money pit

Newsweek has a very long article outlining an overview of the state of reconstruction in Iraq. The $87 Billion Money Pit by Rod Nordland and Michael Hirsh in the November 3, 2003 issue. Hirsh will be answering questions on-line on October 29th.

Six months ago the administration decided to cut corners on normal bidding procedures and hand over large contracts to defense contractors like Bechtel and Halliburton on a limited-bid or no-bid basis. It bypassed the Iraqis and didn’t worry much about accountability to Congress. The plan was for “blitzkrieg” reconstruction. But by sacrificing accountability for speed, America is not achieving either very well right now. For months no one has seemed to be fully in charge of postwar planning. There has been so little transparency that even at the White House “it was almost —impossible to get a sense of what was happening” on the power problem, says one official privy to the discussions.