VOA标准英语2009年-Report: US Learns 'Hard Lessons' From $51 Billi

U.S. taxpayers¹ have spent almost $51 billion on post-war reconstruction² in Iraq. The inspector³ general for Iraq Reconstruction says much of this money was filtered to contractors⁴ with little government oversight⁵, leading to massive fraud and little progress in rebuilding Iraq. Experts warn that the U.S. could be headed for a repeat as it ramps⁶ up its operations in Afghanistan.
　
U.S. Inspector General Stuart Bowen testifying on Capitol Hill, 02 Feb 2009

Waste, fraud and abuse. Those are the words most frequently used by U.S. Inspector General Stuart Bowen to describe the poorly managed reconstruction efforts he investigated in 21 visits to Iraq.

Bowen, who helped author a report titled, "Hard Lessons," testified on Monday before a special bipartisan Senate commission investigating wartime contracting problems.

"The overarching lesson as, I've said, is the United States government had neither the structure nor the resources in place to mount the major contingency⁷ relief and reconstruction program it took on in Iraq in mid-2003," said Bowen.

Bowen says the United States has spent 25 times more than what pre-war planners initially⁸ envisioned, which was about $2.5 billion. While Bowen acknowledged there have been some successes, many projects, he says, ran over budget or were executed improperly⁹.

For example, a wastewater treatment facility in Fallujah that was supposed to have been completed three years ago will not be finished until September. Even more problematic, says Bowen, was that the contract did not include connecting people's homes to sewer¹⁰ lines.

Bowen says the focus has shifted from repairing war damage and avoiding humanitarian¹¹ disaster to a large-scale reconstruction program, but that it has neglected areas such as agriculture and governance.

Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri was a co-sponsor of the bill that created the Wartime Contracting Commission, which is modeled after a similar body created to investigate government waste after World War II.

McCaskill called U.S. reconstruction operations in Iraq a "massive failure".

"Hundreds of billions of dollars have disappeared. Everything has been stolen - from money to heavy equipment to guns," said Senator McCaskill. "The scandalous part about the guns that we didn't keep track of is that people in the military will tell you that they are confident that our weapons were stolen, sold and used against our own soldiers. If we do not find accountability, then really, we have added to the problem of wasting taxpayers' money."

Inspector General Bowen told the commission it is important to learn from these lessons in order to avoid making similar mistakes in Afghanistan.

"Frequently, those deployed¹³ didn't have the right skills to carry out the missions to which they were assigned," said Bowen. "This is essential to ensure that next time a contingency operation is confronted by the United States that there are personnel ready to deploy¹² who can do the job. And actually, the next time is upon us. It's in Afghanistan."

Bowen says the United States has already appropriated $32 billion for projects in Afghanistan and will likely spend more as American operations there continue. He added that nearly $5 billion for Iraq has yet to be put under contract and that there is much work yet to be done.

1 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

2 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

3 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

4 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

6 ramps   

resources allocation and multiproject scheduling 资源分配和多项目的行程安排

参考例句：

• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。
• He has the upper floor and ramps are fitted everywhere for his convenience. 他住在上面一层，为了他的方便着想，到处设有坡道。

7 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

10 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

12 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

13 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。