U.S. defends Iraq's spending

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department sidestepped questions about whether the Iraqi government invested in U.S. treasuries rather than its own reconstruction.

In January a report by the Government Accountability Office, the congressional investigative arm, found Iraqi spent only 4.4 percent of its total reconstruction budget as of August 2007.

The Senate Armed Services Committee in March asked the GAO to examine the Iraqi government's spending on reconstruction compared with U.S. spending on reconstruction.

"It's totally unacceptable to me that we are spending tens of billions of dollars on rebuilding Iraq while they are putting tens of billions of dollars, in banks around the world, from oil revenues," said Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich.

Addressing reporters at a recent State Department news briefing, the department's deputy spokesman, Tom Casey, said he had nothing official regarding the allegations.

"I can tell you that Iraq is investing in its own people," Casey said. "It's investing right now, most recently, to the tune of a hundred million dollars for development in job programs in Ramadi, for development in job programs in Najaf and several other key cities."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted during her recent visit to Baghdad that Iraq had taken the initiative on several reconstruction and development projects, something U.S. officials expected.

"I would certainly expect that the Iraqi government is going to continue to be seen increasingly as taking the lead in terms of development projects and development issues," Casey said.

U.S. officials in Iraq expect the Iraqi government to work closely on several projects regarding basic infrastructure, including water and electrical services, the spokesman noted.