Iraq Has Budget Surplus

[edward]

I am a bit surprised at this. We need to get a handle on where all of this money is going. They certainly won't spend their money on rebuilding infrastructure as long as we keep spending ours.

WASHINGTON - Iraq is not spending much of its own money, despite soaring oil revenues that are pushing the country toward a massive budget surplus, U.S. auditors told Congress on Tuesday.

The expected surplus comes as the U.S. continues to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding Iraq and faces a financial squeeze domestically because of record oil prices.

"The Iraqis have a budget surplus," said U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. "We have a huge budget deficit. ... One of the questions is who should be paying."

Last week, Sens. Carl Levin, a Democrat, and John Warner, a Republican, asked GAO to investigate what Iraq is doing with its oil revenue. The senators estimated that Iraq will realize "at least $100 billion in oil revenues in 2007 and 2008."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23578542/

 

[CaptainQuasar]

I can't say I would blame them for wringing every cent out of the U.S. for reconstruction and otherwise especially since we're talking about withdrawing. Like I've said elsewhere on PF about the Iraq War: we broke it, we bought it. In taking the preemptive warfare liberation strategy - based on good intelligence or bad - we volunteered to be responsible for the peace and stability of Iraq, perhaps for generations to come. (We're responsible, not that we'll necessarily fulfill that responsibility.)

⚛​