The US did a ton of rebuilding after it invaded Iraq on less than accurate intel regarding weapons of mass destruction. It rebuilt the oil fields, hospitals, etc.
Sunni extremism has been around since 300AD. And fighting, wars, destruction has also gone on since that time. Shiite - same thing; different interpretation of the Koran, but same outcome. This isn't a US war and one may argue that the US was responsible, but I"m not buying it. Iraq will always be at war with itself as it doesn't respect different religions or the rights within a religion. Not even sure how much religion even enters into it these days, but know that the Clerks and Imams use Islam to empower themselves and deny human rights.
If Iraq leadership (Shiite) didn't recognize what was going on when they essentially took all voice from the Sunni's they are stupid. And, they are not stupid.
2
Absolutely unneeded war because Cheney wanted to hand oil industry to Halliburton. Bush43 wanted to get revengevon Saddam for putting a price on his father's head. Rumsfeldt wanted to prove you could wage war on the cheap. Then that idiot Bremmer decides - against advice - to disband the heaviky Sunni military with their weapons and no paychecks. And Bush/Cheney/Bremmer hand pick Al Maliki who owed his life and soul to Iran as PM.
What could possibly go wrong. Republicans are and continue to be a governance disaster - decade after decade after decade.
6
Wait, how is America responsible for the insurgency after 2003 -- wasn't that more like a civil war. And extremism is not specific to Iraq.
2
As a 100% disabled Vet, (Nam68/69/70) it's way overdue with the pull out of another failed Military Action Iraq, let alone a total fabrication of the TRUTH. The DOD money grab should be put to rest and spend the money here in the US were it will do some good.
6
Colin Powell circa 2002 to Bush. The Pottery Barn Rule Applies to Iraq: You break it, you own it, i.e. you pay for it and pick up the pieces.
America broke it...kept on breaking it...fortuitously broke it...and incubated the birth of ISIS out of its rubble and now walks away.
The book The Ugly American was written in 1958 for a reason. We paid it lip service but refused to learn from it then and it cost us Vietnam, 60000 dead vets and decades of lost opportunity and good will.
GW Bush ignored it in 2003. The results were the same. American Failure. Only instead of a communist victory, the result is the rise of an even worse condition: No viable State at all that is open to ISIS.
Now enter Trump: the ultimate Ugly American.
And we are surprised the world sees us or what we are. More Ugly Than Ever Before. This is not Making America Great. This is making America Uglier than ever before...and both Putin and the Chinese are loving it...as Pence sits and pouts at the Olympics...because he too is so Ugly.
5
You’ve said it all Here we are with the whole Middle East in ruins, the highest number of refugees needing a new home causing havoc in Europe and it came about primarily because of the Bush-Cheney war. Yes, we should pay for all the clean up and help the refugees be able to return to their homes
3
The Middle East isn't in ruins though. And you can't put Everything on Bush-Cheney. Look at Syria, or Libya
1
Iraqi oil production has surged in past 4 years. In 2015, they produced some 4 million bbl/day. At, say, $50/bbl, that's $200 MM per day in gross revenues -- about $73 Billion/year. That should give them plenty of borrowing power to finance their rebuilding -- as long as not too much of the oil revenue lines the pockets of Iraqi bureaucrats....
And, yes, Bush-Cheney caused most of the initial destruction. But the ISIS phenomena was largely due to failures by Iraqi leadership to make things "right" for all of their citizens when they insisted the U.S. withdraw entirely.
5
It is ironic that the article should focus on the destruction in Iraq, when brought about by terrorist attacks, while giving little notice to the reasons ISIL and other like-minded organizations are even a problem: the destruction of the Iraqi government by the U.S.- led war of aggression against Saddam.
Iraq was a secular society, and although led by a dictator, it was far safer for its citizens before the criminal invasion.
Any U.S. politician who blames Iraq for its problems needs to realize that they themselves are participants in ongoing war crimes, by over-funding the military and ignoring the assaults against humanity which it brings about.
