Oct. 9, 2006 issue - Iraqi higher education has been on a downward trajectory for decades due to war, dictatorship and isolation. But now the American University of Iraq, soon to rise in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, hopes to reverse the decline. The university, AUI-S for short, is the brainchild of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, who long dreamed of setting up a university in his hometown once Iraq was free.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he put his plan into action. Why name the school American University? Because, he says, Iraqis are grateful to the United States for liberating them—nowhere more so than in Kurdistan. Besides, he adds, "American education is among the best products the U.S. can offer."
The first year's class will be small—about 250 students—but administrators expect to expand quickly, to 1,000 students per class by 2011 and twice that by 2015. Most students will receive substantial scholarships. - MSNBC/Newsweek -------- This is great news. (I just hope that Halliburton or the Parsons Corporation isn't building it.)
Posts: 17506 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Yes, the Kurds see all this as the first steps to an independent Kurdistan. They already have a petroeconomy in place. Some non-Kurd Sunnis have already moved there for the security. (It's far safer than Baghdad.) With Saddam gone, the Kurds are the ones no one wants to fight.
LOL about evolution. The article points out that it will be primarily a Liberal Arts school, so they might even accept global warming.
Posts: 17506 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
