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Letter to the editor

$1.5-billion Iraq security tab submitted amid concerns

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - The State Department's request for $1.5-billion to protect U.S. diplomats and a growing number of reconstruction teams in Iraq is a pricey reminder that the war-torn country remains a dangerous place.

The bid to boost security spending by one-third in 2008 comes as the department confronts mounting criticism over problems with construction of a massive new embassy in Baghdad, heavy-handed tactics by private security guards and a plan to force U.S. diplomats to serve in Iraq.

Lawmakers who control the flow of money are questioning the department's appetite for more. More than $500-million of the proposed 2008 spending would go to three private security firms, including Blackwater Worldwide, which has been denounced since a Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad left 17 Iraqis dead.

The Baghdad security money also will pay for armored vehicles, bulletproof vests, ammunition, X-ray machines, bomb-sniffing dogs, barriers to prevent attacks by suicide bombers, and overhead shields to deflect mortar attacks, according to an Oct. 22 budget document sent to Congress.

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said lawmakers won't let U.S. diplomats go unprotected. But before the fiscal year 2008 request can be approved, the State Department must prove "it is capable of overseeing the actions of private security contractors and preventing the misuse of American taxpayers' money in Iraq," she said.

"Right now we have little reason to believe that is the case," said Lowey, chairwoman of the House appropriations subcommittee that oversees State Department spending.

The request is part of a larger $3.2-billion supplemental spending measure.

FAST FACTS:

Latest from Iraq

Corruption arrests: In Karbala, south of Baghdad, the police chief said arrest warrants were issued against three members of the provincial council and an official from a local mayor's office who were accused of corruption.

Bloodshed continues: Forty-nine people - including suspected insurgents - were killed or their bodies found across the country, according to an Interior Ministry official. In one of the deadliest incidents, 17 unidentified bodies were found in Baquba, north of Baghdad, the official said.

A warning: A senior Shiite Muslim cleric said American forces in Iraq could end up virtual "hostages in Iran's hands" if the United States attacked Iran. Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said President Bush's war on terror has encouraged extremists.

[Last modified November 7, 2007, 23:44:07]