PUGalicious
10-31-2005, 04:51 AM
(Originally posted at The Subjective Scribe (http://scribeokc.blogspot.com/))
From The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/international/middleeast/31reconstruct.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130757750-xqjGmAU5d/IXOYq+KU/40A&pagewanted=print):
As the money runs out on the $30 billion American-financed reconstruction of Iraq (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), the officials in charge cannot say how many planned projects they will complete, and there is no clear source for hundreds of millions of dollars a year needed to operate the projects that have been finished, according to a report to Congress released yesterday.
The report, by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, describes some progress but also an array of projects that have gone awry, sometimes astonishingly, like electrical substations that were built at great cost but never connected to the country's electrical grid.
With more than 93 percent of the American money now committed to specific projects, it could become increasingly difficult to solve those problems.
Issues like those "should have been considered before," said Jim Mitchell, a spokesman for the inspector general's office. "It's very critical right now, with so little of the U.S. money left to be committed, that they're going to have to make these determinations very quickly."
> more (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/international/middleeast/31reconstruct.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130757750-xqjGmAU5d/IXOYq+KU/40A&pagewanted=print)
"Issues like those should have been considered before"? Sounds to me like a recurring theme within this administration. The president and his cronies' unfettered optimism blinds them to the realities of the world. There seemed to have been little consideration of potential issues that could occur as a result of our invasion of Iraq. It's kind of like there was little consideration about issues surrounding the appointment of an unqualified Brown to a critical post — FEMA director; and there was little consideration about the ramifications of selecting an underqualified Miers as nominee to the Supreme Court. And there seems to have been little consideration to the long-term issues of out-of-control spending and record deficits to our country's future.
In short, thinking seems to be a difficult exercise for Bush and his administration.
From The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/international/middleeast/31reconstruct.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130757750-xqjGmAU5d/IXOYq+KU/40A&pagewanted=print):
As the money runs out on the $30 billion American-financed reconstruction of Iraq (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), the officials in charge cannot say how many planned projects they will complete, and there is no clear source for hundreds of millions of dollars a year needed to operate the projects that have been finished, according to a report to Congress released yesterday.
The report, by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, describes some progress but also an array of projects that have gone awry, sometimes astonishingly, like electrical substations that were built at great cost but never connected to the country's electrical grid.
With more than 93 percent of the American money now committed to specific projects, it could become increasingly difficult to solve those problems.
Issues like those "should have been considered before," said Jim Mitchell, a spokesman for the inspector general's office. "It's very critical right now, with so little of the U.S. money left to be committed, that they're going to have to make these determinations very quickly."
> more (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/international/middleeast/31reconstruct.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130757750-xqjGmAU5d/IXOYq+KU/40A&pagewanted=print)
"Issues like those should have been considered before"? Sounds to me like a recurring theme within this administration. The president and his cronies' unfettered optimism blinds them to the realities of the world. There seemed to have been little consideration of potential issues that could occur as a result of our invasion of Iraq. It's kind of like there was little consideration about issues surrounding the appointment of an unqualified Brown to a critical post — FEMA director; and there was little consideration about the ramifications of selecting an underqualified Miers as nominee to the Supreme Court. And there seems to have been little consideration to the long-term issues of out-of-control spending and record deficits to our country's future.
In short, thinking seems to be a difficult exercise for Bush and his administration.