As for showcasing "democracy," things are not much better. Of the $87 billion that Bush signed with aflourish for Iraq and Afghanistan, calling it the "greatest commitment of its kind since the Marshall Plan,"only $20 billion is going for reconstruction. The rest is for occupation -- for the 130,000 US soldierscurrently deployed in the simmering laboratory for democracy. Please, no more comparisons with the MarshallPlan. They sound hollow against the evidence of American companies are dipping deep and hard into the pot forthemselves, claiming refurbished and repaired schools on paper while sub-contractors disappear on the job.Water and power plants are running in Baghdad thanks to the ingenuity of the Iraqis splicing, cannibalizingand using decades of smarts earned from running an old, dilapidated system.