Copyright © 2003 The International
Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
That, at least, is how it looks to government contract officers, who in the coming days plan to give U.S. companies the first contracts to rebuild Iraq, a task that experts say could eventually cost $25 billion to $100 billion. It would be the largest postwar rebuilding since the Marshall Plan in Europe after World War II. That comparison is being made at every opportunity by Bush administration officials, who emphasize American generosity and farsightedness. But the government decision to invite only U.S. corporations to bid on these contracts has added to the profound international divisions that already surround the war. The United States plans to retain control over the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, allowing the administration to decide how it will spend the money needed to repair the country. These contracts will be financed by the U.S. taxpayer, although senior administration officials have hinted broadly that Iraqi oil revenue will also be used to rebuild the country. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday, "We're going to use the assets of the people of Iraq, especially their oil assets, to benefit their people." At the top of the to-do list, according to confidential bidding documents, is rebuilding the only deep-water port, the harbor at Umm Qasr, where cargo is loaded on ships that travel down a waterway in southern Iraq to the Gulf. A separate bidding process is being conducted by a unit of the Defense Department for contracts to dismantle and neutralize chemical and nuclear weapons. Other immediate priorities will be overseen by the U.S. Agency for International Development. These include rebuilding airports, ensuring that potable water is available and reconstructing power plants, roads, railroads, schools, hospitals and irrigation systems. Private contractors will also support the military by constructing aircraft parking areas, temporary camps and ammunition depots. For now, the administration is seeking money under a supplemental appropriation expected to be submitted to Congress shortly, according to administration officials. But it may face some heat from lawmakers upset that the administration is moving so swiftly to sign deals with private companies without consulting Congress first. The companies that have been invited to bid on the work include some of the nation's largest and most politically connected construction businesses. Among them are Halliburton Co., where Vice President Dick Cheney served as chief executive from 1995 until mid-2000; Bechtel Group Inc., whose ranks have included several Republican cabinet alumni; and Fluor Corp., which has ties to several former top Pentagon and intelligence procurement officials. The administration, clearly wary of a long occupation, says it hopes that a new Iraqi interim authority can be in place within a month of victory and that authority officials can make some decisions about the pace and financing of reconstruction. But the administration is already poised to decide which companies will initially oversee and carry out the work. The companies have extensive experience - and some also have awkward political and financial baggage. The fast-track reconstruction bidding is already drawing fire in Congress. "We can't tell the taxpayers in this country, who are going to be asked to foot the bill for all of this, what the charge is going to be in the aftermath," Senator Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, complained recently. "Apparently, I think, the administration believes that they can get away with it, that the Congress will not do anything about it." Administration officials said they moved swiftly because they needed to line up contractors with proven track records and high-level security clearances. "In order to work in Iraq, you have to have a security clearance," said Andrew Natsios, director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is overseeing the largest contract put out for bids so far. "And the only companies that have security clearances are a certain number of American companies that have done this work before in war settings." Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune |