Iraq Wants $88 Billion for Rebuilding. Allies Offer a Fraction of That.
The State Department emphasized that the United States since 2014 had already given Iraq $1.7 billion in humanitarian aid
and $6 billion in economic and security assistance, money mostly committed during the Obama administration.
Of the $61 billion in American funds spent on development aid in Iraq between 2003
and 2012, around $6 billion vanished and a further $1 billion was wasted, American auditors concluded.
In Iraq, those priorities seem to mean that the United States, after leaning heavily on the Iraqi military, which suffered heavy casualties in the
fight against the Islamic State, appears to be leaving the task of rebuilding Iraq’s shattered cities to other nations and the private sector.
The relatively small sums pledged to Iraq also raised questions about whether the United States can be counted upon to deliver aid
and other resources to allies, when it could not muster more help for one of its foremost partners in the war against the Islamic State.
13, 2018
KUWAIT — Devastated by a war with Islamic State extremists
that razed its cities and left millions homeless, Iraq has asked affluent allies led by the United States for $88 billion to rebuild.
Among the programs the administration has proposed eliminating are a $4.6 billion economic support fund, a $3 billion budget for international development assistance
and a $211 million fund to promote democratic institutions.