The modern school of management

Iraq is all too familiar.

Arrogant company founded by rich kids, hires on daddy's former employees as advisors and then starts spending wildly.

Company embarks on risky venture against all industry practice and advice and gains early success. As time goes on, the business proves to be more difficult and the debt, run up so easily in the past, starts to be a burden.

The company, realizing the need for change, starts to negotiate for loans and investments. Only problem is that the people most likely to invest have pretty steep terms. The management, run by people who have no clue, demand to keep their seats on the board, and most of their shares. The investors, who never liked the management or the plan, shake their heads at the arrogance. They're the ones begging for help, yet they expect to still have a say in running the company as the majority partners.

As the employees complain and quit, mangement portrays the company as healthy and functioning. When industry analysts depicted a troubled company, they attack the analysis and complain about bias.

Instead of bailing out the company, the investors wait for it to fail and then buy the assets at a fire sale.

That describes a hundred dotcoms. It also describes the fate of our policy in Iraq.

And then, the very next day...

What should the Dems say after Bush?

[...]

Mr. President, your policy in Iraq has placed that country close to the brink of civil war. Militia groups from all ethniciities are arming and preparing for a war we are unable to prevent.

Your administration has failed the Iraqis in every possible way. Despite the sacrifice of thousands of Americans, Iraq is a violent country in need of tens of billions of dollars of reconstruction funds. Yet, instead of allowing the UN to handle that, as they have across the world, Halliburton, the vice president's former company, one which still pays him in excess of seven figures a year, gets all of the contracts. Not only to rebuild Iraq, but to supply our forces. A job they have done so ineptly, that Americans have to send their children water through the mail. American soldiers lack water in one of the hottest places on earth. Not to mention been completely unable to repair Iraq's infrastructure. A job Saddam accomplished in two months after the 1991 war.

Mr. President, we were told that we were waging a war against terrorism. Yet, until we invaded Iraq, there was no link between Al Qaeda and Saddam. We diverted half the US Army to occupy Iraq, yet the Taliban/Al Qaeda forces are growing stronger every day in Afghanistan. Now, the taliban is resurgent and most of the US Army is stuck playing policeman in Iraq, to no one's benefit.

Now, after nearly a year of warnings, you reach out the to the UN. We told you we needed allies, not just for the war, but what would come after. For that, our intelligence and patriotism were not only questioned, but attacked by officials who worked directly for you. Gen. Shinseki, a combat veteran who survived the amputation of his leg, and supervised peacekeeping in Kosovo, was not only called a liar before Congress by the Deputy Secretary of Defense, but not one member of the Secretary's office attended his retirement. Any one, even slightly critical of your planning for Iraq, was treated with similar hostility and disrespect.

You came to the Congress and in both public and private briefings, told us of the great threat Sadddam posed to the US. Yet, we continue to hear a shifting set of excuses for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. One undersecretary claims it was to liberate the Iraqis, another claims that it was his potential for WMD. Why is it Mr. President? We relied on you holding to your word as commander-in-chief to give us an accurate and honest picture and it is clear that we received neither.

What about Homeland Defense funding, there is more going to Wyoming per capita than New York. Why is that? Why is there such a massive turnover rate at the Transportation Security Agency? Why did you spend more effort trying to prevent them from unionizing than from making sure that that the best people were hired for the job.

In short, Mr. President, what is there about your national security policy which has not utterly and completely failed this country? Both Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein remain missing. Iraq is in shambles, trapping half the US Army. Afghanistan facing a taliban resurgence. When will you admit you policies are failing and decide work with both the Congress and the UN to prevent an even greater tragedy.