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

[John W.]

"Manifest destiny"...I think that's the term I was looking for.


At 10:30 PM 4/30/2007, John W. wrote:

>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.