Unfurling Idiocy etc

First, I love the title of this line of discussion!

I couldn't believe the description of the new Iraqi flag and had to go look it up myself on google. I think it reminds one of the Ukrainian color scheme (blue and yellow). So at least we gave a nod to our loyal Ukrainian allies. I would have thought that a picture of the pillar with Hamurabi's Code on it would have sent a more pro law and order message. ; - )

Re: "more troops and money is not a strategy." Agreed. It is at best a part of a strategy. In an earlier posting I tried to get a discussion going about how the US should get disentangled from Iraq. There weren't many takers.

I will summarize my current thinking: In the short term, we should increase troop strength (especially MPs and civil affairs types) to try to establish an atmosphere of order - an obvious criticism of this is that such troops are probably not available in adequate numbers (which begs the question of why did the Bush administration go off half cocked?). In the medium term we should bring in the UN and others, including EU countries that opposed the war, to get as broad a rebuilding effort as possible (note: this is in addition to rather than instead of US efforts so far). Bringing in new allies will require giving up total control over the contracts and giving up total control over the identity of the transitional government. In the long term we need to expand and diversify the economy of Iraq to provide jobs and improved livelihoods in ways that aren't totally dependent on the price of oil (or state control over oil). But of course, this administration's success at job creation here is mixed at best so why should I expect them to do better in Iraq?