Billmon: Garbage In, Garbage Out

To bolster Iraqis’ confidence, American generals are spending money on quick reconstruction projects like trash pickup as the military goes through troubled neighborhoods of Baghdad.

New York Times
Doubts Rise on Iraqi Premier’s Strength
September 20, 2006

"We don't need to have the 82nd Airborne escorting kids to kindergarten."

Condoleezza Rice
New York Times interview
October 21, 2000

From crossing guards to trash collectors seems like a demotion to me -- especially when the trash includes things like dead dog carcasses with IEDs stuffed inside them. But, hey, be all you can be.

We'll never know if this kind of stuff -- nation building as an exercise in court-ordered community service -- has made any difference in Iraq, or could have made a difference if more of it had been done more competently. I tend to doubt it, but then in the failure-was-inevitable vs. we-coulda-been-contenders debate, I tend to come down firmly in the inevitability camp.