Dec 28, 2017

Questions abound over who will fund Iraqi reconstruction

Axios

The Iraqi city of Mosul in November. Photo: Chris McGrath / Getty Images

The Iraqi military and U.S.-led coalition succeeded in uprooting the Islamic State group across the country, but the damage is nearly incalculable, AP reports from Mosul.

Why it matters: "So far no one is offering to foot the bill. The Trump administration has told the Iraqis it won't pay for a massive reconstruction drive."

"For nearly 2½ miles along the western bank of the Tigris River, hardly a single building is intact. The warren of narrow streets of Mosul's Old City is a crumpled landscape of broken concrete and metal. Every acre is weighed down by more than 3,000 tons of rubble, much of it laced with explosives and unexploded ordnance."
Adding it up: "Baghdad estimates $100 billion is needed nationwide to rebuild. Local leaders in Mosul, the biggest city held by IS, say that amount is needed to rehabilitate their city alone."

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Questions abound over who will fund Iraqi reconstruction

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