America's rebuilding of Iraq is in chaos, say British

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
Here is an interesting article from the London Daily Telegraph. Excerpt below, follow the link for the whole article:
America's rebuilding of Iraq is in chaos, say British

The American-led reconstruction effort in Iraq is "in chaos" and suffering from "a complete absence of strategic direction", a very senior British official in Baghdad has told The Telegraph.

The comments paint a grim picture of American incompetence and mismanagement as the Coalition Provisional Authority struggles to run post-Saddam Iraq.

"This is the single most chaotic organisation I have ever worked for," the official said yesterday.

The source revealed that Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, had "fewer than 600" staff under his control to run a country the size of France in which the civil infrastructure was on the point of collapse.

"The operation is chronically under-resourced and suffers from an almost complete absence of strategic direction," he added.
[ ... ]
Only one person's point of view, but it doesn't paint a very promising picture for our efforts to rebuild Iraq and get out of there any time soon.

 

Tal

Golden Member
Jun 29, 2001
1,832
0
0
Why do so many people choose a British news source. C'mon people, you have FOXNEWS!!!! What else do you need? :):) jeeesh
 

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Iraq = Viet Nam revisited.:(

If you want to look for bad news you can find it.

Power and water is at or above prewar conditions in most places.
Oil exports are starting.
That museum is opening soon, with only 30 peices missing.

Reconstruction does not happen overnight.
 

Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,983
0
0
Starting in January 2003, USAID awarded eight contracts and three grants procurement actions for reconstruction work in war-torn Iraq. Three procurement actions have been announced but not yet awarded.

The reconstruction awards include an initial incremental funding amount to start activities and a total estimated amount for the full duration of the contract. This total estimated amount is based on an estimated level of effort that could be needed for full performance of the contract. However, it is currently unknown whether this amount will actually be needed. The final amount could be less.

Each of the awards may require subcontract work or the hiring of additional employees. USAID prime contractors select their own subcontractors or employees. For information concerning employment or subcontracting opportunities, you should contact the prime contractor directly. For more information about doing business in Iraq, please view our resource page on commercial opportunities in Iraq.

Information concerning any future prime contract solicitations will be posted here in a timely manner. You may also wish to subscribe to our Iraq e-mail list to receive rapid e-mail notifications of significant USAID/Iraq news. For addition information, please see the USAID Reconstruction Contracting Questions and Answers fact sheet.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS/APPLICATION
Economic Recovery, Reform and Sustained Growth in Iraq
[ RFP ]

Issued June 6, 2003
Please note that this is a limited competition and other offers should not be submitted. The 10 firms in the limited competition are: Bearing Point; Booz, Allen and Hamilton; Nathan; IBM Global Services; Development Alternatives, Inc.; Carana; Abt Associates; Chemonics; Deloitte & Touche; and Financial Markets International, Inc
This RFP seeks to foster foster economic rehabilitation and reform for Iraq to stimulate the country?s international trade and employment. The tasks performed under this activity will facilitate responsible economic integration of Iraq with its regional and international partners to foster sustainable job generation, adopt international standards of production, harmonize economic policy, reinforce traditional trade linkages, and develop new trade partnerships. It is also designed to develop and implement a blueprint for managing the economic and technical work to assure the food policy safety net is available for those who may be unable to function on the private market once the U.N. food program ends.
Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq (ARDI)
[ RFP ]

Announced on June 4, 2003
This RFP seeks to expand agricultural productivity; rehabilitate the resource base; and restore the capacity of small and medium agro-enterprises to produce, process, and market agricultural goods and services. To achieve these goals, the contractor shall oversee the identification and effective, efficient implementation of performance-based program activities, leading a large, well-coordinated consortium of internationally acclaimed institutions with substantial experience and extensive international ties.
Higher Education and Development (HEAD)
[ RFA ]

Announced on May 29, 2003
This RFA calls for the establishment partnerships between U.S. and Iraqi colleges and universities to invigorate and modernize Iraq?s institutions of higher education. This program will facilitate the dispersal of development resources and technical expertise to Iraq?s universities and technical colleges, and engage Iraqi higher education administrators, faculty and students in the revitalization of Iraq?s higher education system. Funds will be issued for a twelve-month period, with the possibility of two one-year extensions, to up to six U.S colleges, universities, or higher education consortia, each responsible for partnerships with specific Iraqi institutions.

