Publication: Conservative Review
Not Good at Nation Building | |
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THE CONSERVATIVE REVIEW
November 16, 2007
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Not Good at Nation Building
By Robert D. Novak
WASHINGTON - A bus full of 15 Iraqi lawyers carrying a
four-page, single-spaced letter to President Bush arrived
at the White House Tuesday. The mission was to request
less U.S. help for building prisons and more for establish-
ing the rule of law. There was no immediate official
response, and experience of the last four years indicates
nothing will be done in the future.
Aswad al-Minshidi, president of the Iraqi Bar Assn., led
the delegation. The lawyers had hoped to confer with White
House Counsel Fred Fielding, with perhaps a drop-in by
George W. Bush. But the president was campaigning in New
Albany, Ind., and the Iraqis had to be content with meet-
ing Special Counsel Emmet Flood, a staffer well down the
chain of command. He could only promise the letter plead-
ing for overdue help would be conveyed to Fielding.
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"America's rule of law effort in Iraq has focused almost
entirely on police, prisons and prosecution," said the
letter to Bush signed by Minshidi. In a post-Saddam Hussein
Iraq where detained terrorist suspects are still in jail
after being cleared by the courts, the lawyers complained
about "a policeman and prosecutor's definition of what rule
of law means." It means a policy limited to law enforcement.
This faulty allocation of U.S. funds is part of a broader
problem in Iraq: Americans are not good at nation building.
The huge embassy in Baghdad is run by Foreign Service
officers on the same model as U.S. missions worldwide
whose function is reporting, not managing. Similarly, legal
policy in Iraq is handled by assistant U.S. attorneys who
focus on arrest and detention.
The Iraqi lawyers wrote Bush that "the number of Iraqi
citizens in detention by Iraqi police and prisons as well
as the detention centers of the Multinational Forces in
Iraq is large and still growing." While not mentioning it
in the letter, they are appalled by $125 million in U.S.
funds spent to build prisons while more modest amounts
needed to build a legal system are denied.
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I talked to some of these lawyers who told me of their
frustration when courts release a detained prisoner, and
the authorities -- Iraqi and U.S. -- ignore the judges.
The letter requested U.S. funds for "the investigation and
trial of all prisoners held by Multinational Forces in
Iraq. It is in your fundamental interest that justice
prevail in Iraq, and appear to prevail, in all matters
associated with your troops and the American people. Need-
less to say that the Iraqi people will long remember how
you approached justice." Between the lines, the lawyers
were politely telling the president he had failed to
establish the rule of law in Iraq.
As an example of how the billions of American dollars
pouring into Iraq do not promote an effective legal
system, the letter noted that the State Department "has
failed to move on final approval" of a proposed codifi-
cation of Iraqi law. "Perhaps the people in Washington
do not have a sense of urgency because they live in
Washington," the lawyers wrote.
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The broader problem appears to be that diplomats, both in
Washington and Baghdad, are not suited to be nation
builders. Ryan Crocker, the highly esteemed U.S. ambassador
to Iraq, is a superstar of the Foreign Service with the
exalted rank of career ambassador. But he is essentially
a reporter and negotiator, not a manager. So are his sub-
ordinates. His embassy is organized on the same basis as
the small missions around the world, with the diplomats
trained to send informative telegrams back to Washington
and untangle bilateral difficulties, but not to manage
large projects.
The Iraqi lawyers for an hour Tuesday presented their
pleas to Flood, who made no comment. Flood assured them
that Fielding, but not necessarily the president, would
see the letter. They then returned to the bus, which
transported them to the Supreme Court. There, much to
the surprise of the Iraqis, they were given 45 minutes
by Chief Justice John Roberts for a substantive discussion.
"This was much better than the White House," exclaimed an
Iraqi lawyer, who can only hope that President Bush gets
interested in building the rule of law in Iraq.
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