U S must do more to help Iraqis rebuild-auditor

WASHINGTON, Mar 29 (Reuters) The United States must do more to help Iraq's new government take control of efforts to rebuild even as American investigators continue to uncover corruption and waste, a top U S official told Reuters.

Washington should provide more money to complete big infrastructure projects in the oil, gas and electricity sectors, and step up efforts to train Iraqis to operate and protect new plants already finished, said Stuart Bowen, the U S special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

Bowen, just back from his 11th trip to Iraq in two years, said he saw signs of progress, but remained concerned about corruption, waste, and whether enough was being done to prepare Iraqis to manage the reconstruction effort.

For instance, a new audit showed that a 243 million dollar project to build 150 health clinics throughout Iraq, being led by employee-owned Parsons Corp. of Pasadena, California, would produce just 20 clinics, a far cry from the goal, he said.

Bowen's agency has eight investigators in Iraq, and is working on 60 separate cases. It is due to release 15 more audits and its ninth quarterly report at the end of April.

Just last week, a member of Bowen's staff went undercover to help arrest a U S contractor working for Titan Corp., a unit of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. The man was charged with trying to bribe an Iraqi police official to buy 1 million dollar worth of armored vests and a map printer.

Bowen said his office would continue to use ''all means necessary'' to keep tabs on U S taxpayer money in Iraq, including random ''cash checks'' at program offices.

He said a senior Iraqi official recently told him that Washington's prosecutions of U S contractors for fraud committed in Iraq sent an important message to Iraqis that ''we're serious and ... oversight is not just window-dressing.'' REBUILDING TO WIN 'HEARTS AND MINDS' The United States has spent about 30 billion dollar on rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure, but an unexpected third of that has gone to pay for security for people and projects, diverting funds earmarked for sewers, water treatment and other utilities.

Electricity supplies need to be boosted ahead of the hot summer months, along with oil output, which hit prewar levels last July, but fell again due to insurgent attacks, he said.

Bowen declined to say how much more U S money was needed to complete hundreds of water, sanitation and power projects, but said it would be far less than the funds already pledged.

''The U.S. cannot falter in pushing forward the reconstruction program and in transitioning management of it ... to the Iraqis,'' Bowen said, noting that boosting electricity supplies and other services could also help subdue the insurgency that is plaguing U S military operations.

''The biggest projects have yet to be finished, and they will make a big difference ... when they're done,'' he said.

''I think anyone who's been in Iraq has concerns, but there is great potential here,'' he added. ''Because it has so much potential, there's reason to be hopeful.'' Bowen said the new Iraqi government urgently needed to appoint a new oil minister and fill other top cabinet posts in the coming weeks to keep the reconstruction effort going.

''One day's delay is another day's lack of progress,'' he said.

Steven Kosiak, analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said failure by the United States to provide additional funding for rebuilding projects could ''fatally undermine U S military operations in Iraq.'' He said the U S government had spent around 220 billion dollar on the war in Iraq but far less on rebuilding, which could help win ''hearts and minds'' in its battle against the insurgency.

Bowen said more funds needed to flow into Iraq from other countries, and the World Bank was already working on loans.

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