There’s no quick fix for broken Iraq

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

Does anyone remember the so-called “Pottery Barn” principle? This was the concern Colin Powell voiced before the invasion of Iraq: that if you invade a country and end up breaking it, you are responsible for it. At the time, this idea seemed so farfetched to the Bush administration that it dismissed it. What could possibly go wrong with invading and occupying a country in the Middle East? Only those who were unpatriotic suggested the outcome could be a failed state.