[Peace-discuss] US finding that projects are not being maintained

[John W.]

At 06:56 PM 4/30/2007, Karen Medina wrote:

>[More proof that we have the wrong people in Iraq trying to "rebuild" it. 
>-karen medina]
>
>I was listening to WILL tv news of some sort (in the background) and they 
>were talking to some military guy who was saying that the US projects that 
>were started in Iraq and turned over to the Iraqis were not being 
>maintained (e.g. the hospitals were not using the oxygenator, etc).
>
>The interviewer was asking if the Iraqis had been involved in the design 
>and implementation of the projects, and the answer was "no" and that the 
>US was putting this down as a "lesson learned". Yikes! They did not know 
>this was a factor??? Where have they been?
>
>And of course, millions of dollars have been lost because of this.
>
>Peace Corps has known for generations that local input and involvement is 
>essential for a project's success.
>
>Sociologists have also been writing about this for years.
>
>More proof that we have the wrong people in Iraq trying to "rebuild" it.

It goes far deeper than that.  Colonialism operating under the guise of - 
what's the term for the doctrine?  "Moral imperative", something like that? 
- always takes a top-down form.  We tell the "savages" what's good for them.