The Foreign Service Journal, February 2007

Whatever one’s viewpoint on Iraq’s future, Cobra II provides a solid basis for any “how-did-we-get- here” discussion. Iraqi army from scratch. Likewise, by largely scrapping Garner’s efforts, Bremer lost political momentum early in the postwar period, never to regain it. Their suggestion that the coalition should have learned lessons on nationbuilding from former Yugo- slavia raises eyebrows, however. Such lessons should be regarded skeptical- ly when, more than a decade after its disintegration, the countries emerg- ing from the rubble of the Balkans are either ethnically cleansed or self- ghettoized polities. There are now many paradigms for viewing Iraq. Some predict a Vietnam-style morass; others foresee a former-Yugoslavia disintegration into ethnically clean statelets; still others revisit 1930s Spain, where international forces from left and right (the “foreign fighters” of their day) conducted a clash of civilizations, 20th-century style. Whatever one’s viewpoint on Iraq’s future, Cobra II provides a solid basis for any “how- did-we-get-here” discussion. David T. Jones, a retired senior Foreign Service officer, is a frequent contributor to the Journal. 54 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 7 B O O K S