4
Does anyone remember the US dropping pallets of cash in Iraq under Bush and it vanishing, no accounting where it went?
3
Yes, the US should make major contributions to the rebuilding in Iraq. That being said, I did not read about a detailed plan of disbursement or rebuilding. So much money was already wasted in useless channels. There has to be some oversight, possibly the UN?
We broke it. We owe it to the people of Iraq to pay for the massive damage done by America's horrible decision to go to war in their country.
3
Didn't our Presidented President suggest we take the Iraqi oil to pay for our misadventures there, now we're supposed to pay up ??
Did we break it, or was it broken when we got there??
Are the Iraqis better or worse since we stuck our nose there??
BTW at 88 billion divided by the iraqi population of about 30 million it comes to about $2400 per man woman and child there..
Seems fair, $2400 in return for their living in HELL for 15 years..
3
For all the neo-con global hawks and their Democratic enablers I believe this is covered by the first rule of military intervention (here is Thomas Friedman's version) - "you break it, you own it".
4
You mean republican don't you. From start to finish a republican ideology driven disaster. Wilson says no yellow cake - ignore him. IAEA wants to do a nuclear weapon inspection and Bush43 says no. Military says we need these troop levels, Rummy says no - we can be cheap and fast. Military right. Neo Con Bremmer decides to disband the Sunni military against military advice. Cutting off paychecks while letting them keep their weapons - Incompetent does not begin to describe the Republican Party leadership - them and now.
2
We broke it, have no means or will to fix it, and now are bored. And bankrupt.
Micro rebuilding projects by individual Iraqui's will be how it gets done with the most bang for the buck, their buck.
Chinese companies with Chinese financing.
Maybe this should be engraved on a number of government buildings
" Grant me the Serenity
To accept the things I cannot change...
Courage to change the things I can,
And Wisdom to know the difference.''
Out now.
1
As much as this article criticizes the lack of money the US is offering, they aren't nearly as critical as I hoped they would be about giving money and the problems associated with that option.
I don't know the solution, but I expected an article from NYT to have more than 2 or 3 paragraphs looking into the issues of Iraq misusing or misappropriating funds.
1
As the saying goes, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." What would the world have been like if the nations of the world been more generous with Germany at the end of World War 1? What would Europe be like today without the Marshall Plan? Learn from history.
6
You can add Afghanistan to your list of examples. After throwing the Russians out (with CIA money), that government requested funding to help build a stable society. Congress and the Administration declined, and that resulted in the rise of radical Islam.
Do we ever learn? The results for Iraq are predictable.
5
Decimate foreign aid and the State Department while bloating defense?
This is indeed preparing for war.
7
Yes, and even if the dollar expenditure is the same, the cost in PTSD etc is unbearable.
Wow! Over 1/4 of US debt from George W’s wars...7 Trillion! US could have modernized all its infrastructure for that.
9
How much good could that 88 billion due here at home to rebuild our own infrastructure? It is foolish to buy a meal for a mendicant when your own family is starving.
1
NATO and USA will happily supply billions of dollars in antitank missiles to supporters of democracy against a dictatorship, to destroy a nation, but not to rebuild it.
3
Sorry, but I don't see the need to "brown-nose" Iraq.
They've got plenty of it so I think our response should be "Pound sand."
1
So after a lot of stingy Trump ranting we get to the real point of the problem. That Iraq is incredibly corrupt and donor nations are demanding more accountability. Yes, like Obama, Trump wants the broader World to step up, but donor nations have changed their mindset and now want a transparent system. This is something Iraq is unprepared to do it seems. Remember that $6 billion was taken. Nearly one out of every ten dollars. Just think what that could have done here. I am also critical of the assertion that the US relied on Iraq army to fight ISIS and now seem to be walking away. It is the Iraqi's country and they fought ISIS to preserve their country. They were lucky to have friends like the US and Iran to help them.
