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Iraqi Government Incompetence

21 November 2009 12 Comments

There is an old adage that says “a fool and his money are soon parted”. Unfortunately, this saying has proven to all too true when it comes to the $53 billion dollars that the U.S. government has spent for relief and reconstruction in Iraq since the invasion in 2003. Over the last seven years the U.S. taxpayers have paid for hospitals, water treatment plants, electrical sub-stations, schools, bridges and just about every kind of infra-structure improvement imaginable. This hugely magnanimous gesture of American generosity has been, I suppose, our way of repaying the Iraqis for the devastation and deprivation caused by George Bush’s war of aggression against Saddam Hussein. Although Iraq is a nation that floats on a sea of crude oil, this source of potential revenue to fund infra-structure rebuilding has been deemed “off limits”.

So what, in fact, has the U.S. government’s $53 billion dollars really bought for the Iraqi people? Among other things, it has bought a $270 million water treatment plant that sits idle because it is too sophisticated for Iraqi workers to operate; it has bought a state-of-the-art hospital that never opened because the Iraqi government was unable to supply it with equipment, staffing or electricity; and it has bought oil treatment facilities, electrical power plants and communications facilities that operate at one tenth capacity because the Iraqi government cannot fund ongoing operations. Top U.S. government officials are becoming increasingly concerned that most of the money spent on infra-structure rebuilding will ultimately be wasted due to Iraqi government incompetence. As a further slap in the face to U.S. taxpayers, the Iraqi government has outright refused to take possession of many U.S. funded reconstruction projects due to unavailability of staff and technical expertise. It gets worse! Ali Baban, from the Iraqi Planning Ministry, has publicly criticized the U.S. rebuilding effort as “wasteful”, and has said it has had “no discernible impact”.

As Iraq goes slowly ahead with its plan for national elections, and as U.S. military forces are extracted from the Iraqi theater of operation several things become increasingly clear. First and foremost, the U.S. invasion of Iraq has not brought about peace, stability and democracy to this country, but has only been an expensive lesson in futility. Other than ridding the world of Saddam Hussein, the war has accomplished absolutely nothing. Secondly, any and all acts of generosity by the American taxpayers will only be regarded by the Iraqis has an attempt at “influence buying” by the “Great Satan” from the West. Thirdly, no amount of American infra-structure rebuilding will ultimately make a difference when Iraq enters into a sustained period of civil war. Perhaps some day, far in the future, Iran or Saudi Arabia will be able to help the Iraqis operate their “gifts from America”; however, in the meantime the best policy for America would be to close our checkbooks and “head out of Dodge”.

—Rich

12 Comments »

PJ said:

i couldn’t agree with you more on this subject. when i think of how much good that money could have done here in the country that supplied it, it makes me nauseous.

have a great day…hugz!

# 21 November 2009 at 12:13 pm

Antony Waller said:

Interesting to read your views from the American perspective. Here in Britain the Chilcott Inquiry into the Iraq war gets underway shortly and Tony Blair’s role and how he took the country to war will come under close scrutiny. It is widely believed we, the British people, and our Parliament were lied to. We shall see.

# 21 November 2009 at 3:07 pm

admin (author) said:

PJ,
It was recently reported that one out of every six people in America goes hungry. It’s amazing to think of how many jobs could have been created and people fed if we only spent that money at home.

# 21 November 2009 at 3:53 pm

willoaks studio said:

I feel ill when I hear about the waste of those amounts of money, then look at our deficit (what we now owe the Chinese) and see what we are UNABLE to do for the good old USA. But hey, Cheney’s friends profited, right? Haliburton and who else, both as subcontractors and maybe as the ones around when the “suitcases of money” were brought over, and the ones who build all the war machines that were needed? Is this another case of the American memory being so short that we LOOSE patience with Obama when he had nothing to do with this war, this mess and this waste?? When history is written, the Iraq war will not be just a huge boondaggle by American, but could be the beginning of the end….

# 21 November 2009 at 4:07 pm

admin (author) said:

Antony,
It is a shame that the lies told to the American public by President Bush in order to justify the invasion of Iraq were also told to the British. Perhaps Prime Minister Blair was “taken in” by the same lies. If, of course, he knew all along that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, then the British should be righteously indignant.

# 21 November 2009 at 4:18 pm

bluzdude said:

The United States of America: leading exporter of White Elephants.

You know, this just covers the money spent that had actual results… how much money disappeared through bribes, embezzlement or just shoddy accounting?

# 21 November 2009 at 4:46 pm

admin (author) said:

Willoaks,
The senseless war in Iraq, which was probably a result of Cheney’s undue influence on George Bush, will end up costing more than the trillion dollars paid by the American taxpayers. It has de-stablized the entire region, and left the door wide open to Iranian military involvement once U.S. troops have departed. I fear that America’s actions have changed the course of history, and perhaps allowed the countdown to Armegeddon to begin.

# 21 November 2009 at 5:47 pm

admin (author) said:

Bluzdude,
We will probably never know the true cost of this ill-advised invasion. Given what has occurred in Iraq, it is hard to believe that the government is contemplating escalating the war in Afghanistan. Let’s hope and pray that President Obama decides to let the Afghanis decide their own fate, and pulls out U.S. combat troops.
We will not win the war in Afghanistan! No one has conquered them in their own mountainous terrain in a thousand years, and no one ever will.

# 21 November 2009 at 5:56 pm

Hans said:

The North, dominated by tribal clans of the Kurds are surpressing now Christians, Turkmen etc.
In fact, the 500.000 Christains are or left or killed, maybe some 2.000 are left. This was was insane, and the USA is paying the price for years to come. Al Quada found a safe heaven their now.(

# 22 November 2009 at 10:45 am

Cassandra said:

Is there anyone out there who thinks the Iraq invasion was a wonderful idea? Why are we still discussing something that everyone agrees about?
Maybe it is because it is more soothing to discuss past Bush administration failures than to address the real issue of what a disappointment the present Obama administration has been?

# 22 November 2009 at 11:04 am

admin (author) said:

Hans,
Although the Kurds have been suppressed by the Muslims in Iraq, they are not exactly known for tolerance either. The Christians are caught in the middle of all the fighting.

# 23 November 2009 at 10:00 am

admin (author) said:

Cassandra,
The post was not intended to discuss the “merits” (or lack thereof) of invading Iraq. It was meant to suggest that American economic assistance is not only being wasted, but will actually be used against us by certain international forces attempting to gain influence in Iraq. It is clear that America will never have much influence in Iraq, or any Muslim country, over the long run. The question is whether Baghdad will end up paying homage to Tehran or to Saudi Arabia when the civil war has ended.
The effectiveness of the Obama Administration cannot be assessed after only nine months in office. Americans need to show a little more patience.

# 23 November 2009 at 10:18 am