Iraq: US Senator Wants Oil Money Used for Rebuilding

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has said he may try to require Iraq to spend more of its oil revenue on reconstruction instead of investing the money in foreign banks.
“What kind of an absurdity is it that we are paying for the reconstruction of Iraq with American taxpayers dollars if Iraqi oil sales, to a significant degree, are going into foreign banks and not being used for their own reconstruction,” said Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat.
Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in early 2003, top Bush administration officials suggested some war costs could be financed through Iraqi oil revenues. That never occurred and U.S. taxpayers have instead seen about a half-trillion dollars of their money spent on the war so far.
In the meantime, there are estimates that Iraq has up to $30 billion in assets invested in U.S. financial institutions. “They (Iraq) are selling about $50 billion a year in oil. What are they doing with all the money?” Levin asked.
They are probably waiting to give it to foreign oil companies for extracting Iraq’s oil …