1
What did Powell say "you break it, you own it"
7
The US spent $7 TRILLION in Iraq - and we gained a Shia-dominated government that looks to Iran.
But we cannot afford to spend 1% of that amount in Puerto Rico, a US territory in rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged infrastructure.
Tells me our government cannot figure out our nation's priorities.
12
This article fails to acknowledge with the exception of a quote from Trump of all people, how much aid the US has already provided Iraq (both military and domestic) I believe well over 100 billion for reconstruction alone while in terms of the military the numbers are not even manageable due to the complexities of separating categories. I was against the Iraq war but the US is a hawk country, that means you, too, Hillary supporters. It's only when a Republican is in charge that Democrats feel peaceful, but apparently not in the case of Iraq. Anyway, it is a black hole and this was known before the war started. Both parties love a war since their lips drool over the potential untraceable profits, stock gains (from politicians insider trading status) and the American peoples' unhindered willingness to "support the troops!". Right now we are cutting college aid, food stamps, health care, etc. and gearing up militarily for our next war, all with bipartisan approval. This is just throwing good money after bad.
3
We're tired of decimating the Middle East. We got that 'Mission Accomplished' banner unfurled a long time ago. No one even remembers why we started a war there, much less why we're still fighting now.
Americans get bored quickly. We're bored with Iraq. We're bored with refugees from the wars we started, and we're scared of them because they talk funny and look funny and haven't accepted Jesus as their one true savior. Besides, the petroleum imperative for military adventures in that corner of the globe ain't what it used to be, now that we've got fracking down to a cost effective and rather profitable science, even at $50 a barrel.
Time to move on and start spending hundreds of billions to build shiny new nuclear weaponry, B-21 bombers and the like, since the stuff we already have is no longer the latest and greatest and it might not draw oohs and ahhs when it's paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue. We can only hope it all rusts before we ever get down to using it.
7
Maybe some country with serious oil interests would finance it with drilling rights in Iraq as collateral. Funding tends to disappear when large sums of money get appropriated in Iraq, so a business deal might be more manageable with less of a kleptocracy.
2
This is another example of the misbegotten & aimless wreck of a foreign policy the US practices. NO we should not spend a dime on Iraq. NO we should not be militarily involved there either. The place is, lest we forget, an OIL STATE! Remember oil? Money in liquid form in the ground. Bravo for the neighbors refusing to babysit this mess of a British invention of 19th Century politics.
And while we are on it: THANKS GW Bush! This disaster is YOURS.
4
There can be no doubt that the US has a moral responsibility to help Iraqis, those still alive, to rebuild a country that is in smithereens because of us.
Citing the costs to us of destroying that country, at a meeting to discuss aid, is some kind of ultimate lying hypocracy.
BUT
Unfortunately there is no way that anyone can see whereby we can fulfill this moral obligation. Iraq is not a country, it's seething not only with corruption but also with the recently-exacerbated tribal and ethnic tensions that by now are all too well know. (pace Paul Wolfowitz...)
Our moral obligation cannot be paid. Let's finally, finally, let history get on with it and get out of there
1
So the US instead of destroying a Vietnamese village to save it now just destroyed all of Iraq in order to save it. But let our divided corrupt country complain about Russia and North Korea - does it make sense to anybody?.
3
Weapons of Mass what? Invade Iraq why? Perhaps the Bush family should anti up! Obama was not the founder of ISIS, Bush was. Another American disaster. I know, the outstanding businessman leading the US could start a University there. Maybe build a Trump tower. Oh wait, he just licenses his name. Maybe Trump vodka, nope Muslims tend not to drink. Golf course, nope desert. This is going nowhere. One more country left a mess by Americans.
4
"In some ways" is an understatement.
It was a humiliating blow for the Iraqi government, which cannot possibly afford a fraction of the reconstruction cost for a war that was, in some ways, an outcome of the 2003-2011 American-led occupation.
6
So let me see if I get this straight. We blow up a country for no good reason and, when they ask for help rebuilding, we say they’re on their own.
