I tend to ignore former Enron advisor Paul Krugman, I did read where he smeared Simone Ledeen, though. Ledeen responds with facts about his crony job:

One of the greatest challenges we faced was the reluctance of Iraqis to disburse funds. Under the old regime, government employees were rewarded for withholding funds and punished — sometimes even executed — for spending money. This structure allowed regime loyalists to live in giant mansions surrounded by man-made lakes, while the average Iraqi suffered through summers without running water. These attitudes had to be immediately and drastically corrected.

Ask the Iraqis who got paid on time whether they were satisfied with our work. Ask the security-sector employees who received their hazardous-duty allowance (a bonus on top of their base salaries that resulted from the difficult security situation) about our competence. These are the opinions that matter. That we were able to pay the right people and on time — and that as a result Iraqi government workers did not demonstrate or riot during our tenure — meant we helped keep American marines and soldiers from being placed in additional danger. That is certainly something to be proud of.

The system is now up and running. Security personnel are paid, the budget is transparent, and Iraq is headed toward a modern banking structure.

Krugman is so virulently anti-Bush that I imagine he is spitting and cursing as he writes.