Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
I always liked how Hitler made the trains run on time. Seems a shame we had to disturb that.
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No. BUT, unemployment in West Germany post-WWII was indeed a tremendous problem that we had to help address as part of our effort to rebuild the country and transform it from an enemy to a Cold War ally.
It seems that the same is true for Iraq (even if, as you propose, we address it by sending unemployed Iraqis into the Western Desert to tame the land at the risk of pissing off the local tribesmen).
It also seems uncontroversial to say that high unemployment remains a festering problem in Iraq which necessarily contributes to general disatisfaction and disatisfaction with the powers that be (who are for the present the U.S.). It should also be uncontroversial to say that some of the decisions by the CPA (which were and remain somewhat controversial) substantially contributed to the rising unemployment rate in the aftermath of the War. With a bit of luck, we can help straighten that out over time.
I don't think that this means -- or that Coltrane suggested -- that Iraqi unemployment was a reason not to go to war.
S_A_M
P.S. Gratuitous Nazi reference -- you lose.
[ETA : That quote was about _Mussolini_.]
