… which seems to be George Bush’s modus operandi. We believe this idiot surrounded himself with some of the most uneducated, illogical people in Amerika in order to explain the disaster that Iraq has become.
Pinning hopes on jobs programs in Iraq
Short-term job creation is among the possible economic incentives the president will announce to build security and stability. But the idea has skeptics.
By Deb Riechmann, Associated Press
Last update: January 06, 2007 – 11:54 PM
WASHINGTON – Just as debate rages over sending more U.S. troops to Iraq, there are differing views about whether economic incentives such as micro-loans and U.S.-funded jobs programs would coax militiamen to trade guns for tools.
Some reconstruction experts say giving Iraqis jobs that include clearing streets and fixing water and sanitation systems would produce little economic benefit for a country on the brink of all-out civil war.
Others say civilian jobs programs — an idea President Bush is considering — are designed to build security. Only when violence is under control, they say, can business flourish.
Details have not been disclosed about the economic incentives Bush will announce as early as Wednesday. But those familiar with the plan say he is favoring short-term jobs programs, extending micro-loans to small businesses and increasing the amount of money military commanders can spend quickly on local projects to improve the daily lives of Iraqis.
“Job creation is the most promising,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution. “I don’t know why we haven’t done it before. It’s not the best way to build a new economy, but we need to address security even if that doesn’t conform to Econ 101.”
Military analysts say Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who recently finished his tour as the No. 2 general in Iraq, has recommended a short-term jobs program. So did Donald Rumsfeld in a memo he wrote two days before he resigned as defense secretary.
Keith Crane, a senior economist at the RAND Corp., is skeptical because such programs employ insurgents but have little effect on their political activities. “In some instances, insurgents have participated in make-work schemes during the day, then fought the coalition at night,” he said.
The president also is expected to propose a significant increase in discretionary funds available to military commanders who can use the money to solve local problems quickly.
Read the rest here.
