US gives up on rebuilding Iraq
Having originally claimed they would give Iraq the best infrastructure in the region, the Bush government has now turned towards winning the the mid-term elections and has announced that there will be no more funding after July 2007 for rebuilding the mess they have created in Iraq. Currently, oil production is well below the pre-war rate (2 billion barrels / day compared with 2.6 bpd before the invasion) and electricity production is also below pre-war levels. The American investment in Iraq has gone largely unnoticed by the local population, with less than 30% of the population even being aware that the USA is contributing to the the rebuilding of their country, according to the Guardian.