http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/11/AR2006111101076.htmlDespite Billions Spent, Rebuilding Incomplete
Bad Security, Poor Planning Plague Effort
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 12, 2006; Page A01
For a little more than $38 billion, the United States and its contractors in Iraq have provided 4.6 million people with access to water. They have distributed seeds to Iraqi farmers, improving wheat harvests. With electricity-generating capacity now above prewar levels, they have given many Iraqis more daily hours of power. They have repaired more than 5,000 schools and vaccinated 4.6 million children against polio.
The list goes on. But as the U.S.-led, U.S.-funded portion of Iraq's reconstruction nears its end, American officials and contractors alike are grappling with a cold reality: Thousands of successes in Iraq may add up to a single failure.
As the U.S.-funded portion of Iraq reconstruction nears its end, American officials and contractors fear that thousands of successful projects could lead to failure. There is no guarantee that most Iraqis will be able to benefit from the effort.
The United States has spent $38 billion on reconstruction in Iraq. About 88 percent of planned projects have been completed, but finished projects don't always add up to success.
"We accomplished a significant amount of work. But it was just overwhelmed by the overlay of violence," said Clifford G. Mumm, who has spent much of the past three years in Iraq managing projects for Bechtel Corp. "It's hard to be very optimistic."
............
"What reconstruction?" Othman said in an interview last week. "Today we are drinking untreated water from a plant built decades ago that was never maintained. The electricity only visits us two hours a day. And now we are going backwards. We cook on the firewood we gather from the forests because of the gas shortage."...........
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