CNN REPORTS: $580 MILLION OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS WASTED ON IRAQ REBUILDING PROJECTS

Report: U.S. 'wasted' $560 million on Iraq repairs

Story Highlights
Special inspector general says poor security led to damaged facilities
Government "did not fully anticipate ... unstable working environment," report says
It reflects some optimism about improved conditions, increases in oil money
2008 oil revenues could exceed $70 billion, report says

From Joe Sterling and Adam Levine CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/07/30/iraq.reconstruction/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has "wasted" more than half a billion dollars in Iraq repairing facilities that were damaged because of poor security, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says in a report released Wednesday.

Stuart Bowen's quarterly report arrived at a price tag of $560 million by tallying the results of more than 100 audits his office has conducted.

Further billions had to be diverted from reconstruction to security because the Bush administration did not adequately foresee how volatile Iraq would be when it began rebuilding the country, the report says.

"The U.S. government did not fully anticipate or plan for the unstable working environment that faced U.S. managers when reconstruction began in Iraq," it says.

Contractors spent an average of 12.5 percent of their reconstruction contracts on security, the inspector general found.

Bowen's team also criticizes the government for poor coordination between agencies.
The lack of cooperation "contributed to delays, increased costs, terminated projects, and completed projects that did not meet program goals," the report says.