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CONTRACTS
Personnel Support
[ Award ]

Awarded to the International Resources Group (IRG) of Washington, D.C. on February 7, 2003
Contract provides for: technical expertise for reconstruction.
Award - $7.1 million initially.
Seaport Administration
[ RFP | Award ]

Awarded to Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) of Seattle, Washington on March 24, 2003.
Contract calls for: provision of initial assessment of Umm Qasr port in order to facilitate timely delivery of humanitarian supplies and other needed materials for reconstruction; development of improvement plans to overcome port-imposed constraints; hiring of port pilots to guide ships up the channel; facilitation of cargo-handling services such as warehousing, shipment tracking, refrigerated and other cargo storage; and coordination of onward transport of shipments from the seaport at Umm Qasr.
Award - $4.8 million initially.
Primary and Secondary Education
[ RFP | Award ]

Awarded to Creative Associates International, Inc., of Washington, D.C., on April 11, 2003.
Contract calls for: increased enrollment and improved quality of primary and secondary education, including ensuring classrooms have sufficient material by start of new school year (i.e., desks, computers, pencils, paper); facilitation of community involvement and other social mobilization to retain students; and development of baseline indicators.
Award - $1 million initially, up to $62.6 million over 12 months.
Local Governance
[ RFP | [ Award ]

Awarded to Research Triangle Institute (RTI) of North Carolina on April 11, 2003.
Contract provides for: strengthening of management skills and capacity of local administrations and civic institutions to improve delivery of essential municipal services such as water, health, public sanitation and economic governance; includes training programs in communications, conflict resolution, leadership skills and political analysis.
Award - $7.9 million initially, up to $167.9 million over 12 months.
Capital Construction
[ RFP | Award ]

Awarded to Bechtel of San Francisco, California on April 17, 2003.
Contract provides for: emergency repair or rehabilitation of power generation facilities, electrical grids, municipal water systems, sewage systems, airport facilities, the dredging, repair and upgrading of the Umm Qasr seaport and reconstruction of hospitals, schools, ministry buildings, irrigation structures and transportation links; goal is to repair or rehabilitate up to 100 hospitals, 6,000 schools (out of approximately 25,000), up to six airports, and one southern seaport.
Award - $34.6 million initially, up to $680 million over 18 months.
Theater Logistical Support
[ RFP | Award ]

Inter-agency agreement awarded to the Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP) on February 17, 2003; the AFCAP is a pre-existing arrangement for the timely support to and supplementation of existing U.S. Air Force contracts.
AFCAP will provide a broad range of logistical support services to USAID and its family of contractors engaged in assisting the Iraqi reconstruction effort; these efforts may include warehousing, customs clearance, trucking and provision of bottled water.
Award - $4 million initially, with up to $26 million over 12 months.
Airport Administration
[ RFP | Award]

Contract awarded to SkyLink Air and Logistic Support (USA), Inc. on May 5, 2003.
Contract provides for assessment of civilian airports and collaboration for the timely repair; management of civilian airports for the expeditious reception and onward processing of humanitarian assistance, reconstruction material and personnel.
Public Health
[ RFP | Award ]

Awarded to Abt Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 30, 2003
Contract provides for: supporting a reformed Iraqi Ministry of Health (MOH) at the national, regional and local levels; delivering health services; providing medical equipment and supplies; training and recruiting health staff; providing health education and information; and determining the specific needs of the health sector and vulnerable populations such as women and children.
Award - $10 million initially, up to $43.8 million over 12 months.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GRANTS
Community Action Program
[ RFA | Awards ]

Awarded to Mercy Corps, International Relief and Development, Inc. (IRD), Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), Cooperative Housing Foundation International (CHF International) and Save the Children Federation, Inc on May 27, 2003
Promotion of diverse and representative citizen participation in and among communities throughout Iraq.
Identification, prioritization, and delivery of critical reconstruction and development needs.
Back to School Campaign

Grant announced to the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) on April 8, 2003.
Grant provides for: promotion of a "Back-to-School" campaign aimed at the approximately 25 percent of children currently not in primary school; rapid assessments to determine the availability of school materials; establishment of temporary schools where none are functioning; training of teachers; the establishment of accelerated learning programs; and the development of an education management system for Iraq.
Grant -$1 million for one year initially, up to $7 million.
Health, Water, and Sanitation Services

Grant announced to the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) on March 28, 2003.
Grant provides for: restoration/provision of basic health services to the most vulnerable populations, focusing on women and children; support for primary health care services; fund essential medicines, vaccines and micronutrients; establishment a rapid referral and response system for the most serious cases; and publishing and distribution relevant health education materials and nutritional assessments.
Grant - $8 million for one year initially, up to $40 million.
Health System Strengthening

Grant announced to the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 28, 2003.
Grant provides for: identification of crucial immediate and short-term health care needs of the population; rapid restoration of essential health services for the population; and strengthening of the capacity of a reformed Iraqi Ministry of Health to manage the health sector including review and further development of health policies and health system management.
Grant - $10 million for one year.



and what are the brits doing? Other than making up wild claims like "Iraq can use WMD in 45 minutes" and passing them on......
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
Originally posted by: Alistar7
The U.S. will provide 590,000 metric tons of food, worth over $435 million, to feed the people of Iraq. In addition this food assistance, USAID is spending to date over $486,270,000 on humanitarian relief to Iraq. Organizations receiving this money include the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. USAID has also provided $90.9 million for reconstruction, including...

