Had the military been as meticulous in planning its strategy and tactics for the postwar as it was in planning its actions on the battlefield, the looting of Baghdad, with all its disastrous material and institutional and psychological consequences, might have been stopped before it got out of control. Had the collective knowledge embedded in the Future of Iraq Project been seized upon, rather than repudiated by, the Pentagon after it gained effective control of the war and postwar planning a few months before the war began, a genuine collaboration between the American authorities and Iraqis, both within the country and from the exiles, might have evolved. And had the lessons of nation-building -- its practice but also its inevitability in the wars of the 21st century -- been embraced by the Bush administration, rather than dismissed out of hand, then the opportunities that did exist in postwar Iraq would not have been squandered as, in fact, they were.Well, is Iraq a quagmire? Have opportunities in postwar Iraq been "squandered"?
The real lesson of the postwar mess is that while occupying and reconstructing Iraq was bound to be difficult, the fact that it may be turning into a quagmire is not a result of fate, but rather (as quagmires usually are) a result of poor planning and wishful thinking.
You decide:
The Good, the Bad, and the Fugly - ongoing Iraq news roundup.
The Command Post - ongoing Iraq news roundup.
Forty positive news stories from Iraq.
Another roundup of positive news stories.
Chart tracking various improvements in Iraq reconstruction.
Links to bloggers in Iraq.
Salam Pax with pix and talking to the Brits.
Another Iraqi.
Another Iraqi.
An exiled Iraqi journalist returns home.
A poll.
Another poll.
More polls.
The marsh Arabs: a humanitarian and environmental success story.
Recent Congressional delegation to Iraq - transcript of report.
Congresscritter's Iraq weblog.
Another Congresscritter's report.
American judge's report.
American municipal CFO's report.
An American artist reports.
Skeptical American reporter's encounters with Iraqis.
American reporter's blog.
Another American reporter in Iraq.
The 101st Airborne success stories.
More 101st Airborne success stories.
And the Marines too.
Another Marine story.
More offense please.
Blogs of soldiers in Iraq.
Yes, even British Leftists.
Yes, even the Guardian.
Yes, even the Arab News.
War crimes museum opens.
Iraqis get married.
An Iraqi expat returns.
Iraqis and Americans work it out.
Iraqis condemn their insurgents and suicide bombers.
Construction contracts for Iraq and related news.
No, it doesn't look like Bush went into the reconstruction of Iraq with a "meticulous" plan. Good. Because it would be stupid to create a detailed plan if you don't know what you're going to find. Instead, they have been feeling their way into the situation, being responsive, learning from mistakes, pushing responsibility down to the lowest level, encouraging different approaches. In short being as entrepreneurial as possible rather than bureaucratic. And that is working just fine. For example, Rieff claims the Pentagon aggressively promoted Ahmed Chalabi, but has the US annointed Chalabi as an interim Iraqi leader? No. Rieff criticizes mismanagement that took place under Jay Garner's watch. Is Garner the current Iraq administrator? No.
I shed a crocodile tear for the State Dept.
Rieff claims Bush did not take to heart lessons learned in other nation-building efforts, although he doesn't specify what those lessons are, other than to expect widespread looting. But others have, for example:
David Plotz
Donald Rumsfeld
Hernando de Soto.
Are these the lessons Rieff wants to see applied in Iraq? if so, are they being applied? Read the links and decide.
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