[lbo-talk] Dizzying Dive to Red Ink Poses Stark Choices for Washington

Michael Pugliese debsian at pacbell.net
Sat Sep 13 16:07:35 PDT 2003


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg- nohelp12sep12,1,7341472.story?coll=la-home-headlines


> ...Powell and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told senators this
> week that the bill for postwar reconstruction in Iraq was expected to run
> $55 billion more than the $87 billion President Bush asked Congress to
> provide in his speech to the nation Sunday night.

Powell, briefing senators behind closed doors, used the phrase "donor fatigue" to explain the difficulty the U.S. is facing in getting other nations to pledge money to rebuild Iraq. The administration has not received as much financial support as it would have liked for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, a far less controversial endeavor.

When senators asked how Powell and Rumsfeld thought they could fill the gap, "they looked at each other and there was sort of an embarrassing pause," a Senate official said. "Powell said maybe we'll get a few hundred million from Europe [the European Union] and maybe a little help from Japan."



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