WASHINGTON – Fewer than 25,000 Iraqis are working on projects in the U.S. reconstruction effort, tempering expectations that more than $18 billion in American spending would jump-start Iraq’s economy and trigger a surge in goodwill toward the United States.
U.S. officials blame bureaucratic delays in contracting and the recent increase in violence for the low employment numbers, which represent less than 1 percent of Iraq’s workforce of more than 7 million.
The Bush administration aims to more than double the number of Iraqi workers to 50,000 by June 30, when Washington says it will hand over limited authority to a caretaker Iraqi government.
Iraqis are thinking twice about working for the Americans because of the violence, which has targeted not only U.S. troops but also Iraqis working with them.
Violence earlier this spring “had an impact on the numbers of workers showing up,” said Navy Capt. Bruce Cole, spokesman for the Pentagon’s Iraq Program Management Office. “Some were probably afraid to be seen working with us on those projects. Our numbers are starting to come back up, though.”
Conversely, military commanders have cited frustration over the continuing lack of jobs as one reason for the spike in violence, which left at least 136 Americans dead in April alone.
The latest fighting not only prevented work on current projects but hampered future efforts by delaying the arrival of coalition equipment and manpower.
Members of Congress from both parties have criticized the Bush administration for the slow pace of reconstruction. So far, only about $1.9 billion in construction projects are under way of the $18.4 billion Congress approved in November.
Administration officials say they’re trying to speed the hiring of Iraqis. More than $10 billion in contracts is expected to be awarded by July 1.
“We haven’t had a problem with recruiting” Iraqis, Cole said. “In the areas we’ve been in, they’re very willing to do the work, very eager to have jobs.”
This week, the Pentagon’s Program Management Office in Baghdad reported 24,179 Iraqis working on rebuilding projects, up from 21,808 last week and just 3,517 the week before.
During April, Iraqis worked on only four projects, all of them rehabilitating military bases for the new Iraqi security forces, Cole said from Baghdad.
Other reconstruction projects overseen by the military or State Department have created an estimated 400,000 jobs in Iraq, said Maj. Joe Yoswa, a spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority governing Iraq. Those projects are not part of the emergency rebuilding package Congress approved in November; most are paid for with seized Iraqi money or oil revenues.
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