This morning, in his prepared statement at the opening the Petraeus/Crocker hearing, Levin emphasized Iraq's lack of investment in its own reconstruction as evidence of how continued, unending U.S. involvement in the country may only be delaying the day when the Baghdad government will become self-sufficient. At the very least, Levin contended, Iraq has shown itself content to rely on U.S. handouts for as long as they continue to be offered.

From Levin's statement:

Iraq now has tens of billions of dollars in surplus funds in their banks and in accounts around the world, including about $30 billion in U.S. banks. But Iraqi leaders and bureaucrats aren’t spending those funds. The result is that, far from financing “its own reconstruction” as the administration promised five years ago, the Iraqi government has left the U.S. to make most of the capital expenditures needed to provide essential services and improve the quality of life of Iraqi citizens.

American taxpayers are spending vast sums on reconstruction efforts. For example, the U.S. has spent at least $27.6 billion to date on major infrastructure projects, job training, education and training and equipping of the Iraqi Security Forces. On the other hand, according to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Iraqi Government budgeted $6.2 billion for its capital budget in 2006 but spent less than a quarter of it. As of August 31, 2007, the Iraqi Government had spent somewhere between 4.4 percent (according to the GAO) and 24 percent (according to the White House) of its $10.1 billion capital budget for 2007. As of last Thursday, the U.S. government is paying the salaries of almost 100,000 Iraqis who are working on reconstruction.

To add insult to injury, in addition to spending tens of billions of U.S. dollars on reconstruction, American taxpayers are also paying three to four dollars a gallon on gas here at home, much of which originates in the Middle East, including Iraq. The Iraqi government seems content to sit by, build up surpluses and let Americans reconstruct their country and foot the bill. But the American people surely aren’t content with that, and the Bush administration shouldn’t be either.

Iraq possesses the world's third largest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia and Canada, totaling 115 billion barrels. According to the AP, by February of this year, average daily production had reached 2.4 million barrels, with exports averaging 1.93 million barrels per day.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from James Gordon.