US Inspectors to Remain in Iraq

Barry Schweid

Associated Press

WASHINGTON—Under congressional pressure, the State Department agreed Tuesday to retain nine inspectors in Iraq to oversee reconstruction, health and other assistance programs. The group of U.S. Agency for International Development inspectors based in Baghdad had faced elimination, reduction or transfer to Jordan, Egypt or Germany. The presence of AID inspectors in Iraq was to be restricted to two on a rotating and temporary basis. "We have been informed by the State Department that we can maintain our presence, which is contrary to our initial understandings," Dona Dinkler, chief of staff for the AID office of inspector general, told The Associated Press. First hint of the switch came from Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who said, "Without a strong oversight presence on the ground in Iraq, American tax dollars are vulnerable to waste or abuse."