During the Vietnam war, Lyndon B. Johnson said (paraphrase) "He wanted to electrify Vietnam -- he wanted to dam the rivers so people away from the urban centers could enjoy the benefits of modern life."
I'm confident a lot of his phrases were grist for the political mill, but make no mistake, LBJ was a serious social reformer.
LBJ made one serious error. He didn't understand the culture of Vietnam. He didn't understand they didn't want a version of American culture brought to their country. The war in Vietnam was never about communism versus other forms of government. The North Vietnamese used the Soviets/USA friction point to fund their war. To be sure, North Vietnamese were token communists, but the war was never about the form of their government! It was about getting the French/American influence out of Vietnam.
GB is making the same error in Iraq. The lens in his microscope focuses on Western European/North American values. That is a horrible error. GB assumes the average Iraqi feels the same horror he feels when a "Warrior of God" pulls the cord on 2 pounds of semtex strapped to his chest. Major error!
It's not that I don't have sympathy for the ordinary citizen in Iraq, for I do. But I recognize that I am clueless when it comes to assessing what is important to the Iraqi citizen.
What will $87 billion buy you? Go read Toad's thread on Ozkansas. How many of you have lost someone you loved to cancer? Would $87 billion cure cancer? Hell, I dunno, but I would rather spend my money on a cause where the folks involved will be appreciative.
curly