Iraq reconstruction shows 'limited progress'
Need for extra security, money lost to corruption, hinder rebuilding efforts.
A series of recent reports by the US government, non-governmental agencies and private organizations shows that despite spending more than $9 billion in Iraq in the past two years, the US has had only "limited progress" in important sectors such as oil and power.
Reuters reported earlier this month that three US government reports released in July show "ambitious reconstruction goals
are falling short."
Soaring security costs are a major stumbling block in what is billed as the biggest US foreign aid operation since the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe.
Congress's investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office [GAO], said in its latest report that as of May 2005, power generation in Iraq was at a lower level than before the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Iraq's oil output, which US officials initially said would help pay for rebuilding projects, has also dropped in the past two years, said the GAO's report on Iraq reconstruction.
Stuart Bowen, the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, said two important concerns are "whether the US government could accurately predict how much it would cost to complete projects and whether Iraq's government could sustain US-funded work after it was handed over [to Iraqis]." Mr. Bowen said a failure on either one of these points would put at risk 'the important legacy of success that the US intends to leave."
Bloomberg says the GAO report also noted that funds intended to rebuild Iraq's power structure - electricity being one of Iraqis' main concerns - had been diverted to "to meet immediate needs in security and economic development and to fund smaller,
more visible reconstruction projects."
The Iraq Project and Construction Office reports regularly on many projects that have been accomplished by the coalition.
The
GAO report also noted that "In addition, according to senior military officials, the insurgency in Iraq has grown in size, complexity, and intensity and has affected reconstruction priorities."
Reuters also reported on Aug. 10 that the US Army Corps of Engineers said, "The Iraqi insurgency is
damaging US army efforts to leave an impressive array of reconstruction behind as its presence recedes in Iraq."
"Security increases costs by 10-25 percent, so we're not getting our value for money. Security was factored in at a rate of 9 percent – we didn't know it would be this much," [Brigadier-General Bill McCoy] said on a tour of projects at Taji military base north of Baghdad.
"We've had to downsize in some areas. It took $3 billion out of water and $500 million out of electricity," he said.
Corruption is
another concern. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in its Summer 2005 Report on Iraq, released recently on its Reliefweb.int site, noted the situation.
Problems with audit and transparency continued after the handover of power on June 28 [2004] and after the elections in January [2005]. They are well recognised by the new regime. Major western NGOs are finding the lack of transparency is a greater problem than security when operating in Iraq. They have seen significant amounts of money spent with few appreciable results, except in the Kurdish north.
Al Jazeera noted that Bowen, in his GAO report, "found
millions of dollars worth of fraud by US officials and companies." He said the US Justice Department was looking into the fraud his investigations had discovered.
Originally, it had been hoped hoped that Iraq's oil industry would pay for a majority of the cost of reconstruction. When some critics originally noted that the aged condition of Iraq's oil infrastructure
would make this difficult, there concerns were dismissed by the Bush administration. But the
GAO report says the "cumulative effects of years of improper management," as well as the attacks on the pipelines by insurgents mean oil production is still below prewar levels.
Reuters reports Friday that insurgents "
sabotaged" one of the few Iraqi wells exporting oil to Turkey.
Also...
•
Private security is consuming large part of Iraq rebuilding efforts (
Arabic News)
•
American ambassador seeks to scupper UN's global strategy with 750 amendments after just three weeks in the job (
Independent)
•
A soldier's welcome (
New Jersey Herald)
•
Iraq constitution is steeped in history but lacking future (
Daily Telegraph)
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Arthur Bright.
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