How can it be any wonder that we’re not completely adored in some places?
11
The United States, through its' military, is very good at destroying countries and civilizations. It used to be responsible and fix the damage it does, going back to the Marshall Plan. Now, we just destroy and walk away.
7
Is the US and the Sunni countries ceding Iraq to Iran?
Iraq is a Shia-majority country. No ceding necessary; the Iranians are just helping their co-sect Muslims. Just like the Saudis are bent upon destroying them. All is fair in religion and war.
Thanks for a fact filled report.
I take exception to your statement that American occupation led to destruction of Iraqi infrastructure or words to that effect.
I clearly remember things otherwise.
Start with oil industry where I have worked 45 years. We put out the fires not so bad as Kuwait but here Iraqis destroying their own wealth. We invited foreign oil companies to operate fields where production soared far beyond Saddam's wildest dreams.
We rebuilt and increased its export facilities. And this just the oil industry where Iraq earns most of its money.
We also rebuilt their power, sanitation infrastructure.
So, it's wrong to say our occupation destroyed their infrastructure.
What we could not rebuild was Iraqis faith in their own country and it's government. Riven by religious hatred towards each other, antagonism going to Biblical times - no outsider can help them.
Add corruption as noted in this report. It is indeed throwing good money after bad.
I have lived and worked in the middle East. One mistake we make that all these gulf state Arabs should understand each other well and like each other.
Truth is they definitely do not like each other and neither do they want to understand each other.
They are happy to sing each other's praises when confronted by a non Arab enemy or even a friend like us.
Left to their own devices, they are all into themselves. And they are poor in being generous to others - whom we think are brothers.
6
You too naive my man. These 'countries' are tribal cultures. Tribe FIRST. Religion next. Country LAST. We destroy. They we build. And take the oil to pay off our debt in 'defending/ destroying' them. Not kosher.
Well, that is what you get for humiliating the US by publicly condemning the US for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. We will remember.
This isn't particularly surprising. News reports in the past few months have foreshadowed a change in what those who have a say behind the scene, specially the military industry, want. And that's big ticket items. The only place that can justify that now is not Iraq, it's China.
Agencies and newspapers who hardly cared about China's expansions or nations taking over territory far from home (see Diego Garcia), suddenly care about China's rise and how one can cajole its neighbors to buy American weapons to defend themselves from the big bad wolf.
The funny thing is that the Chinese are the ones who could've helped if they didn't see helping Iraq as helping the Trump administration save face. And right now the last thing they want to do is help Trump save face.
almost ALL Chinese 'aid' is actually loans -- so they are buying LONG_TERM influence.
We're Americans down here in Texas. We pay millions of dollars in Federal income taxes each year.
On August 25, 2017 a Category 4 Hurricane hit the coastal city of Rockport Texas and its surrounding Aransas County, home in the aggregate to 25,000 people. The 140+ mph hurricane winds completely destroyed Rockport's City Hall, County Court House, County Administration Building, our High School gymnasium, community center, art gallery and aquarium. Federal money to rebuild those community buildings has not arrived.
In addition 25% of the homes and apartments in the community were destroyed. In Aransas County we've still got homeless families with school aged children still living in old motorhomes and a few of them in tents.
While the Feds most recently promised to send $500,000 Million in Federal hurricane relief to Texas, nobody has committed to spend any well-defined part of the money in Rockport.
So pardon me if I don't get upset that our Federal government hasn't committed to supply any part of the $88 Billion Iraq wants for "rebuilding". Generally speaking Americans don't pay Federal income tax with an intention that the money be sent overseas while American families are suffering at home.
4
maybe you should vote to raise your state and local taxes to cover some of the damage, instead of relying on federal tax dollars for everything. why should I be paying to rebuild Texas when Texans don't cover their fair share?
