Iraq reconstruction history details waste, failures Joe Sterling, CNN

Iraqis in Diyala province sarcastically call it "the whale."

The "skeletal, half-built" shell of a maximum-security prison in Khan Bani Saad "will probably never house an inmate" even though the United States spent $40 million on the now-halted $73 million project.

Marred by "poor security and weak subcontractor performance," the project is among several examples of Iraqi rebuilding problems cited in a just-published history by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

Titled "Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience," the report says the massive reconstruction initiative was marked by waste and failures caused by "blinkered and disjointed" pre-war planning -- and was pursued amid deteriorating security.
As I've been sorting through the SIGIR report and media commentary, I've kept trying to consider when the timing is correct to use money. Obviously, METT-C is the answer, but there's gotta be something more to it.

GEN Patraeus is fond of saying that money is a weapon in COIN. While true, it works both ways. A loaded weapon in the hands of a child is a very dangerous prospect. Outside of all the great things our boys have done in Iraq, Return on Investment (ROI) is not one of them.

One approach that my last commander taught me worked well in a denied area- coercive civil affairs. Outside of Essential goods and services like food, water, etc..., projects were limited to a "you help me, and I'll help you basis." We made it absolutely clear that we had a lot of money to spend, we wanted to help, but we would not waste the US taxpayer dollars until the violence fell to a minimal level. Some thought the approach to harsh, but it worked. For example, what is the point in paving a road if three months later it will have thirty IED holes that require major repair?

Anyways, I think this discussion is important as we transition from COIN to SSTR in Iraq and try to rethink our strategy in Afghanistan particularly given the financial crisis at home.

So, when do you use our money in a COIN environment?

v/r

Mike