Quotable

Joseph E. Robert Jr., a business exec who visited Iraq last month for the third time, in today's WaPo:  Only one element of the U.S. government — the military — seems to be treating Iraq as "the vital national interest" that President Bush declares it to be. Across Iraq, military personnel are heroically managing local ...

Joseph E. Robert Jr., a business exec who visited Iraq last month for the third time, in today's WaPo

Joseph E. Robert Jr., a business exec who visited Iraq last month for the third time, in today's WaPo

Only one element of the U.S. government — the military — seems to be treating Iraq as "the vital national interest" that President Bush declares it to be. Across Iraq, military personnel are heroically managing local reconstruction and development projects for which they lack the proper training or tools. Meanwhile, back in the Green Zone, hundreds of civilian positions — from the departments of State, Justice, Commerce and Agriculture — go unfilled.

U.S. commanders expressed frustration that dozens of Justice Department billets sit empty despite Iraq's urgent need for help in developing a functioning judicial system. American troops like my son describe risking their lives to arrest suspected insurgents, testifying in Iraqi courts and then watching in frustration as the offenders are tossed back on the streets. In government, as in business, refusing to devote the resources and personnel to a strategic priority is a recipe for disaster.

Unlike the military, civilian agencies will never be able to forcibly deploy their personnel to foreign trouble spots. But through a combination of rewards (promotions) and punishments (less desirable assignments, termination), agencies could more effectively support the critical political and economic efforts that will determine Iraq's fate.

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