Can't blame Saddam Hussein for stealing their milk money anymore.
"Millions for Iraq schools unspent" May 28, 2012
BAQUBAH, Iraq - Millions of dollars in international aid to build and
repair Iraq’s dilapidated schools have gone unspent for years. Now,
Iraq’s government risks losing the funding as the World Bank weighs
whether some of it would be better used elsewhere.
The dilemma
echoes across the international aid community - whether to continue
financing a government with vast oil resources and a $100 billion annual
budget or divert assistance to needier nations. It also reflects
frustration over problems that have kept the money from being used.
The
education aid is a slice of $1.3 billion in grants and loans the World
Bank and its donor nations have given Iraq since 2004. Initially, the
money was intended to help rebuild the country after the 2003 US-led
invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. But the bank maintained the
assistance as it became clear the country desperately needed help as it
faced years of violence.
World Bank officials acknowledged the Iraqi government faced tremendous
hurdles in trying to carry out the projects. There was no Parliament
when the first tranche of funding was provided, and the government was
barely functional in the years the nation teetered on the brink in civil
war. The projects have picked up since Iraq’s new government was seated
in late 2010, but bureaucracy and contracting problems have stunted
progress.
I'm sick of excuses, and I'm sure so are Iraqis.
--more--"
