The crimes of the US Empire's Iraqicide are legion: hundreds of thousands killed, rampant ethnic slaughter, trillions of dollars wasted, the hatred and repugnance of the planet.
But there was also the crime of destroying Iraq's once-sterling universities, a tale told here (the full report can be downloaded here). Note the techniques: the hiring of abysmally incompetent political hacks and neocon stooges, who knew nothing (and didn't want to know) anything about Iraqi culture or history; foreign aid which flowed into no-bid Halliburton slush funds instead of public services; and crazed ideological ultimatums which eviscerated the professional and teaching staff.
Sound familiar? They should be. They're the same techniques which have been used to ravage the US public education system for thirty years -- insider deals to benefit edu-profiteers instead of students, demonizing and scapegoating children (especially in communities of color) through bogus test schemes which simply do not work, busting teacher's unions instead of investing in schools, slashing and burning curricula and programs, etc.
Neoliberalism is guilty not just of war crimes against the people of Iraq, but against the children of America.
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