US contractors giving up on Iraq with goal unmet

[sabra]

http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20061024-042508-2097r

US contractors giving up on Iraq with goal unmet

WASHINGTON -- Four months after US forces rolled into Baghdad, US President George W. Bush declared his goal would be nothing less than to convert Iraq's infrastructure into "the best in the region" - yet US contractors today are readying to depart, leaving that goal unattained.

Since Bush's comment of August 8, 2003, nearly $50 billion has been spent to create what the US Army calls a record of "historic and magnificent accomplishments," rebuilding a nation neglected by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and shattered by war.

"Iraq's reconstruction is the largest and most complex reconstruction project ever undertaken in a single country," the army added, comparing its scale to the US Marshall Plan that helped restore post-World War II Western Europe to economic self-sufficiency.

...

According to the Pentagon's estimate, insurgents have reduced reconstruction progress by about 11 percent.

What's more, areas of Iraq unscarred by coalition bombing or street fighting were demolished by waves of looters. A "Report on Iraq Reconstruction" issued last month by the Pentagon conceded, "Looting was on such a massive scale after the fighting that whole buildings were dismantled piece by piece with all of the machinery, copper wire, and other fittings, stripped and removed."

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Privatization sucks!

Not enough loyalty or focused people on the job.

[saigon68]

2. "STAY THE COURSE" shouted the AWOL CHIMPANZEE

[Tempest]

3. The contractor's goals have been met

They made billions in profits without having to work for it.

[gratuitous]

5. Yeah, I hope they didn't get stiffed on their bills

And that the contractors' invoices are paid in full and on time. That'll show them insurgents that they can't mess with the capitalist system!

[OneBlueSky]

4. so . . . they were PAID to do the jobs . . . but they DIDN'T do the jobs . ...

seems to me these "contractors" owe the American people a very, very large refund . . .

[Hugin]

6. I hope they weren't paid-in-advance...

on their no-bid contracts.

:eyes:

[NOLADEM]

7. To the contrary, the goals have indeed been met

They did not do the work, could not do the work due to situation beyond their control (security), got billions of dollars, and come home as the country disintegrates.

Don't see what here represents an unmet goal.