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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group
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To: michael97123 who wrote (111403)8/14/2003 11:28:14 AM
From: KyrosL  Read Replies (1) of 281500
 
Please elucidate on how we are trying to fail

I have done so many times, but here goes again.

Iraq needs massive reconstruction aid immediately. Give all the idle Iraqis a job building roads, plants and helping with the massive reconstruction needs almost everywhere you look. It's the only way to buy Iraqi goodwill and reverse the disastrous course of alienating more and more segments of the Iraqi population.

The $2 billion of reconstruction aid allocated by the administration, juxtaposed against the nearly $100 billion allocated for military operations and occupation, is a sick joke.

Iraq is a thoroughly socialized country. The oil for food program has basically conditioned the current generation of Iraqis to depend on the government for their sustenance. An abrupt termination of such dependence, as is the current plan, will lead almost certainly to disaster.

A bunch of respected commentators (Friedman comes to mind) have been saying for months now that Iraq needs massive economic aid immediately. Such aid, perhaps of the order of $20 billion or so, is a fraction of what we are spending militarily on Iraq, a tiny fraction of the budget deficit, and a negligible fraction of the annual US budget.

Kyros
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