Mea Culpa
Way back in March I read a blog by a girl in Iraq. In fluent English, 'River' writes a cynical and often funny diary about life in Baghdad. She now believes the the US wants Iraq divided and warring. I wrote a polite and supportive email to her saying that we in the US are horrified by the chaos there. I dismissed the idea that Bush wanted a civil war.
So you can imagine my dismay when I read this in the Wall Street Journal:
"A behind-the-scenes battle among legislators has made a crucial distinction between the new reconstruction money and that already spent: The new funds won't be overseen by the government watchdog charged with curbing the mismanagement that has overshadowed the reconstruction.
The administration's main vehicle for rebuilding Iraq has, in the past, been designated "Relief and Reconstruction" funds, which by law are overseen by a special inspector general, Stuart Bowen. The new money going toward similar reconstruction goals will be classified as coming from "Foreign Operations" accounts....By law, Mr. Bowen can oversee only relief and reconstruction funds. Because the new money technically comes from a different source, Mr. Bowen, who has 55 auditors on the ground in Iraq, will be barred from overseeing how the new money is spent. Instead, the funds will be overseen by the State Department's inspector general office, which has a much smaller staff in Iraq and warned in testimony to Congress in the fall that it lacked the resources to continue oversight activities in Iraq...
Mr. Bowen's criticism of how the rebuilding funds have been managed has put him at odds with some administration officials, who have waged several behind-the-scenes attempts to close down his office."
Mr. Bowen was named to this position by Bush in January 2004.
It's now more important to efficiently funnel money and projects to political donors than to rebuild Iraq. The price of this corruption will be more war in Iraq, and the lives of innocent Iraqis and US soldiers. Sorry to have doubted you, River. Mea culpa.
posted by Gene Ha at 12:44 AM
2 Comments:
This is a comment.
Interesting theory...but I think you're being slightly naive. I don't think the US government needs to do anything overt like creating a civil war to see the fruition of its plans in the Middle East. What may come about through our presence and the dichotomous nature of our benign neglect is internal war, but you sell the Iraqi people short. They aren't mere pawns--they have a self government opportunity and, with their own striving and exploration of "true Democracy" may yet be able to turn us on our heads and come out on top.
I know its a longshot, but I always worry that we marginalize other countries by over-emphasizing our own power--Korea, Japan, Viet-Nam, et. al have shown with varying degrees of success that US interference can and will often serve as a springboard to greater security and independance. Sure, we get what WE want...but sometimes, with the right circumstances, so do they.
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