Rebuilding Iraq No Longer U.S. Priority

Note to Iraq: Sorry we invaded your country. I'm sure your electricity and water utilities will rebuild themselves.

From the Washington Post-
U.S. Has End in Sight on Iraq Rebuilding:

Documents Show Much of the Funding Diverted to Security, Justice System and Hussein Inquiry

The Bush administration does not intend to seek any new funds for Iraq reconstruction in the budget request going before Congress in February, officials say. The decision signals the winding down of an $18.4 billion U.S. rebuilding effort in which roughly half of the money was eaten away by the insurgency, a buildup of Iraq's criminal justice system and the investigation and trial of Saddam Hussein.

Just under 20 percent of the reconstruction package remains unallocated. When the last of the $18.4 billion is spent, U.S. officials in Baghdad have made clear, other foreign donors and the fledgling Iraqi government will have to take up 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....

So because our leaders failed to anticipate, or plan for, any type of Iraqi military opposition, the Iraqi people will have to make do with less? Not exactly the type of attitude that will combat the influence of the insurgency and win those much needed 'hearts and minds' of the people there. The Iraqi government is struggling on getting security forces up to par for when we start withdrawals... and yet we really expect them to organize rebuilding efforts as well?

Also, doesn't this news make it even more inexcusable that the U.S. has just 'lost' billions of dollars that could now be added to the remaining allocation?

Finally, in an odd statement, Brig. Gen. William McCoy, the Army Corps of Engineers commander overseeing the work said in a recent press conference that "The U.S. never intended to completely rebuild Iraq". We didn't? That's news to me. As Think Progress notes in a new report, the Bush White House's 'National Strategy for Victory In Iraq' document in fact states otherwise. That document states that as part of its three-track strategy (political track, the security track, and the economic track):

• The Economic Track involves setting the foundation for a sound and self-sustaining economy by helping the Iraqi government:
- Restore Iraq’s infrastructure to meet increasing demand and the needs of a growing economy;
- Reform Iraq’s economy, which in the past has been shaped by war, dictatorship, and sanctions, so that it can be self-sustaining in the future; and
- Build the capacity of Iraqi institutions to maintain infrastructure, rejoin the international economic community, and improve the general welfare of all Iraqis.

Is this part of 'staying the course'? One couldn't imagine that at this point this administration has any credibility left, but sadly some polls say otherwise.