Now He Tells Us (Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?)

Shouldn't Newsweek's Baghdad bureau chief have been writing stories like this last year? Why wait until now?

Good Intentions Gone Bad - Newsweek World News - MSNBC.com: NEWSWEEK's Baghdad bureau chief, departing after two years of war and American occupation, has a few final thoughts .Scott Nelson / WPN for Newsweek: Two years ago I went to Iraq as an unabashed believer in toppling Saddam Hussein. I knew his regime well from previous visits; WMDs or no, ridding the world of Saddam would surely be for the best, and America's good intentions would carry the day.

What went wrong? A lot, but the biggest turning point was the Abu Ghraib scandal. Since April 2004 the liberation of Iraq has become a desperate exercise in damage control. The abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib alienated a broad swath of the Iraqi public. On top of that, it didn't work. There is no evidence that all the mistreatment and humiliation saved a single American life or led to the capture of any major terrorist, despite claims by the military that the prison produced 'actionable intelligence.'

The most shocking thing about Abu Ghraib was not the behavior of U.S. troops, but the incompetence of their leaders. Against the conduct of the Lynndie Englands and the Charles Graners, I'll gladly set the honesty and courage of Specialist Joseph Darby, the young MP who reported the abuse. A few soldiers will always do bad things. That's why you need competent officers, who know what the men and women under their command are capable of--and make sure it doesn't happen.

Living and working in Iraq, it's hard not to succumb to despair. At last count America has pumped at least $7 billion into reconstruction projects, with little to show for it but the hostility of ordinary Iraqis, who still have an 18 percent unemployment rate. Most of the cash goes to U.S. contractors who spend much of it on personal security. Basic services like electricity, water and sewers still aren't up to prewar levels. Electricity is especially vital in a country where summer temperatures commonly reach 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet only 15 percent of Iraqis have reliable electrical service. In the capital, where it counts most, it's only 4 percent.

The most powerful army in human history can't even protect a two-mile stretch of road. The Airport Highway connects both the international airport and Baghdad's main American military base, Camp Victory, to the city center. At night U.S. troops secure the road for the use of dignitaries; they close it to traffic and shoot at any unauthorized vehicles. More troops and more helicopters could help make the whole country safer. Instead the Pentagon has been drawing down the number of helicopters. And America never deployed nearly enough soldiers. They couldn't stop the orgy of looting that followed Saddam's fall. Now their primary mission is self-defense at any cost--which only deepens Iraqis' resentment.

The four-square-mile Green Zone, the one place in Baghdad where foreigners are reasonably safe, could be a showcase of American values and abilities. Instead the American enclave is a trash-strewn wasteland of Mad Max-style fortifications. The traffic lights don't work because no one has bothered to fix them. The garbage rarely gets collected. Some of the worst ambassadors in U.S. history are the GIs at the Green Zone's checkpoints. They've repeatedly punched Iraqi ministers, accidentally shot at visiting dignitaries and behave (even on good days) with all the courtesy of nightclub bouncers--to Americans and Iraqis alike.

Not that U.S. soldiers in Iraq have much to smile about. They're overworked, much ignored on the home front and widely despised in Iraq, with little to look forward to but the distant end of their tours%u2014and in most cases, another tour soon to follow. Many are reservists who, when they get home, often face the wreckage of careers and family.

I can't say how it will end. Iraq now has an elected government, popular at least among Shiites and Kurds, who give it strong approval ratings. There's even some hope that the Sunni minority will join the constitutional process. Iraqi security forces continue to get better trained and equipped. But Iraqis have such a long way to go, and there are so many ways for things to get even worse. I'm not one of those who think America should pull out immediately. There's no real choice but to stay, probably for many years to come. The question isn't 'When will America pull out?'; it's 'How bad a mess can we afford to leave behind?' All I can say is this: last one out, please turn on the lights.

Comments

[sm]

His point that Abu Ghraib was a turning point was completely obvious to me at the time. Why not to him?
Because journalists are afraid to speak unpopular truths?

[ch2]

Another example of feckless finger-in-the-wind reporting.

Public opinion turns, so I guess it's ok to share a truth that would have been unpopular a year ago.

Hacks !

[sm]

Think long and hard about this:

" Instead the American enclave is a trash-strewn wasteland of Mad Max-style fortifications."

I would welcome comment from someone with Vietnam war experience.

[spencer]

On Wolf Blitzers CNN show today his call in poll question was " is the US gaining on the insurgents?".

85% of the people that called in said yes.

How can anyone rationally understand this?

