THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Everyone Wants a Piece of the $18-Billion Man in Iraq
Rebuilding czar from U.S. has little to show for efforts. Better times are coming, he says.
By T. Christian Miller, Times Staff Writer
....Retired Rear Adm. David Nash gives the same answer to the skeptics who quiz him on America's long-delayed effort to rebuild Iraq: Better times are coming....
***
New and refurbished power stations are starting up weekly. Private contractors are finishing plans for building thousands of schools, clinics and infrastructure projects. Iraqi jobs in the program have soared from 5,300 daily employees to more than 88,000.
But at least for now, there is little to show on the ground. Less than $900 million has been spent of $18.4 billion that Congress approved in November. Of 2,800 projects designed to make life better for Iraqis — and in the process, safer for U.S. soldiers — only 214 are under construction.
Ordinary Iraqis and U.S. officials have expressed growing concern that although the U.S. aid is finally arriving, it may have come too late to win the sympathy of the people, who have endured more than a year of haphazard electricity, water and other essential services....
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-rebuild23aug23,1,7271308.story?coll=la-home-headlines