Report Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders

[cal04]

Source: New York TImes

An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.

The history, the first official account of its kind, is circulating in draft form here and in Washington among a tight circle of technical reviewers, policy experts and senior officials. It also concludes that when the reconstruction began to lag — particularly in the critical area of rebuilding the Iraqi police and army — the Pentagon simply put out inflated measures of progress to cover up the failures.

In one passage, for example, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is quoted as saying that in the months after the 2003 invasion, the Defense Department “kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces — the number would jump 20,000 a week! ‘We now have 80,000, we now have 100,000, we now have 120,000.’ ”

Mr. Powell’s assertion that the Pentagon inflated the number of competent Iraqi security forces is backed up by Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the former commander of ground troops in Iraq, and L. Paul Bremer III, the top civilian administrator until an Iraqi government took over in June 2004.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/world/middleeast/14reconstruct.html

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Mr. Bowen’s deputy, Ginger Cruz, declined to comment for publication on the substance of the history. But she said it would be presented on Feb. 2 at the first hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting, which was created this year as a result of legislation sponsored by Senators Jim Webb of Virginia and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, both Democrats.

[Idealism]

1. Who didn't know this garbage would happen?

molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.

They didn't understand Sunni's and Shia's can't live together side by side, thats just disgusting intelligensia negligence

[struggle4progress]

2. Wasn't the Paulson "bailout" modeled on the Iraq "reconstruction"?

The basic outlines seem so similar: Republicans hand out cash as quickly as they can, keep no records, and then stonewall

[SpiralHawk]

3. $100 billion FAILure - Lowballing the republicon disaster

Not only have republicons ruined America, they have also totally ruined Iraq.

What a pathetic pack of corruption, deviancy, and FAIL Freaks the republicons are -- a veritable Biblical curse upon Planet Earth.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

4. Please, someone tell me, who is getting all this money in the end?

Hundreds of billions do not just disappear into thin air, some groups and/or individuals are accuring this huge amount of America's present and future treasure. It is not the middle, working, or poor classes, and apparently it is not even being distributed to most members of the investor class. So who the fuck, at the end of the day, is "banking" all this money? Anybody, if only an educated guess, is it people like Warren Buffet and other super rich elite?

[jwirr]

5. At the beginning of this idiot war Bechtel called my BIL to ask him

back to work with unbelievable pay. He refused because he is Jewish and did not want to get caught in Iraq. However I remember saying to him, "What at they going to rebuild in the middle of a war?" We did not start rebuilding Europe until the fighting was done. This war was led by a bunch of idiots who would get slaughtered in a game of World of Warcraft.

[Diclotican]

9. jwirr

jwirr

When it came to rebuild Europe, we in West Europe do our share and then some more to rebuilt our out bombed scared continent.. But yes we got extremely good help from our friend, our allied, our big brother in the US.. And we will always be thankful for what the US helped us doing when our own par of the world was down on their needs, and had no power on their own to even try to rebuild what was destroyed.. The American help packages we got between 1947-49 was in many cases a life line to a better future. And we got it for almost "free".. And for more than 50 year, we was pretty dependable of US for both our security, and in other cases too..

US managed to help ourself, to rebuild what was destroyed, and in the end Europe are today a peacefully (for the most part) place on earth, and even that we today have problems we doesn't have 20 year ago, we are still, compared to other parts of the world, very peacefully for the most part. Specially the Western Part of Europe have been for a large part the most peacefully part of the old continent.. Dire enemies like Germany and France, and UK have in many years now working together to trade and make a better future for everyone.. Not just for them selfs, but for every european...

US was doing everything wrong in Iraq. If they had go to war, as mr Bush and the mob wanted, Why do not listen to the officers who know what was necessary to go to war. Many high ranking officers told their civilians leaders, that if they had to go to war, they have to have at least 500.000 soldiers on the ground, to safeguard the occupation.. But instead of that, they send 150.000 in, and we all know what happened then.. The whole country fall apart, and almost 5000 american is dead now. How many Iraqis are dead nobody know, but it could be in the millions.. And Iraq are a totally broke country, ripped apart by ethnic hatred and plundered by everyone...

Iraq have been a horrible disaster for US, and I doubt that no one can do it better, and get the "boys home".. Iraq is a failure that US OWN to the bitter end.. Even IF US was to withdraw totally from Iraq in 16 months you still have to fix what is wrong.. Iraq are no Vietnam - it is far more important, both to the peace in the world, an to the "Interest" of US. US can't just leave as they did in Vietnam, or in Afghanistan after the russian had withdrawn their forces in 1988.. The US are in Iraq in a impossible situation. If you go away, the country would be destroyed.. And if you was to be there, you would make Iraq be destroyed.. And the _real_ crime is that the american public would be no more wiser than they was under the Bush administration.. For the ordinary american, the Iraq war is on back burner, no to be worried about longer. As long as mr "I am out Saviour>" can tell their people that US have never been more safe than after 9/11 and THAT is mr Bush responsibility, they do not care about 4 MILLION IRAQI who had to flee their country. More than One million killed, and a few million intern refugees who have to flee their homes because their friends and nabour decided that THEY do not deserve to live in the City, or at the farm they have had for more than 100 year or so... And the violence between the sects, sunni, shia, kurds, and a large minority of Cristian's, who have been in Iraq for more than 2000 year are just starting up.. For the most part the cristian minority have been running for their life to Syria, Jordan, Iran (!) and so on.. But NO ONE OF THE REFUGEES HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE ALLOWANCE TO LEAVE FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The current administration do not WANT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC TO KNOW what their war of choice have managed to do...

This is indeed horrible, and would for many decades be something that US have to came to grasp with.. Even if you do not want to.. The US have to face it collective, and personal, that YOUR country have as good as anyone else, ruined a whole country, and destroyed one of the cradle of our civilizations.. It is not just war crimes, war against humanity and so on. It is just, plain criminal arrogance. I have no word for the utter madness the last 7 year have been, when US attacked a country who had no known links to 9/11.. And for the most part, the dumb american public just was going with the flow. Even that the dam proof of Iraq's crimes was not as steady as to believed.. In fact, it was just a BIG, DAM LIE.. ALL OF IT

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[jwirr]

11. Agree. My point was that there was no hope of fixing anything during

a war. We just go and wreck it again. I will be very happy when we get out of there.

[Diclotican]

12. jwirr

jwirr

Absolutely agree about that. You can't begin to rebuild when the war is still going very strong.. But the neo-cons doesn't se it that way it looks.. Lets plunder the Treasury as fast and as long as possible, and then let everyone else clean up the mess, when we count our billions in peace.. And to many americans, and others fall into the trap, and are still telling us on the other side, that it is not a war in Iraq in 2008, but that ended in 2003... They are _so stupid_


Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[KoKo]

6. kick...

[RedSock]

7. WAKE UP New York Times

These are most certainly NOT "blunders"!

[underpants]

8. Sounds like Colin found ghost security personnel (like Haliburton charging for "meals not eaten")

the rest of this is as expected
-complete incompetence
-purposeful mismanagement
-politicization

[benld74]

10. ALL WAR is FUBAR, this is BUSCHO FUBAR DELUXE!

[alfredo]

13. Read "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" for a very good account of

how neocon ideology always won out over reality. It lends weight to Naomi Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine."