Failing Grade

This New York Times article sums up the problems our Iraqi "Marshall Plan" is facing:

...occupation authorities acknowledge that fewer than 140 of 2,300 promised construction projects are under way...

Scrambling to speed up the process, the Pentagon has recently begun pumping out long-awaited money and work orders, committing $1.4 billion in just the last week even as a spreading insurgency cripples the ability of Western contractors to oversee their projects and has made targets of Iraqi workers.

Funny, I thought conservatives were the ones who always complained about "throwing money" at problems. Now they find themselves spending cash like true believers in the Great Society.

But they might as well take all the money, put it in a pile, and set it on fire. The insurgents will continue to attack anyone working on these projects--hence, the agonizingly slow pace of the reconstruction. If something is actually completed, you can expect it to be sabotaged.

Insurgent movement traditionally have engaged in these types of tactics. The idea is to make governing difficult if not impossible for occupiers. Regardless of the so-called power transfer (which Juan Cole accurately calls a "publicity stunt"), the US is still running the show in Iraq, and our abysmal efforts in reconstruction and security speak volumes as to the utter failure of Operation Go Fuck Ourselves. Even as Bush scrambles to find allies and throws fistfulls of dollars at the problem, it clear that nothing short of withdrawing the troops, i.e., conceding defeat, will improve the situation.

The fact is we lost the war the moment we entered the country. I'm convinced that Bush el al believed in their own propaganda, which assumed a grateful population would assist us kicking some Baathist ass. Instead, we had a people who sullenly accepted our presence--hell, there's not much you can do against an armed-to-the-teeth military--but who for the most part wished to be left alone. Without this crucial support, the occupation was, and is, doomed.

Add to this our disregard for civilian deaths--not to mention the Abu Ghraib atrocities--and there's no way we'll be able to turn things around. The lack of results from our reconstruction underscore the limits of American power, and, for almost anyone except the dauphin, offer a sobering lesson in just what we can and can't do as the reigning "world's policeman."

As for the dear leader himself, his response is, in a word, absurd. Showing just how divorced he is from anything remotely resembling reality, Bush continues to rattle his saber, blindly unaware that the world considers him a fool. Citing Iraq as an example of "success" is like showing off your driving skills by sideswiping a row of parked vehicles.

Here's hoping the US public takes away his keys this November.