Smartly, Iraq boosters gave up the tired cliche about painted schools and women’s clinics a long time ago. The work got too dangerous for us, contracting with Americans became a near death sentence and our government’s pathological hatred of oversight guaranteed that money spent largely disappeared to shoddy work and unaccountable fraud. These days the only thing we build is walls.
Still, at one time the stalwart defenders of our Iraq adventure liked to hold up this project or that as evidence that ouroccupation was doing some good. If the stories we didnt already know about weren’t enough to shame those arguments into silence, the New York Times pretty much puts it to bed:
In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that in a sampling of eight projects that the United States had declared successes, seven were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle.
Frankly, it seems almost insane to expect our projects to funtion normally in Iraq today. So on the one hand sure, I’m outraged that nearly everything that we spent in Iraq has come to naught. But honestly, if Stuart Bowen’s inspectors found that some of our projects remained functional in Iraq’s present state of near-total anarchy, wouldn’t that be shocking?
***Update***
The grief that we sometimes get in the comments section is worth observations like this.
[I]t was probably expensive to clean all those flower petals off our tanks.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
What about all the money we’ve pissed away in Iraq that hasn’t mysteriously vanished due to fraud or gross mismanagement? I’m sure a significant chunk of it has been spent on ammunition, for example.
Also, it was probably expensive to clean all those flower petals off our tanks.
Face
It’s SO fucking obvious, Tim the Defeatocrat, that all those inspectors are just tying to sell their books.
By the way, this:
May beIs without a doubt the funniest thing I’ve ever read on this blog. Bastard just caused me to cough up some Natty Lite.jill
If Stuart Bowen’s inspectors found that some of our projects remained functional in Iraq’s present state of near-total anarchy…then it would be plastered all over the cable networks, national nightly news and John Cole’s old pals would be hailing them everyday as successes and eventually the real reason we went into Iraq.
jake
Here’s a radical idea: Don’t start reconstruction efforts before the hostilities have ended.
Stevesh
Bowen ought to get his butt up the Hudson and check out Albany next.
Chad N. Freude
Well, under Saddam, they didn’t even have these projects to fail at. We’ve brought them the freedom to not maintain and to loot.
Pb
Obviously, the Iraqis aren’t standing up (they’re fleeing for cover…).
Tim
Somebody explain to me how a country that can’t even do plumbing right anymore is going to defeat an insurgency.
Dave_Violence
That is a very interesting statement. …but it’s not just the government, it’s worldwide and exhibited by all facets of the construction services industry. It seems more and more that you need a lawyer on the design team…
One thing to consider: the big construction companies, like PB, are worse Americans for doing the minimum.
tBone
Not to mention all the candy gumming up the treads.
I’m sure Iraqi subcontractors are to blame for this. It’s not our fault. Really!
28 Percent
This is so mean the troops are doing a good job and you just nit-pick at them sayinng that some schools have gone bad well have you seen schools here? It is not the fault of our brave boys over there making sacrifices and you want to take away their honor saying that the sacrifices weren’t for anything good? Shame on you. You LIEBERAL nay-sayers worked againts the troops and the brave Iraqi people from the start, even sending porn instead of purity kits and elitist girly designer coffees. I guess Starbucks is part of the liberal fifth-column it makes sense look where their from.
Zifnab
DEATH TO SPOOFY!
*stabs 28 Percent in the face with a spoon*
The Other Steve
The problem is they only hired Republican plumbers.
Have you ever seen Republican plumbing? It is not pretty!
Pb
Ahem? Fuck Parsons Brinckerhoff, they aren’t stealing my handle!
srv
What were they doing, painting bullseyes on the schools?
Cyrus
It doesn’t take much to do that for me.
John Lott
One thing that makes me really sick is that I feel we had an opportunity that lasted several months to get the population behind us. I saw this Frontline piece, I believe, talking about the early part of the occupation, and how much they screwed around and screwed everything up. The piece said that there were quite a few opportunities to get things going in a good direction. If we had poured resources into rebuilding, used them effectively, provided employment, and provided real security, I think we might have pulled it off. Certainly things wouldn’t be this bad. The security situation wasn’t remotely as bad early on as it is now, and if you’re helping to provide a good life for people you lessen their desire to fight, and you tend to make the people who aren’t inclined to fight actively support you.
People who are busy watching satellite TV and eating don’t want to waste time blowing each other up. People who don’t have a satellite dish, or a house to attach it to, or any food, care less about themselves and certainly MUCH MUCH less about you.
John Lott
This:
“The piece said that there were quite a few opportunities to get things going in a good direction.”
might not be right now that I think about it. What’s definitely true is that I took the impression away from the piece that there were a number of opportunities to get things going in a good direction.