I thought the Army Corp. of Engineers worked wonders, until now

[donsu]

http://scoop.agonist.org/story/2004/9/4/141448/6949

A torrent of raw sewage from east Baghdad roars from a giant pipe into a tributary of the Tigris River, not far from a U.S. military base named "Camp Cuervo." With a rancid stench that saturates the area, the stuff has been pouring into Iraq's main waterway since the U.S. military action to oust Saddam Hussein last year.

-snip-

"People are now basically drinking raw sewage anywhere downstream from Baghdad, which is much of the population," said William Fellows, a senior program officer for UNICEF who also works with the United Nations Development Program.

-snip-

It wasn't supposed to be that way. The coalition forces and their civilian counterparts were supposed to be fixing the sewage system of Iraq and millions of dollars have been budgeted for the work.

In addition, a massive $18 billion reconstruction package passed by Congress in November of 2003 set aside $675 million in taxpayer funds for sewage projects.

-snip-

A dizzying number of agencies have their spoons in the reconstruction stew: new agencies that come and go, with acronyms like PCO, IRMO, PMO and IRRO, as well as established agencies like the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, or the Army Corps of Engineers.
-snip-
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the world so loves america

[TexasProgresive]

1. Even with punitive sactions the Iraqi people-

managed to restore much of the infrastructure destroyed in Gulf War I. I remember reading that an Iraqi engineering firm put in a bid (even though bids weren't solicited) to rebuild a bridge for $100,000 to 200,000. The contract went to an American firm (KBR?) for 50 million dollars. If you want to rebuild a country and get it on its feet you need to start with the people. If they rebuild their own stuff it will give them pride of place. Besides that it will increase the economy of the area because moneys will remain in country.

[DenaliDemocrat]

3. Please don't blame the Corps

Times have changed. Used to be you had some great scientists and engineers who would get the job done and get it done right. Thanks to Bushco, almost all of the work is contracted out to other engineering firms. The Corps now just basically handles the contract mechanism with some project oversight, but even that is severly limited due to laws that state how you can or cannot direct a contracotor.

The problem is the contractor screws up, the Corps takes the blame. That is the biggest fallacy in government. Everyone says, "the government pays $65 for a toilet seat", nah..........the CONTRACTORS CHARGE $65 for a toilet seat, and if three contractors bid it that way, the GOVERNMENT has not choice but to pay for it at that price, as per wonderful laws dictated by our Republican congress.

Big business ravaging us again.

[ret5hd]

5. do not believe that the u.s. govt pays $65 for a toilet seat...

that is foolish. the $5 is spent on the toilet seat, the rest is used to fund black ops. that is how they fund those things.

[ret5hd]

4. ...because moneys will remain in country...

you have (maybe inadvertantly) hit the nail on the head, identifying the problem with u.s. foreign policy everywhere...the goal is not to increase the economy anywhere (much less iraq), it is to drain every last ounce of resources out of a country for the benefit of multinational corps.

[shadu]

2. Once again, bush f*cks the US

The U.N.'s William Fellows said that shortly after the U.S. military occupied Iraq, the United Nations attempted to repair the plant, at no cost to U.S. taxpayers. "When they ask us to leave we have no authority not to leave," Fellow said. "We have to obey the powers of the ruling government."

Bush kicked out the UN so he could funnel your tax dollars
to his buddies. The money was/is pouring into this project
and, as always, little or no work is done.