A new Washington Post article reveals that the feckless Bush administration blew off rebuilding Iraq in 2003.  Instead of securing the country and providing water and electricity to the Iraqis, the administration doled out billions to inept applicants demonstrating political and philosophical loyalty to Bush:

After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans — restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O’Beirne’s office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O’Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn’t need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.
 
O’Beirne’s staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade.

In sum, the administration sent “the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest.” Thus, there is more of a connection between Iraq and New Orleans than between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.  The article details lots of corruption and incompetency.  You won’t find it easy to sit still and read the sorts of things that have been done in the name of the United States.