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Soaring Iraqi Costs Mean More U.S. Business: " Sabotage, looting and a more fragile infrastructure than anticipated are driving up costs in Iraq, where U.S. companies will likely reap billions of dollars in the next round of reconstruction contracts.

The U.S. Agency for International Development this week rolled out a $1.5 billion draft tender to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure when money runs dry for a contract it gave to San Francisco construction firm Bechtel."

The article isn't clear on whether this is part of the $87B supplemental authorization.

And how can they say "more fragile infrastructure than anticipated" with a straight face? Didn't these people know anything about the country they were bombing the hell out of?

But here's the punch line:

A senior Bush administration official said the White House planned to award reconstruction contracts based on a ``full and open competition going forward,'' except in cases where national security required an expedited selection process.

Now, how hard is to justify pretty much anything you want as "national security" in a war zone? Talk about loopholes big enough to drive a Hummer through....