500lbguerilla
10-19-2005, 02:10 PM
Many Iraq projects may be dropped - US official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many rebuilding projects for
Iraqwill be dropped as security costs drain resources and with the growing awareness that more money must be spent to sustain Iraq's existing infrastructure, the top U.S. auditor for Iraq's reconstruction said on Tuesday.
In the coming year money needed to operate Iraq's existing health, water, oil and electrical infrastructure and to complete planned reconstruction projects "will outstrip the available revenue," said Stuart Bowen, the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
"Though the causes may be numerous and valid, the existence of the gap simply means that the completion of the U.S.-funded portion of Iraq's reconstruction will leave many planned projects on the drawing board," Bowen told a House of Representatives Government Reform subcommittee.
He said international donors should be pressed to make good on their pledges, and Iraq must crack down on corruption and tighten its budget to try to narrow this difference.
Bowen also said there did not appear to be adequate planning for Iraq's long-term maintenance of its new facilities. It will cost from $650 million to $750 million annually to run the new plants and equipment built largely with U.S. funds, and more for security, salaries and fuel, he said.
"If the U.S. and the world do not buy the necessary time for Iraq to be able to shoulder their own infrastructure, it will risk undermining, or even reversing, the value of the investments we have made," Bowen said.
Democrats pounced on Bowen's report as confirmation that the Bush administration's $30 billion effort to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and train its security forces was failing.
"He too has concluded that there is a great chasm between what the administration has promised and what it has delivered," said Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of California, the committee's top Democrat.
PROMISES UNFULFILLED
The Bush administration promised a massive rebuilding program after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple
Saddam Husseinand said much of the cost would be born by revenues from Iraqi oil.
Waxman said Iraq's oil production was still well below levels before the invasion. Similarly electricity generation and access to clean water remained at or below pre-war levels, he said, blaming the shortfalls on the administration's noncompetitive contracts and failure to secure Iraq.
Democrats also blasted the
Pentagonfor not having its own auditors on the ground in Iraq to track reconstruction, but instead doing the work from Washington.
"The fox, Halliburton, is guarding the henhouse," Rep.
Dennis Kucinichof Ohio said of the biggest contractor in Iraq.
The Defense Department's acting inspector general, Thomas Gimble, said the department "probably" should have "a bigger presence" in Iraq.
Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut, the subcommittee's Republican chairman, said the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq "shows symptoms of suffering the same spiral of delays, reduced capabilities and cost overruns that plagues major weapons programs at the Pentagon."
But Bowen cited "significant progress in Iraq, despite the widespread dangers imposed by a lethal security environment."
Of the almost $30 billion in U.S. funds for Iraq, just seven percent had not yet been committed, Bowen said. Because the infrastructure is under attack by insurgents, up to 26 percent of the funds have been spent trying to protect the investment, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051018/wl_nm/iraq_usa_reconstruction_dc
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not to mention the 9 billion that America stole from Iraqs coffers. Also of note is that Americans don't really know how much this war is costing them becuse the Pentagon is intentionally not keeping track (just like their murder of innocent civilians).
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many rebuilding projects for
Iraqwill be dropped as security costs drain resources and with the growing awareness that more money must be spent to sustain Iraq's existing infrastructure, the top U.S. auditor for Iraq's reconstruction said on Tuesday.
In the coming year money needed to operate Iraq's existing health, water, oil and electrical infrastructure and to complete planned reconstruction projects "will outstrip the available revenue," said Stuart Bowen, the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
"Though the causes may be numerous and valid, the existence of the gap simply means that the completion of the U.S.-funded portion of Iraq's reconstruction will leave many planned projects on the drawing board," Bowen told a House of Representatives Government Reform subcommittee.
He said international donors should be pressed to make good on their pledges, and Iraq must crack down on corruption and tighten its budget to try to narrow this difference.
Bowen also said there did not appear to be adequate planning for Iraq's long-term maintenance of its new facilities. It will cost from $650 million to $750 million annually to run the new plants and equipment built largely with U.S. funds, and more for security, salaries and fuel, he said.
"If the U.S. and the world do not buy the necessary time for Iraq to be able to shoulder their own infrastructure, it will risk undermining, or even reversing, the value of the investments we have made," Bowen said.
Democrats pounced on Bowen's report as confirmation that the Bush administration's $30 billion effort to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and train its security forces was failing.
"He too has concluded that there is a great chasm between what the administration has promised and what it has delivered," said Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record) of California, the committee's top Democrat.
PROMISES UNFULFILLED
The Bush administration promised a massive rebuilding program after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple
Saddam Husseinand said much of the cost would be born by revenues from Iraqi oil.
Waxman said Iraq's oil production was still well below levels before the invasion. Similarly electricity generation and access to clean water remained at or below pre-war levels, he said, blaming the shortfalls on the administration's noncompetitive contracts and failure to secure Iraq.
Democrats also blasted the
Pentagonfor not having its own auditors on the ground in Iraq to track reconstruction, but instead doing the work from Washington.
"The fox, Halliburton, is guarding the henhouse," Rep.
Dennis Kucinichof Ohio said of the biggest contractor in Iraq.
The Defense Department's acting inspector general, Thomas Gimble, said the department "probably" should have "a bigger presence" in Iraq.
Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut, the subcommittee's Republican chairman, said the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq "shows symptoms of suffering the same spiral of delays, reduced capabilities and cost overruns that plagues major weapons programs at the Pentagon."
But Bowen cited "significant progress in Iraq, despite the widespread dangers imposed by a lethal security environment."
Of the almost $30 billion in U.S. funds for Iraq, just seven percent had not yet been committed, Bowen said. Because the infrastructure is under attack by insurgents, up to 26 percent of the funds have been spent trying to protect the investment, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051018/wl_nm/iraq_usa_reconstruction_dc
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not to mention the 9 billion that America stole from Iraqs coffers. Also of note is that Americans don't really know how much this war is costing them becuse the Pentagon is intentionally not keeping track (just like their murder of innocent civilians).