A Bank Run in Baghdad
Iraq faced its first bank run of the cleanup. The central bank's guarantee was in writing before the crowd arrived. That speed is the tell.
Tuesday 8th September. Iraq's week opened with a bank run. Depositors crowded the doors of Al-Taif Islamic Bank in Baghdad demanding their money back. One woman told reporters she has 220 million dinars locked inside, about $168,000. A second crowd formed at the bank's Basra branch. Iraqi social media called it the start of a collapse.
Here is the detail that turns the scene into intelligence: the state saw it coming. The day before the crowd reached the door, the Central Bank of Iraq published a written guarantee of the country's deposits. Point by point, on its own letterhead, before anyone asked.
A run on the banks is the one event a currency operation cannot survive. So today we set aside the missiles and the ministers for a moment and look at how Iraq handled its first one. The answer tells you more about where this file stands than any committee quote this week.
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