Disappointments in Iraq Symbolize Lethargic Overall Overseas Conditions
The war in Iraq failed to provide much help for a flat non-U.S. environmental remediation market in 2003. Since weapons of mass destruction production were never found, there were no cleanup contracts let for WMD production site remediation. As one observer points out, that may be bad for the White House and a handful of big-Energy Dept. contractors, but its good news for the rest of us.
After President Bush declared the end of hostilities in May 2003, many hoped to see an aggressive reconstruction ramp-up, funded jointly by U.S. and Iraqi money. But more than a years worth of rising insurgency has slowed rebuilding. U.S. contractors that signed on for work under more than $18 billion in U.S. supplemental funding grouse that task orders have slowed to a trickle.