The reforestation of Iraq

In reading a recent blog by Steve Chapman entitled The Iraq war's other costs, I came to a certain realization of the approach we've taken in the "rebuilding" of Iraq and possibly, in the near future, Afghanistan.

When a forest is depleted of its trees and it is decided it should be reforested, what is the approach? If it is approached as our government has approached Iraq it would be to merely try to dig up mature trees and transplant them in the old forest. Viola!, reforested. Right?

Well what about the forest where the trees came from. Sure, you may not have taken all of the trees from one forest to plant the other but it is foolish to think that the contributing forest would not feel the difference. At best you have zero gain in trees. However, combined with the likelihood of significant die-off in the transplantation process, what you really end up with is negative gain.

And so it goes in Iraq. The US has spent unreal amounts of money trying to "rebuild" Iraq with democracy and capitalism. We've tried to supplant what we tore down with a mature, democratic government thinking that if we spend enough money, we can get it done. Our own economy has felt the burden.

But governments and economic systems are like trees. To try to transplant a mature tree is a difficult and not always successful endeavor. To try to transplant an entire forest of mature trees is an exercise in futility. So it goes with democracy and capitalism.

Instead, the much cheaper, more permanent approach is to plant seedlings and allow them to grow. Reforestation efforts are much more likely to succeed and exponentially more economical when approached in this way.

I believe this approach would also serve much better in Iraq. The ground is prepared, let's plant the seedlings. Create an environment where seedlings of democracy and capitalism can be allowed to mature on their own. It will, without a doubt, be different than what we have here in the US but at least it will be home grown. It will, without a doubt, take a long time but at least it will be deeply rooted.

Should we rebuild Iraq? Without a doubt. We took on that responsibility when we removed their government for them. But let's put the check book away and look at economical ways to plant seedlings instead of trying to transplant trees.