Written by: Bashdar Akoi

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any media outlet or institution.

During his visit to Egypt for the Gaza Peace Conference, US President Donald Trump made a remark that cut straight into Iraq’s open wound. He said: “We have Iraq. They have so much oil they don’t know what to do with it. It’s a big problem when you have so much and you don’t know what to do.”

Trump’s words, crude though they were, carried a harsh truth — one that exposes the paradox of a country drowning in oil yet impoverished in every other respect. It was a reality that Iraqi rulers would rather not hear: Iraq is suffocating in oil, and corruption has become the sediment at the bottom of every layer of its governance.

Trump’s statement deserves to be treated as a plain truth. It describes a nation abundant in wealth yet condemned to ruin; a state that exports millions of barrels of oil each day but cannot provide its citizens with the basic services of life — from education and healthcare to water, electricity, security, and infrastructure. Iraq’s tragedy is not poverty. It is corruption.

When Oil Becomes Hatred

Iraq is a land that should have been prosperous. Beneath its soil lies the fifth-largest oil reserve in the world. Yet above it stands a nation crushed under the weight of sectarianism, misrule, and systemic corruption. The more oil Iraq exports, the worse life becomes for its people.

Instead of fuelling development, Iraq’s oil has poisoned its society. It has become the bloodstream of patronage networks, the lifeblood of warlords, and the oxygen of political corruption.
Since the fall of the Ba’ath regime, Iraq has earned trillions of dollars in oil revenue. Yet its cities crumble, its people protest, and its youth wander in unemployment. The problem is not war or sanctions — it is political theft.

Where Does the Money Go?

The obvious question: where has all the money gone?
The answer is equally obvious: into the pockets of thieves.

Oil wealth has become the very fuel of corruption. Every ministry, every province, every political bloc takes its share. Projects are announced but never completed. Budgets vanish into off-shore accounts. Politicians live like oligarchs while ordinary citizens queue for fuel and bread in one of the world’s richest oil nations. The state has ceased to be a provider of public service — it has turned into a criminal enterprise wearing the mask of democracy.

Corruption as a System

In Iraq, corruption is not a part of the system — it is the system.
From the ministries in Baghdad down to the smallest local offices, corruption defines how power works. Civil service posts are sold, oil contracts are granted through bribery, and national wealth becomes private property for the ruling elite.

As Tal’at Tahir once wrote in The Autumn of the Leader, “The ruler absorbs oil and never excretes it.” That is precisely what has happened.

According to Transparency International, Iraq consistently ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world — confirming what its people already know: their government has stolen from them and institutionalised the theft.

Militias and the Theft of Oil

A large share of Iraq’s oil income never reaches the public purse — it funds militias.
The armed groups that claim to “protect the nation” are, in fact, draining it. Revenue that should go to hospitals goes to weapons. Schools are not built — private armies are. Under the banner of “security”, militias linked to political factions control borders, dominate smuggling routes, and extort customs income. They monopolise refineries and trading hubs while the government, weak and complicit, looks away. Senior politicians are themselves partners in this grand larceny.

Iraq today is neither a state nor a nation. It is a divided land carved up among factions and militias — each feeding from the carcass of the nation. Every barrel of oil becomes a bullet in the hands of its looters. Those who dare to speak are silenced — imprisoned, exiled, or killed.

Prisons, built with oil money, multiply — not schools or hospitals. The revenue that should unite Iraq instead fuels sectarian hatred: Arab against Kurd, Shia against Sunni, and ethnic minorities crushed in between.

A Government in Name Only

Iraq has the form of a government but the function of a criminal organisation.
Ministers act as factional chiefs, not public servants. Ministries are places of plunder, not institutions of service. Every election changes faces but not the system: the same corruption, the same deceit, the same suffering. Because the system was designed to loot, not to serve.

Those who try to reform are silenced — through assassination, imprisonment, or exile. This is not mismanagement; it is intentional rot. The problem is not with the people — it is with a system that fears reform because reform would mean the end of its power.

What exists in Iraq is not bad governance — it is the absence of morality. The state’s institutions have fused with the spoils of occupation. Ministries serve private interests; political parties divide public wealth as if it were inherited property. Every reform effort collapses under the same disease: a system built on corruption cannot cure itself.

The Cost: A Lost Generation

The result is despair. Iraq’s youth see no future but departure.
Students fall silent or flee. Journalists, activists, and observers — those who speak truth — are threatened, arrested, or murdered. A ruling class devoid of conscience has torn apart the moral fabric of the nation.

The outcome is a national tragedy: Iraq is being emptied of its young.
Every year, tens of thousands leave — doctors, engineers, teachers, artists. The nation’s brightest minds are gone, replaced by fear and silence.

A country that loses its youth loses its future. Iraq now resembles an old man living on memories of a glorious past, but even that glory has faded under the weight of decades of corruption and decay.

Kurdistan: A Mirror of the Same Disease

The tragedy does not stop in Baghdad.
The Kurdistan Region is a mirror image of the same disease — an oligarchic empire draped in the flag of autonomy.

For years, Kurdistan was said to be “different” — more stable, more successful. That illusion has now collapsed. The Region suffers from the same corruption, the same patronage, and the same silence. Two ruling families monopolise power, share revenues, and treat oil income as private wealth. Behind the rhetoric of democracy lies an entrenched oligarchy that silences dissent and treats accountability as fiction.

Billions in oil revenue vanish annually without public oversight. Civil servants go unpaid for months while the political elite live in obscene luxury. Party loyalists control every institution — from the judiciary to the media, from the economy to the security apparatus.
The dream of independence has been traded for personal enrichment. The Region’s leadership has become indistinguishable from the corrupted governance of Baghdad.

Who Is to Blame?

The culprits are clear: Iraq’s political leaders — those who have ruled for decades and done nothing but steal.
Yet they are not alone. Western governments and corporations share the blame. They speak of democracy while signing deals with thieves. They preach reform while protecting the corrupt — as long as the oil flows. Silence, too, is complicity.

When you know theft is happening and say nothing, you become part of the crime.

Is There a Way Out?

Yes — but it will not be easy.
Real reform requires real accountability: every thief must face justice, without exception or immunity.
Corruption must be uprooted from the foundation, not merely painted over. Power must return to the people, not the parties.
Oil must become a source of trust, not hatred — its revenues transparently used for public welfare, without discrimination of sect, ethnicity, or region.

Yet in today’s system, such change is impossible — because the system itself is the problem.

A Word to the Reader

When Trump said Iraq “doesn’t know what to do with its oil,” he was partly right — but his understanding was wrong. Iraq does know what to do with it — its rulers know exactly what to do: to steal it.

Oil itself is not hatred. Corruption, injustice, and tyranny are hatred.

Iraq is a great nation with a long history and a capable people — but cursed with leaders who are corrupt, self-serving, and blind to the suffering of their citizens. Until these leaders are gone, Iraq will remain in darkness.

But when the people rise and say “enough,” that will be the day Iraq returns to itself — a nation of dignity and justice, where oil becomes a blessing, not a curse.

Yet that day is still far away.
Until it comes, Iraq remains a wealthy beggar — a man sitting upon a mountain of gold, dying of hunger.

 * Activist, Political Critic, and Political Observer