A modest proposal

Most of my Iraq-related posts anymore are repetitious - restating the obvious, over and over.

With this post I break new ground! (almost)

A modest proposal for a "benchmark" against which to measure progress in Iraq:

We can leave when the Iraqis demonstrate a capability at least equal to ours!

Surprise: the Iraqis have achieved that benchmark.

In recent fighting in Basra against Mahdi Army, Iraqi forces performed no worse than have U.S. forces against Mahdi Army - starting in Najaf in 2004.

A recent post noted that, in the fiscal area, we seemed to be holding the Iraqis to a higher standard than we ourselves can meet:

Iraq is looking at a potential boon in oil revenue this year, as the U.S. spends some $153 million a month in the country on fuel alone. But U.S. officials say it will take some time before Baghdad builds the capacity to manage the revenue.
...
... administration and military officials say it's not that easy to distribute the money. They contend that Iraq's lack of spending isn't due to laziness or corruption, but rather Baghdad's inability to determine where its money is needed most and how to allocate it efficiently.

...an "inability to determine where [the] money is needed most and how to allocate if efficiently" never stopped the U.S. from wasting OUR tax dollars in Iraq! How much have we given to Parsons, KBR, and all the other contractors to restore Iraq's electrical grid? to build schools & hospitals? to provide basic services - water & sewer?... With no results to show for OUR $$$?
Why do we hold the Iraqis to a higher standard???

Are the Iraqis at least as capable as the U.S. in the fiscal arena? Seems to me it'd be hard to be worse than the U.S. - we've thrown away billions on poorly managed, bungled, never-finished projects. Heck, how could the Iraqis possibly do any worse?

Along just about any dimension of government competence that pops to mind - providing basic services (electricity, water, sewage) - policing, mail delivery, schooling... it's hard to imagine that the Iraqis would do any worse than the U.S. Who knows - left to their own devices, they might even do things better!

Therefore: The Iraqi government has demonstrated - or could easily demonstrate - capability to govern no worse than the U.S..

Let's let 'em!

Stop the madness!