OxBlog

# Posted 10:48 AM by Taylor Owen

SCORE ONE FOR INCOMPETENCE: Dresner has a good overview up of the ongoing incompetence dodge debate. While the two arguments, incompetence and doomed to failure, are of course not mutually exclusive, Dresner rightly points out that the former is greatly substantiated by the new book by Chandrasekaran on the failures of the CPA, excerpted in this, much discussed (for example, here, here, here, and here), WaPo piece this weekend.

(3) opinions -- Add your opinion

Comments:

Why does this have to be an either/or?

If Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld are incompetent then it stands to reason that they wouldn't necessarily avoid something that was doomed to fail.

What would Major Major Major do?

# posted by

Anonymous : 1:40 PM

anonymous seems to be incompetent to read a 5 line post, where ".. the two arguments, incompetence and doomed to failure, are of course not mutually exclusive..." makes up about 20% of the content.

Which means that he or she probably isn't competent to understand that the following possibilities are also not mutually exclusive:

1) postwar relief and reconstruction was incompetent,

2) Chandrasekaran's WaPo piece is a hatchet job

For an example of #2, the snark in the WaPo excerpt about the Green Zone is particularly unfortunate. One might change

Many of them spent their days cloistered in the Green Zone, a walled-off enclave in central Baghdad with towering palms, posh villas, well-stocked bars and resort-size swimming pools.

to:

Many of them spent their days cloistered in the Green Zone, a walled-off enclave in central Baghdad with towering palms, posh villas, well-stocked bars, resort-size swimming pools, and rocket and mortar attacks.

# posted by

Jim Hu : 9:32 PM

Of course, I could have been agreeing with Taylor's point. But I should have said identified Major Major Major by his rank: Major. I'll give you that.

Chandrasekaran was also interviewed on Fresh Air today. It hasn't showed up on the archives yet.

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:25 AM