"'Iraq is being built. There was no infrastructure before; we are doing it.'   Of course there was an infrastructure, before it got destroyed in the invasion."

The reports I've seen suggest that except for parts of Baghdad and Saddam's home province, Iraq's infrastructure was always limited and decayed substantially after 12 years of UN sanctions. Some of early the complaints about electricity and water came when the US military started distributing them more evenly and the privileged sections Baghdad weren't getting more than their share anymore.

There was not shortage of palaces and statues of you-know-who. however.