[Brian]

I've often thought that one of the best ways for the Democrats to get back the confidence of certain factions of the public was to show that, no matter what their views on the war were, they were in support of the troops. The way to accomplish this would be to make sure that the troops are cared for in the battlefield and off of it. I've thought that making public pronouncements about ensuring financial support or job training to those facing employment and ensuring health care to all whoi serve would be good, reasonable steps. I'm sure there are already things like this in place, but improving them would be a wise and just thing to do.

I've actually come up with an idea that might ease some of the financial pain: eliminating all federal income taxes for military families. I'm not sure if anything like this is in place, or how workable it is, but I think it's an interesting idea. We could also raise the pay to levels that isn't somewhat embarrassing.

The point is, there are are plenty of things we can do. Even if proposed legislation doesn't pass, beind bold and out in front should bring good things.

[Rob]

So the Newsweek chief admits that he was foresquare behind invasion. I'm sure that Newsweek then was at thw forefront of trying to expose the lies that lead us to war.

I'm sure they thought that this would be a splendid little war to allow them to bone up their war reporting bonefides.

[howard]

The end of the first paragraph - "America's good intentions would carry the day" - shows us, in a nutshell, the cost to American politics that we no longer have a conservative movement, only liberals, centrists, and right-wingers.

It is, among other things, the role of a conservative movement to point out the cost of good intentions, and that good intentions are no substitute for policy.

Meanwhile, right you are ch2. And spencer, my guess is that the kind of person who is calling in to Wolf's show is someone who woke up today, saw a headline about finding this big empty underground hideout, and said, "yup, we're doing better."

Denial is a very powerful force indeed; fortunately, the polls (a little more reliable than wolf's callers) show that you can't fool all the people all of the time, as support dirfts, slowly but steadily, towards its rock bottom: the roughly 35% in advance of the war who said they would support it even if we had 1000 American casualties and limited foreign participation on the ground....

[Ari]

American conservatism seem to be reduced mainly to Democrats.

[b]

But he says there is only 18% percent unemployment in Iraq - why aren´t they happ with that number?

[me]

"But he says there is only 18% percent unemployment in Iraq"

And if you belive that I will sell you an unemployemten rate of 5.1% in the US.

[Patrick Taylor]

But what colour are they painting the schools this year?

[Ari]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/27/opinion/27friedman.html?ex=1118116800&en=94a75d1771b6d082&ei=5070

Just Shut It Down
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

London

Shut it down. Just shut it down.

I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under. It has become worse than an embarrassment. I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down. So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down.

If you want to appreciate how corrosive Guantánamo has become for America's standing abroad, don't read the Arab press. Don't read the Pakistani press. Don't read the Afghan press. Hop over here to London or go online and just read the British press! See what our closest allies are saying about Gitmo. And when you get done with that, read the Australian press and the Canadian press and the German press.

It is all a variation on the theme of a May 8 article in The Observer of London that begins, "An American soldier has revealed shocking new details of abuse and sexual torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay in the first high-profile whistle-blowing account to emerge from inside the top-secret base." Google the words "Guantánamo Bay and Australia" and what comes up is an Australian ABC radio report that begins: "New claims have emerged that prisoners at Guantánamo Bay are being tortured by their American captors, and the claims say that Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib are among the victims."

Just another day of the world talking about Guantánamo Bay.

Why care? It's not because I am queasy about the war on terrorism. It is because I want to win the war on terrorism. And it is now obvious from reports in my own paper and others that the abuse at Guantánamo and within the whole U.S. military prison system dealing with terrorism is out of control. Tell me, how is it that over 100 detainees have died in U.S. custody so far? Heart attacks? This is not just deeply immoral, it is strategically dangerous....

[morajokaj]

Give the guy some breathing room.

A year ago, my 'moderate Republican' brother would have dismissed this report as commie propoganda; a year ago I was chatting about this kind of thing with an intelligent passer-by at my sister's wedding reception, and my brother almost punched me in the nose for disrespecting the president.

Now, he simply refuses to talk about it. Perhaps, in a year or so, he will be able to admit that he was wrong on the facts.

So Newsweek, parabems! And maybe those who are not so 'moderate' will get with the program to end the slaughter in that unfortunate country.

[Jennifer]

Morajokaj

I can easily sympathize and hope.

