Reconstruction In Iraq at a Crawl, Auditor Reports

[LeighAnn]

Source: Washington Post

Provincial reconstruction teams, the civilian centerpiece of the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq, are making "incremental" progress in some areas and very little in others, a government auditor told Congress yesterday.

"Improvement . . . is likely to be slow and will require years of steady engagement," Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction , told a House panel.

The teams are designed to help Iraqis build and maintain democratic institutions, provide basic services and create jobs at a local level. There are about two dozen teams spread across Iraq, each staffed with a handful to several dozen U.S. civilian and military subject experts.

<snip>

But a review by the inspector general's office, published yesterday, concluded that the success of the strategy varies widely in different parts of Iraq and in different task areas, including governance, security and rule of law, economic development, administration, and political reconciliation. Overall, it criticized the program for lacking uniform guidelines and measurable objectives.




Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101802201.html?nav=rss_world/mideast/iraq

[TheDebbieDee]

1. Reconstruction in New Orleans is even slower............

Sorry, but I couldn't NOT share that thought!

[KoKo]

2. We Blew it Up and refuse to Rebuild it properly ....just so we can stay there?

How much longer are our Tax Dollars going to be given to re-construction that starves people, doesn't provide water or lighting or air conditioning much less the most basic of services?

It's like New Orleans. Millions or Billions gone to people who never did anything while people still suffer.

We need to recover that money.