Who Gets Billed for a New Baghdad?

On any given day in Baghdad it's hard to envision a city on the rise amid the shattered buildings, fields of trash and pools of smelly greenish waste water baking under the sun in many neighborhoods. But a few urban planners in the Iraqi government are dreaming big nonetheless. On the drawing board are plans for overhaul and expansion of Baghdad's bridges, roads and sewage systems, plus ambitious commercial development. Planners are scouting sites around Baghdad to build a five-star hotel, an international fairground, a cultural center, a library, a park with a lake and fountains and an aquarium. "Everybody is really serious about this," says Tahseen al-Sheikhly, civilian spokesman for the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has allocated $3 billion to rebuild Baghdad's infrastructure in a plan spanning three years. Where... [read full story]