Fables of the reconstruction. The Bush administration does not intend to seek any further funding for Iraqi reconstruction, leaving only $3.5 billion left to spend out of the $18.4 billion the US budgeted. Approximately half of all reconstruction costs spent so far -- $7.5 billion -- have been eaten up by increased costs due to the insurgency.
All remaining reconstruction costs will depend entirely upon foriegn contributions and Iraq's oil industry. But will foriegn aid come through if its too dangerous to work there? Can Iraq's oil industry pay for reconstruction when its output has been in a tailspin for well over a year, falling from
2.8 million barrels a day in May 2004, to
1.82 million barrels per day in January 2005, to
1.2 million barrels a day by November. and ending the year with a low of
1.1 million barrels a day in December?
As for the Iraqi infrastructure left to be rebuilt, water and sanitation is still poor in most areas, and electricity production, which looked promising last summer after imports from Iran and Turkey, has deteriorated again, falling to only
3700 megawatts in November 2005, essentially at the same level produced
in May 2004.
posted by insomnia_lj
on Jan 2, 2006 -
26 comments
