Foreign Policy: Fears Mount as Trump Administration Guts USAID’s Iraq Presence
“The United States’ top aid agency is dismantling its presence in Iraq, leaving a skeleton crew ill-equipped to oversee over $1 billion in aid programs aimed in part at staving off the return of terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State, officials and lawmakers say. … Congressional aides familiar with the matter say USAID has considered closing down awards for funding in Iraq early because there’s not enough staff to oversee the programs. A USAID spokesperson disputed this, telling Foreign Policy the agency has ‘not not considered ending any awards early because of our reduced footprint’…” (Gramer, 3/6).