From The Guardian UK
By Ewen MacAskill

A US congressional inspection team set up to monitor reconstruction in Iraq today publishes a scathing report of failures by contractors, mainly from the US, to carry out projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In one case, the inspection team found that three years after the invasion only six of 150 health centres proposed for Iraq had been completed by a US contractor, in spite of 75% of the $186m (£100m) allocated having been spent.

The report says: “Fourteen more will be completed by the contractor, and the remaining facilities, which are partially constructed, will have to be completed by other means.” The inspectors blame the failure in this instance on management problems and security concerns.

The danger facing foreigners in Iraq was highlighted yesterday when a roadside bomb 30 miles south of Baghdad killed three private security firm staff and wounded two others. One of the wounded is British, the Foreign Office said.

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