Monday, June 25, 2007
U.S. deal with tribal leaders to protect power grids unsuccessful
Security, Tribal
(AP) - Contracts with tribal chiefs to protect Iraq's valuable electricity grids have not paid off, according to U.S. auditors. The investigative arm of Congress updated a report originally released last month so it could provide a more accurate estimate on the number of attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces. The estimated number of attacks in April were adjusted from 4,500 to 4,900, the Government Accountability Office said in the revised report, released Friday.
Overall, the U.S. has spent about $5.1 billion to rebuild Iraq's oil and electricity sectors from the budget years 2003 through 2006. The U.S. also has spent $3.8 billion in Iraqi funds. Auditors said billions of dollars more will be needed to rebuild both sectors. Sabotage is driving much of the spending.
Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has contracted with tribal sheiks to protect the electrical transmission lines running through their areas and pays them about $60 to $100 per kilometer, according to the report. Yet the tactic is not working, auditors said. The report, citing U.S. and U.N. officials, said "some tribes that were paid to protect transmission lines also sold materials from the downed lines and extracted tariffs for access to repair the lines."
The tribes wield considerable power in parts of Iraq. They share a mixture of ancestry, geography and a strict social code that demands allegiance between members. Military commanders have credited new working relationships with tribes in driving down the number of attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces in some provinces.
The auditors said the U.S. government has developed several initiatives that will provide better protection, namely fortifying structures so that attacks cause less damage. The U.S. has trained security forces and paired them with coalition partners, but that program has had its share of problems.
Overall, the U.S. has spent about $5.1 billion to rebuild Iraq's oil and electricity sectors from the budget years 2003 through 2006. The U.S. also has spent $3.8 billion in Iraqi funds. Auditors said billions of dollars more will be needed to rebuild both sectors. Sabotage is driving much of the spending.
Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has contracted with tribal sheiks to protect the electrical transmission lines running through their areas and pays them about $60 to $100 per kilometer, according to the report. Yet the tactic is not working, auditors said. The report, citing U.S. and U.N. officials, said "some tribes that were paid to protect transmission lines also sold materials from the downed lines and extracted tariffs for access to repair the lines."
The tribes wield considerable power in parts of Iraq. They share a mixture of ancestry, geography and a strict social code that demands allegiance between members. Military commanders have credited new working relationships with tribes in driving down the number of attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces in some provinces.
The auditors said the U.S. government has developed several initiatives that will provide better protection, namely fortifying structures so that attacks cause less damage. The U.S. has trained security forces and paired them with coalition partners, but that program has had its share of problems.
Labels: electricity grids, tribal leaders, U.S. Government Accountability Office
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Billions of dollars of Iraqi oil production unaccounted for
Oil
(Reuters) - Billions of dollars' worth of Iraq's declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for, possibly having been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, The New York Times said on Saturday. Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels of Iraq's daily output of roughly 2 million barrels is missing, it said, citing a draft report prepared by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and government energy analysts which is expected to be released next week.
The discrepancy was valued between $5 million and $15 million daily, using a $50 per barrel average, the report said. That adds up to billions of dollars over the four years since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The newspaper was provided the draft report by a separate government office that received a review copy.
The GAO declined to discuss the draft, the paper said. The report did not make a final conclusion on what happened to the missing oil, and provided alternative explanations besides corruption or smuggling, including possible Iraqi overstating of its production. A State Department official who works on energy matters offered possible explanations including pipeline sabotage, or inaccurate reporting of oil production in southern Iraq.
"It could also be theft," the Times quoted the unnamed official as saying, with suspicion falling on southern Shi'ite militias. "Crude oil is not as lucrative in the region as refined products, but we're not ruling that out either," the official said."There is not an issue of insurgency, per se, but it could be funding Shia factions, and that could very well be true.""That would be a concern if they were using smuggling money to blow up American soldiers or kill Sunnis or do anything that could harm the unity of the country," the Times quoted the official as saying.
The newspaper characterized the report as the most comprehensive look thus far at what it called faltering U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq's oil and electricity sectors. The GAO tapped experts at the Energy Information Administration within the United States Department of Energy for its oil analysis. Erik Kreil, an oil expert at the administration who is familiar with the analysis, said a review of industry figures worldwide indicated Iraq's stated production figures did not add up.
"Either they're producing less, or they're producing what they say and the difference is completely unaccounted for in any of the places we think it should go," Kreil told the Times. "Either it's overly optimistic, or it's unaccounted for." Analysts outside the government said such a large discrepancy indicated that there was either a major smuggling operation in place or that Iraq was not generating accurate production figures, the newspaper added.
Labels: corruption, GAO, Iraq Oil, smuggling, U.S. Government Accountability Office
