Re-engineering Afghanistan: At what cost?

The United States and several other countries have poured money into a technological effort that has involved hundreds of engineers and technicians, thousands of construction workers, and scores of contractors and subcontractors. It is the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, and it hasn\´t been going well. Reconstruction has been a sprawling enterprise, encompassing the building and refurbishment of such vital infrastructure as roads, schools, sewage systems, dams, and electrical grids. We began our coverage of this work in the fall of 2005, when Executive Editor Glenn Zorpette traveled to Iraq to report on the electricity and telecommunications projects there. Zorpette\´s first article, "Re-engineering Iraq" [February 2006], told a story of engineers thwarted by politics, and of enormous sums wasted because of decisions based largely on local and international politics rather than on engineering and logistical realities.