http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/business/view.asp?msgID=2235US spends less than $2.8b out of $18.4b of Iraqi rebuilding fund
WASHINGTON (Agencies):
The government has spent less than $2.8 billion of the $18.4 billion that Congress provided half a year ago for rebuilding Iraq, despite the cries of urgency that accompanied President Bush's request for the money. Officials overseeing the massive reconstruction job cite security problems in Iraq and cumbersome contracting procedures but acknowledge they are disappointed with the pace. They say they are on track to push billions more out the door over the next few months.
"Of course we're not satisfied," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage testified Thursday to the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid. "We've got a lot of reasons why some things aren't where we want them to be, and security probably chief among them." Lawmakers and foreign aid experts say more should have been done to accelerate the projects, which include reviving Iraq's oil fields, fixing its water system and stimulating private enterprise. They say the faster those initiatives push forward and the lives of Iraqis improve, the safer US troops will be and the quicker the American goal of a stability will be achieved in Iraq.
"It's a hearts and minds issue," said Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said the money is "an enormous gift from the American people, and we're not getting credit for it." According to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American-led agency that controls Iraq, the US government owed or had paid $2.77 billion for Iraqi reconstruction through last Wednesday. Authority officials said they have no breakdown on how much of the money actually had been spent.
The amount - 15 per cent of what Congress provided - is well below earlier Bush administration expectations. In a report filed with lawmakers last Jan 5, the White House budget office estimated that nearly $7.8 billion would have been spent through March, $12.7 billion by Oct 1. The slower spending rate also contrasts with the haste White House officials and legislative leaders said was needed when they were pushing the legislation through Congress last fall. The rebuilding funds were part of an $87 billion package Bush signed on Nov 6, mostly for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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