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July 25, 2008 11:15:25 AM CDT

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Oil-Rich Iraq Should Fund Reconstruction, Say Senators

Posted Mar 9, 08 2:34 PM CDT in Politics,  World 

(Newser) – Why isn't an Iraq that's rolling in oil dollars funding its own reconstruction? senators Carl Levin of Michigan and John Warner of Virginia want to know. The Armed Services' Committee honchos wrote the Government Accountability Office saying Iraq is doing little to help itself despite a projected $100 billion in oil revenues in 2007 and 2008—and what's more, US taxpayers are shouldering the load.

“Our conversations with both Iraqis and Americans, as well as official government and unofficial media reports, have convinced us that the Iraqi government is not doing nearly enough,” wrote the senators. In 2003, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Iraq could “really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon,” but the US has spent some $47 billion on reconstruction since then.

Source CNN

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A sign outside a gas station shows fuel prices Monday, Feb. 25, 2008, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)   (Associated Press)
Then-Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John Warner, R-Va., right, accompanied by committee member Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., left, presides over a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in this...   (Associated Press)
Iraq's Oil Minister, Husayn Al-Shahristani, talks to the media following his meeting with European Union Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, not pictured, at the EU Commission...   (Associated Press)
Dan Bostwick's silhouette is reflected in his car as he waits for his gas tank to be filled up gas at a Uni-Mart Exxon station in Harrisburg, Pa., Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)   (Associated Press)
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., talks with reporters during a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh)   (Associated Press)
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Iraq war  • Congress  • oil price  • oil  • Iraq war spending  • senator  • Carl Levin  • John Warner  • Iraq reconstruction


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