Iraq Price Tag Inches Higher.

The top coalition civilian in Iraq estimates that it will cost about $29 billion over the next four to five years just to restore the country's electricity and water sectors. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, told a National Press Club audience in Washington D.C. on July 23, 2003, that engineers estimate the cost to rebuild the electricity sector at $13 billion while United Nations experts claim that $16 billion must be spent on water. While in Washington for several days of briefings with administration and congressional officials, Bremer outlined a three-stage strategy for rebuilding the country: enhancing security, restoring the economy and establishing governance. Bremer said he expects power generating capacity to be restored to pre-war levels of 4,000 Mw, but he did not provide details on how this would be accomplished.