3
There is a really good point made here. Why is there even a discussion about rebuilding Iraq when we can't even rebuild our own cities, or we just don't want to help all those people in shitholes like Puerto Rico. Who cares if they are starving. Having said that and believing it, I also believe that we owe Iraq, not to mention a few other countries, something. Our troops, our air strikes, our actions are responsible for a lot of death and a lot of destruction and the average guy in Salina, Kansas, couldn't tell us we why we did it. Just wave the American flag, kill people in the name of "democracy" and "freedom"---ha, ha---and then walk away. What would you think of people like that? Oh, you are one of them? Sorry.
4
Texas is awash in oil money, at least for now. Texas does not have any state or local income taxes. It is all property taxes and sales taxes.
3
How many tens of billions of $$$ have gone into Iraq over the last 15 years, towards non-military aid and reconstruction?
What has it been spent on?
How many of those $$$ have ended up in the private coffers of tribal chiefs and warlords?
I'd like to know the answers to those questions before I see yet more American taxpayer dollars be handed over.
The USA is in desperate need of rebuilding its own infrastructure. When do we start taking care of ourselves?
For an inside view by an Iraqi journalist read the link below. I am opposed to seeing aid money being given to organizations with a history of corruption. The only condition acceptable at this point is for the UN to create a multi-national organization for the reconstruction of Iraq, with funds provided by all the players involved and all contracts and awards overseen by a UN ombudsman committee.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/iraq-contracting-corr...
3
Little of the 'aid' is seen to benefit the common-person in ANY US aid-receiving country. MOST of the 'aid' is US corporate welfare, in consulting and reconstruction contracts and purchase-US. A lot goes to line the pockets of 'local' [ie the receiving-country] politicians etc.
Foreign aid's SOLE purpose is to BUY OFF other countries decision-makers.
3
We Broke it. Now we close our pocket books and step back. In hind sight maybe we should have rebuilt Baltimore instead of destroying Baghdad. The euphoria of beating Saddam wore off many years ago and now we are left with the mess we made.
19
The formula of 'We'll destroy your countries to keep Israel safe and then send 5 Billion to Israel to destroy others' ceased to work?
11
US Mid East/Asian Foreign Policy: Bomb _____ into the Stone Age. Build an Embassy.
2
“ ... Iraq has asked affluent allies led by the United States for $88 billion to rebuild. They are basically saying no.“
Since Iran is trying to turn Iraq into Iran II, why doesn’t it pay the $88,000,000,000?
Also, isn’t Iraq awash in oil?
1
Not to mention the fact that the Saudis are pretty bankrupt, hence their arrest and shakedown of all the wealthy businesspeople in the country.
The Iraqi war was lost the day it began because the US never had, even then, the political wherewithal to catalyze the reconstruction re-development of Iraq. It is not just that the US was not prepared to spend the money --it's that the US government never had the political capital, nor the strength in its leaders, GOP and Democrats, to require the necessary probity, transparency, and honesty from Iraq's politicians who --all through the Middle East-- are legendary for their corruption.
So here we are. The US should stop spending money because it will all continue to be stolen. No good outcomes are possible, but for America, the money can be best spent elsewhere --and yes, that includes tax breaks for the 1% here with anemic trickle down, which would be more than in Iraq.
The biggest corruption claims you missed was the phony WMD claims of the George Bush Jr administration. Bush/Cheney should be sent to Hague war criminals court.
6
Iraq has become an Iranian puppet state. Let the Iranians bail them out. Not ONE more penny to Iraq!!!
2
They are, and they will. So will China eager to expand its sphere of influence. Everything would be fine if we didn't insist on destroying more countries, like Syria and then Iran. But hey, gotta keep those 8 million feel secure.
1
But we sure enjoyed destroying it and causing millions of casualties know quite well Iraq shared same Shiite religion with Iran. We enjoyed destroying it but don't ask us to rebuild it.
3
Iraq became an Iranian province the moment George Bush launched his illegal invasion.
2
The EU countries and UN who are such humanitarians when it comes to war and it's result contributed how much?
