Woodworking in Iraq -- Guest Editorial

KQED.org, based in San Francisco, recently featured "Woodworking in Iraq" by my Squaw Valley writing cohort, Andrew Wiener. It's intelligently written and well presented -- give it a listen by clicking here, or by reading the version below:

Take it from an amateur woodworker who thrives on do-it-yourself kits, building a democracy in Iraq is a lot like building a Murphy bed. The Murphy bed kit that I bought provided a materials list, clearly written instructions, and though it promised to include all of the necessary hardware, had a few missing parts that would create some problems, but that Perseverance would be sure to solve. I could fault the designer’s claim that the project could be completed in just a matter of hours, but I won’t, because it did take just a matter of hours, just more than I anticipated. But alas, an unforeseen result: the lumber yard affixed to every piece of finished wood, a sticker confirming dimension and price, and after these tagged pieces of wood had been cut and assembled, there remained the task of removing the stickers before applying wood finish. But these stickers weren’t easily removed. They tore in uneven strips, leaving ultra-thin streaks of adhesive that came off only through gentle scraping that took, well, a matter of hours. It was only then realized that the space beneath each sticker had never seen the light of day, leaving dark rectangles, randomly scattered, that no natural finish could hide. I should have learned from this experience, but instead relented to a walnut stain to hide the mistake, even though the grain shouted oak, and forged ahead to build a matching cabinet, as if Confidence alone could prevent this project from also having an unplanned result for which an ill-matched solution would have to be fashioned. And therein lies a lesson for President Bush, the ultimate do-it-yourselfer. With similar self-deceiving confidence, and according to his own clear instructions on how to build a democracy in Iraq, this President is waging a war with many problems that have yet to see the light of day, with missing pieces that no military toolshed can replace, and which, after many, many more hours, will result in something quite different than he originally intended.