Send Yalies to Iraq
There's a reason the US' credibility amongst Iraqis continues to deteriorate. I suppose Halliburton wasn't interested in this job. An amusing Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
At Yale University, Jay Hallen majored in political science, rarely watched financial news stations and didn't follow the stock market.
All of which made the 24-year-old an unlikely pick for the difficult task of rebuilding Iraq's shuttered stock exchange. But Mr. Hallen, a private-sector development officer for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, was given the job immediately after arriving in Baghdad in September.
...[An investment company head] Mr. Elias's faith in Mr. Hallen, however, began to evaporate when the market's opening was delayed without explanation, first to the middle of this month and then into February. "Maybe someone older and more experienced could have gotten this done on time," Mr. Elias says.