(sorry to interrupt with the facts again, but if anyone would like to see what the US is doing in Iraq right now there it is, or you can listen to a biased foreign source)
Sorry to interrupt your diversion -- again -- but if you read the article, you would note it is not at all about food. It is about governing the country and providing government services. It is about "inter-departmental fighting" between U.S. agencies. It is about increasing unrest and decreasing patience.

It is about a potential quagmire. It is your kind of "la la la, everything is peachy" ignorance that may turn this from potential to real.

Re. "biased foreign source", I can only shake my head in disbelief. Please return to Fox "News" for your daily dose of "Bush is God" articles.
 

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Originally posted by: Alistar7
The U.S. will provide 590,000 metric tons of food, worth over $435 million, to feed the people of Iraq. In addition this food assistance, USAID is spending to date over $486,270,000 on humanitarian relief to Iraq. Organizations receiving this money include the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. USAID has also provided $90.9 million for reconstruction, including...

(sorry to interrupt with the facts again, but if anyone would like to see what the US is doing in Iraq right now there it is, or you can listen to a biased foreign source)
Sorry to interrupt your diversion -- again -- but if you read the article, you would note it is not at all about food. It is about governing the country and providing government services. It is about "inter-departmental fighting" between U.S. agencies. It is about increasing unrest and decreasing patience.

It is about a potential quagmire. It is your kind of "la la la, everything is peachy" ignorance that may turn this from potential to real.

Re. "biased foreign source", I can only shake my head in disbelief. Please return to Fox "News" for your daily dose of "Bush is God" articles.

Like I said, if you are looking for bad news, you will find. If you are looking for progress you will find it as well.


Did expect reconstruction to happen overnight without any problems?
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
Originally posted by: charrison
Like I said, if you are looking for bad news, you will find. If you are looking for progress you will find it as well.

Did expect reconstruction to happen overnight without any problems?
I agree. Note that I said up-front it was only one person's point of view.

The risk of shutting out all bad news and accepting only good is that you ignore problems until it's too late (not referring to you specifically). If you want the whole picture, you need to look at good and bad both. A common problem in business and governement alike are bosses who surround themselves with yes-men; they have no clue what's really going on in their organizations.

Bush doesn't have a good track record about encouraging contrary points of view. I sincerely hope he knows what is going on in Iraq today, or we very well might have another Vietnam on our hands.


 

charrison

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
17,033
1
81
Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Originally posted by: charrison
Like I said, if you are looking for bad news, you will find. If you are looking for progress you will find it as well.

Did expect reconstruction to happen overnight without any problems?
I agree. Note that I said up-front it was only one person's point of view.

The risk of shutting out all bad news and accepting only good is that you ignore problems until it's too late (not referring to you specifically). If you want the whole picture, you need to look at good and bad both. A common problem in business and governement alike are bosses who surround themselves with yes-men; they have no clue what's really going on in their organizations.

Bush doesn't have a good track record about encouraging contrary points of view. I sincerely hope he knows what is going on in Iraq today, or we very well might have another Vietnam on our hands.

Well there seems to be no shortage of bad news posted here. Given the posting of bad news one would think Iraq reconstruction is a complete disaster, when it is not.

I wonder if there was think kind of hand wringing during the ocupation and reconstruction of japan and germany. I know we occupied japan for over 6 years before turning the goverment over to the people.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,265
126
Originally posted by: Sternfan
Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Iraq = Viet Nam revisited.:(

Happy Puppy should be put to sleep for being the Village Idiot.

HappyPuppy has seen more combat action than anyone here I know. If he sees parallels with VN, and you ignore it out of hand, you are the village idiot. His problem is he happens to be right.
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
Originally posted by: charrison
Well there seems to be no shortage of bad news posted here. Given the posting of bad news one would think Iraq reconstruction is a complete disaster, when it is not.

I wonder if there was think kind of hand wringing during the ocupation and reconstruction of japan and germany. I know we occupied japan for over 6 years before turning the goverment over to the people.
:D

OK, since you asked. I thought about including this op/ed piece in the thread, but decided it was of marginal interest. It is also from one of those evil "biased foreign sources", The New Zealand Herald, so you might want to close your curtains before you read it. It specifically mentions the Vietnam model vs. the Japan/Germany model.

