The great ROK Army reconstruction project to install modern toilets for needy Iraqis, may not be so great after all, now that I have read this post from Jeff in Pusan.

In Korea, literally EVERY public toilet has a small wastebasket next to it. The wastebasket is there for you to put your used toilet paper in. In many places, there is a sign somewhere near the toilet imploring you NOT to flush your toilet paper down the toilet and instructing you to place your feces-smeared toilet paper in the open air wastebasket next to the toilet so that it can mix and mingle with other people’s soiled toilet paper to be enjoyed by other people throughout the day.

I have always been uncomfortable with this one aspect of society here. It is hard to comprehend how unsanitary an open wastebasket full of used toilet paper is. This is not a cultural “love it or leave it” thing. This is a basic medieval sanitation issue. Come one…This country has hosted the Olympics, East-Asian Games, the World Cup, and many other international events and conferences. It will be hosting the APEC council later this year. It touts itself and markets itself as an international country, yet basic sanitation issues remain in the undeveloped, dark age, unindustrialized world.

Wonder if those toilets installed in Iraq came with a warranty?