  Open-flavor strong decays are mediated by $q\bar q$ pair production, which is
known to occur dominantly with \3p0 quantum numbers. The relation of the
phenomenological \3p0 model of these decays to ``microscopic" QCD decay
mechanisms has never been clearly established. In this paper we investigate
$q\bar q$ meson decay amplitudes assuming pair production from the scalar
confining interaction (sKs) and from one gluon exchange (OGE). sKs pair
production predicts decay amplitudes of approximately the correct magnitude and
D/S amplitude ratios in $b_1\to\omega\pi$ and $a_1\to\rho\pi$ which are close
to experiment. The OGE decay amplitude is found to be subdominant in most
cases, a notable exception being $^3$P$_0\to{}^1$S$_0+{}^1$S$_0$. The full
sKs~+~OGE amplitudes differ significantly from \3p0 model predictions in some
channels and can be distinguished experimentally, for example through an
accurate comparison of the D/S amplitude ratios in $b_1\to\omega\pi$ and
$a_1\to\rho\pi$.
