Daily Inspiration Quote by Zalmay Khalilzad

“Shift Iraqi resources from unproductive subsidies to productive uses” is the kind of antiseptic phrasing diplomats love because it sounds like common sense while smuggling in a whole agenda. Khalilzad’s intent is managerial: make an economic restructuring program feel like neutral housekeeping rather than a political fight. The key move is the moral sorting of public spending into “unproductive” and “productive,” language that quietly delegitimizes subsidy regimes before anyone has to argue about what they actually do in a fragile state: prevent hunger, buy social peace, and keep basic goods within reach when jobs and institutions are shaky.

The subtext is leverage. “The U.S. and Iraq will work together” suggests partnership, but the sentence is written from Washington’s perch, where “work together” often means conditionality, technical assistance tied to policy demands, and a timetable (“next year”) that telegraphs urgency to donors and lenders. “Enable Iraqis to earn livelihoods” frames the reforms as empowerment, a rhetorical shield against the predictable backlash: cuts to fuel or food subsidies rarely feel like liberation to people who depend on them, especially in a post-invasion economy marked by unemployment, insecurity, and corruption.

Context matters here: Khalilzad operated in the early post-2003 period, when the U.S. was trying to build a state while also nudging Iraq toward market-oriented reforms. The sentence doubles as reassurance to two audiences at once: Iraqis, promised dignity through work; and international observers, promised “responsible” governance. Its effectiveness lies in that split-screen: a human-facing ending (“livelihoods”) stapled to technocratic austerity at the start.