Iraq Reconstruction News 9 February 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
9 February 2007


1. Significant personnel moves. Dr. George A. Folsom has left the position of Director for Iraq Assistance Coordination in the State Department's Bureau of Near East Affairs to return to the private sector. Dr. Folsom started his service to Iraq's reconstruction in 2004 in Baghdad with IRMO.

2. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Weekly Update 02/07/07 https://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/pls/portal/url/ITEM/07251F2EFBCA801DE040A8C00B0741F5

3. Brookings Iraq Index 8 February 2007 http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf

4. Iraq Weekly Status Report 7 February 2007 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/80421.pdf

5. Reconstruction Teams at Premium in Iraq. Morning Edition, February 9, 2007 · One of the cornerstones of President Bush's new Iraq strategy is to have more civilian experts working alongside the military on what are called "provincial reconstruction teams." But while President Bush said there would be more teams going to Iraq, finding civilian specialists to serve there has not been so easy. And for now, military reservists are being asked to pick up the slack. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7299387


6. SIGIR: Fact Sheet on Major U.S. Contractors’ Security Costs Related to Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Contracting Activities http://www.sigir.mil/reports/pdf/audits/06-044.pdf

7. Meters Cost Iraq Billions In Stolen Oil. Atop Iraq's al Basrah Oil Terminal, heavily armed anti-terrorism forces stand guard — while the theft of the century may be occurring right under their noses. Tankers berthed at the sprawling platform, located off Iraq's southern coast in the Persian Gulf, take on the oil that is the lifeblood of Iraq's war-torn economy. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/08/iraq/main2451828.shtml

9. South Korea, Iraq agree to boost economic ties. TOKYO, Feb 8 (KUNA) -- South Korea and Iraq agreed Thursday to strengthen cooperation in various economic fields, including in construction, energy and information technology, South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported. http://www.kuna.net.kw:80/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=950272

10. Officials admit private security firm was hired under Iraq logistics contract. GovExec.com Army officials acknowledged Wednesday that a private security firm was hired under a contract for Iraq logistical support that explicitly bars their use, as lawmakers assailed the lack of transparency that arises from layered subcontracts like those employed in Iraq. In an opening statement at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, Tina Ballard, a senior Army procurement official, said North Carolina-based Blackwater USA had been paid to provide armed guards under the Army's Logistics Civil Augmentation Program, or LOGCAP, contract. That arrangement, a noncompetitive umbrella contract held by Halliburton subsidiary KBR for military support work, bars contractors from carrying weapons without explicit approval, instead stipulating that they use military protection. In the past several months the Army has repeatedly denied that security firms have been used under LOGCAP, citing assertions by KBR officials that they had never directly hired armed guards and were not aware of any inappropriate subcontracts. But a Tuesday letter from Army Secretary Francis Harvey confirmed that Blackwater had provided protection under a subcontract for military dining facilities. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=36088&dcn=e_gvet

11. Army Says It Will Withhold $19.6 Million From Halliburton, Citing Potential Contract Breach. WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — The Army announced during a House oversight committee hearing on Wednesday that it would withhold $19.6 million from the Halliburton Company after recently discovering that the contractor had hired the company Blackwater USA to provide armed security guards in Iraq, a potential breach of its government contract. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/washington/08waxman.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIraq

12. GRD 2007 Iraq Reconstruction Calendar and Photos http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/2007Calendar.pdf

13. Basra fishermen suffer security squeeze and fuel price hike. BAGHDAD, 6 February (IRIN) - Fisherman Mazin Jawad, 36, cannot look at his seven children without feelings of shame and guilt overcoming him. Without the income he used to have, he has had to take four of them out of school and taken 'luxuries' such as meat out of their lives. Like his fellow fishermen in Basra, some 600km south of the capital, Baghdad, Jawad has found it difficult to make a living since the government nearly doubled fuel prices at the start of 2007 and since security measures were tightened in Iraqi waters not long before this. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/1897d4a9c55122b94a17ded85be54113.htm

14. Insecurity and corruption hinder reconstruction, audit says. BAGHDAD, 1 Feb 2007 (IRIN) - Insecurity, corruption among Iraqi officials and weak US contract management have led to tens of millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction aid going missing, a new audit report said on Wednesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=57273&SelectRegion=Middle_East&SelectCountry=Iraq

15. IFB to organize conference on Iraq's economy in April http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093141452

16. Syria seeks Iraq's cooperation on oil exploration http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093141853

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