Mayor Blitzes Iraq Schools

May 17, 2007 (GBN News): In what is widely viewed as an attempt to bolster his foreign policy credentials in advance of a possible Presidential bid, N.Y. City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today wrapped up a surprise whirlwind tour of Iraq. With Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in tow, the Mayor spent much of the time visiting the country’s schools.

Mr. Bloomberg praised the war effort, saying that it has clearly led to a massive reorganization of the Iraqi school system. Many of the schools visited by the Mayor and Chancellor were heavily damaged or uninhabitable. Mr. Klein was impressed, calling this a “perfect example of creative destruction”, an approach championed by business guru Jack Welch, and said “sometimes you have to destroy the schools in order to save them”.

The Mayor was distressed at the large number of children who carry cell phones to school, saying that the country needs a stricter policy like the total ban in the New York City schools. He dismissed the concerns voiced by Iraqi parents who feel that their children need them for safety reasons in the face of pervasive sectarian violence. The Mayor insisted that parents only want the phones to coordinate dinner plans, and said that if the children don’t make it home for dinner safely, “there will just be more leftovers”. The Chancellor added that this could also bring down class size.

Mr. Bloomberg also dismissed criticism that Iraqi schools only have one choice of a School Support Organization. The Mayor said that the organization, Halliburton, is the best at what they do, and they already have “boots on the ground”. He did note, however, that the reconstruction contract will soon be taken over by the corporate “turnaround” firm Alvarez and Marsal, which he said has experience “taking destruction to a whole new level” in New Orleans.