U.S. repairs in Iraq may come too late, but...

BAGHDAD -- As he travels across Iraq, the man in charge of reconstructing the war-shattered country is greeted with a common complaint: If Saddam Hussein could rebuild the country in three months after the Persian Gulf war, why is it taking the Americans so long? Most of the $18-billion (U.S.) reconstruction program has been slow to get off the ground, and it has been delayed further by the chaos and violence of recent weeks. But the reconstruction man, U.S. retired admiral David Nash, dismisses the complaint. "Saddam Hussein had methods we don't subscribe to," he tells the Iraqis. "Besides, everything was held together with chewing gum and baling wire in those days." According to Mr. Nash, the rebuilding work is finally on the verge of dramatic growth. "We're poised now," he said in an interview. "I don't understand the criticism. We're moving along very nicely. The wheels are really beginning to move very rapidly now." But as the American money begins to flow, the key question is whether there is still time to win the hearts and minds of the increasingly embittered Iraqi people. I t might be too late. A new poll, to be released this week by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies, has found that 88 per cent of Iraqis now regard the U.S. troops as occupiers, rather than liberators, and that more than half of Iraqis want the troops to leave the country -- compared with just 20 per cent last October. The poll was conducted before the shocking disclosure of graphic photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, so the anti-American hostility is probably even greater today. Under the earliest prewar plans by the U.S. military, Baghdad's infrastructure was to be rebuilt by last August, with elections to be held last September and the troops leaving by October.  The reconstruction is far behind the original timetable. The budgeted $18-billion did not start flowing until January.

 

About $8-billion was supposed to be spent in the first half of this year, but in reality only about $3-billion in contracts have been awarded so far. (A further $7-billion in contracts have been advertised.) Most of the money is focused on police and army training and electricity projects. Some of the funds were diverted to pay for rising security costs, and $184-million in drinking-water funds was diverted to pay for the construction of a new U.S. embassy in Baghdad. "Many projects were delayed last month when armed clashes spread across the country, disrupting supplies and preventing many Iraqis from travelling to work. Scores of contractors and guards have been killed in recent months. "We weren't able to go as fast for a while," said Mr. Nash, who heads the Project Management Office, which supervises the $18-billion reconstruction fund. "But people tell us: Start working on reconstruction, and the security will improve." By some unofficial estimates, as much as 20 per cent of the reconstruction money is being spent on the private military contractors who provide security for the construction projects. The electricity projects were severely hampered by the wave of violence and kidnapping that began last month. Hundreds of Russian workers fled the electricity plants, and two major contractors (Siemens and General Electric Co.) suspended or reduced their work. Raki Raheem Mustafa, director of the main electricity plant in southern Baghdad, had planned to finish the rebuilding of four units by June 10. But supplies were disrupted by the violence, and 38 of his 103 Russian technicians abandoned the plant. Mr. Mustafa now expects that the four units won't be repaired until late July. He predicts Baghdad will get only 16 hours of electricity a day this summer -- far less than the full 24-hour-a-day electricity that had been planned. Mr  Nash acknowledged that electricity shortages will remain in Iraq for some time, but he argued that this is because of rising demand as the Iraqi economy revives. The number of air conditioners in Baghdad, for example, has doubled in the past year. In the next phase of reconstruction, the U.S. will put its emphasis on health, education and water supply.