Monday, May 17, 2004
Enough to make you weep
An account from the green zone.
It's unavoidably apparent that the shoddy planning, implementation, and funding of the post-war phase has played right into the hands of those who would resist a democratic Iraq. There was a chorus warning about this before the war, but we were ignored. Now, the problem is much deeper than before---it is harder to win friends after Abu Ghraib, after good Iraqis see innocents die, after we resort to bombing neighborhoods in Falluja and mosques in Karbala. And since our people are--reasonably--afraid to venture out among the people, I see little hope for changing the image of America at this late date.
Bush is torn between a messianic mission and anti-spending base. Taking big risks on a small budget---that's what a con/neo-con coalition has wrought.
It's unavoidably apparent that the shoddy planning, implementation, and funding of the post-war phase has played right into the hands of those who would resist a democratic Iraq. There was a chorus warning about this before the war, but we were ignored. Now, the problem is much deeper than before---it is harder to win friends after Abu Ghraib, after good Iraqis see innocents die, after we resort to bombing neighborhoods in Falluja and mosques in Karbala. And since our people are--reasonably--afraid to venture out among the people, I see little hope for changing the image of America at this late date.
Bush is torn between a messianic mission and anti-spending base. Taking big risks on a small budget---that's what a con/neo-con coalition has wrought.
