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2007-03-11 Home Front: WoT

Government Departments at War Over How to Help Iraq

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Posted by Bobby 2007-03-11 09:17|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It's also a fall out of trying to rebuild a country before you defeat it. American forces in Germany and Japan had pretty much a clean slate to deal with and a population that knew that dead enders would only bring even more grief and not rewards. What's happening to the Sunni Baathist neighborhoods should have happened over two years ago.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-03-11 10:22|| 2007-03-11 10:22|| Front Page Top

#2 As far as Baghdad goes, there is little alternative but to enable ethnic division. Sunni enclaves north of the Tigris have already been cleansed. Even al-Qaeda in Iraq won't touch an American soldier, south of the river, because they fear the Shiites more. Defense briefings reveal relatively easy operations by US troops in Al-Sadr City and other Shiite strongholds. Troops have been doing some safe escort work with civilians, which will increase public confidence. Civilian deaths from the conflict in Baghdad have dropped dramatically since the new tactics began. The Dems were off base in attacking positive administration statements on the operations.

Posted by Sneaze 2007-03-11 12:43|| 2007-03-11 12:43|| Front Page Top

#3 I thought the headline would be "State Department Trying to Decide how to Destroy Iraq".

Al

Posted by Frozen Al 2007-03-11 13:05|| 2007-03-11 13:05|| Front Page Top

#4 Very good point, Procopius. "Defeating" the various enemies in Iraq wasn't/isn't as clear and linear as it was in Germany and Japan, but the underlying concept remains valid.

Don't have deep detailed knowledge on the economic policy side, but do know that many in the embassy's rotating cast of econ advisers also favored removing subsidies and other distortions ASAP - the "P" taking into account political reality, of course. And gasoline was de-regulated.

Part was hindsight - part wasn't - but I agreed with several others at the embassy that one of the biggest mistakes made by CPA was to not de-regulate gas/fuel prices immediately, during the early post-invasion shock/honeymoon period. The distortions of fuel prices were perhaps the chief economic basis for the growth of organized crime (this includes much of what is considered Tater Tot's "network" in the south) through smuggling operations. These criminal groups either double as troublesome "political" groups or continue as criminal outfits, in both cases forming a major part of the security challenge.

This stuff is harder than it looks, and I don't casually trash CPA for mistakes that were apparent only/mostly in the rear view mirror, but some (like this one) were pretty clear at the time, based on common sense. Wars are tests of will, and market logic cannot/should not be thwarted - if you only had two base concepts of operations, those would do nicely .....

Posted by Verlaine 2007-03-11 13:59|| 2007-03-11 13:59|| Front Page Top

#5 From the department of pedantry - "crescendoed" would mean the increase has stopped, but doesn't imply a subsequent reduction. In music, you can have a crescendo to a higher but stable volume.

Posted by Bill Hupomotch5634 2007-03-11 15:19|| 2007-03-11 15:19|| Front Page Top

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