CBS News just said US has put $9B into rebuilding Iraq

[Tactical Progressive]

and that a third of that has had to be siphoned off for security.

So what has the other 194 billion dollars been spent on?

[Eric J in MN]

1. Halliburton gave a little of it to someone who promised to

paint a school, and kept billions for itself.

[otohara]

2. Iraqi people are suffering widespread death and war-related injury

What are they doing with that money? Iraqi's are dying because basic services are still a mess.

From The Nation:

Living conditions for the people of Iraq, already poor before the war, have deteriorated significantly since the US invasion. This is confirmed in a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation. Based on a survey of 21,000 households conducted in 2004, the study shows that the Iraqi people are suffering widespread death and war-related injury, high rates of infant and child mortality, chronic malnutrition and illness among children, low rates of life expectancy and significant setbacks with regard to the role of women in society.

Malnutrition among small children in Iraq is widespread. Nearly one-quarter of Iraqi children now suffer chronic malnutrition, and 8 percent suffer acute malnutrition. Illness levels among Iraqi children are also high, which is partly the result of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. According to the report, "compared to other countries in the region and to the earlier data from Iraq...the supply of safe and stable water...has deteriorated." There has also been "a steep deterioration in the sanitary situation." Forty percent of urban households report sewage in the streets of their neighborhoods.

The UNDP study found that infant and child mortality rates remain high, although there is much uncertainty about the exact numbers. The evidence "indicates a progressive worsening of the situation for children." High infant mortality rates in Iraq contrast with declining infant mortality rates in neighboring countries. In most of the world, including the surrounding countries, mortality rates for children have steadily fallen over the decades. In Iraq, however, child mortality rates have climbed. This translates into thousands of "excess" infant deaths every year. These are the quiet, unseen victims of the continuing tragedy in Iraq.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050801&s=cortright

[Tactical Progressive]

5. It's going to cost Americans over $300B

before it's over. I guess that'll be $9B for rebuilding Iraq at the current allocation. I'll bet if we had just given $100B to Iraqis to rebuild their country under UN control, the country would be in one piece right now and better, not worse, than when we went there.

And I'll bet that we could have made friends again with Saddam, as long as he behaved and without selling him any more nerve gas, and we'd have an inside man in the Middle East again.

Americans of course would be livid about spending $100B on 'furinade' and would vote in Republicans who 'don't believe we're the world's policemen'.

[babylonsister]

3. How about the guy who mentioned the

post-war problems that inevitably pop up? He said that right after they mentioned 5 dead soldiers yesterday; post-war my ass!:grr:

[bullimiami]

4. and how about the other 8 1/2 Billion that dissapeared?

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. Plus the billions that are disappearing

from all those Homeland Security funds.

[wli]

7. mostly pork

Very little actual security spending, apart from surveilling the ACLU and ailing elderly grandmothers with outspoken opinions.