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Originally Posted by Trex
This sort of thing is not rocket science. I and a friend discussed it as the war was just starting. Truman's Marshall Plan kept Europe from going communist after WW2; a repeat would have done much to prevent the problems we see now. There are of course never any guarantees, but it was the best card in their hand - and they did not play it.
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"Trumans" Marshall plan?
IIRC it took George Marshall three entire years after the end of WW2 to finally get Truman to agree to that plan and then only after thousands had frozen to death in their own homes due to lack of fuel.
But I believe you're right. Once it got off the ground the Marshall plan did help a lot, however it also depended on the citizens of those countries recieving aid, especially Germany, to step up and do most of the recovery themselves. This didn't happen all that much in Iraq where in spite of similar aid programs the population as far as i can tell basically sat back and expected it all to be done for them while they engaged in settling old scores with their neighbors.
IMO what was needed in immediate post war Iraq was not a Marshall plan but rather
a period of martial law backed up by a huge military presence comparable to the Allied armies total and complete occupation of Germany in the first three years after the war ended.