ARTICLE: Better than freedom?, The Economist, Nov 12th 2009

The gist:

ASKED to name the single biggest benefit of America's invasion, many Iraqis fail to mention freedom or democracy but instead praise the advent of mobile phones, which were banned under Saddam Hussein. Many Iraqis seem to feel more liberated by them than by the prospect of elected resident government.

In the five years since the first network started up, the number of subscribers has soared to 20m (in a population of around 27m), while the electricity supply is hardly better than in Mr Hussein's day. That is double the rate for Lebanon, where a civil war ended two decades ago and income per head is four times higher.

Never mind that Iraqi mobile services are lousy and businessmen have to use different phones for different parts of the country. Lines crackle and wrong connections abound. The country's greedy operators blame sandstorms and security restrictions but few Iraqis believe them. The government fined them $20m this year to press for better services.

Still, customers sound happy.

Leave the place more connected than you found it, and that's what people will value most.

(Thanks: Gunnar Peterson)