Iraq Up Close

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 government's 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 country's 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 worker's 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 Iraq's children were not attending primary school

SPORTS Iraqis are passionate soccer fans. Saddam's elder son Uday heads the nation's 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 party's 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

LIFE IN IRAQ has worsened substantially since the Gulf War

Literacy '85 89% '98 57%

Child mortality* '90 50 per 1,000 live births '01 133 2001 U.S. rate: 8

Life expectancy '91 62 '01 56

Deaths of children younger than 5

IRAQ Total population: 24 million (July 2002 estimate)

IRAQ AS WE KNOW IT

1918-present

British forces ousted the Turks by the end of World War I, and the British mandate of Iraq was formally created at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. By 1932 Iraq had won independence and admission to the League of Nations; in 1958 the monarchy was overthrown and a republic proclaimed