MORE ON THE CAN-DO SPIRIT IN IRAQ:

This is not the army of your favourite army sitcom. The officers of the 101st Airborne are sophisticated, entrepreneurial, very dedicated, and very, very smart. They didn’t wait for someone to send them money to get started. Instead they’re using Saddam’s money. They found piles of it in his palaces, and figured this is a good way to return it to the people.

They didn’t wait for Bechtel to show up. They’re finding their own contractors.

Capt. Burns’s tiny outfit, based in Makhmur, has spent $440,000 so far. They’re having water pipes put in, and they’ve built a big park with swings and slides. They’ve refurbished the police station and the mayor’s office.

Yeah. Too bad it looks like they’re going to be stopped. If this CERP story is as it appears, this is the major dropped ball of the Iraq operation so far. I hope that people are looking into it.