Rushing reps into Iraq too quickly?

[Reginald]

I'm wondering if "business" is being a little quick off the mark getting their representatives into Iraq.

I know that at some point it will have to happen, Iraq will need outside expertise to get back on it's feet. Some among us will say that it was all about business in the first place.

But I can't help thinking that lives are being unnecessarily put at risk (and indeed lost), I'm thinking Reps, bodyguards, Iraqi civilian assistants/guides etc.

I know that the spoils must be a temptation, but surely a little more stability should be required first.

 

[Mr Manifesto]

I'm not sure if US intel is at its lowest all-time competence, or if someone's trying to paint a rosy picture, but either way it seems that the coalition isn't addressing the reality of Iraq.

Shortly after the statue-toppling photo-op, spokespeople for the US were saying that the Iraqis were welcoming the coalition forces with open arms. Then there were foreign terrorists spoiling it for the people who were welcoming the coalition with open arms. Then there were fringe extremists who were spoiling it for the people who were welcoming the coalition with open arms. Now it's thugs and assassins who have flared up in a dozen cities across Iraq who are spoiling it for the people who are still, one year on, trying to welcome the coaltion with open arms.

Yet six days after the photo-op, 20 000 people gathered in Nasiriyah to oppose the US presence. Did the coaltion forces think that these protesters, and others like them, were just going to go away?