ROME (Agence France-Presse) — The U.S. official heading the reconstruction of Iraq said yesterday that Iraqi insurgents were dictating the pace of the massive program to rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
Adm. David Nash, director of the Coalition Provisional Authority’s Iraq Program Management Office, told Italian businessmen that reconstruction would not be derailed by the recent upsurge in fighting.
“Security will not stop us building. It will control the rate [at which] we are building,” he said at a conference in Rome on subcontracting opportunities in Iraq organized by the Italian manufacturers’ association, Confindustria.
“It’s not as bad as reported in the newspapers, but obviously it is not a benign environment. I believe it’s manageable. We will have good days and we will have bad days.”
The conference was aimed at creating contacts between representatives of 10 U.S. “prime contractors” in Iraq and representatives of more than 200 Italian companies hoping to win supply contracts.
However, it coincided with a deteriorating security situation in the country that has forced two of the biggest contractors, General Electric Co. and Siemens AG, to suspend their operations in Iraq.
Many other companies have temporarily withdrawn from Iraq or pulled their employees back to base in Baghdad.
Adm. Nash said security costs were beyond the control of the U.S.-led coalition.
“We can control the cost of labor and material, but we cannot control the cost of security because the enemy is driving that. We have to wait and see how things develop,” he told reporters.
Contractors are spending a quarter of their money to protect workers and insure their projects, according to American officials monitoring the work.
Before the insurgency started, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., inspector general for the Coalition Provisional Authority, cited estimates that contractors were spending 10 percent to 15 percent of their money for security costs.
Italy has been a key supporter of the U.S.-led coalition and maintains a 3,000-strong force in the country. It also has the third-largest contingent of civilians working in the Coalition Provisional Authority.
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