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Hard Lessons

United States. Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 480


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Product Description: The billions of dollars expended in Iraq constitute the largest relief and reconstruction exercise in American history. SIGIR's lessons learned capping report characterizes this effort in four phases (pre-war to ORHA, CPA, post-CPA/Negroponte era, and Khalilzad, Crocker, and the Surge). From this history, SIGIR forwards a series of conclusions and recommendations for Congress to consider when organizing for the next post-conflict reconstruction situation. Over the past five years, the United States has provided nearly fifty billion dollars for the relief and reconstruction of Iraq. This unprecedented rebuilding program, implemented after the March 2003 invasion, was developed to restore Iraq's essential services, build Iraq's security forces, create a market-based economy, and establish a democratic government--all in pursuit of U.S. interests in a stable and free Iraq. Did the U.S. rebuilding program achieve its objectives? Was the money provided well-spent or wasted? What lessons have we learned from the experience? Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience, a report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), answers these and other important questions by presenting a comprehensive history of the U.S. program, chiefly derived from SIGIR's body of extensive oversight work in Iraq, hundreds of interviews with key figures involved with the reconstruction program, and thousands of documents evidencing the reconstruction work that was - or was not - done. The report examines the limited pre-war planning for reconstruction, the shift from a large infrastructure program to a more community-based one, and the success of the Surge in 2007 and beyond. Hard Lessons concludes that the U.S. government did not have the structure or resources in place to execute the mammoth relief and reconstruction plan it took on in 2003. The lessons learned from this experience create a basis for reviewing and reforming the U.S. approach to contingency relief and reconstruction operations.
When his new student turns out to be a handsome property developer with a complicated past, teaching is the last thing on Jake's mind. When recently single Jake heads off to rural Somerset for a job interview as a reading teacher, he's expecting his pupil to be a child, but it's the handsome and charismatic property dealer Nathan Foley who needs his help. Their relationship quickly becomes sexual, and Jake worries he is rushing into another relationship too fast. And, as the heat between them intensifies, Jake begins to question Nathan's motives. Adding to the confusion is Nathan's bitter older sister, Alice, who seems to have taken an instant dislike to Jake, as well as a strange man who Jake spots wandering around the grounds of the house. What is Alice's problem? Who is the handsome stranger? And are Nathan Foley's feelings entirely genuine? Perhaps Jake is the one who is about to learn a hard lesson.
Originally published in 2004. The essays in this engaging book catalogue a wide and varied range of instances where 'things go wrong' in the practices of criminal justice. The contributions document instances where laws, policies and practices have produced unintended consequences of the most deleterious kind, drawing attention to the prison system, 'boot camps', detention centres and specific penal policies such as the 'short, sharp shock', parental penalty and 'three strikes and you're out'. Also examined are policing practices such as 'zero tolerance', 'saturation policing' and punitive laws in the areas of drug use, sex offences and prostitution. It is demonstrated that in each of these cases the objectives of government resulted in the creation of new and unforeseen problems requiring further reform of the criminal justice system. This is a familiar tale characteristic of the modernist impulses of contemporary government based on the notion that crime can be identified, managed and controlled through the application and administration of institutionalised polices and practices. The present culture of 'high crime' - despite a top-heavy apparatus of crime control - appears to indicate the very opposite.
June Cunningham was four years old when her parents were brutally murdered. Now as a brilliant young engineering student, she falls in love with the killer's next intended victim. Irene Hawkins is the estranged wife of a self-absorbed financial executive whose greed knows no bounds. June has learned to live without family and Irene has learned to deny her feelings. When they come together, everyone learns more than they ever expected.
A combination of poor planning, weak oversight and greed cheated U.S. taxpayers and undermined American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. taxpayers have paid nearly $51 billion for projects in Iraq, including training the Iraqi army and police and rebuilding Iraq's oil, electric, justice, health and transportation sectors. Many of the projects did not succeed, partly because of violence in Iraq and friction between U.S. officials in Washington and Iraqi officials in Baghdad. The U.S. gov¿t. "was neither prepared for nor able to respond quickly to the ever-changing demands" of stabilizing Iraq and then rebuilding it. This report reviews the problems in the war effort, which the Bush admin. claimed would cost $2.4 billion. Charts and tables.