3
they aint the ones who started it. You break it you own it works.
7
If the economies of the Muslim world are not addressed given their huge birth rate the issue will have to be faced in Dusseldorf, Essen, Malmo, and Rotterdam. I dont understand why money for rebuilding cant be traded for oil deliveries in the future. And cant money for rebuilding be tied to taking asylum seekers back? Giving Iraqis money, based on my experience, is a total waste. They just take it and move to Europe or Canada.
2
Walk away. We, and many others, have tried for decades to bring peace, all efforts have failed. The entire Middle East is populated by crazy people who will use any excuse to slaughter each other. We need to cut off all aid to all parties, yes that includes Israel, and come home. If we did that we could solve some of the problems that have been allowed to fester here.
The ONLY people who can solve the problems of the region, are the people who live there. They do not seem to be interested. Since that is the case, let them kill each other down to the last cockroach. When the ground cools, perhaps the next settlers will have more wisdom.
7
Good. Let them get the money from their masters in Tehran, and let's be rid of them. We took out Saddam, took out al Qaeda, took out ISIS - let Iraq scratch its own fleas that it got sleeping with a nasty pack of dogs indeed.
1
Iraq can produce roughly 2 billion barrels of oil annually, with proven reserves of about 140 billion barrels. (And potentially enormous unproven reserves.) At, say, $70 per barrel, that's $140 billion dollars a year. Rebuild your country out of that number, once you figure out how to stop the graft and corruption. Donors are tired of seeing their money vanish into thin air. Or turn into European villas.
3
Iraq's current petroleum production is 4 to 4.5 million barrels/day or 1.4 to 1.6 billion barrels annually, and declining lately.
Iraq consumes about one-fifth of its own production (so that is not available for export, but still contributes to GDP).
The current price per barrel is closer to $60 and has been lower in the past 12 months.
So that mean something on the order of perhaps $80 billion in oil revenue, less the cost of production (some of which still contributes to Iraq's GDP), and minus whatever portion of revenue is siphoned off by corruption.
So instead commentator's HG's $140 billion figure, perhaps there's $50 or $60 billion generated. That sum, divided by Iraq population of 39 million, works out to about $1200 per capita per year.
How much of that is used for Iraqi federal and provincial governments' operating budgets (paying the army, civil servants, and pensioners) and how much is left over for infrastructure building?
Iraq has no international borrowing capacity beyond pledging future oil revenue.
Without aid from Arab neighbors or foreign investment Iraq's economy will hobble along. And without political stability and security neither aid nor investment is likely to be forthcoming.
1
what naiveté my god.
We broke it we gots to pay for it.
1
If we want to deter future aggressive wars by the United States, we should demand that our government pay reparations to Iraq for the destruction we caused there.
3
We brake it; you clean it up and pay for it.
2
A totally underwhelming set of pledges from some very wealthy nations. Trump's hope of resetting responsibilities has gone down like a cup of cold sick. So what happens next? Are the Iraqis just left to rot? So much for global co-operation and another example of poor moral leadership.
2
Penn wise; pound foolish. America has literally destroyed the country and is going to be oh, so surprised when its enemies regain control - further destabilizing the entire area.
3
Mosul was devastated by ISIS in large part b/c PM Maliki politicized a relatively professional military to appease Shia militias and his Iranians masters. As tragic and misguided as the US-led intervention in Iraq has been, the ISIS successes in Iraq are a direct result of decisions made by the Iraqi leadership. Let the Iranians fix this mess.
3
Iraq was arbitrarily formed a country after WW II. It consisted of three main tribal regions - regions that have been at odds with each other for centuries. Sadaam Hussain was a mad, autocratic despot. He brought the country together by force, banning civil rights, freedom of the press, women' rights and anything he did not like. He stole BILLIONS and murdered masses. George W. Bush destabilized this entire region, unlike his father, and unleashed perpetual conflict, all under the guise of fake WMDs.
