US risks Iraq reconstruction mistakes

US AUDITOR: $3-5 BILLION IN IRAQ AID WASTED SINCE 2003

The United States risks repeating the same mistakes in Afghanistan that have led to billions of dollars being squandered in Iraq on its reconstruction, US auditors warned Wednesday.
The warnings come just days before President Barack Obama is due to unveil his new strategy for Afghanistan, which is expected to include an increase in reconstruction aid and civilian assistance.
Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he estimates between three and five billion dollars had been wasted in the US effort to rebuild Iraq since 2003.
Bowen, who has been overseeing Iraq's reconstruction since 2004, said he recently met the head of a US electrical company operating in Afghanistan that had also worked in Iraq.
"He said, 'Mr. Bowen, I've read everyone of your reports. And you're right, there was significant waste,'" Bowen said.
"But then he said, 'I want to tell you that the same thing is going on in Afghanistan now," that there's significant waste, and that the lessons learned from Iraq are waiting to be applied effectively in Afghanistan," Bowen said.
Unless Afghanistan reconstruction efforts "draws upon the lessons learned in Iraq, substantial waste of taxpayer dollars will occur," Bowen warned.
The main problem is that the US government "lacks an accepted doctrine for how to rebuild a failed state and a structure capable of mobilizing resources on the required scale," he added.