[Media-watch] Violence trumps rebuilding in Iraq - LA Times - 21/02/2005

Julie-ann Davies jadavies2004 at yahoo.co.uk
Mon Feb 21 22:46:06 GMT 2005


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-cuts21feb21,0,3116082.story?coll=la-home-headlines


THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Violence Trumps Rebuilding in Iraq
U.S. officials say soaring security costs have consumed $1 billion earmarked 
for badly needed water, power and sanitation projects.

By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer


BAGHDAD - Skyrocketing security costs have forced American officials here to 
slash about $1 billion from projects intended to rebuild Iraq's shattered 
infrastructure, dealing another blow to U.S. plans to pacify Iraq by 
improving basic services.

William Taylor, a U.S. diplomat who oversees Iraqi reconstruction efforts, 
said the country's violent insurgency had created a "security premium," 
gobbling up money that otherwise would have been spent to provide clean 
water, electricity and sanitation for Iraqis.

"The security premium is causing existing projects to cost more and take 
longer. We need to be able to pay for that," said Taylor, in an interview in 
his office in the capital's fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. 
Embassy and the interim Iraqi government. "We'll cut some projects, and we 
won't start projects that we were otherwise going to start."

The slow pace in rebuilding Iraq has raised protests from Iraqis, who 
continue to suffer from a lack of services. Many Iraqi homes and businesses 
have electricity only a few hours a day. Raw sewage still streams straight 
into the Tigris River, just as it did under former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi officials expressed frustration with the latest cutbacks, saying fewer 
water, sewer and electricity projects could further alienate Iraqis and 
bolster the insurgency. Already, one top Iraqi official said she had to cut 
back on plans to deliver clean water to residents of the often-restive 
cities of Fallouja and Mosul.

"I'm amazed at how a program meant for reconstruction that could have 
provided more services and could have effected stabilization could be cut so 
drastically," said interim Iraqi Public Works Minister Nasreen Mustapha 
Berwari.

When Congress initially approved $18.4 billion in November 2003 to help 
rebuild Iraq, the majority of the money was intended to improve electrical 
and water systems, which had suffered from years of neglect during United 
Nations-imposed sanctions. But the reconstruction program has struggled to 
take off in the face of violent attacks, intimidation of workers and 
allegations of fraud.

In the face of spiraling violence, reconstruction officials have shifted 
funds during the last few months to improve security. Now, the largest chunk 
of money, about $5 billion, pays for weapons, uniforms and other equipment 
to help Iraqi forces quell the insurgency.

Taylor, who has been mentioned as a candidate to replace U.S. Ambassador to 
Iraq John D. Negroponte, nominated last week to become the first director of 
national intelligence, said he was preparing to submit a proposal to 
Congress in the coming days to reflect further changes to the reconstruction 
plan, the third such modification in six months. Though final details had 
not been worked out, Taylor said the shift would involve moving money from 
water and electric to other projects.

As the reconstruction has focused on security, private contractors working 
on the rebuilding program have had to increase the amount of money they 
spend to protect themselves and their projects. Security costs now range 
from 5% to 25%, depending on the project.

The effect of the violence ripples through construction projects. A convoy 
of bulletproof cars and armed guards can cost more than $5,000 a day. 
Truckers who cannot travel on dangerous roads charge for sitting in parking 
lots. Attacks on electricity plants deprive cement factories of much-needed 
power, driving up the price of concrete.

U.S. officials had assumed that security issues would total about 10% of the 
money going into projects. Now, as the violence has steadily risen, 
reconstruction officials are estimating that an additional $1 billion will 
have to be tacked on to that figure, for a total of nearly $3 billion.

That means that an estimated $8 billion - or 43% - of the reconstruction 
money will wind up paying to improve security for Iraqis or for contractors, 
far more than originally intended.

Sen. Russell D. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat touring Iraq with a 
congressional delegation, said he planned to make sure that managers here 
were held accountable for the reconstruction dollars. A recent Inspector 
General report sharply criticized the oversight of $8.8 billion in Iraq 
funds by the U.S.-led coalition that ruled Iraq until the middle of last 
year.

"We are trying to figure out a way to make sure that we have some 
accountability in what America is spending," Feingold said.

U.S. officials said the latest cuts would hit water and electricity projects 
the hardest. U.S. officials said they were hoping to move some projects up, 
to get more immediate effect, while focusing their cuts on longer-term 
projects that would not have come on line for years.

The U.S. will no longer build state-of-the-art electricity plants or some 
water and sewage treatment plants, officials said. Instead, U.S. officials 
hope other donor countries, such as Japan, or private investors will step 
in, an unlikely scenario if the current instability continues.

The Bush administration's recent proposal for additional funding for Iraq 
included no money for infrastructure, but an additional $5.7 billion to 
purchase more equipment for the security forces.

But Berwari said the most recent cuts had caused her to immediately scale 
back plans for new water treatment plants in Fallouja and Mosul, meaning 
less clean water for 500,000 people in two of Iraq's most rebellious cities.

Berwari said Iraq's outdated water and sanitation systems must be improved 
to provide better health for millions of Iraqis sickened by waterborne 
diseases. Iraq has not built a water treatment plant in two decades.

"We need more than Power Point presentations," Berwari said, referring to 
the ubiquitous computer slide shows at U.S. government offices. "We need 
more water in the pipes."

Charles Hess, director of the U.S. reconstruction office in Iraq, said that 
he expected progress to pick up substantially in coming months.

The reconstruction effort has been dogged by criticism that it has moved too 
slowly. So far, about $3 billion of the $18.4 billion has been spent, most 
of it on the equipment for the Iraqi security forces.

Hess also predicted that upcoming changes would not slow the effort further. 
He is expected to depart at the end of next month as the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers begins to take over responsibility for reconstruction. 





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