Ambassador Speckhard’s Remarks on

Reconstruction in Iraq

·         Thank you and welcome.  As a former policy planning official at NATO, I am happy to see friends and colleagues from years past here in Doha.  It certainly is a far cry from the café-filled streets of Brussels. 

·         As Director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, I am honored to speak before you on the matter of reconstruction in Iraq.  As Ambassador Khalilzad has noted, the future of Iraq is critical to the region and the world.  And the nation’s reconstruction, led by Iraqis with US and international assistance, is an integral part of moving Iraq forward into a prosperous, democratic, and stable future. 

·         The main obstacle to reconstruction is security.  Security and reconstruction are inextricably linked, as the former makes the latter possible.  Just as reconstruction depends on progress on the security front, reconstruction projects can facilitate and solidify gains in security. 

·         Reconstruction-induced economic growth and job creation enhances the Iraqi government’s ability to provide security on a sustainable basis.  Moreover, by assisting in Iraq’s transition to self-reliance, the reconstruction assistance program strengthens the hand of the Iraqi government to provide hope and economic opportunity, and diminish the incentives for the insurgency.      

·         As the transition moves forward, the international community is also moving forward to support Iraq’s aspiration for self-reliance.  Regional neighbors like Saudi Arabia are re-affirming support for Iraq.  On November 13, Saudi Arabia re-pledged $1 billion to help rebuild Iraq.

·         In the third quarter of this year, donors other than the United States pledged over $13.5 billion in assistance for the reconstruction of Iraq. This includes $8 billion in assistance from foreign governments and $5.5 billion in lending from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- all to be disbursed between 2004 and 2007. As of September 2005, over $3 billion of the pledges of non-U.S. assistance had been disbursed.

·         About $2.7 billion of this non-U.S. assistance was from other donor governments, either in bilateral projects or through the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI). Another $436 million was in the form of IMF assistance.

·         NATO countries have provided much-needed economic assistance and support for security training.  For instance, as Chair of the IRFFI Donors' Committee, Canada has done a remarkable job coordinating and organizing donor efforts.  While pledging $300 million for Iraq’s humanitarian relief and reconstruction, Canada has also deployed police instructors to assist in the training of Iraqi police at the Jordan International Police Training Center.  Other NATO nations, such as Spain, have pledged and contributed greatly to the IRRFI fund. 

·         With the critical help of the international community, Iraq is moving through a significant transitional phase in its efforts to achieve self-reliance.  The insurgency grasps the important role of the international community and continues to try to prevent any form of international assistance.  From merciless assaults on foreign diplomats in Baghdad to attacks on internationally-funded reconstruction projects, the insurgents are trying to stop our shared effort to support the Iraqis in their drive to rebuild the country. 

·         The insurgents have targeted the reconstruction efforts, especially in essential services, and inflicted over 1100 attacks.  They have killed 275 US and foreign contractors, and wounded 3300.  

·          In spite of these security difficulties, we have developed a comprehensive strategy to rebuild Iraq.  Our strategy is working.     

• This strategy has been to use the $21 billion toward projects that yield tangible results while laying the groundwork for longer-term economic growth.  

• The American investment in Iraq is yielding tangible results:

o        The institutions of democracy have been strengthened with elections and the new Constitution.   The process of building democratic institutions and civil society has been supported by over $900 million in U.S. assistance;

o        We have focused heavily on repairs to the electricity infrastructure, which was left extremely fragile after decades of neglect under the previous regime.  Roughly half of current generation is the result of U.S.-funded projects.  Over 220 projects are either complete or in progress and have added or restored over 2,700 MW to the national grid. 

o        To date, there are roughly 348 water and sewage projects complete or underway, worth $1.8 billion.   Because of this effort, we have increased the available water system treatment capacity by approximately 1.6 million cubic meters per day – providing the capacity to serve 2.3 million Iraqis.  Our sanitary sewage projects have increased the available system treatment capacity to be able to provide 3.2 million Iraqis with service they did not experience before.  

o        Oil projects have rehabilitated roughly 75 percent of current production.  When our oil projects are complete, we expect Iraq to exceed the pre-war levels of 2.6 million barrels per day production and 2.0 million barrels per day in exports.

• It is easy to overlook the sizable magnitude of the reconstruction assistance program to Iraq.  American taxpayers have been generous in their desire to help Iraqis rebuild their country and assist in providing basic needs to its citizens after years of decay, neglect and totalitarian rule.

• This is the largest reconstruction assistance program for a single country in the history of the world.  Together with our implementing partners, including PCO, USAID, Corps of Engineers and the military commands in the field, we continue to make progress.        

• And as we make progress, we continue to apply lessons learned from our past experience.

• We have deferred large projects with high Operations and Maintenance (O & M) costs to build smaller local projects.  We have also established O & M programs for US projects previously started underway, with planning for future efforts also underway. 

• To ensure that our reconstruction efforts help Iraqis, we have adapted our program to increase the emphasis on immediate, visible impacts for Iraqi citizens and to increase the involvement of Iraqi contractors and officials in all our efforts.  For instance, we have shifted to a grants-based approach with the Ministry of Housing and Construction, saving 35% on basic construction costs.

• In addition to modifying our tactics to better meet Iraqi reconstruction needs, we are also undertaking new initiatives to strengthen Iraqi capacity at the national and local levels to ensure the country’s future prosperity and security.

·         Secretary Rice’s inauguration of the initiative for Provincial Reconstruction Teams highlights the priority we place on supporting Iraqi institutions at

     all levels. She stood up the first PRT in Mosul, and AMB Khalilzad has inaugurated two additional PRTs

     in Kirkuk and Hillah.  We plan to stand up PRT’s

     in 12 more provinces and in the Kurdistan region

     in the coming months. 

·         Through the PRT initiative, we are focusing on jointness.  We are integrating the civil and military instruments together to help the Iraqis build their provincial governance capabilities.  We are also combining the political, military, and economic arms of our government into PRTs in order to ensure that political, military, and economic objectives are synchronized.  

·         As NATO is deeply engaged with PRTs in Afghanistan, we have also embedded flexibility in PRTs in Iraq in order to facilitate international engagement in this important initiative.  We are currently discussing possible participation from several NATO partners to provide direct and immediate assistance to help

    build Iraq’s local government capacity. 

·         NATO can play its part in the international effort to assist the Iraqi Government in rebuilding a war-torn land and bring a measure of hope and opportunity to the Iraqi people. 

·         With the help of the international community, our strategy is working and our assistance program is producing tangible results for the Iraqi people. 

·         As Iraqis prepare for the election of the Council of Representatives on December 15, 2005, the United States remains committed to supporting Iraq in its historic transition.  We will continue to help Iraqis rebuild the country and facilitate international

     support for Iraq.  The future of Iraq is critical to

     the broader Middle East and the whole world.