[tante aime]

All my Rightist friends have gone radio silent,
and hunkered down around the bivuac. They know.
They also know there's no "exit strategy", and
there's three more years of this mad-hatter, and
they'd better cash out their options, just ASAP.
America is tangled in the tar pit, Israel-style.
With the EU augering in as the moderating force,
our economies are going to get a "reality check".
"Be resolute, and fear no sacrifice and surmount
every difficulty to win victory." Mao III, p.321

[Jon Koppenhoefer]

I think that journalists have a tendency to write only what they think will help them get their next job or keep the job they already have.

This article might be a sort of esprit d'escalier.

[qwerty]

from Terry Goodkind "Chainfire": The Imperial Order used torture because they had no regard at all for human life. Nicci was using it because she did. While at one time she would have seen no difference, since coming to embrace life she saw all the difference in the world.

[pat]

howard,

Well said. There was a British conservative whose name escaped me for the moment who said at the beginning of the war that "this is not our war", pointing out how far off this GWB's war is from the conservative principle.

spencer,

The anwser to your question is that people like me do not watch CNN, period. In fact, I am surprised that you do ...

[Lancelot Finn]

Re: "Living and working in Iraq, it's hard not to succumb to despair."

I lived and worked for a while in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries, in southern Africa. The GDP per capita there is $175/yr. I was responsible for helping out with some reforms to the school system.

The system is hopelessly underfunded. There are hardly any desks and chairs, the government is out of money so it has stopped recruiting new teachers, and class sizes are getting bigger, sometimes absurdly large, over 100 students in a classroom. But dropout rates are so high that there will be many times more students in the 8th standard than in the first standard. Teachers' salaries are abysmally low, e.g. $30/yr. Many teachers are dying of AIDS. We were hoping to influence the funding system and channel more money to schools so they could do their job, but it seemed we were up against such overwhelming odds, with so little hope of success.

In Malawi, you see advertisements for coffins everywhere. If you're white, half the people you meet ask you for money. There are a few major roads, but most of the country lives in villages along dirt roads, with no electricity, no vehicles... If the rain fails, hunger sets in. People eat green maize without waiting for it to ripen. If you come from the city to visit your parents with food, you have to hide it under a layer of clothes so that people won't see it and take it. And things seem more likely to get worse than better. The despicably corrupt and kleptocratic democratic government is undermining the authority of local chiefs. Crime is on the rise in the capital. For those who do work through the school system, there are hardly any jobs...

Living and working in Malawi (like Iraq) it's hard not to succumb to despair. The same goes, I should think, for much of the Third World. The sad fact is that life is heart-breakingly difficult for billions of people in this world, but we're usually insulated from seeing it up close.

One of the most salutary aspects of the Iraq war, in my view, is that we got a chance to see up close how the other half lives. (More on this here: http://www.lancelotfinn.com/bush_quest.htm.) And maybe make things better.

Or perhaps not. But the problem with this article, at least if it is meant to be deployed as a voice against the Iraq War, is that the author has not provided us a basis for comparison. Life in Iraq looks pretty bleak and lousy compared to life in the United States, sure. But is it worse than it was under Saddam Hussein? That is the question. Since the author seems to be unaware that that is the appropriate yardstick, his essay, however interesting, can hardly be taken as a relevant contribution to the debate over whether the war should have been fought.

[howard]

Lancelot, sadly, you're applying the wrong test. The issue is not whether life is better in iraq than it was under saddam (i'd say, as a pure guess, that it's probably, in aggregate, marginally better, although worse for some); the question is whether the US has gotten (or stands any chance of getting) any kind of return commensurate with the investment of blood and treasure.

The answer is almost assuredly no, and this article is simply one more piece of evidence.

[Lancelot Finn]

Should our foreign policy be egoistic or altruistic? Should we try to help others, or not?

Yes, Howard, the answers to these questions will influence whether or not you support the war.

Having studied and worked in the international development field, it's not easy for me to understand the egoist point of view. Just my biases showing, I guess.

[howard]

you know, Lancelot, i'm impressed with the work you've done in the Third World, but really, dividing the choices into "egotistic" and "altruistic" is pretty lame. There is a "cost" to "good" intentions; costs are how we know when we are misallocating resources. Imagine what else could be done "altruistically" with the money we are spending in Iraq, if that's your desire. I can think of many things we could do with the money that would be far more altruistic than this little adventure if that is the only metric.

But is isn't, since, at the end of the day, bills have to be paid. Exactly how is it "egotistic," for instance, if i note that the collapse of recruiting for the military is a very real cost to our long-term ability to negotiate a dangerous world, no matter how "altruistic" you think the source of that collapse is (and that's merely one example of why i can confidently state that the return is incommensurate with the costs even in the best case).

