The Bush administration does not intend to seek any new money for Iraq reconstruction in the budget request going before Congress in February, officials say.
The decision signals the winding down of an $18.4 billion U.S. rebuilding effort in which roughly half the money was eaten away by the insurgency, a buildup of Iraq’s criminal-justice system and the investigation and trial of Saddam Hussein.
Since the reconstruction effort began in 2003, midcourse changes by U.S. officials have shifted at least $2.5 billion from the rebuilding of Iraq’s decrepit electrical, education, water, sewage, sanitation and oil networks to building new security forces for Iraq and a nationwide system of medium- and maximum-security prisons and detention centers…
In a speech Aug. 8, 2003, President Bush promised more for Iraq.
“In a lot of places, the infrastructure is as good as it was at prewar levels, which is satisfactory, but it’s not the ultimate aim. The ultimate aim is for the infrastructure to be the best in the region,” Bush said.
The Americans, said Zaid Saleem, 26, who works at a market in Baghdad, “are the best in destroying things but they are the worst in rebuilding.”
Mr. Saleem says it all.
It doesn’t have to be true. It hasn’t always been true. But, Americans have given up on having governments that tell us the truth.
Could it be that Haliburton has TOO much money? Or is it that the government is out of it? Mmmm….
“In a lot of places, the infrastructure is as good as it was at prewar levels, which is satisfactory”
“The Americans are the best in destroying things but they are the worst in rebuilding”
How about this idea:
We rebuilt what we destroyed, now its up to a free Iraq to improve on it and make it even better than it ever was. Meanwhile we help give them with the Security to be able to do it.
Sadly, Jim — that’s a quote from Bush which, as usual, turns out to be a lie.
If you read the article, you’ll find that none of Iraq’s infrastructure is up to pre-war capacity.
When I was in the Air Force, I was part of what is called the “Lead Mobility Wing” for disaster relief. What we would do is go into an area that was devastated from natural, manmade or other disaster and determine what we (the US) could do to help the area (city, county, nation…) recover to the pre-disaster norm. We never once were told that we were to go into an area and make it better than it was.
The reason is that the US military is not a nation-building force, they are a war-fighting force. If you want nation builders, you need the UN, the State Department and the NGOAs.
The mission of the US military in Iraq was to defeat Sadam’s military force, capture Sadam, return the country to a semblence of law-abiding and reconstruct what we destroyed in the process.
That’s what they are doing.
Now, that isn’t to imply that our government doesn’t have a responsibility to help the Iraqis establish a working government and rebuild their society, we do. But, the key is to help, not to doit for them.
We have helped them stage their first free elections ever. We have helped them write a document that, hopefully, will be the starting point for a future government. We’ve helped them rebuild an infrastructure that has been neglected for the last 30 (yes, that’s 30) years, since the Iran-Iraq war.
Should we shoulder this burden alone? Not when the stability of the whole world is at stake. Why not have the UN and regional governments help pay for stability in the region?
Gary
I’m sorry. Where exactly does “Bush Bail”?
So lets see – first thre were teh people that cried we’re not doing enough – so we spent lots of money. Then they complained that it cost us too much (we’re making Haliburton rich! What cronies!) and that everyone was on the take. Now, when we decided it’s time for Iraq to do their own work, we’re bailing!?!
Puhleese! Dvorak, sometimes you fail to see the forest for the trees. Talk about knee-jerk…
Yeah, like I believe this. Bush will do what he has been doing for 5 years now. Submit special budget requests fo rforseeable and predictable expenses, to keep the official budget from looking as bad as it really is.
Unfortunately Frist and DeLay will back him.
Welcome to the New American Century.
“But, Americans have given up on having governments that tell us the truth.”
I think it would be fairer to say that Americans have given up on having news outlets that tell us the truth.
Anybody out there believe that five years down the road Irag will have a Western style democracy, or even want to?
J. Wofford, you make a good point.
We are trying to impose our American sense of democracy on a people who have never had a democracy.
But, whether or not the government they choose to implement, I think what we as a nation are more interested in is the stability in the region and, truthfully, access to the oil. Hopefully this won’t turn out to be a government that hates us worse than the last one.
G
Well, you know that they’ll need those prisons and an adequate police force to arrest and house all those criminals when they start getting caught for stealing food and water, siphoning off electricity from the grid, and defecating in the streets…
Sigh….
Garym, I pretty much agree with everything you said, but you lost me with this:
“Should we shoulder this burden alone? Not when the stability of the whole world is at stake. Why not have the UN and regional governments help pay for stability in the region?”
The thing is, the United States went in alone. If you do that before anyone else is willing, then say you shouldn’t have to do it all alone…well, you don’t have much of a leg to stand on.