You think we may owe the Iraqis some reparations for what we have done to them?

[NNN0LHI]

They haven't received any R&R throughout this 8 year nightmare we have put them through. Beginning with Shock and Awe and continuing on until today. Their country has been turned into a real life scene out of a Mad Max movie for all that time. What would you think if someone had done that to us?

[zipplewrath]

1. one could make the case

Alot of money has poured into their infrastructure. Alot has poured into the healthcare system. A full accounting would be interesting to see how much we still would own them.

[brendan120678]

4. Exactly...haven't we spent quite a bit...

...helping to rebuild infrastructure, train police, etc...?

True, we are responsible for the destruction of much of their original infrastructure in their first place - but I'd like to see a report on exactly how much money has been put into this rebuilding.

I do agree that we may owe some reparations for all of the civilian casualties that we've caused, whether accidental or intentional.

[NNN0LHI]

11. This should give you some idea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/09/iraq.rorycarroll

Iraq rebuilding under threat as US runs out of money

Rory Carroll in Baghdad and Julian Borger in Washington The Guardian, Friday 9 September 2005

Key rebuilding projects in Iraq are grinding to a halt because American money is running out and security has diverted funds intended for electricity, water and sanitation, according to US officials.

Plans to overhaul the country's infrastructure have been downsized, postponed or abandoned because the $24bn (£13bn) budget approved by Congress has been dwarfed by the scale of the task.

"We have scaled back our projects in many areas," James Jeffrey, a senior state department adviser on Iraq, told a congressional committee in Washington, in remarks quoted by the Los Angeles Times. "We do not have the money."

Water and sanitation have been particularly badly hit. According to a report published this week by Government Accountability Office, the investigative branch of Congress, $2.6bn has been spent on water projects, half the original budget, after the rest was diverted to security and other uses.

The report said "attacks, threats and intimidation against project contractors and subcontractors" were to blame. A quarter of the $200m-worth of completed US-funded water projects handed over to the Iraqi authorities no longer worked properly because of "looting, unreliable electricity or inadequate Iraqi staff and supplies", the report found.

[dysfunctional press]

14. how much was ACTUALLY spent on quality infrastructure work..?

and how much was skimmed off the money river by greedy and unscrupulous american "contractors" who didn't complete the contracted work up to any reasonable standard? or at all?

[JonLP24]

8. Infrasture is FRACTURED

Man-holes everywhere, ASR Long Island is the crappiest road I ever driven on in my life!! The guard rails are damaged everywhere. You can see signs of explosions, no street signs, no speed limits. People drive which ever direction on any road. However this was 2007 but I seriously doubt much has improved the conditions of the roads. Like I said again MAN-holes, not pot holes are everywhere!!

[pnutbutr]

2. $1.5 billion reconstruction contract

Contracts: Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction - Phase II

The purpose of this contract is to provide engineering procurement and construction services in support of an Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Program. The Contractor will assure the successful design, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and construction of infrastructure projects in support of USAID and the CPA assistance to Iraq in the areas of electric power systems, municipal water and sanitation services, road networks and rail systems, selected public buildings, ports and waterways, and airports. A secondary objective of this contract is to provide numerous employment opportunities for Iraqis and Iraqi firms, thereby injecting much needed capital into the economy. To ensure the sustainability of projects, an institutional capacity building component for operation and maintenance will be implemented for all sectors.
Contract Number: SPU-C-00-04-00001-00

Awarded to Bechtel of San Francisco, California on January 4, 2004.
Award Amount
$1,443,359,782




This is just a very small portion of the infrastructure and humanitarian assistance that has been done in Iraq.

[sutz12]

3. Done?

Funded, maybe. But done? I wonder.

[Echo In Light]

10. Isn't it corporate cronyism, destroying a country you invade, and have friends make $ rebuilding it?

[NNN0LHI]

5. Most of that was spent on mercenaries to keep the Iraqis at bay while we looter their oil

There was some news reports to that effect. They called it "security", but most of us know what that means.

