Cobb

This sounds great. But how can economic independence be built if every piece of the infrastructure is owned by foreigners?

Sully understands that. His whole project is dedicated to clearing the buildings destroyed during the conflict. It's heavily manually intensive and created huge numbers of jobs. It is a special boost to the economy which is commensurate with the damage done buy war's destruction. There are no assets to take away since it's a non-profit venture. Iraqis get the benefit of the organization skills employed to mount the enterprise as well as the direct benefits of the project itself.

Chief Wiggles got his work aggregated with Spirit of America, which made sense because of the similar nature of the contributors and operating model.

Would work between SoA and JumpStart be useful?

I must say I got a special pleasure in bringing news of JumpStart to Cobb's blog.

I've known Cobb electronically for some years, first under his Bohab moniker. I've even met him once and had dinner with him. I like him, and I admire is mind, spirit, and his writing.

But I'm an unreconstructed leftist and will vote against Bush this time around, as I did in 2000. So I do feel a bit dismayed that Cobb seems to have gone over to what I can only think of as "the dark side."

Beyond all that, I think that JumpStart is a remarkable organization and that any sane person would take pleasure in hearing about their work. It's the kind of thing I admire. That Cobb also admires it mean that, whatever our real differences about this election, there is something deep and substantial upon which we agree.

*****

BTW, Sean O'Sullivan was my boss when I was a tech writer at MapInfo, the software company he and three friends started. He's a good man. So I also take pleasure in being able to help publisize his good work.

It's rare that so many pleasures can be stroked through such a simple act.

Over here on the dark side, 'we' despair of government being able to accomplish, with flexibility and creativity, that which can be accomplished by individual initiative, top notch management skill and creative financing. What we do expect however is a military machine that is well-oiled, under disciplined civilian control and awe inspiringly ferocious.

In the cycle of life, the first can bloom in the ruins of the chaos generated by the second. And it is that continuity that is appreciated from this skeptical perspective. But it is also the recognition that the first type of group will never be invited by any dictator whose ways and means to power are through the suppression of people.

At the level of nations, the lesson of Saddam's fall is crystal. But it is the inability, even at this low level of conflict, for NGOs to operate independently of national armies that makes that lesson even more clear. When UN headquarters are bombed, when journalists are kidnapped and beheaded, when NGO leaders are assassinated, there are only the resources at the disposal of Western nations with initiative who can carry the day.

That O'Sullivan's blog is not up to date, and the last entry speaking of his destination as Faluja, is of concern to me. I hope we've kept him and his folks secure.

I happen to have been Sean's roommate one summer at Rensselaer. Bright guy with the best of hearts. I saw the full article on his life and JumpStart in the alumni mag last month:
http://www.rpi.edu/dept/metasite/news/magazine/fall2004/feature2-pg1.html

Incredible story. Came across this blog while looking for more info.