Iraq reconstruction oversight, No radiation pills

Iraq reconstruction oversight

The Army Corps of Engineers has spent hundreds of millions of dollars overseeing Iraqi rebuilding projects that have failed or are behind schedule,

the inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction said. According to the inspector general, the Corps paid American civilians to travel to Iraq to oversee the work, but did not adequately monitor the results or impose strict price controls. Similar projects overseen by the Air Force’s reconstruction agency were described as better managed and less expensive.

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No radiation pills

The federal government said it would not hand out radiation-fighting thyroid pills to people living 10 to 20 miles from nuclear plants. A law passed five years ago, amid concerns about a terrorist attack on nuclear facilities, mandates a wide distribution of the pills—unless the government determines such a course would not be effective. John Marburger, President Bush’s top science advisor, said a review had determined that the pills “offer negligible

additional protection” against radiation exposure for those who live outside a 10-mile radius of a reactor.