WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- Iraq's oil production has been steadily increasing, thanks to U.S. reconstruction efforts.
The rising output levels are providing much-needed income as the United States hands more and more control over to the Iraqis, say two high-ranking U.S. officials.
Future reconstruction plans "hinge upon the Iraqi budget carrying a good deal of the burden," in terms of both finances and manpower, said Ambassador James Jeffrey, senior advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and coordinator for Iraq.
Speaking at the Washington Institute on Near East Policy Wednesday, he said: "It's crucial that Iraqi oil exports remain high enough to generate that income."
Jeffrey said oil production has been restored to over 2 million barrels per day. Iraqi oil exports are reaching 1.6 million barrels per day, and Jeffrey said he would like to see Iraq exporting 2 million barrels per day.
"It's very, very important to keep oil revenues up -- one of the major focuses of our strategy," Jeffrey said. "In oil we're fairly satisfied," he said, admitting that in Iraq, "if there's one area in which our influence is limited, regardless of how important it is, it's in the oil sector."
Maj. Gen. William McCoy, Jr., commander of the Gulf Region Division, Army Corps of Engineers in Baghdad, said about 600 of his 1,000-person team are Iraqi. By the time he leaves Iraq, he hopes the team will be 60 to 70 percent Iraqi.
"We need to give as much as possible to the Iraqis. By and large they're able to move out quicker and do things with less expense, lower visibility and less likelihood that the project will get hit," he said, also speaking at the Washington Institute. McCoy oversees more than 3,500 projects throughout the country.
"We are increasingly focused on moving to Iraqi-led construction by Iraqi-led firms," he said. "At the end of the day, we're only going to jump-start this. It's only there to establish the momentum that Iraq needs."
Governmental reforms seem to be working, Jeffrey said. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister-designate, has until May 22 to finish forming his government.
"Every indication is that this will be an inclusive government under a prime minister who seems to know quite well where he wants to go," Jeffrey said.
Provincial councils are now providing "definitive guidance," and the country is moving toward a decentralized government that will move "from the bottom up," as it does in the United States, he said.
Reconstruction teams have beefed-up internal security in the country, he said.
"To keep the capital funds flowing in Iraq we have to do better both on government capacity building and in security," Jeffrey said. Without stable conditions, Iraq will not attract the much-needed foreign investment to fill funding gaps, he said.
The Iraqi army is "doing much better," thanks to U.S. training programs and equipment, Jeffrey said. Efforts had focused on getting troops on the ground. "There are over 100,000 of them out there now," he said.
However, Iraqi police capability is "lagging," Jeffrey said. Command is split between central government and provincial leadership and not centralized as it should be, he said.
Iraqis still view the police as sectarian, specifically Shiite, McCoy said. Police convoys have been attacked by Sunni "neighborhood watch" groups, he said.
McCoy, who has spent the last 11 months in Baghdad and will stay for at least five more, acknowledged that violence has escalated, which complicates reconstruction. "We've squandered our honeymoon, he said.
Total casualties in Iraq -- including Iraqi and coalition forces and civilians -- now number up to 580 a week, McCoy said. Police stations are attacked; a railroad was blown up "continuously" as teams tried to rebuild it, he said.
"There's still a heavy fight going on in Iraq, but it is constantly improving. Only four of the 18 (Iraqi) provinces are violent," McCoy said.
He said press coverage does not always accurately convey the progress made.
"The message that continues to get out is that of very bleak details. But the fact of the matter is that we are making a very positive impact and that if we succeed it could spread in ways that we can't even think of," McCoy said.
"The Iraqi people are increasingly taking care of their own destiny. But we can still lose this fight by not understanding the total picture."
