I’m filing
this one under my Pax Americana folder, not my Iraq folder. It seems to
contradict what I understood to be a transfer to the NSA staff. Is this because they think Rice will
not be allowed to administer the funds, as an unconfirmed private advisor to
the White House, not a cabinet official accountable to the Congress? -
KWC
U.S. to
Create New Agency for Iraqi Contracts
By
Sue Pleming, Tuesday, October 14, 2003 @ http://news.findlaw.com/politics/s/20031014/iraqcontractsdc.html
WASHINGTON
(Reuters)
-
Anxious to speed up work in Iraq, the Pentagon is planning a new office to
oversee tens of billions of dollars in contracts, taking away some power held
by the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. officials said
Tuesday.
USAID,
which falls under the auspices of the State Department, has been responsible
for handing out many of the lucrative reconstruction projects in Iraq along
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The process of rebuilding Iraq has been criticized for being too slow
and for favoring U.S. companies. USAID says those claims are unfair
considering the massive task it faced going into Iraq, where the security
situation is still precarious and U.S. troops come under daily
fire.
The
new office, which will be based in Baghdad, is expected to handle most of the
$20.3 billion in new reconstruction work requested by President Bush to
Congress in supplemental funding for Iraq, U.S. officials said. Details of the new office were still
being worked out but it was expected to be up and running next
month.
The
move underscores tensions and rivalry between the State and Defense
Departments over the rebuilding of Iraq.
"It was felt that with so much money involved, it might be useful to
have another body," said one U.S. official, who asked not to be
named.
Plans
to create the Project Management
Office were first revealed at a conference in London Monday. It is
expected to be headed by retired Admiral David Nash, who is already in
Baghdad.
"Things
are coming in the direction of the Department of Defense taking over the (Iraq
reconstruction) project," John Shaw, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for
International Technology Security told the London conference.
Quicker
Results
Shaw
said progress to date had been slow, but he expected results would now come
very quickly with the Department of Defense running the show. "We are moving out of that gridlock,"
Shaw said.
USAID
spokeswoman Ellen Yount said the new agency would be an oversight and
management office for reconstruction work in Iraq. "We will support any efforts to bring
more efficiency to bear on the reconstruction of Iraq," said Yount. She said USAID still expected to play
a strong role in Iraq as many of the agency's current contracts ran for 12-18
months and most of those had options to extend.
"Obviously
we have not spent out all the funds and so there is ongoing work that will
take place. We will continue to have a contracting role," said Yount. She said USAID was prepared to take on
more work if the CPA wanted the agency to become more involved. "That decision
has not been made yet though," she said.
Last
month, USAID put out a $1.5 billion tender to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure
when money runs dry for a contract it gave to San Francisco engineering firm
Bechtel. That new contract is
dependent on funding from Congress.
Bechtel
is USAID's biggest contractor, with a $680 million contract to rebuild Iraq's
shattered infrastructure. Another $350 million is also in the works for
Bechtel's project in Iraq.
