Legacy of Waste?
Well, lives wasted, certainly. Over a hundred-thousand Iraqi lives, and thousands of lives of Western nations' military men and women. And there is the vast amount of funding reflecting the national treasury sacrifices made by those countries involved as part of the Coalition of the Willing. Then there is the colossal sum, amounting to close to a trillion dollars, that the United States alone has spent in prosecuting the war, stabilizing the aftermath, engaging in its Iraq-style "Marshall Plan".Of that latter plan, due diligence seemed never to have been a concern. Contractors were chosen with few background checks, producing in the final analysis, very little of practical usefulness for the country itself. As the United States prepared to pull the majority of its troops out of the country, leaving about 50,000 as security back-up, consultants and troop trainers, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction after auditing the many projects that the U.S. had undertaken had faint praise for the end result.
America's reconstruction efforts for the country whose infrastructure its assaults had fractured beyond repair have been dismal. With huge assurance that it knew best, it rarely consulted the Iraqis themselves about their future needs, including the government that the U.S. helped to install. Overlooking to ascertain which projects would be of most useful benefit to them. And there was inadequate oversight with respect to the projects chosen unilaterally by the U.S. reconstruction teams.
Construction project costs ballooned to unbelievable heights far surpassing original estimates. And then there was the matter of savage attacks on construction crews by insurgents and disaffected elements within the population, along with attacks by foreign militias determined to set back any type of useful project that was underway.
Basically, it was a huge additional cost for all of the projects to ensure that mostly foreign security contractors were in place to guard building sites and their personnel. Amounting to 30% of entire reconstruction costs. And it was the most ambitious, costly projects that represented the most egregious failures in purpose and execution, many of which were constructed with inferior materials. And would never be used. Others never completed.
"I am very sorry because America spent a lot of money without any tangible results", remarked Iraq's minister of planning, responsible for all projects now being taken over by Iraq. "The Iraqi people heard a lot about American assistance, but really they didn't touch it or feel it."
And in the final analysis, of the 1,500 reconstruction projects undertaken by the Americans initially only 300 have been taken on by the Iraqi government for completion. The remainder are felt to be unrequired, and those that were left uncompleted lack the plans and contracts to enable the Iraqis to finish them. So much for planning and accountability.
It should not then be surprising to see very similar outcomes in Afghanistan, another country invaded and (temporarily) occupied in an attempt to bring rational and practical governance to an impoverished, Islamist-anguished country. Because of the resurgence of the Taliban following a hiatus when it was felt that their numbers had been diminished to the point of no-return, security is once again disrupted, as the Western forces find themselves pushed back beyond points which were once secured by them.
And, with security disrupted, so too are the reconstruction and development plans. From road paving projects where contractors and local workers risk losing their lives for collaborating with 'the enemy', to irrigation canals and health clinics having to be put on hold. Not to mention schools, which have been regularly destroyed by the Taliban who see no need for girls to become educated, much less than boys outside madrassas where they are taught to value the imperatives of violent jihad.
Labels: Afghanistan, Middle East, Traditions, Troublespots
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, September 05, 2010
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