Wednesday, January 18, 2006
No A's for effort.
I heard Ambassador Bremer on NPR's Morning Edition yesterday, doing an interview as part of the publicity campaign for his new book, and I was amazed: He just doesn't get it.
The issue is not whether Bremer and his cohorts in the CPA meant well, or worked hard. Of course they did. Those are table stakes. What matters is the results, or lack thereof.
Asked about Baghdad's electricity, for example, Bremer explained that Hussein had been keeping the provinces dark to ensure that the lights stayed on in Baghdad, a decision he reversed, and then described all the hard work on the CPA's part, work that resulted in a 6% increase in electricity supply over the pre-war state of affairs. (But, he allowed, all the booming economic activity drove demand up even more.)
That's great, except that it wasn't. For your average Baghdadi, there was less electricity than before the war.
I thought Bremer was supposed to be one of the competent ones.
The issue is not whether Bremer and his cohorts in the CPA meant well, or worked hard. Of course they did. Those are table stakes. What matters is the results, or lack thereof.
Asked about Baghdad's electricity, for example, Bremer explained that Hussein had been keeping the provinces dark to ensure that the lights stayed on in Baghdad, a decision he reversed, and then described all the hard work on the CPA's part, work that resulted in a 6% increase in electricity supply over the pre-war state of affairs. (But, he allowed, all the booming economic activity drove demand up even more.)
That's great, except that it wasn't. For your average Baghdadi, there was less electricity than before the war.
I thought Bremer was supposed to be one of the competent ones.
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