Should We Take The Money And Run?

Remember I asked, back on Sunday, if the Coalition withdraws a sizeable amount of troops from Iraq what will happen to the civilian contractors?

Well, according to Michael Rubin writing in the Washington Poat today, it would be a good idea for Iraq if they were pulled out too. Arguing that the civilian presence has become too much of a drain on resources, he writes:

Local workers can do without the private security people whom foreign contractors employ and whose recklessness Iraqis despise. Iraqi civilians and politicians both identify the security contractors as the biggest impediment to the battle for hearts and minds. Nor would Iraqis spend aid money on unnecessary foreign personnel. Last month USAID allocated $32,000 for a driver to chauffeur the head of its mission in the protected zone. Injected into the local economy, such an amount could purchase a generator that would keep several local businesses going.

Oversight is important, but absent the ability of accountants and auditors to leave the security zone, their effectiveness is no better than if they were based in Washington. Layers of bureaucracy have not stamped out corruption among either Iraqis or Americans. A better model would be expansion of the Commander's Emergency Relief Program, which allows U.S. military officers to disburse funds immediately to replace power lines, rehabilitate water treatment plants and renovate schools. Officers remain in the field and accountable for their decisions. In contrast, less than a third of the $18.4 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, appropriated in November 2003, has been spent.

So if the civilan contractors pulled out what woiuld happen to the money, over half of that third already allocated, which has been spent but the programs it was spent on haven't even begun yet?

I agree that private security contractors are a burden in Iraq now - but if Iraqi security forces are good enough to be left alone then surely they are good enough for Halliburton et al. This one needs some thought, methinks. Anyone have any opinions for discussion in comments?