We have spent Trillions of dollars, enough to rebuild the country many times over, to no avail. We have lost countless American lives and injured thousands of otherwise healthy American sons and daughters, ostensibly in the names "Freedom" and "democracy". We have wasted our lives, our time and our resources. Unless we are willing to either divide the country according to ethnic boundaries (and oil resources will keep that from happening) or the wealthy arab neighbors of Iraq will step in in unison, the country will, at this point, just have to seek its own equilibrium. I agree - enough is enough. This is OUR disgrace; we created it from an original mistake, and we have tried to be responsible for it. We failed miserably because we do not understand the Arab zeitgeist, and probably never will.
We remain with a Dotard terrorist in our own midst with whom we must deal. America First - let's focus on getting rid of OUR discord.
9
"Iraq was arbitrarily formed a country after WW II. - " ... replace Iraq with Israel.
1
If this is an antisemitic comment, it's irrelevant to this discussion. The point here is that Iraq's artificial boundaries forced three disparate factions within the same country and, hence, continued conflict. Israel was established as a homeland for Jews who were persecuted by virtually all nations, as a safe place to exist. THEIR country, with a population from the entire world, was formed in the desert, and is now a thriving powerhouse of democracy amidst a sea of hostile neighbors. Where do you see a comparison?
1
Once again, the US manages to "win" the war but completely lose the peace.
4
"win the war"? IN which planet and time? If the objective was to CREATE the next generation al Qaeda, yes we won.
The military industrial complex does not rebuild nations. It's purpose is to prolong wars so that its investors remain wealthy. Why contribute financially to rebuilding Iraq when the country can just deteriorate into an extremist hotbed for which the military industrial complex will be eager to send in its machinery and boots on the ground.
11
'It is what it is,' indeed. And we are what we are.
1
The country will be left in shambles. We will pull out. The devastation will be ideal recruiting grounds for another radical group. That group will gradually take control through terror. It will then control the oil wells and become a threat to western countries. And before you know it, we will be back in for another round of hostilities. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
The problems in the Middle East will never be resolved by a western power...especially a Judaeo-Christian western power with a clear bias towards Israel.
12
The true financial impact of the Iraq War (on America) was more than $3 trillion. Lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11 is estimated @ 1.3 million. Include refugees, mass migration, dislocated lives, injuries, battles with insurgent groups, ISIS and devastating infrastructure damage and societal disenfranchisement. What is the US's responsibility? The pretense for war was false, the outcome false and the narrative that we are a generous and honest nation is false.
9
False prophets deriving selectively fabulous profits.
Granted, we blew up their country. But we've paid and paid and paid... and what good does our money do? I suspect this tribal society is broken beyond repair.
While I'm not advocating we leave without a trace, I do support a big reduction in our financial and military support.
6
" ... But we've paid and paid and paid... and what good does our money do? I suspect this tribal society is broken beyond repair. " WE broke it beyond repair. Destroyed the cradle of CIVILIZATION. We wanted them to adopt our type of governance, when theirs was working just fine. Saddam was a great balance against Iran.
1
The U.S. has a very high responsibility to Iraq to help rebuild. Iraqis have a high responsibility to actually rebuild with any more funds provided...the disappearing act of development aid with nothing to show for it, is terribly troubling.
But the U.S. still needs to step up. And so do the Iraqis.
4
George Bush’s legacy continues to be written. The original plan was to get to the oil fields, stock them full of American oil companies and turn on the taps. Unfortunately, for all these oil men, they ran into a hornet’s nest of tribal and sectarian grievances. The outcome of all this was ISIS and a conflict that has yet to conclude.
The final outcome of the ill-conceived war of choice by Cheney and Bush has not been determined. Whatever it is, it will not be pretty. And it will take a lot more than $88 billion to prop up a corrupt and fractured society.
17
Golly gosh --- they could build a wall around the country and erect a gold statue to Gertrude Bell with that kind of money...and have a Trump resort as well...
