Ability to Track Costs in Iraq May Be Difficult, Report Says

Ability to Track Costs in Iraq May Be Difficult, Report Says:

"Auditors monitoring reconstruction funding in Iraq are concerned that the system for managing work there is so diffuse that the government may not be able to get an accurate estimate of how much its projects cost, according to an inspector general's report set for release today.

Congress allocated $18.4 billion for Iraqi reconstruction in 2003, of which about a quarter had been spent as of April. The money was intended for programs aimed at restoring basic services to the Iraqis, such as electricity, water, health care and education after the U.S. invasion in spring 2003.

But auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction say the lack of accurate cost estimates raises the possibility that the government could be stuck without enough money to pay for reconstruction programs already begun. 'That's always a danger if you don't know how much you've spent,' said James Mitchell, spokesman for special Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen Jr."