The Decade in Review.(Scope)(Excerpt)(Decade overview).

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LIST NO. 6: THE TOP TACTICAL BLUNDERS

Bush's Katrina Flyover 43 surveys the damage from above.

Kerry is Swift-Boated He doesn't respond with enough force, speed.

De-Baathification Of Iraq's government

'Mission Accomplished' Bush declares premature end to combat ops in Iraq.

Sec Misses Madoff Blows chances to nab the Ponzi schemer.

Greenspan's interest-rate policy

Israel in Lebanon Hizbullah wins the PR war.

Aol-Time Warner New media-old media megadeal is megabust.

Gm Bets on Suvs Mccain rushes to D.C., 'postpones' campaign

'A BLOODY, CHAOTIC MESS' By Rajiv Chandrasekaran Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 1 didn't just ban high-level Baathists from top government jobs. It prevented tens of thousands of Iraqis who were low-level party members from returning to work in factories, in schools, in hospitals. This, combined with the dissolution of the Iraqi Army, transformed the U.S. effort to rebuild the country into a bloody, chaotic mess. It was only natural that, faced with no future in the new Iraq, many of the newly dispossessed would take up arms.

THE FED CHAIR'S FOLLY By Adam Davidson For nearly four years starting after 9/11, Alan Greenspan kept the federal-funds rate below 3 percent. For a year beginning in July 2003, he kept it at 1 percent. He had his reasons, and his supporters. But now we see things differently. When the rate is that low for that long, it becomes very easy to borrow money. People who could never qualify for a reasonable mortgage are handed a lot of money to buy houses. This led to the housing bubble--which, of course, led to the housing bust.

A 'SINGULAR MOMENT' MISSED By Jamie Kitman The aftermath of 9/11 was a singular moment when a strong, even patriotic case could have been made to usher in a new paradigm--for GM to say, "We're too dependent on foreign oil" and encourage the purchase of more fuel-efficient cars. Instead GM used its money, energy, and good will to put Americans in the biggest SUVs they could buy; it encouraged people to realize their most profligate desires. And all it took was one rise in gas prices for the bottom to fall out.

TOO MANY GIMMICKS By Markos Moulitsas I t was a campaign of gimmicks. Team McCain determined that victory depended on winning the 24-hour news cycle, so voters were subjected to one inane stunt after another. It was no surprise that when faced with the economic meltdown, McCain tried yet another gimmick. But it failed. A meeting at the White House was a PR disaster, Republicans wouldn't defend him, and, after first saying he wouldn't debate without a bailout plan in place, he blinked. The implosion was complete.

Source Citation
"The Decade in Review." Newsweek 23 Nov. 2009: 10. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 Dec. 2009. .

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