More bad news from Iraq. According to this report from the BBC, 6 out of 8 major projects are reported as not working by sigir, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. Just to size this up and say that it is not a liberal conspiracy, sigir was established by Congress in 2004 when the GOP still was in power to oversee the reconstruction process as much money had been wasted in Iraq.
Here are some of the problems that sigir has pointed out in this most recent report:
I have to say that this is really a problem here. Like awfully huge problem. But, people continue to say that we are succeeding in Iraq. I don't know what kind of success we are having if we cannot get basic things that are needed for the country's long-term vitality to work. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, that's not success, but in fact failure. Call me what you will, I just call them like I see them and this is how I see this one right now. If something improves, I'll be fair and say it does. But, let's be real, we all know that's not going to happen.
At Baghdad international airport the inspectors discovered that $11.8m had been spent on new electricity generators, but that already $8.6m-worth were not working.It was a similar scene at a barracks built for special forces in Baghdad where four large generators, each costing $50,000, were not working.
And at a maternity and children's hospital in Irbil a sophisticated oxygen distribution system was not used because staff did not trust it.
In the same hospital needles and bandages were tossed into the sewer system, which frequently blocked, because an incinerator installed to deal with such waste was not in use...
And at a recruiting centre in the town of Hilla faulty wiring was rife and blocked drains had caused the bathrooms to warp, inspectors said.
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