The US is now caught in the dilemma of partial success. Failure in Iraq is easy to deal with; it means quick withdrawal. Full and rapid success is easy to plan for and it is easy to create programs and budgets that reinforce what already exists. Al Qa’ida’s reversals of the last eight months, however, have created a very different situation.
This paper suggests that US aid must be a critical part of any US effort to build on the success achieved to date, and to deal with the problems that remain. Specifically, it makes four major suggestions:
- Aid must be tailored to act as a major incentive for security and political accommodation.
- All aid efforts must be integrated into a cohesive plan, program, and budget and clearly tied to the Joint Campaign Plan.
- US aid will be needed for at least 3-5 years to come, and well into the next Administration. Plans are needed that provide consistent efforts over time.
- Current aid efforts lack transparency and meaningful measures of effectiveness, and are not explained or justified in terms credible enough to win lasting support from the Congress, American people, and outside analysts and media. Sustaining the necessary effort requires both transparency and depth.....
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