Rule of law is the ultimate defense of the Iraq wars success.
Iraq was hoping the IMF (International Monetary Fund) would help bail the government out of its growing budget deficit crises. An IMF audit team completed a ten-day examination of the economic situation on December 10th and reported that Iraq has the same problems it had for several years, only worse and that the solution was not more multi-billion-dollar loans but internal reforms that address the widespread corruption. Earlier audits had found that corrupt officials were responsible for $400 billion of government funds stolen or misappropriated since 2003.
Note that the corrupt Saddam-era bureaucracy of 2 million has expanded under majority Shia rule to 6 million. So the corruption just expanded to benefit the majority rather than just the minority.
The bright side is that Saudi Arabia is finally competing with Iran for the friendship of the Arab Shia in Iraq. Although without rule of law Saudi money will just fuel corruption.
Still, with Iran selling methamphetamine to Iraq you'd think Iran's appeal would tarnish faster than it already has.
I've long felt that after achieving military missions that we need law enforcement and judiciary reforms to hold the gains made by force of arms. There are more Iraqis who understand this and are willing to protest.
Will Biden make the rule of law effort so that Iraq will be one of the great achievements of his tenure?
