NYT: Rebuilding Teams Would Swell Under Iraq Plan (info provided NYT by critic of plan)

[DeepModem Mom]

Rebuilding Teams Would Swell Under Bush’s New Iraq Plan
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: January 15, 2007

BAGHDAD, Jan. 14 — As part of its latest plan to stabilize Iraq, the United States intends to more than double the number of regional reconstruction teams and to add nearly 400 specialists for existing and new teams, in fields from politics and the rule of law to agribusiness and veterinary care, according to an official outline of the plan.

The document calls for the measures to be taken swiftly, in three phases, with waves of new teams and personnel expected to be put in place in March, June and September. The teams are to carry out rebuilding and governance projects from small offices all over Iraq.

The document, provided to The New York Times by a critic of the plan, lays out what an American official familiar with its contents calls simply “the playbook,” giving detailed estimates of the costs to be incurred by various teams as a result of the changes....While the plan does call for the creation of about a dozen new reconstruction teams around Iraq, most of the new personnel will be added to existing teams, the plan indicates. While 400 may sound like a small number compared with the plan to increase the number of troops by more than 20,000, the existing 10 reconstruction teams have, at most, a total of about 100 civilian specialists, and recruiting that many has been difficult, officials say....

***

Some of the projected costs may raise eyebrows. Around the country, for example, the United States plans to spend more than $2 million in office furnishings alone as part of the plan. More than $7 million is budgeted for information technology, apparently including computers. Some of that money may be used to support existing team members.

The new plans could become a windfall for more than computer and furniture companies.

The document’s last page gives a hint of the likely financing requests in support of the teams in fiscal year 2008, suggesting that protection alone may require $400 million.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/world/middleeast/15reconstruct.html

[heldmyw]

1. And $22 billion

for dayspas and Wal-Marts, as well as a continuing supply of Dr. Scholl arch supports, Diet Coke and Taco Bell franchises!

America rules!

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

4. Amen to that.

How fast can they steal taxpayers money.

[MadMaddie]

2. That's great...too bad the same type of resources can't be

sent to the Gulf Coast region to help Americans rebuild their lives and their regions.

Is anyone sick of this yet?

[babylonsister]

3. Total, utter bullshit. Whose pockets are being lined with this compared

to the lack of protection for all the new troops? Furniture and computers, when there's not a whole lot of electricity and the country is fairly demolished? My blood pressure is spiking, again.

[babylonsister]

5. PS Recommend for absolute outrage.

And they want to get this done swiftly, while they can. :nuke:

[VegasWolf]

6. Any civilian specialists want to stick their necks out in the Al-Anbar province? Somebody?

Anybody?

[babylonsister]

7. If the price is right and the protection is other than what the troops get? nt

[rodeodance]

8. the specialists and technicians have mostly left Iraq

[babylonsister]

9. Contractors or military, and I'd love to see a link. nt

[rodeodance]

10. I think it was msnbc that did a good segment on this

[rodeodance]

11. "nine new military districts" AKA 'gated communities"

..The Americans said that while they had reluctantly accepted General Qanbar, they had won concessions from the Iraqis in the appointment of two officers favored by the American command for the two deputy Iraqi commanders, one for the areas of Baghdad west of the Tigris River, the other for districts to the east.

Still, the new command structure seemed rife with potential for conflict. An American military official said that the arrangements appeared unwieldy, and at odds with military doctrine calling for a clear chain of command. “There’s no military definition for ‘partnered,’ ” he said.

Along with those problems, the Americans cite logistical issues that must be solved before the new plan can begin to work. Intent on using the large numbers of additional American and Iraqi troops that have been pledged to the plan to get “boots on the ground” across Baghdad, they are planning to establish perhaps 30 or 40 “joint security sites” spread across nine new military districts in the capital, many in police stations that have been among the most frequent targets in the war.

[tanyev]

12. How can they work from small offices all over Iraq

when they can't even leave the Green Zone?