Catch-22 in Iraq

Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran tells the story first few months of the American occupation of Iraq. It would have been a thoroughly enjoyable read, if it had not been a non-fiction. The American handling of Iraq ranges from naive to arrogant, from overbearing to incompetent, from conniving to inept. The books tells the story of how the Bush administration aimed for the stars but only managed to ditch the country into chaos.

Chandraekaran's story starts immediately after toppling Saddam's statue in Baghdad. While Americans celebrated the victory, Baghdad was being looted by unruly mobs. The governments buildings are stripped bare and burnt to the ground, national museum is stolen and even the zoo animals are freed.

While the initial weeks of the country's administration is handed to ORHA (Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance) , it is later assigned to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Bush chooses Paul Bremer, a former diplomat to head the CPA. Bremer has no knowledge of Mid-East and had never worked in a post-conflict situation. But the important thing was the fact that he was a neo-conservative and would carry out their bidding. He would have to bring democracy and free market to Iraq. The American hard sell.

The CPA's staffers are chosen not on the basis of their competence in Mid-East affairs, experience in post-conflict nation building but for their loyalty to the Republican and conservative values. To add to these problems Bremer's first two orders are the de-Bathificaton of Iraqi civil servants and the disbanding of the Iraqi Army. This drove the former army and disgruntled employees to insurgency. If that wasnt enough Bremer tries to sell off the nation's public sector companies in a clear violation of the Hague Convention.

The CPA's actions range from tragic to comic. Halliburton deems that the growing number of cats in the Green zone could carry diseases and contracts a Filipino cat killing brigade to round up all the cats and get rid of them. The Republican Palace, Saddam's home, houses a chapel with a mural of scud missile. Bacon is served for breakfast with no sensitivity to local customs.

All this would have been funny if countless Iraqi and American lives werent lost outside the Green zone. Bremer's office contains a plaque saying, "Success has many fathers." What it doesnt say is the story of the American occupation.

As one Iraqi politician confides with the writer,"The real problem with the occupation, is the occupation itself."