Inspector General Details Failures of Iraq Reconstruction

[babylonsister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102418.html

Inspector General Details Failures of Iraq Reconstruction

By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 22, 2007; Page A18

The U.S. government was unprepared for the extensive nation-building required after it invaded Iraq, and at each juncture where it could have adjusted its efforts, it failed even to understand the problems it faced, according to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

In a stinging, wide-ranging assessment of U.S. reconstruction efforts, Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said that in the days after the invasion, the Defense Department had no strategy for restoring either government institutions or infrastructure. And in the years since, other agencies joined the effort without an overall plan and without a structure in place to organize and execute a task of such magnitude.

Lines of authority remained unclear in the reconstruction effort. With a demand for speed and a shortage of government personnel, much of the oversight was turned over to the contractors doing the work. There was little coordination among the various agencies. The result was a series of missed opportunities to address the unraveling situation, Bowen said.

"Many layers of management . . . made it difficult to determine who had ultimate authority over money, people and projects," he said.

Bowen, who briefed reporters yesterday, plans to present his report today to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The report makes nine recommendations, including one for legislation to organize departments and agencies involved in postwar operations along the lines of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act, which integrated the service branches, strengthened the joint staff and eliminated operational overlap. The report suggested a similar process to meld reconstruction planning and execution by the State and Defense departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

more...

[indepat]

1. Was there ever really any plan for major reconstruction? Was construction effort focused on 14

permanent military bases and a humongous $1B embassy and little else?

[appleannie1]

3. Yes, the plan was for Halliburton

and other cronies to make vast amounts of money doing nothing and for US tax payers to foot the bill.

[indepat]

4. Why are we so cynical? Or is it so obvious, anyone with a lick of sense knows?

edited for context

[babylonsister]

2. Kick! nt