mary garvey-There is a very difficult line in dtermining how much force to use on looters. Too much, and innocents die, and the Iraqi people hate us for killing them. Too little, and the museums and hospitals are looted bare, and the Iraqi people hate us for not protecting them. I don't know if anyone can make definite answers on this, except that we are obviously not doing enough at the moment.

As far as the oil revenue goes, it certainly makes sense to use it to pay for infrastructure improvements. Anything that we destroyed, we should pay for. Everything that wasn't there before, like modernized hospitals, civil engineering, etc. can be paid for by the Iraqi people, just as any country pays for its infrastructure. I disagree strongly with simply giving the cash straight to the people. Until everyone has a house, food, water, and medical care, and a sovereign government is in place to continue providing these things, the money is more needed in centralized programs, which are usually harder to abuse than simple cash. It's harder to steal food stamps than bills, and less rewarding.