Don

[pnutbutr]

13. link to money we made off looting their oil

[Echo In Light]

15. Wouldn't you just automatically denounce legitimacy of the sources if he did?

[pnutbutr]

16. only if they aren't legitimate

I've never seen anything about the US looting Iraqi oil and was curious.

[NNN0LHI]

17. Ever heard of Google?

http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/30/report_20b_of_iraqs_oil_revenue

Report: $20B of Iraq’s Oil Revenue Unaccounted For By U.S.

A new report finds that the U.S. handed over “power” to Iraq without properly accounting for what it has done with some $20 billion of Iraq’s own money. We speak with one of the authors of the report in British charity Christian Aid.

The Bush administration handed over power to Iraq without properly accounting for what it has done with some $20 billion of Iraq’s own money. This according to a new report published Monday by Christian Aid–a leading British charity.

The report points out that the May 2003 U.N. resolution giving the C.P.A. the right to spend Iraqi oil revenue required the creation of an international oversight board, which would appoint an auditor to ensure that the funds were spent to benefit the Iraqi people.

Instead, the U.S. stalled, and the auditor didn’t begin work until April 2004. Even then, according to an interim report, it faced “resistance from C.P.A. staff.” And now, with the audit still unpublished, the C.P.A. has been dissolved.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes: “Think of it this way: given the Arab world’s suspicion that we came to steal Iraq’s oil, the occupation authorities had every incentive to expedite an independent audit that would clear Halliburton and other U.S. corporations of charges that they were profiteering at Iraq’s expense. Unless, that is, the charges are true.”


http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=601

UN Panel Says CPA is Mismanaging Iraq’s Oil Revenues

In criticism reminiscent of US charges against Saddam's handling of Iraq's oil revenues, a UN-mandated oversight panel says the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority has mishandled billions in Iraqi funds.

June 24, 2004 – A UN-mandated oversight panel says the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is mismanaging billions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenues.

The International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), which was set up by the UN to monitor the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), issued the criticism on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The Fund holds proceeds from the sale of Iraqi oil, as well as assets seized from Saddam Hussein?s regime and money transferred from the sanctions-era Oil for Food Program.

According to Reuters, the Monitoring Board said the Coalition Provisional Authority falsely stated that it had awarded contracts for equipment to meter Iraq's oil production. The absence of such equipment makes it possible for smugglers to gain access to oil supplies, said the IAMB.

The IAMB also accused the CPA of delaying action for three months on a request by the Board that it turn over US audits of sole-source contracts awarded to Halliburton last year without competitive bidding, according to Reuters.

[pnutbutr]

18. Money mismanagement /= looting oil n/t

[NNN0LHI]

19. $20 billion of Iraq’s money from oil proceeds disappeared while under US control

What do you call that?



Don

[pnutbutr]

21. money mismanagement

Our government has perfect the art of it.

[NNN0LHI]

22. And the reason we lied when we said we were metering their oil but really weren't?

Forgetfulness? Right.

Don

[pnutbutr]

23. I dunno, do you? n/t

[L0oniX]

6. We need some reparations for what's been done to us first.

[MindPilot]

7. Most definitely Not Sure.

Yes, we invaded their country for no good fucking reason whatsoever, but the Bush administration also spent billions upon billions rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure while completely neglecting the US.

I think if any reparations are owed, it should be to the hardworking Americans whose life savings were eviscerated to bankroll Iraq.

[Mari333]

9. only if the money is taken out of the earnings and coffers of these guys

http://www.businesspundit.com/the-25-most-vicious-iraq-war-profiteers/?

[msongs]

12. give each iraqi a bible and be done with it? all you need is.... nt

[madokie]

20. Sure we do

Just hanging gw and cheney isn't going to be enough either although that would be a good place to start.

[ensho]

24. yes and we can pay for it and take care of S.S. and Medicare

if we close bases, stop the pentagon buying frenzy.

the military takes most of our money. that's insane.