Iraq Reconstruction Stalled Amid Anger, Unrest and Danger
I lifted the title of this post from the article because I can't think of a clever thing to say about this. It looks like we're not even going to be able to pretend to leave Iraq by June 30 anymore.
Too Violent to Rebuild?
Iraq Reconstruction Stalled Amid Anger, Unrest and Danger
B A G H D A D, May 16, 2004
— At the Daura power plant here, there is a major problem: The turbines have been removed for badly needed repairs, but the German subcontractor overseeing the repairs fled the country in April because Baghdad is too dangerous.
No work is getting done at Daura. No smoke from the smokestacks. No electricity going into the grid. The power plant was originally scheduled to be back up and running to full capacity next month. But now it's been shut down indefinitely.
What that means is that 320,000 families in Baghdad will spend the summer with no air conditioning.
It's one example of how the recent wave of violence threatens the effort to rebuild Iraq. U.S. officials say at least 2,000 construction projects were expected to be under way by now. Only 42 are up and running.
Money is still flowing, but much of it goes to armored cars and hired guns. A total of $300 million originally earmarked for construction is now being diverted to security and administrative costs.
In fact, out of $18.4 billion in reconstruction aid approved by Congress last year, only about 5 percent has been spent.
