One of the more tiresome talking points from the administration and its fellow travelers is that the (so-called) liberal media just doesn't report enough of the good news from Iraq. You know, all the great new schools and hospitals. The electricity that now works four hours a day. And so on.
Well someone went out and looked at some of the so-called good news (the parts in the areas where it isn't suicidal to go look) and found that the news wasn't all that good in many cases: Rebuilt Iraq Projects Found Crumbling.
Failing to build in mechanisms for maintenance is one of the most common errors in development assistance. And here, as in everything else to do with Iraq, this administration has not only failed to learn from experience, it has demonstrated a total lack of interest in it.
Yes, more money down the rat hole. And remember that we're borrowing to pay for all this while giving the richest 1% of the population big tax cuts. These deferred taxes mean that my kids will be stuck with the bill.
For an equally depressing example of administration cluelessness and financial waste that hurt people — in this case the victims in New Orleans, see this exposé of how the U.S. failed to utilize foreign assistance for Katrina — in some cases turning it down, in others just letting it rot.
What a disaster. When we look back 50 years from now, Americans will recognize that the Iraq war was the biggest blunder in US History. However, the truth is that this war is the product of American ignorance and apathy. Nearly everyone agreed with the war before it started. Most Americans “thought” Iraq had WMDs and that Saddam was Bin Laden’s best friend. We have a serious problem in this country with people believing everything they hear. I guess that’s what they teach American students in school – behave and follow your leaders. Don’t question anything. Just go about your lives and fit in like a cog. What a sad country.
This war is also the product of spineless Democrats, who knew better, yet were afraid to stand up to the Bush war machine. I hope we remember those who supported the war when we vote in 2008.