Speaking of
how countries are doing in the standings
, the newest Transparency International
corruption-perception rankings
are out today. Last year, the list had
the two nations we’re busy building
, Afghanistan and Iraq, way down at the bottom,
second- and fourth-worst respectively
.
How has another year of American involvement paid off? Afghanistan improved its raw score from 1.3 corruption points to 1.4, moving into a tie with Burma/Myanmar, but still second from the bottom. Iraq held steady at 1.5 corruption points, and remains fourth from the bottom.
Also Pakistan, our trusted ally in the Afghan campaign, slipped a few notches. And the United States itself
dropped out of the 20 least corrupt
. A few more decades, and the people we’re liberating really could be sharing in the American dream.
