Crumbling

It would seem that almost everything that this administration has touched in the last six years has turned to dust.

In Iraq, the much-trumpeted good news stories that the media haven't been 'emphasising enough' aren't as good as they have been made out to be.

In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for a federal oversight agency have found that in a sampling of eight projects that the United States had declared successes, seven were no longer operating as designed because of plumbing and electrical failures, lack of proper maintenance, apparent looting and expensive equipment that lay idle.

And...

Curiously, most of the problems seemed unrelated to sabotage stemming from Iraq’s parlous security situation, but instead were the product of poor initial construction, petty looting, a lack of any maintenance and simple neglect.

Another job half done. It ties in with reports that 60-80% of a project's budget was spent on security whilst the work was being done. I would imagine that the companies wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible, but, of course, collecting their fee first.