Violence, corruption slow Iraqi reconstruction: US watchdog

[Barrett808]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Violence, corruption and bureaucratic red tape are hindering the reconstruction of Iraq, according to a report issued by a federal watchdog agency to the US Congress.

"The deteriorating security situation across Iraq continues to impede progress in the reconstruction program, causing project delays, preventing travel to many sites, increasing security costs, and endangering contractors' lives," the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said in a quarterly report.

"Sabotage of Iraq's infrastructure, particularly in the electricity sector, hindered reconstruction efforts this quarter," wrote Iraq Inspector General Stuart Bowen.

Bowen noted setbacks in updating the country's aging power infrastructure.

"The power problem in Iraq is compounded by the fact that repairing power lines is nearly impossible because of sniper attacks and death threats to repair crews," he said.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061030/pl_afp/usiraqunres...

[Heidi]

1. Kick.

[RamboLiberal]

2. WP: Auditors Say Shift of Rebuilding to Iraqis Appears 'Broken Down'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

Ten months into a year-long effort to transfer control of Iraq's reconstruction to the Iraqis, federal auditors say, the government there is spending very little of its own money on projects, while the process for handing off U.S.-funded work "appears to have broken down," according to findings released yesterday.

The fledgling Iraqi government, in power since May, has about $6 billion this year to devote to major rebuilding projects, representing about 20 percent of its overall budget. But auditors with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction found that beyond paying employee salaries and administrative expenses, only a small amount of money is being spent on actual work. Auditors blamed "bureaucratic resistance within the Ministry of Finance, which traditionally has been slow to provide funds."

Auditors also found fault with the way the Finance Ministry is keeping track of U.S.-built projects as they are handed over to the Iraqis and said some of the U.S. data on the subject are "incomplete or inaccurate."

The findings speak to the difficult path that lies ahead as the United States attempts to turn over a decidedly incomplete reconstruction effort to an Iraqi government that remains beset by corruption and has had huge problems exercising authority amid rising violence.

At the beginning of the year, Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen Jr. labeled 2006 "the year of transition" as the U.S. winds up its dominant role in the reconstruction. But in yesterday's report, his office said the year is already into its fourth quarter and the transition remains "fraught with challenge."

[Erika]

3. And other than W redistrubuting our taxes to his global buds

Why are we there?