Rebuilding Iraq gets even costlier (Bechtel)

[RamboLiberal]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/29/BU240074.DTL

The United States might give Bechtel Corp. more cash to rebuild Iraq's water and power systems, as sabotage and aging equipment drive up the cost.

Bechtel and U.S. authorities in Iraq have entered discussions about finding more money for reconstruction, now that all $680 million in the company's original contract to rebuild some of the country's essential infrastructure has been committed to specific projects.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Bechtel would get an extra $350 million. Company and government representatives said, however, that no decisions have been made.

"Initial discussions on raising the $680 million cap on the Bechtel contract are ongoing," said Luke Zahner, a spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which hired Bechtel to work in Iraq. "However, no formal request to raise the cap has been made to USAID at this time."

[xchrom]

1. but of course

who expected less from the bush regime.

[TahitiNut]

2. I'd be willing to bet ....

... that in the tried and true 'tradition' of federal contractors, Bechtel consumed a huge portion of the $680 million in "program offices" and in producing "preliminary" reports and studies. With over five years working in such an area (including a $12 million Indonesian project), I was appalled at the way such funds are devoured by REMF corporate bureaucrats and on various boondoggles before the hands-on folks are even brought on board to do the most fundamental work. I worked on proposal preparation (per RFP's) and associated project planning, and the obscene amount of "push backs" and parasitism I was forced to accommodate was maddening. The fat was huge compared to comparable projects in manufacturing businesses without federal contracts. While many merely attribute it to the "budget motive" vs. the "profit motive," I cannot cover it by such a simplistic rationalization. The pervasive (unconscious?) corruption is just too great. In effect, they wind up sucking the guts out of the actual work product in order to fatten the bureaucrats. It's nuts.