. In addition, pensions were paid to retirees and
disabled persons as well as compensation to workers for maternity
and sick leaves.
* * *
Although a number of first rate military analyses of Iraq and
the war have appeared since 1980, there has been little useful
research on the social changes that were occurring. Much of the
information that would make up such studies has been withheld by
the government because of wartime censorship, and in some cases
material that has been made available appears to be
untrustworthy. A number of classics therefore continue to be
required reading for those interested in the society of Iraq.
Wilfred Thesiger's Marsh Arabs graphically depicts life
among the southern Shias in the mid- and late 1950s. Robert
Fernea's Shaikh and Effendi describes social conditions in
the central Euphrates valley and Elizabeth Fernea's Guests of
the Sheik deals with the role of women particularly. Classic
historical treatments of the Kurdish question are found in Edmond
Ghareeb's The Kurdish Question in Iraq and W. Jwaideh's
The Kurdish National Movement. The latest work on the
subject is The Kurds: An Unstable Element in the Gulf by
Stephen Pelletiere. For an excellent treatment of the Baathist
elite see The Old Social and the Revolutionary Movements of
Iraq by Hanna Batatu. Also on the same topic is Iraq:
Eaastern Flank of the Arab World by Christine Helm. For the
best all around treatment of Iraq in the recent period, see Phebe
Marr's The Modern History of Iraq. (For further
information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of May 1988
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