The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

1 | Iraq Windfall Profits in Iraq? Thanks to soaring oil revenues, Iraq could have a cumulative budget surplus of $79 billion by the end of the year, the Government Accountability Office reported. And yet, of the $67 billion the Iraqi government spent from 2005 to 2007, just 1% went toward infrastructure projects. Senators Carl Levin and John Warner, who requested the report, expressed outrage at Iraq's weak spending record; U.S. taxpayers have spent $48 billion on Iraq reconstruction so far.

[This article contains a complex diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine.]

Total Revenue of Iraq's Government

Expenditure Surplus

'05 $24...

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