Dems Wary of Iraq Reconstruction Cost

By ANNE FLAHERTY

WASHINGTON – Emboldened by a successful first vote against President Bush’s Iraq war policy, Senate Democrats said Thursday they were wary of the administration’s anticipated $1.2 billion request for reconstruction there.

Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he wants assurances from the administration that the money would not fuel corruption or the insurgency in Iraq.

A key piece of Bush’s new strategy is increasing reconstruction efforts, with the U.S. pledging another $1.2 billion and the Iraqi government designating $10 billion. As part of the plan, Bush is dispatching 21,500 additional troops to Iraq to bolster security so reconstruction efforts are not stalled.

"I hope we will hear today some concrete details on why these funds will achieve better results than we’ve been able to achieve before," Biden said.

The State Department has spent nearly $15 billion in reconstruction already and "as you know better than I do, the results aren’t pretty," the Delaware Democrat added.

Testifying before the committee was David Satterfield, the State Department’s senior adviser on Iraq, and Brig. Gen. Michael Jones, a Middle East adviser on political and military affairs to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Satterfield said the State Department is expanding the number of reconstruction teams sent to Baghdad and the western Anbar province and sending some 300 additional civilian personnel to Iraq. But, he added, much of the heavy lifting must be accomplished by the Iraqi government.

"It is not a question of putting them in the lead or encouraging them to take the lead. It’s a recognition of reality," he told the panel.

Sen. Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the panel, said he wants regular progress reports that are much more detailed than previously provided to Congress. Lugar on Wednesday announced he had serious reservations that Bush’s new Iraq plan would work.

"Overall, the results have been disappointing to the Iraqi people, to Congress, and to American taxpayers," said Lugar, R-Ind., referring to reconstruction efforts.

Biden’s committee on Wednesday passed 12-9 a resolution that dismissed Bush’s plans to increase troops in Iraq as "not in the national interest." The vote on the nonbinding measure was largely along party lines, with Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska being the sole Republican on the committee offering his support.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the measure Feb. 5, Democratic leaders said Thursday.

Republicans have been meeting behind closed doors to shore up support for the Iraq war plan. The Senate is tied 49-49 between the two parties, with two independents caucusing with the Democrats. That means either party needs help from the other in order to achieve the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and advance legislation.

"The goal is to try to salvage this situation and not send the additional troops with a message of disapproval," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said of the GOP meetings.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said that he doesn’t want the issue rammed through.

"We’re not going to try to stop the votes. What we want to do is make sure we have a number of different alternatives," he told MSNBC. "Members of my party who differ with the president one way or another are all working on different alternatives. I think what we’ll end up with … is sort of a smorgasbord of options that will attract different members, all of which are likely, as virtually everything in the Senate is likely, to be subject to a 60-vote threshold."

Senate Democratic leaders say they are willing to negotiate the language to pull in more GOP support. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who sponsored a rival proposal, has already met with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and others to discuss his position.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that the resolution the committee approved is not the last that will be heard from Congress.

"A resolution that that says we’re against this escalation, that’s easy. The next step will be how do you put further pressure on the administration against the escalation, but still supporting the troops who are there," he said on NBC’s "Today" program.

"That’s what we’re figuring out right now," Schumer added. "But this will not be the end. There will be other resolutions with more teeth in it afterwards and my bet — they’ll get a majority of support and significant Republican support."

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he believed the resolution could be viewed as a political attack on Bush and misinterpreted "by our enemies as abandoning Iraq." But, he added, he remained skeptical that additional troops in Baghdad would be successful.

"I have been waiting for the administration to extend an olive branch in an attempt to forge a compromise" that would make clear "we stand united as a nation," he said. "I obviously have been disappointed since that has not happened."

Voinovich and like-minded GOP senators say they might be willing to sign on to a measure backed by Sens. Warner, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb.

Warner, a prominent Republican and former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, cast his measure as a milder alternative. It leaves open the possibility of Bush sending in a much smaller number of troops, particularly to the western Anbar province, and uses language that some say may be seen as less partisan.