May 15, 2003 – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issues its first study on Iraq reconstruction, Rebuilding Iraq:

“The Iraq peace operation differs from recent ones in that the United States, rather than the United Nations, will direct operations. Also, the United States will likely provide more troops than in previous operations. For example, in the first year of the peace operation in Bosnia, the United States provided approximately 18,000 troops. Several sources estimate the United States will have to deploy 70,000 to 100,000 troops or more during the first year of stability operations in Iraq.”

 
“Rebuilding Iraq is a U.S. national security priority. As part of this effort, Congress appropriated $79 billon in emergency supplemental funds for fiscal year 2003 for military operations and Iraq’s reconstruction, including humanitarian relief, peacekeeping, and economic and political reform.
 

“The conflict in Iraq has compromised the country’s food security and its medical and water systems. In response, the World Food Program has developed an emergency plan to meet the food needs of 27 million Iraqis, at a cost of $1.2 billion, from March 25 to September 25, 2003 . . . . Potential issues are the total cost of food and humanitarian aid, coordination and effectiveness of humanitarian aid, the transition from emergency aid to sustainable living, and efforts to provide for the internally displaced.

 
“The peace operation in Iraq presents significant security and political challenges for the United States . . . Potential oversight issues include the role, structure, and transition strategy of the peace operation; progress and challenges in providing security and establishing an interim authority; the role of allies and international organizations; and the factors that could hinder the effectiveness of U.S. assistance to train and equip an Iraqi national army.

 
“Building a sustainable market economy in Iraq will likely be a long-term effort. Iraq’s centralized economic and political structure will require fundamental changes similar to those that are taking place in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The most immediate concern is Iraq’s physical reconstruction, including building roads, schools, and power plants. Another immediate concern is Iraq’s external debt and its war reparations resulting from the 1990 invasion of Kuwait—estimated to be as much as $400 billion. Additional concerns are the U.N. sanctions against Iraq and the related oil for food program, which still has more than $3 billion in escrow. Potential issues include

oversight of the efficiency and effectiveness of reconstruction; the role and contributions of allies, the United Nations, World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund; the pros and cons of forgiving Iraq’s external debt; and resolution of the oil for food program.”
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03792r.pdf

 
All in all, even the relatively neutral bureaucratic language of the GAO makes clear that the task of rebuilding Iraq is formidable, a task that could be achieved only by a wholly committed administration working humbly and cooperatively with the rest of the world.

 
The hard and honest work by Government Accountability Office employees seems not to be fully appreciated by the White House. The Bush-linked authorities in Iraq issue their own reconstruction statement, see below.

May 16, 2003 -- The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq issues its first regulation:

 “The CPA is vested with all executive, legislative, and judicial authority necessary to achieve its objectives, to be exercised under relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including resolution 1483 (2003), and the laws and usages of war. This authority shall be exercised by the CPA Administrator.”

 
Translated into clear English, this order gives the CPA authority to run Iraqi government ministries, to appoint officials and to award reconstruction contracts.

 
The CPA finances part of its activities with billions of dollars belonging to the Iraqis.