- BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - While
Americans are shelling out record prices for fuel, Iraqis pay only about
5 cents a gallon for gasoline a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars
subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers.
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- Before the war, forecasters predicted that by invading
Iraq and ousting Saddam Hussein, America would benefit from increased exports
of oil from Iraq, which has the world's second largest petroleum reserves.
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- That would mean CHEAP GAS FOR AMERICAN MOTORISTS and
a boost for the oil-dependent American economy. More than a year after
the invasion, that logic has been flipped on its head. Now the average
price for gasoline in the United States is running $2.05 a gallon 50 cents
more than the pre-invasion price. Instead, THE ONLY PEOPLE GETTING CHEAP
GAS as a result of the invasion ARE THE IRAQIS.
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- Filling a 22-gallon tank in Baghdad with low-grade fuel
costs just $1.10, plus a 50-cent tip for the attendant. A tankful of high-test
costs $2.75.
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- In Britain, by contrast, gasoline prices hit $5.79 per
gallon last week $127 for a tankful.
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- Although Iraq is a major petroleum producer, the country
has little capacity to refine its own gasoline. So the U.S. government
pays about $1.50 a gallon to buy fuel in neighboring countries and deliver
it to Iraqi stations. A three-month supply costs American taxpayers more
than $500 million, not including the cost of military escorts to fend off
attacks by Iraqi insurgents. The arrangement keeps a fleet of 4,200 tank
trucks constantly on the move, ferrying fuel to Iraq.
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- "We thank the Americans," Baghdad taxi driver
Osama Hashim said. "They risked their lives to liberate us and now
they are improving our lives," said Hashim, 26, topping up the tank
on his beat-up 1983 Volkswagen.
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- Iraq's fuel subsidies, which are intended to mollify
drivers used to low-priced fuel under Saddam, have coupled with the opening
of the borders to create an anarchic car culture in Baghdad. Cheap used
cars shipped from Europe and Asia are flooding into Iraq. A 10-year-old
BMW in good condition costs just $5,000. Since gas is so cheap, anyone
with a car can become a taxi driver. Drivers jam the streets, offering
rides for as little as 250 dinars about 17 cents.
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- Analysts say the U.S. gas subsidies can't last forever
and Iraqis may be in for an unpleasant shock when they end. In the meantime,
however, THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER CONTINUES TO FOOT A HUGE BILL.
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- "The U.S. taxpayer has a right to be indignant,
and Iraqis have to be warned about the long-run damages of this,"
said Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq analyst with the Washington-based Center
for Strategic and International Studies. "The minute the aid goes
out, the party is over. And there's going to be A HELL OF A HANGOVER."
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- The U.S. government paid even more last year for Iraqis'
gasoline between $1.59 and $1.70 a gallon when the imports were contracted
to Halliburton, the Texas oil services giant formerly headed by Vice President
Dick Cheney. The cheap fuel is spurring unsustainable demand, promoting
wasteful use of energy and transportation, and squandering Iraq's oil output
that might otherwise be exported, Cordesman said.
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- "You're leading people to buy cars that aren't affordable
at normal costs," he said. "You need to move toward real market
prices as quickly as you can without causing instability."
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- Iraqi drivers protest that the price difference between
a gallon of gas in the United States and Iraq is fair, because the average
Iraqi earns around $1,000 a year, a thirtieth of the average U.S. wage.
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- "If the price of gas goes up, we'll see lots of
anger in the street," said cab driver Hashim, at a grimy filling station
on Saadoun Street in central Baghdad.
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- © Copyright 2004 Associated Press
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