At the end of World War 2 there was a plan, the Marshall Plan, to help rebuild the countries devastated by war in Europe….

The Marshall Plan was a massive program of aid from the United States to sixteen western and southern European countries, aimed at helping economic renewal and strengthening democracy after the devastation of World War II. It was started in 1948 and was officially known as the European Recovery Program, or ERP, but is more commonly known as the Marshall Plan, after the man who announced it, US Secretary of State George Marshall.

WW2 severely damaged the economies of Europe, leaving many in a parlous state: cities and factories had been bombed, transport links had been severed and agricultural production disrupted. Populations had been moved, or destroyed, and a tremendous amount of capital had been spent on weapons and related products. It’s not an exaggeration to say the continent was a wreck. 1946 Britain, a former world power, was close to bankruptcy and had to pull out of international agreements while in France and Italy there was inflation and unrest and the fear of starvation.

I bring up this bit of history because of the Middle East wars…..and something I read.

Throughout the most recent US war in Iraq, the massive damage done in the course of heavily bombing major cities and destroying bridges was seen as just another bill the US would be stuck with afterwards. The Trump Administration doesn’t see it that way, however.

So while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in attendance at next week’s reconstruction conference, officials say he is not expected to offer up any American contribution to the estimated $100 billion in reconstruction Iraqi officials say they need.

Rather, US officials say they expect Iraq’s neighbors to “pour in money” as a way to improve relations over the long term, and to try to limit Iran’s substantial influence inside Iraq.

Yet Iraq doesn’t have that many non-Iran neighbors, and while Saudi Arabia is likely to contribute to fix damage in the Sunni part of Iraq, it’s probably not going to approach $100 billion. With Iraq’s own budget stretched thin, repairing the parts of Iraq the US destroyed over the past two years is likely to be a very slow effort indeed.

(antiwar.com)

Sorry but since we decided to invade then occupy then totally destroy the country of Iraq it should be on our heads to assist in the reconstruction of the country’s economy.  And yes I know we need that cash here in this country…..but if we broke it we need to fix it.

AS part of any contract to fight a war these industries should be made to contribute to the reconstruction also.  A new Marshall Plan would be the best idea.