The Iraqi Catch-22
John D. Negroponte, US Ambassador to Iraq, has just requested that the billions of US dollars earmarked for the upgrading of infrastructure in Iraq should rather be put to improving the security situation. The problem is that it is a viscous circle. Many of the Iraqi nationals that have been encouraged by Islamic insurgents to take up arms against the US and Iraqi soldiers have undertaken to do so because of a distinct lack of improvement in the standard of living a year after the US-led invasion. These nationals are incredibly frustrated by the lack of improvements in infrastructure, which makes it all the more simple for insurgents to recruit new blood. The US has to find a way to build infrastructure and security at the same time.