Bang up job!
Now that the United States has handed Iraq back to Iraq......I think it’s important to reflect on the state of affairs Iraqis have inherited.
A recent GAO report details the current situation in Iraq,
"The 105-page report by Congress' investigative arm offers a bleak assessment of Iraq after 14 months of U.S. military occupation. Among its findings:
In a few key areas electricity, the judicial system and overall security the Iraq that America handed back to its residents Monday is worse off than before the war began last year, according to calculations in a new General Accounting Office report released yesterday.
In 13 of Iraq's 18 provinces, electricity was available fewer hours per day on average last month than before the war. Nearly 20 million of Iraq's 26 million people live in those provinces..."
Senator Joe Biden put it perfectly,
"So while we've handed over political sovereignty, we haven't handed over practical capacity that is, the ability for the Iraqis themselves to provide security, defend their borders, defeat the insurgency, deliver basic services, run a government and set the foundation for economic progress," Biden said in a written statement. "Until Iraqis can do all of that, it will be impossible for us to responsibly disengage from Iraq."
The administration mishandled the Iraqi occupation every step of the way, and the people of Iraq have paid a high price.
posted by ian @ 10:09 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
The anticipation of FUTURE rewards raises the current value of ANY asset, be it as stocks, bonds, electricity or freedom.
--Nutz
What a pitiful title for this post...
Plain and simple, this is anti-Bush sarcasm/pessimism to demean the brilliant jobs our men and women in uniform have done to free a nation ruled by a brutal dictator for decades.
Yes, it is going to take a lot of tough, long, hard work to bring greater stability and freedom to Iraq, but to post such a cynical title about our efforts turns my stomach.
I'm sure you will come back and say that you are blaming the Administration for their mistakes and not the troops. Fine. But the next time you see a soldier return from Iraq, make sure you tell him the same thing. Claiming your criticism is only directed toward the President does not change the fact that you're criticizing the work that the soldiers have undertaken with their own blood and sweat. They've sacrificed so much and to dismiss that with such a snide remark is... beyond frustrating. Iraq is a dangerous place, but certainly progress has been made there. The Iraqi people now live in a sovereign nation that is governed by Iraqis; this is no small accomplishment!
You know what? I, too, say, "Bang up Job!" to our troops (with all the sincerity that your message lacked) on this historic day in which the monster who is responsible for the disappearance and/or murder of one million of his fellow citizens stands trial for all his horrific acts that were undertaken under his reign without any shred of human decency.
Today is a great day for the Iraqis as we help them in the process of rebuilding their country.
Bang up job? You're damn right.
-BB
PS: nutz again with a great post.
Bill, your failure to comprehend how I can criticize the president and his policies while still respecting the blood and sweat that our young men and women have given so selflessly is astonishing. Of course I respect our brave soldiers that have given their lives and their limbs to try and bring freedom to Iraq. My critique is not of their motives or the work they have done. Our soldiers have undoubtedly made progress in certain fields. If you would stop waiving the flag for just an instant and critically evaluate the current situation in Iraq you might further understand my point. Your unflagging optimism is admirable but is not grounded in reality. The harsh fact is Iraqis are less safe today then they were 14 months ago. How are they supposed to “let freedom reign” if they are afraid to go to the grocery store?
Furthermore, and in response to Wheeler’s post, I also think the situation in Iraq will improve. However, I’m not talking about future returns, or what hopefully may some day develop into a free and democratic society, the jury is still out on that. I am criticizing the Bush Administration’s failures in the 14 months prior to the hand over of Iraqi sovereignty.
The Washington Post’s Rajiv Chandrasekaran interviewed several senior CPA authorities and wrote an illuminating column on this very subject a week ago. I’d venture to say these employees know just a little more about this subject than either you or I…
“BAGHDAD -- The American occupation of Iraq will formally end this month having failed to fulfill many of its goals and stated promises intended to transform the country into a stable democracy, according to a detailed examination drawing upon interviews with senior U.S. and Iraqi officials and internal documents of the occupation authority.
The ambitious, 15-month undertaking stumbled because of a series of mistakes that began with an inadequate commitment of resources and was aggravated by a misunderstanding of Iraqi politics, religion and society in occupied Iraq, these participants said…
… In the view of several senior officials here, a shortage of U.S. troops allowed the security situation to spiral out of control last year. Attacks on U.S.-led forces and foreign civilians now average more than 40 a day, a threefold increase since January. Assassinations of Iraqi political leaders and debilitating sabotage of the country's oil and electricity infrastructure now occur routinely…
…Within the marble-walled palace of the CPA's headquarters inside Baghdad's protected Green Zone, there is an aching sense of a mission unaccomplished. "Did we really do what we needed to do? What we promised to do?" a senior CPA official said. "Nobody here believes that."
…This account is drawn from interviews with a score of current and former CPA officials, several in senior positions, other U.S. government officials and Iraqis who work with the CPA. Most spoke on the condition they not be identified by name because of rules barring people working for the CPA from speaking to journalists without approval from CPA public affairs officials…
… Several CPA officials said the Bush administration has long underestimated reconstruction costs. In its war planning, the administration devoted $900 million to reconstruction despite reporting by the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations that depicted a far greater need. In the first months of the occupation, an additional $1.1 billion was committed by the White House. It was not until September that the administration asked Congress for billions more.
Although the $18.6 billion reconstruction aid package was approved by Congress in November, the Pentagon office charged with spending it has moved slowly. About $3.7 billion of this package had been spent by June 1, according to the CPA. Many projects that have received funding have slowed or stopped entirely because Western firms have withdrawn employees from Iraq in response to attacks on civilian contractors.
CPA officials contend the money should have been earmarked and spent far sooner. Had that happened, they argue, the CPA could have retained much of the goodwill that existed among Iraqis after the U.S. invasion and possibly weakened the insurgency.
"The failure to get the reconstruction effort launched early will be regarded as the most important critical failure," said one of Bremer's senior advisers. "If we could have fixed things faster, the situation would be very different today...we could have spent more of it on actually helping the Iraqi people," the adviser said.”
The senior adviser to Bremer said he felt "a sense of opportunity that slipped away."
"The ambition for us was a grand one. We had great things in mind for them. We believed we could do it," he said. "But we didn't keep our promises."
Bozin, President Bush, Dick Cheney, and the rest of the Administration grossly miscalculated the ease with which they could bring peace and stability back to Iraq. This was a daunting task and I don’t know that anyone could have done it flawlessly, Democrat or Republican. Which is exactly the reason our leaders should use prudence when exercising American military power. Fourteen months later, we’ve handed Iraq their sovereignty, but they’ve inherited a make shift government, a deteriorating security situation and a laundry list of other problems which we failed to resolve. I sincerely hope the new Iraqi government will fair better then us. Just a thought, but you might want to employ a little less nationalistic hubris and a little more reason when evaluating what our country has and has not accomplished. With regards to both the good and the bad.
If you want to read the whole thing, its right here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A54294-2004Jun19?language=printer
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