As the Bush administration prepares to seek $1.7 billion more to carry out a revised plan to continue reconstruction in Iraq, some in the Senate want more information and assurances before they endorse additional funds.
The administration’s new approach is clear. “We’re getting out of the reconstruction business in Iraq,” David M. Satterfield, U.S. Dept. of State coordinator for Iraq, told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Jan. 25. In early phases, mostly financed by the $20.9-billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, contracts were big and many went to large U.S. firms. Recently, however, officials have shifted more contracts to local companies. Satterfield says about 80% of recent U.S.-funded work has gone to Iraqi firms.