State Dept. Sets Up Postwar Cleanup Office

[Robbien]

As nearly two years of insurgent attacks and intermittent electricity attest in Iraq, the hard work of war isn't over when the shooting stops. The State Department has set up a new office to manage the aftermath of war and try to prevent extremism from taking hold in desperate places.

. . .

The mission statement for the State Department's new office of reconstruction and stabilization says it is to "lead, coordinate, and institutionalize U.S. government civilian capacity to prevent or prepare for post-conflict situations, and to help stabilize and reconstruct societies in transition from conflict or civil strife...."

The Bush administration has asked Congress for an emergency $17 million to get the office running and has named a director, former Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/03/23/national/w152141S12.DTL

[Sabriel]

1. My kid's school needs upgrades and playground equipment

Send a little of that 17 mill this way, would ya?

[MasonJar]

2. The war will never be over; they would have to let all those inno-

cent prisoners go home to spill more beans.

[bemildred]

3. "What fresh hell is this?"

The shooting is not stopped, it isn't going to stop.
No amount of government bullshit will fix the mess in Iraq.