Iraq Reconstruction News 11 February 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
11 February 2007


1. Ankara seeks US help in oil row, says Bryza. 10 February 2007. The Turkish government has appealed to the United States to encourage the Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq to comply with energy agreements, Matt Bryza, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told the Turkish Daily News in an exclusive interview. http://www.today.az/news/politics/36250.html

2. Reports Fault Oversight of Iraq Police Program. Millions Paid to Contractors Squandered on Unauthorized Work, Shoddy Facilities, U.S. Auditors Say. The U.S. government has squandered millions of dollars intended for police training programs in Iraq because of rampant problems overseeing contractors, according to federal reviews released yesterday. In one case, contractors building a camp for American trainers constructed an Olympic-size swimming pool that hadn't been ordered. In another, human waste reportedly continues to leak from plumbing fixtures at a barracks for Iraqi police recruits, a year after the problem was first identified and despite assurances from the contractor that the problem was being fixed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001801.html?nav=rss_world/mideast/iraq

3. Iraq Rearmament Program Heavy on Weapons, Short on Logistics. Despite flat oil exports and a struggling economy, Iraq has embarked on a comprehensive program to re-arm its embattled security forces. The country is buying American patrol planes, Italian naval vessels, Russian helicopters and armored vehicles co-produced by American and British firms. The new equipment is utilitarian stuff -- optimized for patrols in and over Iraq's teeming cities and on its smuggler-infested waters rather than for attacks on external foes -- and reflects the complete inward focus of Iraq's military. But the purchases do little to solve the forces' nearly complete lack of logistics capability. http://worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=514

4. A Forum in Amman to enhance economic partnership between Iraqis and their foreign counterparts http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3087

5. Security Contracts to Continue in Iraq. New Top Commander Counts Hired Guards Among His Assets. The Defense Department plans to continue hiring private contractors to provide security at reconstruction projects in Iraq and to train U.S. and Iraqi military officers in counterinsurgency, despite problems with past contracts for such jobs that traditionally have been done by military personnel. The contracting out of these wartime activities comes at a time when the United States is stretching its resources to provide the additional 21,500 troops in Iraq that are needed under President Bush's new strategy, which involves stepped-up counterinsurgency operations in Baghdad and the expansion of economic reconstruction activities. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/03/AR2007020301372.html

6. Syria hopes to resume cooperation with Iraq for the exploration of oil in Border Areas http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3086

7. Iraqi group unveils 'billion-dollar' Kurdish trade centre. ARBIL, Iraq, Feb 9, 2007 (AFP) - An Iraqi consortium has completed the first stage of what was billed Friday as the billion-dollar Nishan Trade Center in Arbil, northern Iraq and is to boast three 25-storey office towers. http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA432040143551/SecCountries/pagIraq

8. Rural programs a key target of new US aid to Iraq. BAGHDAD, Feb 7, 2007 (AFP) - Iraq will spend 10 billion dollars to rebuild the war-ravaged nation this year and the United States will add 2.3 billion more, with rural programs to be a leading recipient of US aid, experts say. http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA114038073601/SecCountries/pagIraq

9. Minister of Planning: optimistic about the investment allocations. The Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, Dr. Ali Baban, expressed his optimism about the investment allocations within the budget of 2007, pointing out that the achievements of the budget for the past year were modest. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3118

10. FRIGHTFUL COMMUTE Baghdad workers, students are exposed daily to bodies, gunbattles and kidnappings. Baghdad -- During a bus ride to his morning classes one day last month, student Ali Makki and his fellow passengers came upon the aftermath of a roadside bombing. The attack forced the bus to detour along the outskirts of the city, where it encountered a wandering gang of militants armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/25/MNGAUNOPVL1.DTL

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