"The U.S. never intended to completely rebuild Iraq," Brig. Gen. William McCoy, the Army Corps of Engineers commander overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq, told reporters. "This was just supposed to be a jump-start."
Roughly half of the $18.4 billion U.S. rebuilding effort has been eaten away by the insurgency, a buildup of Iraq's criminal justice system and the investigation and trial of Saddam Hussein. About 20 percent of the reconstruction package remains unallocated. All that and there's still what authorities say is tens of billions of dollars of work yet to be done merely to bring reliable electricity, water and other services to Iraq's 26 million people.
Still, George W. Bush does not intend to seek any new funds for Iraq reconstruction in the budget request going before Congress in February. Other foreign donors and the fledgling Iraqi government will have to make up the difference, administration officials say.
U.S. Has End in Sight on Iraq Rebuilding - Washington Post
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