This story from the WaPo, via Instapundit, seems like a bright light in the effort to build trust between the Iraqi people and the occupying forces. So naturally the program it describes has been cancelled. Could it be that the fuss over making the rebuilding Iraq a loan rather than paying it ourselves brought this about? If so, the cancellation is idiocy. The assets of the Ba'athist regime should be returned to the Iraqi people from whom they were stolen, and I can't think of a better idea than using them to rebuild the country and create jobs for Iraqis.

Maybe somebody thinks that the program violates the contracts with U. S. companies, but if it does, the contracts need to be rewritten. One of the hardest things we have to do is prove to the ordinary Iraqis that we're not there to take the place of Saddam, but to help them. CERP is a powerful way to convey that message.