"Failing in Baghdad -- The British Did It First" Toby Dodge

Who, but an Englishman would be named, "Toby?"  Cute, faintly redolent of classes in 18th Century literature.  I should have studied more.  Echo there of a line from "Ghostbusters."

Nevertheless, this is a fine piece of work, highly relevant to our present predicament (some of us).   I think Dodge is a bit hard on the Hashemite monarchy, but, I am an admitted partisan of the Hashemite house.  This is a strange thing in someone as fixedly republican as I.  Back, before the Israelis and Jords had made their peace, an Israeli colleague (and friend) used to claim (jokingly I hope) that I was partial to the Bedu (as he called them) because I liked the "hugging."  Unkind.  The Israelis don't say things like that anymore now that the Jordanians are their "pals." 

Santayana said,  etc......

This is worth reading.  pl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301746.html