Iraq’s budget surplus Why Baghdad is in the black while the U.S.
is in the red  hat happened The Government Accountability Office
said that Iraq will have a budget surplus of up to $79 billion
by the end of the year, as soaring oil prices fill government
coffers. The U.S. has contributed $48 billion for Iraq's
reconstruction since the 2003 invasion, while Iraq spends only a
small percentage of its revenue on development. (The New York
Times)  What the commentators said Before the Iraq invasion, you
might recall, said David Wood in The Baltimore Sun’s Military
Watch blog, senior U.S. officials promised that “Iraq’s oil
wealth would pay for any reconstruction work needed.” Well, not
quite. Five years later, U.S. taxpayers are still footing the
bill for projects Iraq can now afford on its own, and worse,
much of the $48 billion we’ve spent has been “misused or
wasted.”  Despite the “outrage” these numbers have elicited,
said Stephen Covington in the blog Conservative Pulse, a surplus
is a good thing for “any fle