Things going much better in Iraq than reports indicate

“In Iraq,” we read in the New York Times (not exactly a pro-Bush newspaper), “Things Really Aren’t that Bad.” That upbeat assessment is the title of an op-ed by George Ward of the United States Institute of Peace (not exactly a neoconservative-sounding organization). Here are the first few paragraphs of his article:

Two months after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraq is widely depicted as a nation in chaos, with armed gangs dominating Baghdad’s streets amid a widespread breakdown of public services. Having returned from Iraq two weeks ago, I believe this picture is distorted. In fact, we may soon look back at the postwar looting as only a bump in a long road.

Before the war, those of us planning for post-conflict Iraq worried about these possibilities: up to one million refugees, widespread food shortages, epidemics, acute homelessness, a shutdown of the oil industry and general lawlessness.

In the end, only the last became reality. Particularly in Baghdad, large-scale looting and street crime have severely damaged public facilities, and made it difficult for ordinary Iraqis to reclaim their lives.

Why did this happen? First, an excellent war plan spared civilian targets and achieved swift victory with a relatively small force. Yet this force was neither of the right makeup nor equipped to provide postwar security. Also, planners had hoped that significant numbers of Iraqi police would remain on duty after the conflict. Hope, it is said, is not a plan, and should not have been one in this case. We knew that Iraq’s police forces were corrupt, politically tainted, despised by the population and ill trained, and thus should not have expected them to play a helpful role. Third, American civilian and military planners have been slow to get on the same page on security.

Still, Iraq is in most respects further along the road to recovery than we could have expected before the war. All major public hospitals in Baghdad are again operating. Sixty percent of Iraq’s schools are open. Nationwide distribution of food supplies has resumed. Despite some damage to the oil wells, petroleum production exceeds domestic needs, and exports should begin again soon. More Iraqis are receiving electric power than before the war. This progress is the result of efforts by capable Iraqi civil servants working with experts from the coalition governments and international humanitarian groups….

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 16, 2003 07:26 PM | Send