The Importance of Infrastructure

The Lights Went Out!

Electricity
Temporarily shut down
Americans bitch

Gadabout would like to remind everyone that our country enjoys a widespread, advanced and intricate network of infrastructure. Infrastructure of highways, bridges, water and sewage plants, electrical grids, natural gas pipelines, gasoline stations, universities, governmental structures, National and State Parks, telephone, and a host of other wonders that the rest of the planet envies. Americans have already paid for a majority of these cornerstones of our society, and others are still on the books listed as debt in the form of federal, state and municipal bonds.

Our infrastructure is the fabric that binds us as a nation. It allows us to travel, flourish and survive. We are fortunate in this way. The Twin City bridge disaster showed us how delicate our fabric is and that we must be vigilant in maintaining our infrastructure, because if we fail to do so chaos follows.

Let us remain keenly aware of the newest little democracy of Iraq, with all of the unrest it faces that threatens its water, sewage, electrical supplies and so forth. Take note of how inconvenient life is in America when we lose power for a day or two, or when highway lanes are closed for repair. It will take time in Iraq. Let us not be hasty with unreasonable timetables for success. A lasting friendship with a new Iraq may very well be worth the wait. Human life is at stake in Iraq. Ordinary everyday people are affected there. We are a nation of kindness, but we like to bitch a lot too.

A New, Darker Foundation for Iraq

It appears, by all accounts, that the status quo of nation building is failing due to fundamental differences between deep rooted religious divides between Sunni and Shiite factions. Power struggles between loosely controlled, quasi-independent warfighting entities continue to pepper Iraq with tragic bombings and overt acts of defiance under an infant government. Plenty of smart people are scratching their heads trying to figure this out and offer solutions. I guess there wasn’t a book titled “How to Successfully Overthrow a Large Sized Country Controlled by an Islamic Dictatorship and Subsequently Build a New Democratic Government Capable of Establishing Lasting Peace and Harmony.” Someone should have written that book BEFORE we went in with guns blazing—it certainly would have saved a great deal of human life, resources and misery. Monday morning quarterbacking!

Gadabout has briefly and superficially examined the situation and has noticed a form of governance that is missing in Iraq—Organized Crime. That’s right, the Mob. Iraq is in desperate need for its citizens to discover and embrace addictions to alcohol, tobacco, drugs and prostitution. Gadabout is not making a joke here. Iraq’s underground is based on religious fundamentalism and control of territory along religious boarders. If a second, equally strong entity existed, then competition over control of territories would not be divisive solely on Islamic disagreements.

Take our own American Mobsters as an example. Peace was maintained through a network of competing families in the larger cities of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and New York. The sanctioned government structures worked informally with these families to bring a delicate and fragile peace while allowing vices to be enjoyed by the masses—alcohol, tobacco, drugs and prostitution. I am guessing that if a radical group tried to establish themselves in Chicago by blowing up a car outside of Wrigley Field, they might get away with it ONCE. Both the cops and the mob would be taking care of eliminating the outsiders.

Iraq’s Mobs are not driven by profits and power; they are driven by religion and power. It is unlikely that an average Sunni and an average Shiite will ever find middle ground between their deep rooted belief and value systems based upon religion, but they might negotiate over the safe and lucrative transport of a truckload of Johnny Walker Black Label across and through the other’s territory at a cost. And, given enough power, these two average Iraqis may not tolerate the blowing up of an open market where both have financial stakes. This may sound frightening to some, but perhaps a third party needs to enter the ranks of power to establish a balance, even if that balance is dark and harmful. If the choice is between alcoholism, gang style justice, and drug abuse, in opposition to continued open warfare, some might choose the former.

Alcohol is not allowed to be consumed by U.S. troops in Iraq. The directive that denies alcohol consumption is called General Order Number 1, and it is strictly enforced. Talk about keeping the troops on the ground bummed out! No wonder they are angry and go off half-cocked at times—they are frustrated! Compounding the problem is that sexual relationships between members of the armed forces are a big no-no. Drugs? Forget that! Most every movie Gadabout has ever watched on WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam included alcohol, tobacco and women. Not in Iraq, though, because we don’t want to upset the population and leadership seeks absolute control of the military. No wonder we are losing.

If Amir were to drink a couple too many cocktails the night before his suicide attack, he might just wake up late with a hangover and not make it on time to blow up a security check point. Think about that. Maybe, if he met some hot chick and hung out for the weekend partying and having a good time, he might just lose interest in listening to radical clerics.

Yep, Gadabout believes that our forces need to loosen up on the rules and stop declaring democracy as an ultimate prize for this young nation. Maybe a little fun is the prescription needed to stabilize the population. Add in a third party of power, and we might just see some progress. “Bartender, another round, please!”