> joand wrote:
>
> > We turned Iraq into a failed state,
>
> Is post-invasion Iraq significantly worse off than pre-invasion Iraq?
> Probably (although the July opinion poll I looked at last
> month seemed to show that a lot of Iraqis don't share my view). But
> pre-invasion Iraq was already, by any reasonable measure, a "failed
> state." It doesn't take a Pollyanna to see how Iraq might end up a lot
> better off in the medium and long term future. Nor does it take a
> nattering nabob of negativity to see how things could get a lot worse.
At this
> point, however, it would take a fool to unthinkingly discount either
> possibility.
>
> -- Luke
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Iraq was a predatory State; the Baath party was a protection racket that was quite successful in organizing the political economy in its own interests. It most definitely was not a failed State until the US Government destroyed it over the course of 12 years.
Ian