US faces long, hot summer in deadly tinderbox

When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, American military deaths in Vietnam had just passed 50.

At the present loss rate, US military deaths in Iraq since the war "ended" two months ago will pass that total before the end of this month. Is this the start of an anti-American guerrilla war in Iraq?

Not yet, but it isn't looking good. In the early days many American soldiers' deaths were the result of vehicle accidents and the like, but recently most US casualties have been caused by Iraqi resistance fighters, and they aren't just sniping at isolated checkpoints.

They are ambushing US tank patrols with rocket-propelled grenades, making mortar attacks on American command posts - even shooting down an Apache attack helicopter.

American officials shy away from analogies between Iraq now and the Vietnam war almost 40 years ago, but it is getting hard to insist that the right analogy is with the post-1945 occupations of Germany and Japan.

For one thing, the pretext for sending US troops into Iraq - the fabled "weapons of mass destruction" - begins to look as flimsy and fabricated as President Lyndon Johnson's "Gulf of Tonkin incident" in 1964.

[ ... ]
I know nothing about the credentials of this publication, so enjoy it or not as you see fit:
 

Tab

Lifer
Sep 15, 2002
12,145
0
71
The American-led reconstruction effort in Iraq is "in chaos" and suffering from "a complete absence of strategic direction", a very senior British official in Baghdad has told The Telegraph. "This is the single most chaotic organisation I have ever worked for," the official said yesterday.

A very senior offical indeed! Great job at backing up your story!
 

Tal

Golden Member
Jun 29, 2001
1,832
0
0
Hey happy... were you in 'Nam? How long were you there? Did you serve in any other conflicts? It's good to see everyone backing you up on this one. I have to point out that I didn't say anything against ya, just that your namesake's website is cool. First site I knew of that had good resources for cheating on games. :) Thanks in advance for the bio. -TAL
 

Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,983
0
0
Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Originally posted by: Alistar7
The U.S. will provide 590,000 metric tons of food, worth over $435 million, to feed the people of Iraq. In addition this food assistance, USAID is spending to date over $486,270,000 on humanitarian relief to Iraq. Organizations receiving this money include the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. USAID has also provided $90.9 million for reconstruction, including...

(sorry to interrupt with the facts again, but if anyone would like to see what the US is doing in Iraq right now there it is, or you can listen to a biased foreign source)
Sorry to interrupt your diversion -- again -- but if you read the article, you would note it is not at all about food. It is about governing the country and providing government services. It is about "inter-departmental fighting" between U.S. agencies. It is about increasing unrest and decreasing patience.

It is about a potential quagmire. It is your kind of "la la la, everything is peachy" ignorance that may turn this from potential to real.

Re. "biased foreign source", I can only shake my head in disbelief. Please return to Fox "News" for your daily dose of "Bush is God" articles.

and keep making asum[ptions about which you know nothing. I don't watch Fox news or care for Bush, other than the Iraq conflict I don't agree with anything he has done really.

It is your "the sky is falling" forget anything positive that is happening that is a problem. What about the fact that 2/3 of Iraq's population, the Isalmic Shiite's we are more worried about than anything, have condenmed and called for an end to attacks on US soldiersin Iraq? Maybe you should pay a little closer attention, I did provide a link to the Iraqi Daily News if you are that interested.....
 

Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,983
0
0
"For one thing, the pretext for sending US troops into Iraq - the fabled "weapons of mass destruction" - begins to look as flimsy and fabricated as President Lyndon Johnson's "Gulf of Tonkin incident" in 1964. "

When I see things like that I don't bopther reading the rest, sorry.

Does that include the UN inspections in the fable? Anyone who can sit here and suggest Iraq's WMD were not a known entity before Bush came to power is brain dead.
 

CaptnKirk

Lifer
Jul 25, 2002
10,053
0
71
H-Pup,

Ya know, we didn't have to blow down one corrupt government and then try to replace it with a 'designated corrupt government'
as we already had a bad one in place (after Diem) - but it didn't really help. We're pretty thin there in Iraq, as we were in 'Nam.

I remember the squalor, kids who had mostly nothing, who would actually jump in front of moving cars to try to get pennies that
people threw in the streets - nasty people those who threw money to jepardize kids lives, and this was from our side.

Son says that when they get into situations and rocks are thrown you can't really tell who threw what, and if a rock is thrown -
is the next thing thrown going to be a gernade? Some things never seem to change - the faces look a little different,
but the actions are the same - 35 years later and thousands of miles apart, the more different it is, the more alike it really becomes.