Aw, baby wants a glass of wa-wa?
Back when the reconstruction contracts were being handed out like party favors, I was troubled by the idea that there were multi-million contracts going to establish a cell phone network in Iraq when there were some basic needs that were lacking. Like, you know, water. And electricity. I don’t know about you, but my cell phone can only handle about twenty minutes of talking before it needs to be plugged into a wall – it would seem to me that a stable power grid would kind of be a prerequisite for a cell phone system.
So how could I possibly be upset over reconstruction funds now being diverted to other worthy causes like, say, security?
So far, occupation officials have reassigned $184 million appropriated for drinking-water projects to fund the operations of the U.S. Embassy after the provisional authority is dissolved June 30. Another $29 million from projects such as “democracy building” were reallocated to fund the U.S. development agency’s administrative expenses.And more diversions may be coming. Armitage said the State Department still faces a shortfall of $40 million to $60 million in embassy operating funds this year. And embassy construction and operations could consume as much as $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2005, none of which has been requested by President Bush.
Wait. They reassigned funds from drinking water projects? What about the cell phone project? Or the government-funded mercenaries protecting Halliburton’s headquarters in Iraq? Did those funds get diverted?
Honestly, I don’t know. I do know, however, that they’re diverting funds from projects meant to restore electricity and potable water to most of the people of Iraq.
Our troops need greater security over there – especially if Bush is going to continue in his jingoistic, go-it-alone, who-needs-the-world-anyway policies. But it seems to me that failing to restore drinking water and electricity isn’t exactly going to endear us to the local population.