WASHINGTON — The Pentagon (news - web sites)'s $18.4-billion Iraq (news - web sites) reconstruction plan puts too much emphasis on big-ticket construction projects and not enough on creating jobs for Iraqis, State Department officials who have taken control of the program have concluded.
U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte is reviewing the program and hopes to come up with new priorities next month, State Department officials said. The department will then have to seek approval from the House and Senate appropriations committees to shift funds.
The move to redirect resources is likely to further delay some of the rebuilding, which already has been hampered by sabotage, red tape and infighting. U.S. officials see the reconstruction effort as critical to stabilizing Iraq and fostering democracy there.
Changing the program won't be easy, because the allocations were approved by Congress, which established categories for specific projects, a senior State Department official said. Department officials said they didn't yet know how much money they would ask to redistribute.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=4&u=/latimests/20040722/ts_latimes/statedeptcriticizesfocusofiraqeffort