Bechtel leaves Iraq in bittersweet exit

BAGHDAD, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Bechtel Corp., a big U.S. engineering and construction company, is leaving Iraq after $2.3 billion worth of reconstruction work but the exit is bittersweet.

In early 2003, Washington gave the San Francisco company the job of rebuilding Iraq's water and electrical plants, its bridges, schools and a port. This week Bechtel said it has completed 97 of 99 projects, The Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

But Bechtel veterans, accustomed to mammoth projects around the world, say they cannot recall as hostile an environment.

"We were told it would be a permissive environment. But to the horror of everyone, it never stabilized. It just went down, down, down, and to this day it continues to go down," Cliff Mumm, who ran Bechtel's Iraq operation, told the Times. "I'm proud of what we did, but had law and order prevailed, it would be a different situation."

Some of Bechtel's detractors are using its departure from Iraq to fire shots.

"Bechtel is putting a 'Mission Accomplished' banner over their work in Iraq and then coming home," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "But the mission has not been accomplished. Iraq still doesn't have enough power, hospitals, clean water."