Rascals in Paradise

Almost immediately after
The invasion of Iraq,
The United States began
Funneling massive
Amounts of money
In a frantic effort
To rebuild the country.
Iraq had been devastated
By two gulf wars with
An embargo in between,
And decades of neglect
And mismanagement
Under the Saddam
Hussein regime.
This precipitated
A modern day Gold Rush
As people from
Around the globe
Tried to cash in
On the bounty.
First in line were
The American contractors,
Followed closely behind
By a horde
Of Turkish contractors
Feeding off the majors.
Almost anyone who could
Call themselves a contractor
Quickly did so,
And many a mini-fortune
Was made almost overnight.
Most of the new millionaires
Partied as if there was
No tomorrow,
And acted as if they were
Rascals in paradise.
They were just in for the money,
Trying to do as little
As they possibly could
For as much as
They possibly could,
And they pretty much
Got away with murder,
For a while anyway.
The problem is
That shoddy workmanship
Has a way of catching up
With the perpetrators,
And quite a number of them
Ended up being blacklisted
From any future
US government contracts.
Not having saved
Any of their ill gotten gains,
Most of those contractors
Are in dire straights today,
And have little chance
Of securing additional work
Since they have been spoiled
By the ridiculous profitability
And lax control
Of the work they did in Iraq.
The really good contractors
Generally had steady work
Back in Turkey,
And largely avoided
Succumbing to the rush.
It was mainly the ones
Who had no work
In the first place,
Who seized the opportunity.
Unfortunately,
They are the ones the world
Now tends to identify
With Turkish construction.
The same may be said
Of many of the US Contractors
As well.
The work done was,
In most cases,
Extremely short sighted.