YURI KOZYREV FOR TIME Today a vibrant if shabby metropolis, Baghdad was founded in the 8th century

Iraq Up Close
	If the U.S. invades, defeats and then occupies Iraq, it will take control over a once prosperous nation brought low by years of war and international isolation. A look at what life is like in Iraq today
	By Johanna McGeary

Posted Sunday, March 2, 2003; 10:31 a.m. EST

PEOPLE
Class Structure: People close to the Baath Party regime constitute a small upper class rewarded for loyalty with lives of luxury. A wealthy smuggler class makes its money‹with the governmentıs blessing‹importing goods barred under U.N. sanctions. But for survival, 60% of the population depends on government food rations, which do not include any fruit, vegetables or meat

Women: Compared with their counterparts in many neighboring countries, Iraqi women enjoy tremendous freedoms. They work as doctors, lawyers, engineers and teachers; they drive cars and dress and gather freely

Tribal Ties: At least three-quarters of Iraqis are members of one of the countryıs 150 tribes, which are alliances of family clans. To stay in power, Saddam has cultivated the loyalty of influential tribes. He has also seeded the government and military with members of the Tikrit-based tribe to which he belongs

SOCIETY
Modernity: Before the Gulf War, Baghdad was a gleaming, modern city with air conditioning, touch-tone phones, clean water and sanitation. Today the power supply is unreliable. Many middle-class families, desperate for cash, are selling their appliances on the street. Iraq has 26 heavily censored Internet centers, but one hour of surfing costs about $1; the average government workerıs monthly salary is just $5

Education: Once a destination for university students from all over the Arab world, Iraq now struggles to educate its own. A 2000 UNICEF survey found that a quarter of Iraqıs children were not attending primary school

Sports: Iraqis are passionate soccer fans. Saddamıs elder son Uday heads the nationıs soccer federation and Olympic committee. Athletes who have fled the country claim that he regularly tortures players, coaches and referees who disappoint him

POLITICS
System of Government: According to its constitution, Iraq is a democratic republic with an elected President and a 250-member parliament. In practice, it is a dictatorship. The ruling Baath Party has controlled all branches of government since it took control in 1968. The partyıs Revolutionary Command Council supposedly determines government policy; in fact, it does the bidding of Saddam, its chairman since 1979. The parliament rubber-stamps all council decisions. Last October Saddam officially won 100% of the vote in a referendum on his presidency, with many ballots cast in blood as a show of dedication for him

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