The Gold Rush in Northern Iraq

While preparing for my trip to northern Iraq, I was thinking of writing about how much easier it has gotten to make the journey since I first began reporting from here in 2004.

In the past, one had to fly to Istanbul, then to Diyarbakir in eastern Turkey, spend the night, then find a taxi for the nine hour drive to Arbil, the capital city of Kurdish-controlled Iraq. That road trip was a potentially hair-raising experience in of itself. After rising before dawn to avoid being stuck on the the road after dark, dragging bags across the traffic-clogged border, then winding down tiny mountain back roads to bypass Mosul -- which even in 2004 was well on its way to disaster -- the glaring plains of Arbil appeared at the end as an improbable relief.

Now that Arbil has its own international airport, the trip is theoretically a breeze. Arbil has daily flights to the major Middle Eastern cities, and direct flights to almost any European country where there are a lot of Kurds. There's also a twice weekly charter flight from Beirut -- my hometown -- run by an outfit that calls itself "Flying Carpet."

But progress hasn't necessarily made life a whole lot easier. There were three decent hotels in town in 2004. Now there are about 20. But yesterday, I couldn't find a room in any of them, except for one suite with its own swimming pool, the rate for which was sadly beyond my means. I ended up spending the night on a friend's floor.

Arbil is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and has the dust to prove it. But after what looks like centuries of neglect, Arbil is booming once again. Under cover of their own security forces, and geographically separate from Iraq's inter-Arab civil war, the Kurds of northern Iraq are taking their share of the country's oil revenue and doing some major retail therapy.

In my year-long absence, Arbil has built a new university, sprawling new California-style suburban housing developments, a new third generation mobile phone network, apartment blocks, office buildings, highways, etc, etc. Not so long ago the city was a ghost town by 7 pm. Now Arbil-boosters are claiming that in six to eight years their city will be a new Dubai, Middle East party central.

As with all booms, mistakes have been made. Kurdish officials dug up most of Arbil's ancient cemetery -- probably an historical and archeological gold mine -- and put in a huge shopping mall. Luxury items are the rage while key infrastructure still needs mending: Humvees and late model BMW's roam the streets, but the streetlights don't work because the town's electricity goes out at night. And since the engine driving the economy is government spending, those with political connections are letting the good times roll, while average folks struggle with inflation.

But life could be a whole lot worse for average Kurds, as they are reminded every evening by the news from Baghdad, and as I was reminded on my Flying Carpet ride into Arbil when I argued with the pilot over the weight of my luggage. On a flight to Iraq, I was the only passenger packing body armor.

--Andrew Lee Butters/Arbil