NYT: Iraq Rebuilding Badly Hobbled, U.S. Report Finds

[Pirate Smile]

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: January 24, 2006

The first official history of the $25 billion American reconstruction effort in Iraq depicts a program hobbled from the outset by gross understaffing, a lack of technical expertise, bureaucratic infighting, secrecy and constantly increasing security costs, according to a preliminary draft copy of the document dated December 2005.

The document, which begins with the secret prewar planning for reconstruction and touches on nearly every phase of the program through 2005, was assembled by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction and debated last month in a closed forum by roughly two dozen experts from outside the office.

-snip-
Seemingly odd decisions on dividing the responsibility for various sectors of the reconstruction crop up repeatedly in the document. At one point, a planning team made the decision to put all reconstruction activities in Iraq under the Army Corps of Engineers, except anything to do with water, which would go to the Navy. At the time, a retired admiral, David Nash, was in charge of the rebuilding. "It almost looks like a spoils system between various agencies," said Steve Ellis, a vice president and an authority on the Army corps at Taxpayers for Common Sense, an organization in Washington, who read a copy of the document. "You had various fiefdoms established in the contracting process."

-snip-
Finally a list of mostly large projects in several infrastructure areas, including oil, electricity, water, health care and security, was settled on. But a bottleneck immediately arose as the contracting process descended into chaos, the document says. One informer for the inspector general said there were "about 20 different organizations undertaking contracting."
"The C.P.A. was contracting, companies were contracting subcontractors, and some people who didn't have authority such as the ministries were also awarding contracts," the informer told the inspector general.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/international/middleeast/24reconstruct.html?hp&ex=1138078800&en=32492ab46ec24137&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[ewoden]

1. Well it's very preliminary to call screw up a screw up after all. . .

we ain't been caught yet in the real screw up.

[sabra]

2. kicking for the truth

:kick:

[truth2power]

3. Oh, wait...I thought the emperor said

there were already all these new schools, department stores etc.

Could he have mislead himself?? :rofl:

[Barrett808]

4. Funny how NYT doesn't mention the missing $9 billion

Even if the report doesn't, NYT could have brought it up. Billions "lost" under the CPA/Bremer/Allawi reign of misrule, and not a peep.

[Clara T]

5. American contractors leaving Iraq

American contractors leaving Iraq
Washington | January 23, 2006 8:36:09 PM IST
 

American private contractors are preparing to leave Iraq as US money runs out and government ministries take charge of the reconstruction effort, according to the Washington Times.
Fluor Corp, the engineering and construction giant and one of the biggest private-sector employers in Iraq, at one time had 250 to 300 people from the United States in Iraq, and employed roughly 20,000 Iraqis. But now, as the US-funded part of the reconstruction effort comes to a close, Fluor has, perhaps, 100 Americans left in the country and is phasing out the Iraqi jobs.

The Times said most US-funded projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, and it is unlikely that any significant new US funds will be forthcoming. Iraqi government ministries, which will be taking over responsibility for the reconstruction effort, tend to issue much smaller contracts that do not interest large US companies.

It quoted retired Col Paul Hughes of the United States Institute of Peace saying that the US Congress has made it clear that it will not provide any more money.
The World Bank had estimated in 2003 that it would take 56 billion dollar to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and the United States appropriated 18.7 billion dollar toward the effort, much of which went to build specific projects.

The non-US donor community pledged 13.5 billion dollar to help restore Iraq, but few countries are willing to fulfill their pledges amid a raging insurgency and perceived political instability. About 1 billion dollar of that money has been disbursed.
The Times report said Fluor's experience is typical of the large US contractors in the country.

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=228607&n_date=20060123&cat=World

[Pirate Smile]

6. kick

[struggle4progress]

7. Well, it always SMELLED like a big payola scheme for the crony crowd

[RazzleDazzle]

8. a spoil system among contractors too, no doubt

[stickdog]

9. kick