Iraq ocupation

Britain's Guardian newspaper asks how it was that "after three years of occupation and billions of dollars of spending, hospitals are still short of basic supplies?" The paper identifies several culprits and Iraqis themselves remember with considerable bitterness how Saddam Hussein managed, under crushing sanctions and with far worse devestation to deal with, did a better job rebuilding the country in six months than the wealthy Americans have done in three years. As a health professional with 20 years of experience put it, "Everybody in Iraq was ready for three months' chaos," but "we've got until early August to show an improvement." No improvement ever occured. It appears to all concerned that the insurgency would have occurred anyway, but the loss of opportunity is keenly felt to this day.