Where'd the Money Go?
An in-depth look at the utter fiasco that's been reconstruction contracting in Iraq. The GOP, as we all know, is desperately afraid of the possibility that the 2006 midterms will put Democrats in a position to hold some hearings. If we do get that lucky, I worry a bit that there may be a temptation to engage in overkill -- a hundred hearings a day on a thousand subjects -- when the smart play is to focus in a few key topics. The wildly underexplored subject of what's been going on with the money being spent in Iraq strikes me as something that should be a prime candidate. You start with the basic mendacity, corruption, and ineptitude we've come to know from Team Bush here at home. Then you subtract such things as "law enforcement agencies" or a "functioning court system" from the equasion, put it all in an environment where the press has a hard time operating, and you're certain to get a very ugly situation.
I agree that there should be investigations about the thievery that has occurred in the rebuilding in Iraq. As should there be investigations about alleged torture at Gitmo and the formerly secret Eastern European prisons...
But the point you make is a strong one. If the dems do regain majority in either or both congressional bodies they will be wasting a golden opportunity if they only focus on investigation of the Bush Administration. While the American people are upset about the war they want the issues that affect their lives addressed also. And if the dems don't address those issues and only use their power to attack the POTUS and the GOP they will again find themselves as the minority party after the '08 elections...
April 25, 2006 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Uh, that's not what Yglesias said. Maybe that's what you wish he said, but you really shouldn't put words into people's mouths.
April 25, 2006 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just giving my opinion...which is not the same as Matt's. I apologize to Matt if he feels I was misrepresenting what he had to say...that was not my intent.
April 25, 2006 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe I made a mistake coming back...
April 25, 2006 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Matt is absolutely right here. Choose your battles. As I think Matt himself actually pointed out months ago (as have others, including me), one of the 'administration's' secret weapons is its very multifarious, vertigo-inducing badness - the sheer volume is daunting; you can't keep it all in your mind at once. So, a lot of things get forgotten or neglected.
Iraq reconstruction/occupation is a PERFECT, as it were, anecdotal - ie exemplary - story. It has been a sewer of corruption, mismanagement and, yes, brutality. Politically, it's better to tell the story very well *once* than numb the 'audience' with a hundred less-compelling renditions. And Iraq recon/occup is PLENTY. It has been so incredibly stinkingly bad.
April 25, 2006 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely Agree. I fear that revenge and not sense will be on the minds of the Dems when they they take over. If they go that route then the public will see everyone as equally corrupt. which will be utterly bad mojo
April 25, 2006 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think revenge - strictly speaking - would be the problem. For one thing, 'revenge' in the current political climate is also known as simply 'tough politics' (when the Republicans do it).
No, the problem is that scattershot, diffuse lines of attack, however individually warranted, simply aren't very effective. Maybe I'm just rephrasing your statement. Patent and petty 'revenge' on a wildly broad scale could very well turn voters off, but it wouldn't mean that most of the complaints at hand would be baseless; it's one thing to predict how something might be percieved, but another to judge the merits. The idea that the dems *could* be 'equally corrupt' even if they wanted to be, is laughable (that takes time in power!). But I agree with you that there is a boringly reflexive 'pox on both houses' impulse in America.
Revenge is indeed best served cold. Winning is the best revenge. All those cliches!
April 25, 2006 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting story by James Glanz this morning in the Times about where about $78 million of the money went.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/world/middleeast/25pipeline.html
(I think you may have to take out the space in that link if you cut and paste it.)
April 25, 2006 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoops! Sorry, didn't notice Matt's link to this!
April 25, 2006 4:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tell ya what, let's win first and worry about having too many investigations later.
April 25, 2006 9:23 PM | Reply | Permalink