[lise]

Of course, we could have assited people in countries where we would be welcome and not fought a war. The idea that the war was fought for the sake of the Iraqi people was never offered as a reason before the war, because that would not have been acceptable. Several hundred billion dollars spent on a war in Iraq is not a sane way of extending foreign aid.

[lise]

"assisted" not "assited" The war was not fought as a means of extending foreign aid, and wasted endless help we might have extended others.

[Roger Bigod]

sm,

I was in Nam in 1968-70. There was nothing exactly comparable to the Green Zone, but I saw many military installations, includinjg airports and terminals, and the downtowns of Saigon and Da Nang. I don't remember anything "trash-strewn". There were bunkers around military installations in case of mortar attacks, but no fortifications that gave a "Mad Max" impression. The only depressing vista that comes to mind is the road to the airport in Da Nang, with large numbers of dead trees that hadn't been removed. I assumed this was from spills of defoliant. It did give an impression that we were blighting the country. But generally the physical surroundings were clean and orderly.

There was a surreal quality about Nam, well captured by Michael Herr. But it seemed to be based on the jarring contrasts one could experience during the course of a day, especially if it involved travel by chopper.

--Roger Bigod

[Barry]

And Lancelot, if you've worked trying to help people in a Third World country, you should be exquisitely sensitive to the money involved. What is the acknowledged[1] cost this war to the US? $1 billion US per week, I believe. Imagine what $1 billion/week could do. How many children could be immunized for a few billion dollars? How many deep wells could be dug for a few million dollars? How many teachers could be hired?

Back in the world we live in, this $1 billion/week is used for destruction, making a country worse off, making the US worse off.

[1] If it was actually double that, because this administration lies like a rug.

[Ralph]

Lancelot: Why are we doing in Iraq if it is not to improve life for the Iraqi people? Condi Rice says we are there to impose democracy on a people but democracy without some relief from the killing and bombings that many Iraqis are daily subjected to since the invasion is not meaningful or convincing. The British claimed they were there in the twenties and thirties to establish a parliamentary democracy but history shows that this was a complete sham. Without some success or relief soon, the US will also end up blowing a big chance to establish some credibility in "nation building."

[Lancelot Finn]

Re: Roger Bigod and Barry

Well, about the money involved: If I thought the money spent in Iraq came out of the foreign aid budget elsewhere, I'd have a different attitude. But I don't think it would have been. I'm not at all sure that the Iraq war was the BEST thing we could have done for the money spent. I guess I'm just arguing that it was a GOOD thing.

That said, your questions about how many wells could be dug, teachers hired, etc., are naive in ways that you have to be exposed to the development business to understand. Suppose you dig a well. Well, maybe the locals won't know how to maintain it and it will be worthless in a few years. Or maybe the local rich people will take all the water and the poor will get nothing. Or maybe the government would have dug that well anyway, and when you do it for them, they have more money left over for palaces for the president, or soldiers and bombs. You can provide money to pay teachers. But how do you make sure that bureaucrats don't steal it? How do you make the teachers who take the money actually do their best in the classroom? Or again, how do you make sure your money builds ANOTHER school, rather than one that would have been built anyway, freeing up government funds for palaces and secret police?

After intensive exploration of the evidence, World Bank economists have begun to conclude that aid is only effective in the right institutional and political conditions. But how do you foster those? Is it possible to change institutional and political conditions while respecting the sovereignty of developing nations? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

In a country like Saddam's Iraq, foreign aid could almost certainly not have done any good. If we wanted to help the Iraqis, removing the regime was a prerequisite. As for your remark that "democracy without some relief from the killing and bombings that many Iraqis are daily subjected to since the invasion is not meaningful or convincing," I'd say that, for me, the chance to (as Vaclav Havel put it) "live in truth" would be well worth life being a bit more risky; there's no question that many Iraqis agree, and my impression is that support and enthusiasm for the new order far outweighs those who feel they're worse off. At the end of the day, the good news that's right there in Brad's post is enough to make my point:

"Iraq now has an elected government, popular at least among Shiites and Kurds, who give it strong approval ratings. There's even some hope that the Sunni minority will join the constitutional process. Iraqi security forces continue to get better trained and equipped."

That right there is more grounds for hope than a lot of countries in this world have.

[Roger Bigod]

Lancelot Finn

I don't know why your comments are directed to me. Someone asked if a reader had knowledge of conditions in Viet Nam, and I offered some observations and impressions. Walking around, there wasn't the physical evidence of poor organization and discipline that the reporter noted.