Where do I begin? How do I start to review a book such as this? Is this one of my favorite book? Oh, no. Not even close. But this is a very IMPORTANT book. This might be one of those books that everyone should read.
First of all, after 9/11, if America needed to chase after the perpetrators of that event, we should have gone after Saudi Arabia rather than Iraq. Where there any Iraqis among them? Out of nineteen, fifteen were from Saudi Arabia. Two were from UAE. One was from Egypt. One was from Lebannon. I don’t want to go into why America declared war on a sovereign nation which had nothing to do with 9/11, BUT I’d like to believe that President Bush did what he believed was best for our country at the time.
I think this book should be required reading for the President of United States and his cabinet members as well the various department heads and all those who are going into foreign service. I’m sure America will inadvertently be drawn into another nation building sometime in the near future. There is so much to learn from this book. Unfortunately, it’s mostly what not to do, not the other way around.
I’m also currently reading John Adams (which is a much thicker book), which I’m enjoying immensely. What surprises me about that book is…how in the world did all the stars and planets line up, and all these men, with flaws and all, came together to form this great nation? It’s as if all the men rose to the challenge of the time and pulled together and compensated for one another’s weaknesses. America was indeed lucky to have such men at such desperate times. But supposedly Oprah Winfry famously declared that she didn’t believe in luck. That luck only happened when preparation (however long it took) met opportunity.
Well, America’s efforts to rebuild Iraq were EXACTLY the opposite. How President Bush and his cabinet can pull together a team that failed and disappointed at almost every turn was amazing. How they squandered such an opportunity to rebuild Iraq is stupefying (I know. I’m repeating myself). I don’t think they could have put together a worse team if they’d tried. I guess that’s the sad part – they pulled the team together based on loyalty and party allegiance rather than experience and capabilities. A couple of people have succeeded, against overwhelming odds and by breaking the rules, but most have failed because they were driven by American ignorance and arrogance.
SPOILER ALERT.
“As the [American] viceroy, [Paul] Bremer need only put down his signature to impose a new law, or to abolish an old one. He wasn’t required to consult with Iraqis or even seek their consent.” How does this work? An American, who is not an expert in Arabic anything, gets this kind of power? If in the far future, America’s power wanes and some other country occupies it for whatever reason, would we want someone to impose or abolish our laws with a stroke of his/her pen?
I’ve been reading some books on Korean history in the time of Japanese occupation. In these books, celebrated Korean patriots (and yes, some were suicide bombers) who fought against the occupation were called terrorists, rebels, commies, etc. by the Japanese occupiers. The books go on to explain that any man, in any country, would most likely to resist and fight against an occupying power, no matter what. There is no benevolent occupying force. There are no greater incentives to bear arms and fight than for your family, for your home, for your culture, and for your country. This should not be a new concept to the American diplomatic corp, should it?
Whether it is McPherson’s clean-slate approach to forgiving debt and nullifying assets to Foley’s utter disregard for the international law which prohibits the sale of assets by an occupation government when he talked about privatization, these people didn’t consider what the lasting consequences of their actions would be. Considering that Alexander Hamilton, America’s first treasury secretary, insisted on the American government making good on its foreign and domestic debts, McPherson’s approach was flawed but worse still, he refused to listen to any other input.
One after another, the list of ineptitude, misdirections, lost opportunities, not taking input from native Iraqis or regional experts, unscrupulous contractors, and ignorant arrogance is appalling and eye-opening. But worst of all (in my point of view), is that Americans forced the Iraqis to identify themselves in sectarian terms. In their blind, formulaic efforts to create a more “democratic government,” the Americans forced each Iraqi to declare himself as a Shiite, a Kurd, a Sunni, a Christian, a Turkmen, etc. The Iraqi governing council had strict quotas – 13 Shiite Arabs, 5 Sunni Arabs, 5 Sunni Kurds, 1 Christian, and 1 Turkmen. Before this, most Iraqis “…never saw each other as Sunnis or Shiites first. We were Iraqis first.” This forced identification led to dramatic rise in sectarian violence which continues to this day.
I, who hate to dog-ear any book, have dog-eared many pages in this book, because I wanted to write about those issues. But I’m getting tired and depressed (because there are so many…), so I’ll let you find out for yourself.
The last bit…in an interview before his departure from Iraq, Paul Bremer, the American viceroy, touted “lowering of Iraq’s tax rate, the liberalization of foreign-investment laws, and the reduction of import duties” as among his biggest accomplishments in Iraq. To that, I just want to say – what the…?
I usually read fiction because partly, I want to live in denial and think that these horrible things (not just talking about this book) don’t happen in real life. But this is one book that everyone should read because it’s so incredible and stunning.
This is an eloquent and a riveting book that is surprisingly balanced in its writing. It’s a chronicle of what took place. A set of data put into words. But I can’t deny that the data, how little was accomplished for so much money, is damning. But most importantly, although these CPA staffers thought they were doing good, how much misery was heaped on the Iraqi people by the sum of CPA’s good intentions based on their sheer ignorance and arrogance is almost unforgivable.
Having said this, why don't you read it for yourself, and you be the judge?
