Carrots Are Better Than Sticks

Just imagine if that trillion dollars wasted in Iraq had been spent on winning hearts and minds:

On Basilan island, where U.S. troops first started operating four years ago, improved security has allowed the Philippine military to shrink its presence from 15 battalions to two, said Maj. Gen. David Fridovich, the commander of U.S. Special Forces in the Pacific.

Fridovich said military operations are only 15 percent of what needs to be done. The rest is humanitarian, like Army engineers helping rebuild schools and military doctors giving residents shots. U.S. aid workers have helped build bridges and roads.

"We think there is a model here that's worth showcasing. There's another way of doing business," Fridovich told reporters at the Pacific Area Special Operations Conference in Honolulu recently.

I have always thought that the money wasted in Iraq should have been spent to bring Afghanistan into the 21st Century, as a showcase pro-Western Democracy. Too late for that now, though...