US officials defend Iraqi budget surplus

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - Iraq is paying for more of its own reconstruction but is still struggling to spend its multibillion dollar surplus as it copes with a flood of oil revenue and a cumbersome approval process meant to curb corruption, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Iraq could finish the year with as much as a $79 billion budget surplus as oil revenues add to leftover income the Iraqis still haven't spent on national rebuilding, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office made public Tuesday.

In Washington, senators renewed calls for Baghdad pay more for its own reconstruction, which has been heavily supported by hard-pressed American taxpayers.

"The Iraqi government now has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal to fund large-scale reconstruction projects," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_surplus;_

[jtrockville]

1. We destroy their country, then demand they pay KBR to rebuild?

What the hell kind of scam is this?

It's bad enough that OUR money is handed over to these thugs. Now Iraqi's must too? I mean... it's not as if KBR is COMPETENT or anything.

[bdab1973]

2. Many of the contracts

Are not through KBR. I am here now and I've had to deal with some of their contracting issues, and one of the reasons they haven't spent that much is because they are haphazardly signing contracts with the lowest bidder...and to date, I haven't dealt with a single contract through KBR, many of the contractors aren't even American.