George jr. is paying the price for thumbing his nose at international institutions. Success in Iraq is in jeopardy. Indeed, I have heard little in depth discussion of rebuilding and reconstruction in Iraq. Instead, one side has isolated itself from the problem by wrapping itself up in the flag, the other tries to push the problem further onto the first. The policies of the administration with respect to international organizations and institutions are at the heart of our current problems:

I think there are systemic failures here. But I think it does come from a broader perception, an announcement within the administration, really, that international law is not that important. It's legalisms. What counts is American force. And those Geneva Conventions were put in place to protect Americans. They were put in place to protect our men and women in case they be taken. And the people who were detained in Iraq, the prisoners there, the detainees, they were all covered under the Geneva Convention--they should have been.
–Wesley Clark, Meet the Press 5/9

The behavior of the administration with respect to conventions for the treatment of prisoners has been revealed, and the world is appalled. How did we get here?

1. Bush declared that conventions for the treatment of prisoners need not apply.


2. Republicans in general and the Bush administration in particular undermined programs and training in the armed forces that related to peace keeping and keeping civil order.


3. Bush declared that it was unnecessary for military operations to be transparent.


4. The administration, supported by Chalibi, pushed the myth that WMD were to be found in Iraq, a claim that more forceful, more amoral techniques of interrogation.


5. The administration snubbed allies who had capabilities in areas of policing that the US military does not.


6. Bush has bet his reelection on Iraq, meaning that he is unwilling to admit mistakes either in his approach to Iraq or his philosophy.


7. The administration snubbed the UN, a critical organization with experience in reconstructing nations.


8. The adminsitration has shunted its resources to mercenary contractors who are outside the reach of US military law and who add significantly to the costs of the operation in Iraq (money that could be used to train an American gendarmie).

For all those who would feign shock at the corruption of the UN’s Oil-for-Food program, you must admit that there was no systematic policy to undermine international law and, as a result, humiliate Iraqis. If we use the same measures to judge the integrity of the US as the UN, the US government would prove wanting.

Taking score of Iraq is a depressing endeavor: anything that appeared to have gone right in winning the war has been undermined, and the injuries that were incurred in going to war have yet to be repaired. As far as I can tell, the United States is less likely than ever to succeed in Iraq, and no government or organization has become more willing to step in to help. If we could factor out the last five weeks of fighting and revelations, we would have to admit that the situation is grim. According to ICG’s report on progress in Iraq:

The situation in Iraq is more precarious than at any time since the April 2003 ouster of the Baathist regime, largely reflecting the Coalition's inability to establish a legitimate and representative political transition process. ... The history of post-Saddam Iraq is one of successive, short-lived attempts by the U.S. to mould a political reality to its liking. With each false start and failed plan, realistic options for a successful and stable political transition have become narrower and less attractive. Getting it right this time is urgent and vital. There may not be many, or any, opportunities left.

After the fighting in Fallujah and the coming to light of atrocities in prisons under US control, there is no strategy in sight. The road to success in Iraq has been covered by a gigantic sandstorm. On the one hand, the effectiveness of the US military to keep civil order in Iraq through direct confrontation has been called into doubt. This does not reflect the quality of the soldiers, rather that they are not specialists in maintaining civil order and fighting in urban areas when the objectives do not allow one to annihilate the enemy. The temporary resolution of the problem required collaboration with the former leadership of the old Republican Army. (We should not be so surprised: many transitions require collaboration with “grays”–those who were neither the vanguard of the authoritarian regime nor those who completely opposed it, rather those who were involved as a matter of personal expediency and who were not completely entrenched in the regime.)

On the other hand, the torture in Abu Ghraib has destroyed the credibility of America in the world. Bush pulled an opaque curtain across is activities, asking foreign nations and citizens to trust the reputation of America. No one will believe that Americans are not capable of denying dignity to other human beings. The complaints of every prisoner will require an investigation. The stories of every person who complains will be filled with images that are now credible, lending a measure of truth to every story.