sewarage filled street in Falluja

In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen’s conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few results.

The abysmal Iraq results forecast what could happen in Afghanistan, where U.S. taxpayers have so far spent $90 billion in reconstruction projects during a 12-year military campaign that, for the most part, ends in 2014 .

Shortly after the March 2003 invasion, Congress set up a $2.4 billion fund to help ease the sting of war for Iraqis.

– A $108 million wastewater treatment center in the city of Fallujah, a former al-Qaida stronghold in western Iraq, will have taken eight years longer to build than planned when it is completed in 2014 and will only service 9,000 homes.

In too many cases, Bowen concluded, U.S. officials did not consult with Iraqis closely or deeply enough to determine what reconstruction projects were really needed or, in some cases, wanted.

The report also cites Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as saying that the 2011 withdrawal of American troops from Iraq weakened U.S. influence in Baghdad.

Read more: http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Mar-06/209025-too-much-money-spent-in-iraq-for-too-few-results.ashx#ixzz2MkN3DUhz
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

NOTE BY THE EDITOR: Let’s face it: The biggest junk of that money never reached Iraq. It was paid to US contractors who paid big dividends to their owners/shareholders and little actually reached Iraq. (I know, I was there…)