Stephen Harding wrote:
: Emmanuel Gustin wrote:

: I think the US made it quite clear this was not going to be the
: case. Full transparency in how the money is spend, with an
: outside board making the decisions. None of the money going to
: support the US presence.

There are serious doubts about the impact this 'outside
board' -- which IIRC consists of the UN, the World Bank,
and Iraqi representatives -- wil be able to have on the
spending. It does seem to be little more than a front
end.

: "Paying for its own foreign policy"? That's a real hoot coming
: from Europe!

True, the USA is spending a considerably smaller part of
its GDP on foreign aid than Europe.

: Anyways, I personally believe there will be more glory for the
: US doing this ourselves, without significant help from anyone.

You can't. The only ones who can do it are the Iraqis
themselves. Foreign assistance should be strictly that,
assistance.

Emmanuel Gustin