Iraq reconstruction is not failing, says oversight guru

Stuart Bowen, the highly praised special inspector general for Iraq, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the reconstruction effort is not failing, even though it faces obstacles.

“The reconstruction program in Iraq has been fraught with challenge, a mixture of success and failure, shortfalls and successful projects achieved,” Bowen told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

{mosads}Though “much has been accomplished” through a $21 billion reconstruction fund, the inspector general also noted that Iraq is being rebuilt “virtually under fire.”

“And that means every project has cost more than expected and has taken longer to complete, and a lot of projects have not been finished,” Bowen said.

He received bipartisan praise for his work, just as members of both parties criticized the administration for its handling of reconstruction.

“It is simply outrageous that we are mired in the same mud of incompetence that we got stuck in last year and the year before that,” panel Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) said. “But knowing the administration’s abysmal track record on Iraq reconstruction planning, this is no surprise.”

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), the panel’s ranking Republican, noted that “serious errors have been made and continue to be made in the reconstruction process.” Other lawmakers echoed her concerns.

However, Lantos’s stinging criticism was not reserved solely for the Bush administration. He also blasted countries that pledged to help pay for Iraq reconstruction but failed to follow through on those commitments.

When Bowen hesitated in giving examples of which countries had not paid their share, Lantos said: “We are not afraid to embarrass countries which make commitments at a public donors conference and fail to fulfill them.”