WASHINGTON, 13 March 2003 — Democratic and Republican senators criticized the Bush administration for being secretive about plans for a postwar Iraq after a Pentagon official failed to show up at a Senate hearing on Tuesday on the topic. The failure to testify was “a missed opportunity for the administration to communicate its views on Iraqi reconstruction,” said Sen. Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
A representative from the office of Jay Garner, director of the Pentagon’s new Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, said on Tuesday there was a “scheduling conflict,” that prevented Garner’s appearance before the panel. Lugar warned that if there is a war against Iraq to disarm President Saddam Hussein, American military and civilian workers “will be in Iraq for an extended period of time.” He said an airing of the administration’s long-term plans for Iraq will be needed to maintain support in Congress and the American public for US efforts.
A senior panel Democrat, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, said the administration has been “extremely vague” about its planning for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in Iraq. “People need answers ... and I think we need them sooner rather than later,” he said. On Monday, the government confirmed it had invited at least five companies, including the Halliburton Co. once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, to submit bids for a $900 million contract to do reconstruction work in Iraq.
Lugar chafed at the administration’s secrecy surrounding the bids, saying Congress had been kept informed through “good coverage” by the media of leaked information. In remarks to reporters, Dodd accused the Bush administration of “an arrogance” in refusing to answer senators’ questions about likely Iraqi reconstruction costs. “Why is it some executive of a corporation can find out what the costs might be but a member of Congress cannot? That’s what I find outrageous,” Dodd said. Dodd said he wanted more information on the potential costs of a war and the rebuilding of Iraq, as well as whether other countries would contribute to a postwar effort in Iraq.
A senior US defense official on Tuesday told reporters that millions of Iraqi regular army and government workers would be used on reconstruction projects.
Referring to the supplies on hand to help Iraqi civilians and other logistics, Dodd said he was “terribly concerned that we are not as far along as we should be at this juncture considering that we may be a few days away from military action.”
Eric Schwartz, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the committee in prepared testimony that it will cost the United States at least $20 billion in the first year to provide peacekeeping troops along with humanitarian and economic aid in postwar Iraq.
Meanwhile, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said in Santiago on Tuesday that none of the measures before the UN Security Council would allow for Chile to vote for a war on Iraq. “It would be difficult for Chile to vote for them,” Lagos told a local radio network. Chile holds one of 10 non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council, which is considering whether to allow the use of force against Iraq if it refuses to disarm. “We are making an effort to find a solution that does not lead to war,” Lagos said.
The United States is lobbying heavily countries such as Chile and Mexico to vote in favor of a plan that would give Iraqi President Saddam Hussein until March 17 to disarm. Mexico and Chile are seeking a compromise between the hard-line US position and that of the French, who plan to use their veto power as one of the five permanent council members to stop any warfare.
However, Lagos has not been swayed by telephone conversations from Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair or Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar — all of whom want a firm and early deadline.
