The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Bechtel Corp. went to Iraq three years ago to help rebuild a nation torn by war. Since then, 52 of its people have been killed and much of its work sabotaged as Iraq dissolved into insurgency and sectarian violence.

Now Bechtel is leaving.

The San Francisco engineering company's last government contract to rebuild power, water and sewage plants across Iraq expired on Tuesday. Some employees remain to finish the paperwork, but essentially, the company's job is done.

Saw that also. That's one hell of an indicator of which direction this thing is going. Perhaps they'll go back in for more spoils of war after the partition, civil war, and ethnic cleansing run their course -- assuming anyone from the US is welcome. As long as the US keeps the Turks at bay, I'm sure Iraqi Kurdistan will be welcoming, but I think the US will have few friends in the Arab areas. The recent Sadr City debacle reveals the trend line there. Bad time to be a Sunni in Iraq, an Iraqi in a mixed marriage, or a member of any ethnic/sectarian group living in the "wrong" neighborhood.
- mark 11-02-2006 6:02 pm