It's a good thing Rashad Mandan Omar is an optimist. As the first minister of science and technology in post-Saddam Iraq, he's trying to rebuild the country's devastated infrastructure. An engineer trained at the University of London, Omar spent four years managing construction of the teched-out Dubai International Airport. He returned home a year ago to find war-ravaged facilities, understaffed labs, and undereducated scientists. For now, Omar's most reliable communications channel is a scratchy and spotty MCI cellular network that uses numbers with area codes from upstate New York. Yelling into his cell phone to be heard over a street disturbance outside his Baghdad office, he says his country is ready to join the information age.
WIRED: Iraq is devastated. How do you start?
OMAR: I would like to build a policy for science and technology the same way countries such as Malaysia and South Korea did. They worked with the West and developed quickly. We have the manpower, and we are willing to reconstruct Iraq. We'll start with basic services: electricity, pollution control, water treatment. All of these require technology.
People are still fighting and dying in Iraq. Is technology a priority yet?
Today, security means technology. Security is not like it used to be. To be secure, you need good communication. You need devices for jamming. You have to monitor signals, to process images. Those are the basic elements that bring security to any society.
Does Iraq have enough people trained in science and technology to handle that?
We are behind in technology - by a lot. A scientist used to be able to get a PhD in Iraq, but we suspended higher education in certain engineering and scientific fields because of the UN sanctions. Our scientists were isolated, and they fell behind. We need to refresh their minds. We need training programs. We need to send our technicians abroad to see the state of the art in their fields. In the meantime, we're bringing in expertise from abroad.
But will Iraqis associate new technology with the occupiers and be resentful?
How can you say that? The Iraqi people were the most civilized nation in the area 50 years back. Everybody knows this. Our society was the cradle of civilization. Iraqis are keen for modern technology. They need security, but they would also like to enjoy life as you do. When an Iraqi can sit at home and check his bank account, he enjoys it. He doesn't want to wait in a six-hour queue in the Baghdad heat.So it's only a matter of time before we see a computer superstore in Baghdad? Before the collapse of the regime, average monthly salaries were $10 to $15. Now, in less than a year, the average salary is 10 times that, and inflation is down. Previously, no Iraqi was allowed to have a cell phone or an Internet connection. But now there are no restrictions, and our markets are full of computers and electrical appliances.
It has been reported that you wish to reopen Iraq's nuclear power plant.
We do not need nuclear energy. If we pumped 6 million barrels of oil a day, we would have oil for the next 100 years. But as a modern society, we need some nuclear technology. We will continue doing research. But the nuclear energy chapter is finished forever. Pursuing nuclear research led to sanctions and bombings. That chapter is closed, and it will never be opened again.
- David Goldenberg
credit Thorne Henderson/Corbis
Omarés tech plan: Work with the West and develop quickly.
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