Paul Bremer and the neocon true believers gave Iraq over to anarchy.

[pinto]

Put aside the flim flam invasion of a country decimated by war and economic sanction for a sec and remember.

Not long after the swift deposition of Hussein, Paul Bremer and a long line of inexperienced, international neophytes, with nothing to their credit save a history of Republican fund raising or a stead fast belief in the neocon dream, cemented an occupation that literally took Iraq from the Iraqis in the name of their think tank ideology.

That was the unraveling of Iraq. The beginning of the end we are witnessing now.

I really don't want America to forget Paul Bremer and his neocon cohorts, their Coalition Provisional Authority and the systematic dismantling of Iraq.

It could have been different, even after the invasion. In their blind quest to establish a beachhead of regional influence, the Administration's neocon missionaries, backed by a willing military establishment, as well as a willing cadre of corporate interests, played the nation for pawns. Their was no Iraq for Iraqis. There was only the merest shell of cooperation with local interests, coupled with the spin for our domestic press, while the CPA shuffled no bid contracts and American tax dollars from the relative safety of the Green Zone.

We all know now it was a failure. The cavalier approach shown by Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld on down invited chaos. And chaos it now has become.

The real costs, of course, have been borne by the blood of our rank and file military personnel and the civilian population of a nation we may well betray, once again.

I hope this remains a studied legacy of the Bush Administration. It's one Mr. Bush would rather not carry into the history books, I'm sure, but it's one the country sorely needs to remember.

[EFerrari]

1. I now have a hard time believing they ever cared about what we would

call victory.

What they did was a multinational corporate smash n grab, imho.

[Larry Ogg]

2. A Bush Legacy Indeed

I hope this remains a studied legacy of the Bush Administration. It's one Mr. Bush would rather not carry into the history books, I'm sure, but it's one the country sorely needs to remember.

Iraq, Katrina, Civil Liberties, 911, who and what allowed 911, who and what caused 911, media deregulation, election fraud, stolen elections how long will list like this get… I hope it becomes a studied legacy of the entire political system that had the laws that could have prevented or lessoned all of these disasters. But to the contrary the system failed, opened the door, and welcomed failure. Sorry, I don’t think future generation will be able to look back at these days and understand how someone like Gorge Bush was allowed to steel the Whitehouse in the first place. You don’t take your new Porsche too the drug infested ghetto’s, leave the key in the ignition with the engine running, door opened and stereo blasting come and get it, then blame it solely on the thief who stole stripped and burned it, and then have the taxpayers buy the idiot fool an even nicer more expensive Porsche. No I don’t think the history books will lay it all at the feet of the thief with out looking also at the idiot fools that could have prevented it…

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Not to mention the CPA hired its entire staff from the Heritage Foundation...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193_pf.html

Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq
Early U.S. Missteps in the Green Zone

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 17, 2006; A01



Adapted from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, copyright Knopf 2006

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O'Beirne (note - husband of Kate O'Beirne:puke:), a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.

O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade .

Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April 2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance -- but had applied for a White House job -- was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.
</snip>

And 9 billion dollars disappears...:grr:

[BeFree]

5. A clear example

of total governmental malfeasance, brought to us by bushco. And the American conservatives lapped it up! They thought their boy would limit government and control the fraud in DC! The conservatives are feeling pretty bad these days; they've been cheated, used, and abused, by their favorite son.

Can you please pass the salt?

[applegrove]

4. Well said. n/t

[noise]

6. This is key

Especially now that the corporate media is pushing the incompetence BS..."All Bush wanted was a stable democracy but he made some mistakes."

The occupation policy helped create the insurgency. In fact, an argument could be made that the civilian command betrayed the US military and the Iraqi people.

The http://www.thebushagenda.net">The Bush Agenda by Antonia Juhasz is an excellent book that details the "economic invasion" of Iraq.