ABSTRACT
A commodity is something that people find valuable or useful. In an insurgency, popular support is clearly valuable. Therefore it is possible for insurgents to just as easily buy support-just like the example presented previously with Muqtada Al Sadr in 2004. Hamas has used similar tactics in providing emergency humanitarian aid before the official government can respond. The original intent of Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) was to enable commanders to "respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction requirements within their areas of responsibility, by carrying out programs that will immediately assist the Iraqi people". The goal of building the hotel was to provide investors a place to stay near the proposed economic investment hub and to demonstrate to the Iraqi people the efforts the government was taking to promote economic development and prosperity. People living in abject poverty may remain loyal to their government while more-affluent people rebel against it.
