C.R.E.A.M.

It seems that one strategy in the "War on Terror" is to basically buy hearts and minds:

Army documents show that $48,000 was spent on 6,000 pairs of children's shoes; an additional $50,000 bought 625 sheep for people described in records as "starving poor locals" in a Baghdad neighborhood. Soldiers ordered $100,000 worth of dolls and $500,000 in action figures made to look like Iraqi Security Forces. About $14,250 was spent on "I Love Iraq" T-shirts. More than $75,000 sent a delegation to a women's and civil rights conference in Cairo. And $12,800 was spent for two pools to cool bears and tigers at Zawra Park Zoo in Baghdad.


"$" as in "tax-payer dollars." Some of this stuff isn't that bad, but when I see that someone actually thought an "I Love Iraq" T-Shirt would help spread democracy and goodwill, I flinch.

So to recap our adventure in Iraq:
  1. Using the military to effect change: fun for neoconservatives, but not much in long-term results.
  2. Using diplomacy: effective, but no fun for neoconservatives and can't be politically marketed.
  3. Using cash: Tried & True, can be laundered for other "special" projects.

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