New Focus in Iraq

Currently, we're spending a lot of money in Iraq trying to build up Iraq's military and police so that they can stabilize the country and we can bring our guys home. This seems like a good strategy, and until recently I was supporting it, but it occurred to me recently that this is building up the wrong element in Iraq. The Iraqi military/police are not much better than the insurgents, and when we leave, we'll be leaving them in power. What we should be doing is funneling more money into pre-existing Iraq companies to help rebuild and maintain the economic infrastructure in Iraq. We obviously still need to train a police force before we leave, but by focusing more energy and money on the economic powers in Iraq, we'll leave them in a better position when we pull out.

Economic powers are inherently more peaceful than military/police powers because the require a stable society in which to thrive. (Actually, I suppose companies that make and sell weapons are probably an exception to this rule, but I still think it applies generally.) Military/police powers require a slightly unstable population, safe enough to do their work without too many of them getting killed, but unstable enough to justify their continued dominence.