Iraq and the Man on the Moon: Bernd Debusmann
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The troubles of the United States in Iraq have been blamed on many causes: too few troops, wrong strategies, flawed intelligence, a very stubborn commander-in-chief.
The Man on the Moon rarely rates a public mention.
But the Man on the Moon looms so large in relations between the U.S. and 28 million Iraqis that every U.S. field commander knows his job would be easier if no American had ever set foot on the moon.
The Man on the Moon even gets a specific mention in the counterinsurgency manual the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps adopted last December. It is now taught at every U.S. military college and has the following passage:
"U.S. forces start with a built-in challenge because of their reputation for accomplishment, what some call 'the man on the moon syndrome.' This refers to the expressed disbelief that a nation able to put a man on the moon cannot quickly restore basic services.
"In some cultures, failure to deliver promised results is automatically interpreted as deliberate deception rather than good intentions gone awry."
The "expressed disbelief" is voiced in such questions in Iraq as "how come the Americans could send a man on the moon but can't bring us power. Or water. Or jobs. Or security.
Didn't Paul Bremer, at the time Iraq's effective ruler, say back in August 2003 that the country would soon have a 24-hour electricity supply?
REAL POWER
Four years later, in one of the hottest summers on record in a hot capital, the citizens of Baghdad had one or two hours of electricity a day and the electricity ministry said the situation was the worst since U.S. forces invaded Iraq in March 2003.
And according to a September poll of 2,200 Iraqis commissioned by the news organizations BBC, ABC and NHK, only 29 percent of Iraqis think their lives will be better in a year's time. That's down from 64 percent in 2005.
They were much gloomier still on the availability of electricity, clean water, and fuel for cooking and driving.
The counterinsurgency manual was not specifically written for Iraq though lessons drawn from the first three years of the war were incorporated and the man behind the project, General David Petraeus, is now overall commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
The Man on the Moon syndrome was first diagnosed not long after Neil Armstrong stepped on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969 and declared "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
GAP BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND REALITY Continued...
