The disbanding of the Iraqi Army and the cavalier attitude taken toward other Iraqi institutions were based on an assumption by American planners that the country was a tabula rasa, needing only new constitutions and fresh elections. The assumption was wrong, and over the next few years the perils of state-building became clear. Afghanistan proved no easier. Neither did Somalia or Libya. Understanding grew that these places that needed fixing had their own histories, their own unseen and complex dynamics, and that any intervention might well do more harm than good. Except in Burma.
