Bad People Doing Things Badly
My current homework is "Fiasco," by Thomas Ricks. I've had to cancel beach and pedicure appointments (though not extended sessions on extension ladder painting house) in hopes I can actually finish this one before the library sends out their bots. The subtitle is "The American Military Adventure in Iraq." Tongue in cheek? I wonder. It's earthy and well-done stuff, tough to whistle through. I'm rapt in reading so far but have not noted as many pages-to-be-copied (and typically then to be forgotten given the ebb-and-flow of life) as with some recent current-events tomes. But I made my first note last night on the page where it was revealed that MS Powerpoint files came to play a big role in the DoD in the stumble-down to the Iraq Crusade of supposedly telling the underlings what to do.
I can relate to that personally. Recently assured by co-worker that a subcontractor had done some good work in debunking some marginal research that was thwarting a client, I was eager to see the outcome. It was, oh yes, a set of Powerpoint slides, just as disconnected and uninformative as the ones you may have experienced. Meaningful actionable conclusions are totally absent. It's like cocktail-party chatter but with ever-so-numbing "exhibits." Babble, babble, and repeat. No specific conclusions or action items. Is there a chance these folks will ever get it? Playing with software and making cool graphs and images can be mighty fun I admit, but it may not mean squat when it comes to communicating with others.
Or in terms of getting things done. Like, say, planning for the aftermath of Hussein being removed from office. Pretty images are a sorry substitute for actual planning for something like that. Of course when the advice of informed folks included underlined and highlighted emphasis on sustaining the existing Iraq army as one of the most obvious symbols of shared community and maintaining security in the aftermath of the invasion, and both concepts were utterly rejected, it suggests that more than the admittedly sick Powerpoint-addiction is to blame.
Jane Hamsher shares some new insights on the pitiful approach Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld used in staffing up for the Iraq Crusade. It's absolutely breathtaking for those of us constantly suppressing our cynical genes.
I’ve written before of the wingnut husband of Kate O’Beirne who was responsible for oversight of so much of the reconstruction in Iraq, but not much has appeared in print about him up until now. As we eagerly await the release of Robert Greenwald’s film Iraq for Sale a very telling article about Mr. Ole 60 Grit has finally appeared in the Washington Post, courtesy of Rajiv Chandrasekaran from his book Imperial Life in the Emerald City. It shows quite clearly why you, me, and every American — nay everyone who has had their lives touched by this disastrous war — should be outraged and calling for Congressional oversight:
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, 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.
Yes, because that really will determine whether you can build a bridge or restore clean water to blighted cities. No wonder things are going so swimmingly.
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.
Okay, sit down and think about this for a minute. Breathe. We’re stuck in a disastrous Bush/Lieberman war we can’t extricate ourselves from, and the reconstruction that just might have led Iraq into self-sufficiency was turned over to a bunch of 24 year-olds whose only qualifications were their anti-abortion sentiments.
Are you outraged yet? Because I know I am.
The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration’s gravest errors. Many of those selected because of their political fidelity spent their time trying to impose a conservative agenda on the postwar occupation that sidetracked more important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill among the Iraqi people, according to many people who participated in the reconstruction effort.
Keep breathing. That’s good. Don’t hyperventilate.
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Update: It's highly disturbing and hard on ego to find I originally used the words "Bin Laden being removed from office," but darkly amusing in its own way of course. Re-post hopefully gets closer to actual historical events.
I can relate to that personally. Recently assured by co-worker that a subcontractor had done some good work in debunking some marginal research that was thwarting a client, I was eager to see the outcome. It was, oh yes, a set of Powerpoint slides, just as disconnected and uninformative as the ones you may have experienced. Meaningful actionable conclusions are totally absent. It's like cocktail-party chatter but with ever-so-numbing "exhibits." Babble, babble, and repeat. No specific conclusions or action items. Is there a chance these folks will ever get it? Playing with software and making cool graphs and images can be mighty fun I admit, but it may not mean squat when it comes to communicating with others.
Or in terms of getting things done. Like, say, planning for the aftermath of Hussein being removed from office. Pretty images are a sorry substitute for actual planning for something like that. Of course when the advice of informed folks included underlined and highlighted emphasis on sustaining the existing Iraq army as one of the most obvious symbols of shared community and maintaining security in the aftermath of the invasion, and both concepts were utterly rejected, it suggests that more than the admittedly sick Powerpoint-addiction is to blame.
Jane Hamsher shares some new insights on the pitiful approach Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld used in staffing up for the Iraq Crusade. It's absolutely breathtaking for those of us constantly suppressing our cynical genes.
I’ve written before of the wingnut husband of Kate O’Beirne who was responsible for oversight of so much of the reconstruction in Iraq, but not much has appeared in print about him up until now. As we eagerly await the release of Robert Greenwald’s film Iraq for Sale a very telling article about Mr. Ole 60 Grit has finally appeared in the Washington Post, courtesy of Rajiv Chandrasekaran from his book Imperial Life in the Emerald City. It shows quite clearly why you, me, and every American — nay everyone who has had their lives touched by this disastrous war — should be outraged and calling for Congressional oversight:
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, 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.
Yes, because that really will determine whether you can build a bridge or restore clean water to blighted cities. No wonder things are going so swimmingly.
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.
Okay, sit down and think about this for a minute. Breathe. We’re stuck in a disastrous Bush/Lieberman war we can’t extricate ourselves from, and the reconstruction that just might have led Iraq into self-sufficiency was turned over to a bunch of 24 year-olds whose only qualifications were their anti-abortion sentiments.
Are you outraged yet? Because I know I am.
The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration’s gravest errors. Many of those selected because of their political fidelity spent their time trying to impose a conservative agenda on the postwar occupation that sidetracked more important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill among the Iraqi people, according to many people who participated in the reconstruction effort.
Keep breathing. That’s good. Don’t hyperventilate.
-clip-
Update: It's highly disturbing and hard on ego to find I originally used the words "Bin Laden being removed from office," but darkly amusing in its own way of course. Re-post hopefully gets closer to actual historical events.
posted by Sir Gumbo at 10:50 PM
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