EU OKs $233M for Iraq Reconstruction Aid

[Noordam]

AP News


October 13, 2003
EU OKs $233M for Iraq Reconstruction Aid
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:55 p.m. ET

LUXEMBOURG (AP) --The European Union approved $233 million in reconstruction aid for Iraq on Monday, with Britain the only EU nation for now to provide additional funding from its national budget.

Britain said it would donate $439 million from its budget in 2004 and 2005, officials said, while the EU money would be spent in the next 14 months


...more at article.....

[Wickerman]

1. $233 Million?

That won't keep Rush in Oxy_Contin for a week, let alone finance a revolution for the benefit of an oil company. Nice job, Bush - yer fucking up yet another company - this time, though, it effects the entire planet.

[George_Bonanza]

2. LOL

Compared to what America has spent in the first months of the invasion, in the multiple billions, what effect will a mere 233 million have?

[Noordam]

3. Will Old Europe is in for less than 1 Billion of the Zillion

dollars Whistleass wants.

[Old and In the Way]

4. Works out to about 5 days of cost to maintain the occupation.

Whadda leader of the free world, eh?

[Nottingham]

5. 87 Billion vers 233 milion????? thats like pocket change

Well isn't that sweet! :bounce:

[Paschall]

6. Hmm, a wee bit short of the $5 billion the administration...

...was pressuring for.

Important points from the article:

"The EU contribution of $233 million is slightly more than 1 percent of the $20 billion the Bush administration has asked Congress to set aside for reconstruction in Iraq." ...

"The EU funds come on top of the $852 million the bloc and its 15 member states have already pledged in humanitarian aid since the war broke out." ...

"The $233 million contribution will go into a trust fund being assembled by international donors and will be separate from a development fund set up by the U.N. Security Council after the war.

"That fund holds revenues from Iraqi oil exports, funds from the U.N's prewar "oil for food" program and assets of the former Iraqi government. The U.S.-inspired Provisional Authority in Baghdad has resisted efforts by international financial organizations to scrutinize spending from the fund." ...

"The EU's initial donation of $233 million must be approved by the European Parliament where demands are growing for the EU to do better."