The New York Times splashes on an unpublished federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq which, it says, depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure.
My view is that this illustrates the need for those who are concerned to help Iraqis rebuild their country after so many decades of destruction, war and isolation increasing their efforts in co-operation with civil society organisations such as the trade unions and Iraqi political forces.
Gary Kent