2
We have urinated away enough blood and treasure in Iraq. The Iraqis are now in charge and they have vast oil reserves they can tap.
8
After Saddam, Iraq was inevitably going to become an Iranian client state, given the unwillingness of the Shia majority to share power, or to find a national or cultural identity they valued more than their religious identity.
The US invested hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives there to give them a chance to be more than that, and they said 'no thanks.' It doesn't matter what our motives were, they had their chance to be a free nation and they turned it down.
American taxpayers could give them $800 billion, and it would only strengthen the hand of Tehran in the region.
14
"The US invested hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives there to give them a chance to be more than that ... " Check your dictionary. We did NOT invest. We SPENT- better, wasted.
3
Trump to Iraq: "DROP DEAD!"
Our national disgrace is also the world's!
12
The whole place is an Iranian / Russian cesspool.
1
It appears naive, uninformed and borderline irresponsible to convene a donors' conference the outcome of which must have been clear to senior diplomats. An amateur observer (me, for example) would presume that, in advance to inviting almost fifty countries to an event certain to draw considerable media attention, some amount of behind-the-scenes and informal canvassing would have been done to avoid the embarrassing spectacle that just transpired in Kuwait.
Never mind the blindingly painful reality of Iraq's government being subjected to public humiliation; what about the millions of innocent Iraqui citizens and families whose lives have been destroyed through no fault of their own? Their homeland became a battleground and was largely abandoned in ruins. Meanwhile, the U.S. is chest-thumping about its "victory" over ISIS. Tillerson's contribution, a hollow and meaningless acknowledgement that "doing business in Iraq can be complicated" is a shameful indictment of his ineptitude.
27
Rexy must need the frequent flyers miles before he checks out
3
Hmmm............... considering everything why should Iraq be concerned about embarrassing this group?
1
The invasion of Iraq and its result is a genocide committed by the USA against the Iraqi people.
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It is shameful that presumed leader of the free world engaged in an illegal war that caused tens of thousands of deaths, the displacement of hundreds of thousands, near total destruction of the country and the destabilization of the broader region and then refuses refugees from the region and now rejects requests for adequate funding to rebuild.
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interesting also how this same nation is now outraged, outraged, about outsiders potential use of facebook posters to interfere in their own nation. Can you believe it?! Facebook posts are far worse than bullets and bombs. Luckily, papers like the NYT who helped support the Iraq war, are all over this facebook threat!
How much oil do they have? Not one more US dime!
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they have enough oil to pay for a rebuild. Any money they will get gos to the bank accounts of the rich.
Really? After the U.S., on false pretexts, essentially destroyed their country? Unbelievable.
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Well, we did kind of destroy their country under wrong pretenses. Don't we owe them anything for that?
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Our war with Iraq was a war of choice. We lied to the United Nations about non-existent nuclear weapons to justify our attack. Our actions directly led to the rise of ISIS. We should do for Iraq what we did for Germany and Japan post WWII and help them rebuild so that they don't become a future threat. Diplomacy is always cheaper than war.
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But... they're not Europeans!
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But so much less profitable.
Perhaps Iraqis should file suit with the International Court of Justice, seeking $88 Million in damages caused by the US invasion of Iraq on fraudulent bases. Perhaps Mssrs. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld could be named as co-defendants.
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We broke it. Don't we have a responsibility to pay for it? Imagine if you are an average citizen and your city including your home and all infrastructure is nothing but a pile of rubble because of the poor judgement and greed of oligarchic oil grabbers and arms contractors who have made it rich and on to the next destruction.
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This highlights the perversity of the Trump agenda: Emasculating diplomacy while overspending on the military. It takes far less for the military to destroy infrastructure than it does to rebuild infrastructure and the institutions of government following the dreadful devastation in Iraq, much of which can well be laid at our doorstep for having begun a needless war. James Mattis knows that and Tillerson's failure to fight for a more robust State Department foreign aid program shows him to be the wrong man to lead the department at this time.
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