Iraq hospital touted by Laura Bush delayed (Bechtel booted)

[Barrett808]

Iraq hospital touted by Laura Bush delayed
By RAWYA RAGEH, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Construction of a children's hospital championed by first lady Laura Bush has been put on hold after it fell behind schedule and went over budget, one of dozens of halted or delayed U.S. health projects, Iraqi health officials said Friday.

The high-tech, two-story children's hospital in Basra was intended to provide state-of-the-art care in Iraq's second-largest city. The first lady and Secretary of State

Condoleezza Rice spoke highly of the project and lobbied Congress for the money.

But U.S. officials dropped contractor Bechtel Corp. from the project after it missed deadlines and ran up big cost overruns, Dr. Chasib Latif Ali, executive director of the Health Ministry, told The Associated Press. Bechtel Corp. blamed the problem on Iraq's security crisis.

Ali said the Basra hospital was just one example of health projects that the U.S. had promised but failed to deliver.

"The Americans have made a lot of promises to us, but not even 10 percent of them have materialized," Ali said.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060728/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_delayed_hospitals

[Fridays Child]

1. They've probably given the contract to Halliburton, now.

:eyes:

[rodeodance]

2. sad for the kids/families.

[rodeodance]

3. "This comes as a sharp contrast to the Japanese," (bulit 13 it says). Thi

s a sruprize to me also.

....He said that, of nearly 180 medical facilities promised by the U.S., contracts were awarded for 142. Only six have been completed and turned over to the Iraqis and those "are not even fully complete."

"This comes as a sharp contrast to the Japanese," Ali said. "They have promised and delivered 13 hospitals around the country, including three cutting-edge cancer centers. The Japanese have been very faithful to us, unfortunately, the Americans aren't like that."

Bechtel, which holds major contracts for reconstruction work in Iraq, was put in charge of the project in 2004, with an initial budget of $50 million. The facility was expected to be completed by Sept. 2006, "but now the money has ran out and the project has been postponed indefinitely," Ali said.

Bechtel hired a Jordanian subcontractor, which in turn hired its own Iraqi subcontractor, he said.

[jimshoes]

4. Has anything from the heady prewar days

of bushco promises even come close to materializing in Iraq? Where are all the Starbucks, Burger King's, Home Depot's, MacDonalds, etc. Not to mention the electric, water, phone, gas? Schools, hospitals, anything? Will anyone who backed this fiasco ever turn on this bumbler and his short-sighted corrupt, and inept enablers who led this failure of a human being to believe he was the chosen one to lead America into the 21st century? It is high time, no?

[partylessinOhio]

5. Promises, promises. They're all liars.

(Except for tax cuts, the only promises they will keep!)

[mom cat]

6. Oh yes, Bechtel. And now the Big Dig is falling apart and killing people.

[gratuitous]

7. Oh, report the good news! You libruls!

Look at all the promises the United States has made. Are you saying that it's wrong to want to improve life for the Iraqis? You just want them all to die in misery and squalor! And you don't want the United States to promise them anything! You libruls!

I wonder if the popular media have caught on, even yet, that the corrupt Bush administration doesn't do jack shit?

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. What's all the fuss about? - the BASES are ahead of schedule ya know . .

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.
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priorities people

PRIORITIES!!

(sigh)