{"id":1018,"date":"2006-03-02T05:39:08","date_gmt":"2006-03-02T05:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"0"},"modified":"2006-09-28T12:09:36","modified_gmt":"2006-09-28T12:09:36","slug":"shop_and_aweno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/?p=1018","title":{"rendered":"“Shop And Awe”…No, Seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re not reading ‘Intel Dump’ regularly, you should. The J.D. Henderson article Joe cites below was great, and the post today by Kris Alexander<\/a> is as well.<\/p>\n

Shop and Awe<\/b><\/p>\n

\nDuring 2003, I was an intelligence officer assigned to CENTCOM in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. I worked hard to win, but the military machine of which I was a tiny part can only secure a partial victory. If U.S. trade policy were better adapted to the post 9\/11 world, we might ultimately win by dropping more currency than cruise missiles. Call it \u201cshop and awe\u201d.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I spent the initial phases of Iraqi Freedom in Qatar. Right after, we had declared \u201cmission accomplished\u201d, CENTCOM lowered the force protection level enough for a few of us go exploring the in the souk, or market, in Doha, Qatar. Two of us wandered into a shop selling beautiful Persian silk rugs.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou are American soldiers?\u201d the proprietor asked in accented English. Damn, the haircut gives us away every time.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYes sir,\u201d I replied. \u201cWhere are you from in the world?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIran,\u201d he stated glaring defiantly from under his turban–a challenge probably borne from watching too much \u201creality\u201d TV on Al Jazzera.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…go over and read the rest. I’ll spoil the lazy by bringing across his conclusion so I can riff on it:<\/p>\n

So, four years after 9\/11, why did our government spend so much political energy promoting CAFTA while ignoring trade with the Greater Middle East? Is the economic development of Guatemala more important than Pakistan? And why aren’t we demanding that the Europeans open up to agriculture imports? Currently the Iraqi and Afghani economies are clawing their way back into life. When they re-enter the global economic stage, will they run aground on Western trade policy?<\/p>\n

\nThe countries where we are trying to spread democracy need concrete evidence of our commitment to their long-term well-being. Last summer, the Bush administration fumbled around with the idea that we are no longer in the Global War on Terror, or the GWOT. The new term was GSAVE, the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. It\u2019s all empty semantics without real changes in our policy. Parts of the private sector are getting it right. Why can’t our government?<\/p>\n

\nAfter 9\/11, we were told to keep spending and traveling so the terrorists wouldn’t win. With some adjustments to our trade policies, we might have been on to something. So go buy a rug, and strike a blow for freedom. I know a guy in Doha who will give you a deal.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The most powerful things we have in America are not our military. The most powerful things we have are our markets, and the attraction that we have for the Sumis of the world<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Intel Dump proposes that we win the war by “Shop and Awe”…they may just have something.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}