U.S. Contractors to Lead Rebuilding in Iraq The U.S. Agency for International Development is preparing to award at least six contracts, each worth $100 million or more, to repair any war damage in Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reported. The largest, about $900 million to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, has been put out for bids to several multinational engineering and construction giants, the report said. They are Bechtel Group Inc.; Washington Group International Inc.; a team of Parsons Corp. and Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., where Vice President Cheney once served as CEO; and a team of Louis Berger Group and Fluor Corp. The report said the Bush administration wants to put the contracts in place so the reconstruction can get a running start, as a gesture of goodwill to the Iraqi people. But some international aid agencies doubt that the job can be finished within 12 to 18 months, as the administration wants, and questioned the decision to limit the largest jobs to American contractors. Other USAID contracts, totaling from $300 million to $500 million, would be for operating Iraq’s seaports and international airports, rebuilding and improving schools, upgrading hospital care, and handling logistical tasks such as water transport. The Army Corps of Engineers plans to award contracts worth up to $500 million for building roads, military barracks and other projects, the Journal said. The United Nations would likely take on the task of rehabilitating the Iraqi oil industry.