IN THE NEWS
In Iraq, we have all too many bad examples of how civilians and soldiers should collaborate. In Afghanistan, we have a pretty good example, the PRT system. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's better than what exists in Iraq. So why doesn't the US mission in Iraq emulate the Afghan model? Part of the problem is the size of the Iraq effort: the bigger the bureaucracy, the tougher it is to re-organize.
Politics plays a role. So does the disinterest that the White House shows in the details of how the war it has unleashed in Iraq is actually being fought. With no one at the top of the executive branch with a burning interest to fix this problem, it stays broken.
Since a lot of resources are largely wasted in this uncoordinated system, the US continues to cede the initiative to the likes of Moqtada al-Sadr. This excellent analysis from Digital Diplomat shows how al-Sadr really has nothing to lose by challenging the current Iraqi government.
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