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Well Iraq is different from Kosovo. There are no ready made "warlords" in Iraq to deal with as there were in Kosovo. As for "crimelords" I don't know enough about Iraq as a culture to even guess if there was organized crime. So the "Clinton model" of Kosovo might not even be available to Bush in Iraq. But I suspect local thugs could be found and oral agreements and understandings made rather quickly if need be (ie- you keep any radicals under control by whatever means and leave the pipelines alone and you can do whatever you want in your area of control.)

You place a lot of trust in "planners" and "experts" for our occupation in Iraq to be sucessful. I don't share your optimism in such big government notions- especially in a Islamic hell hole like Iraq.

Afghanistan is a hellhole. Iraq was the most powerful nation-state in the Arab World. It will return to that status, but it will be run by human beings. They'll struggle at first, Saddam had no economy absent criminal enterprise under the nose of U.N. dipsticks.

Iraq has the second or third largest oil reserves in the World. It has a well constructed pipeline delivery system. It has a world class oil terminal and a deep water port. It has fertile fields, a strong transportation infrastructure, mineral potential, adequate hospital assets and a hungry and hopeful citizenry who were TERRORIZED by that bastard and his henchmen for 34 years. 34 years in a Gulag more insular that Stalins Soviet Union. Give them a chance to emerge from their life view of imminent death.

Iraq and Iran are NOT Saudi Arabia or the Sudan. They are crouching economic tigers in that region absent dictators and genocide freaks. That's the key to driving the 8th Century murderers into the abyss.