This riveting snap shot reveals real, life lessons about a young, African-American boy evolving into a man. Floyd faced failures, disappointments, heartbreak, and discrimination, which in turn led to absolute triumph. He has embraced the past, made the necessary adjustments to life, learned from each opportunity, forever determined to move onward and upward. These initial lessons were just the beginning in pursuit of a professional basketball career, re-routed to becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL, and now, is one of the most sought after, inspirational speakers in the nation.Included is a colorful body of work from 22 fellow National Speaker Association's - Austin Chapter authors sharing their unique perspectives on life.
A decade ago there were only two charter schools in the United States. Today there are more than 2,400, serving more than half a million students. Charter schools are public schools that are free from many of the regulations that have long governed public education. Supporters include many of the country's most prominent educators and politicians, among them President George W. Bush, who hope charter schools will reshape education, especially where it proves most challenging--in the inner city. The fact that most charter schools promise smaller classes and more parental involvement makes them immensely appealing to the nation's most disadvantaged families. Charter school detractors, on the other hand, fear that these alternative schools will irredeemably ruin public education, drawing away the talented students and the most involved parents. Clearly the stakes are high. But few Americans understand what a charter school really is--or what is involved in trying to create, attend, and teach in one. Written by a renowned journalist and education writer, and a former inner-city school teacher himself, "Hard Lessons is the first book to capture the human drama of the entire experience. For three years, Jonathan Schorr was allowed complete access to the students, teachers, and parents of the E.C. Reems Academy in Oakland, California, making him uniquely qualified to tell their fascinating story. But would the new school succeed in effectively teaching children from urban neighborhoods where success is rare? Would it become a whole new bureaucracy or sabotage itself from within? The answers are found in the moving stories of some deeply involved yet very different individuals. Amongthem, there is Nazim Casey, Jr.--rescued from his crack-addicted parents, he's the last-chance child who will put inner-city charters to their ultimate test; William Stewart--a father whose fury at his daughter's failed public school propels him into activism; Eugene Ruffin--the entrepreneur who helped introduce the personal computer to America, then collaborated with Wal-Mart heir John Walton to "invest" in education; and Valentin Del Rio--a young teacher whose idealism turns to exhaustion and the search for a punctual paycheck. Through successes and setbacks, "Hard Lessons reveals just how difficult it is, even with the best of intentions, to offer a quality education to every child in America. The story of E.C. Reems Academy offers invaluable lessons for anyone interested in America's most pressing domestic concern. At once harrowing and hopeful, and in the finest tradition of modern nonfiction, "Hard Lessons is one of the most important books to come along in decades.
The National Park Service is one of the most popular federal agencies with the American public. But the agency charged with preserving and protecting the nation's most significant natural and historic places is viewed much more critically by its own employees. There are many reasons for this: evolution of the agency, political interference, poor leadership, failure to incorporate science into management of park resources, and a culture of cronyism and favoritism.After 29 years working for the National Park Service as a park natural resource specialist, and 15 years overseeing programs to preserve endangered black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs, a large bison herd, fossil resources, and native prairie at Badlands National Park, the author found himself targeted by elements within the agency. He spent two years in exile on administrative leave, prevented from working, but still drawing his salary while he fought back against the agency he had served for so many years. He learned hard lessons about speaking out when the Park Service fails its employees and the resources it's supposed to preserve. He faced retaliation and a ruined career without objective investigation or due process, and almost completely in secret. Cases like his are surprisingly common in an agency so concerned about its public image, with secrecy protecting its actions from scrutiny. This book describes this case and shows how it reflects greater problems in the agency. It places the actions against one individual within the context of the many Park Service employees treated similarly in recent years. The author provides context for how the National Park Service has changed in the 21st century and examines how those changes are reflective of the political division in the country today. He also offers solutions to make the agency a better steward of the nation's treasures and a more welcoming place to work.