Iraq Reconstruction News 29 March 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
29 March 2007


1. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on Iraqi Security Forces' Logistics and Command and Control Capabilities. GAO-07-503R, March 28.http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-503R

2. DoD New Briefing On Reconstruction In Iraq With Brigadier General Michael Walsh And Deputy Mayor Ibrahim Mustafa Hussain In The Pentagon Briefing Studio, Arlington, Virginia http://www.defenselink.mil:80/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3919

3. In Iraq, an Army Officer Battles to Open a Bank -- WSJ -- BAGHDAD, Iraq -- For Lt. Col. Dale Kuehl, one of the keys to bringing some semblance of order to the restive area that his troops patrol has been a small, squat bank branch. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117513386782152797.html?mod=special_page_iraq_1

4. Iraq needs money to spend money, official says -- Reuters -- WASHINGTON — Iraq's government has left about $12.5 billion in rebuilding funds from its 2006 budget unspent because it lacks the tools and expertise to allocate the money, the State Department's Iraq coordinator, David Satterfield, said Tuesday. Satterfield argued that a recent request to Congress for an additional $4 billion in U.S. funding would help address the problem. http://www.latimes.com:80/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-spend28mar28,1,1558266.story?coll=la-headlines-world

5. Satterfield: Iraq oil law will pass -- (UPI) -- The Bush administration remains optimistic Iraq will approve a law governing its oil and natural gas despite growing opposition. Ambassador David Satterfield, senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the State Department's Iraq coordinator, said a deal reached last month on the framework for the draft hydrocarbons law meets two of three points necessary for the military "surge" to be successful. http://www.upi.com/Energy/satterfield_iraq_oil_law_will_pass/20070328-095649-4969r/

6. Pentagon Supply Needs Help Revitalize Iraqi Economy -- AP -- WASHINGTON — In an Iraq jobs program, the Pentagon has helped reopen three factories shuttered after the 2003 invasion, seeding the ground by buying uniforms and armored vehicles from two of them. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262108,00.html
7. Analysis: Unions could sway Iraq oil law -- WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi parliamentarians are set to debate a law governing oil and natural gas resources, though backroom negotiations on the measure haven't concluded yet. Both the deliberation and the deal may be futile, however, if Iraq's oil unions don't give their consent. And the blessing of the more than 26,000-strong workers is far from guaranteed. http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20070328-011829-3353r

8. Analysis: Iraq oil union has storied past -- WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- Hassan Jumaa Awad wants Iraq's oil to stay under state control, and the unionists, who have long worked the rigs, to be supported in developing the national resource. But this is no request from the president of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions. It's a demand. http://www.upi.com/Energy/

9. Infrastructure Rebuild Costs Seen Over $100 Bln-General -- LONDON (Dow Jones)--The costs of rebuilding existing power plants and water treatment facilities in Iraq and constructing new infrastructure is expected to exceed $100 billion, the top U.S. official leading the reconstruction efforts in Iraq said Wednesday. Higher costs of labor and inputs such as raw materials like steel and cement are driving the around 40% rise in the figure since 2003, Brig. Gen. Michael J. Walsh of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in an interview by telephone from Baghdad. http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidDN20070321010136/SecMain/pagHomepage

10. Foreign firms want to develop Missan oil fields, official -- March 28, 2007 -- The authorities in the southern province of Missan say they have received several requests from foreign firms to develop the province’s gigantic oil fields. The officials refused to name the firms but said the relative stability which the province currently enjoys was luring both foreign and Iraq entrepreneurs to invest. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-28\kurd.htm

11. Fuel shortages cripple Mosul -- Azzaman -- Fuel shortages have almost brought life to a standstill in the northern city of Mosul. The severe crisis started with the suspension of fuel imports from Syria since March 22. We now receive less than 10% of the province’s fuel needs,” said the commission in charge of fuel distribution in northern Iraq in a statement. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-26\kurd1.htm

12. FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN IRAQ - AN UPHILL BATTLE -- MSNBC -- A few months ago, the watchdog group Transparency International published its yearly Corruption Perceptions Index. Out of 163 countries surveyed in 2006, only two, Myanmar and Haiti, were found to be more corrupt than Iraq. This country was described as "one of the greatest corruption nightmares on the planet." "That has to change" was the message delivered earlier this week by Boots Poliquin, the American director of the Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT) in Baghdad. "We want to try and develop [a] sense of accountability and transparency within the system of Iraq." http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/09/85910.aspx

13. Kurdistan adopts Dubai plan to boost development -- Gulf News -- A visiting Kurdish official from Iraq yesterday said the regional government of his province decided to follow Dubai's development model after evaluating a variety of plans from around the world. Othman I. Shwani, Minister of Planning in the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Gulf News that Dubai's plan was found to be the most appropriate for Kurdistan and his government will go ahead with it. "We need to modify the Dubai Strategic Plan to suit Kurdistan's requirements before putting it into force. We are convinced that the plan being adopted by the Dubai Government fits our ambitions and objectives compared to plans proposed to us from Europe or from Asia," he said. http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidGN_17032007_10111684/SecMain/pagHomepage

14. Iraq to control more of its foreign aid -- The fund representing foreign donors to Iraq will now include an Iraqi co-chairman who will help decide how to allocate aid money, an additional step towards getting Iraqis to assert more control over their own country's development, the outgoing fund chairman said Tuesday. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3455

15. Christians, targeted and suffering, flee Iraq-- BAGHDAD — In between messages of love and faith, Mushtaq Zanbaqa, priest of the Holy Virgin Chaldean Catholic Church in east Baghdad, has a weekly plea for his Christian flock: Don't leave. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-22-christians-iraq_N.htm

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