ReRead

I am not sure if any of you have picked up the book The Assassin's Gate by George Packer. It's definitely the best survey of America in Iraq, in my opinion. I've just started reading it the second time hoping to absorb everything it has to offer.

Pay particular attention to the issues currently surrounding Paul Wolfowitz. He was the deputy secretary of defense during the build up to Iraq and the aforementioned book really exposed how his neo-conservative ideas where arrogant and misguided. He would literally ignore ANY evidence contrary to his ideas (as did V.P. Cheney). Bush is left, surprisingly, entirely out of the loop.

Wolfowitz is now the President of the World Bank. Among other problems he suspended AID to Uzbekistan after they refused to cooperate with the U.S. in the war on terror. Additionally his position in building developing countries is to displace corrupt governments by force, if necessary. Which is obviously the banner of neo-conservative foreign policy. He appears highly driven ideologically, beyond corporate interests, which raises the question if his arrogance actually blinds him to history. Perhaps my liberal idealogue blinds me to chapters in history.