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From Joe Sterling and Adam Levine
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has "wasted" more than half a billion dollars in Iraq repairing facilities that were damaged because of poor security, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says in a report released Wednesday.
Stuart Bowen's quarterly report arrived at a price tag of $560 million by tallying the results of more than 100 audits his office has conducted.
Further billions had to be diverted from reconstruction to security because the Bush administration did not adequately foresee how volatile Iraq would be when it began rebuilding the country, the report says.
"The U.S. government did not fully anticipate or plan for the unstable working environment that faced U.S. managers when reconstruction began in Iraq," it says.
Contractors spent an average of 12.5 percent of their reconstruction contracts on security, the inspector general found.
Bowen's team also criticizes the government for poor coordination between agencies.
The lack of cooperation "contributed to delays, increased costs, terminated projects, and completed projects that did not meet program goals," the report says.
But the report reflects some cause for optimism about Iraq's future, even as it describes developments in economics, essential services, governance and security as a "mixed bag."
Iraq produced 2.43 million barrels of oil a day in the past quarter, which the report calls "the highest quarterly average since the 2003 invasion."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...rss_topstories
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has "wasted" more than half a billion dollars in Iraq repairing facilities that were damaged because of poor security, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says in a report released Wednesday.
Stuart Bowen's quarterly report arrived at a price tag of $560 million by tallying the results of more than 100 audits his office has conducted.
Further billions had to be diverted from reconstruction to security because the Bush administration did not adequately foresee how volatile Iraq would be when it began rebuilding the country, the report says.
"The U.S. government did not fully anticipate or plan for the unstable working environment that faced U.S. managers when reconstruction began in Iraq," it says.
Contractors spent an average of 12.5 percent of their reconstruction contracts on security, the inspector general found.
Bowen's team also criticizes the government for poor coordination between agencies.
The lack of cooperation "contributed to delays, increased costs, terminated projects, and completed projects that did not meet program goals," the report says.
But the report reflects some cause for optimism about Iraq's future, even as it describes developments in economics, essential services, governance and security as a "mixed bag."
Iraq produced 2.43 million barrels of oil a day in the past quarter, which the report calls "the highest quarterly average since the 2003 invasion."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...rss_topstories
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