Let us see if we have this straight: The U.S. government this year is running a $389 billion deficit and borrowing from abroad to finance it.
In addition, we’re spending roughly $100 billion a year — and sacrificing scores of American lives — to prevent Iraqis from turning on each other in a spasm of sectarian violence.
Thanks in large part to the presence of American troops, the government of Iraq is piling up huge budget surpluses — which might total $79 billion by the end of this year. The Iraqis have accumulated that fortune by selling oil at astronomical prices, which Americans pay.
So while American taxpayers, so far, have paid $543 billion to save Iraqis from themselves, the Iraqis are siting on a huge pile of money — and earning interest.
Is there a bigger sucker in the world than the American taxpayer? This is just another reason, among many, that we should start bringing our disastrous misadventure in Iraq to a close.

The details are spelled out in a Government Accountability Office report that was issued this week. By the end of this year, the GAO says, Iraq will have accumulated surpluses totaling between $67 billion and $79 billion, depending on the price of oil.
Meanwhile, its people have no electricity for most of the day, water systems are polluted, unemployment is sky high and Iraq’s government is doing next to nothing about it. Since the invasion five and a half years ago, the United States has spent $42 billion on reconstruction. Of that, $23 billion went for critical security, oil, electricity and water programs. The Iraqi government has spent only $4 billion on those things since 2005.
“It is inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves,” says Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.
Why isn’t the Iraqi government investing in its own country? Incompetence is a big part of it, and so is corruption.
The GAO says that the Iraqi government lacks a staff trained to budget and spend money without losing much of it to rampant corruption. That’s not surprising, considering that much of the middle class has fled the country. Sectarian strife and violence also hamper the Iraqi government’s efforts.

Then again, why would Iraqis spend their own money to rebuild their country when the Bush administration and Congress have been so willing to spend ours? Why would Iraqis work to develop competent government operations when they’ve seen the examples of the Halliburton Co. and our failed Coalition Provisional Authority?
Our military and our money postpone the day when Iraqi politicians must face the reality that they must compromise across sectarian lines or they will ultimately destroy each other. If they need help in building an effective governmental infrastructure, we can offer it to them — at a fair price.
There’s been some progress. Violence is down sharply. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lately has shown some gumption in taking on militias run by his fellow Shiites. The largest Sunni bloc recently rejoined the Iraqi parliament after a year-long boycott. But parliament still can’t agree on rules for the October elections.
It’s time for America to remove the crutches so that Iraqis can stand on their own.

(Caption for the picture above:A Baghdad resident inspects wires used for connecting houses and private generators,)