Clay --
Thanks for your posting your query. It gave me a moment to consider the background for the letter described.
In his new book, University of Virginia professor Edward L. Ayers compares our current-day attempt at reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan with Federal efforts at reconstruction in the South. In my opinion, the parallels are quite striking. Ayers reminds us of the obvious (even if you're not a historian) -- that the U.S. government has been attempting this after every war since 1865, and efforts to learn from past attempts seem to be minimal.