This is a history of the Iraq reconstruction experience compiled by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., a Republican lawyer who regularly travels to Iraq and has a staff of engineers and auditors based here. Copies of several drafts of the history were provided to reporters at The New York Times and ProPublica. The manuscript is based on approximately 500 new interviews, as well as more than 600 audits, inspections and investigations on which Mr. Bowenâs office has reported over the years. Laid out for the first time in a connected history, the material forms the basis for broad judgments on the rebuilding program. PART I: PLANNING TO REBUILD IRAQ 1. Planning Begins 2. The Agencies Engage 3. The Department of Defense Takes Charge 4. ORHA Stages in Kuwait 5. ORHA in Baghdad PART II: THE COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY LEADS RECONSTRUCTION 6. The Sudden Advent of the CPA 7. CPA’s Resource Shortfalls 8. Treasury’s Economic Triage 9. Bremer’s Grand Reconstruction Vision 10. Contracting Billions in Iraq Reconstruction 11. Restoring Iraq’s Capacity to Govern 12. Reconstructing Iraq’s Security Forces 13. Rebuilding Iraq’s Oil Sector 14. Rebuilding Iraq’s Electricity Sector 15. Reconstruction in Transition PART III: THE U.S. EMBASSY TAKES CHARGE 16. Negroponte’s Reprogrammings 17. Contingency Contracting and Program Management 18. Building in a War Zone 19. Strengthening Iraq’s Security Forces for Counterinsurgency 20. Building Democracy: Elections, the Rule of Law, and Anticorruption 21. Oversight Takes Hold in Iraq Reconstruction PART IV: OVERCOMING ROADBLOCKS TO RECONSTRUCTION 22. Khalilzad’s Adaptations 23. Reconstruction Moves Local 24. The Primacy of Sustainability and Capacity Development Programs 25. Reconstruction Amid Sectarian Violence 26. The Surge PART V: LESSONS LEARNED 27. Hard Lessons 28. Afterword: The U.S. Approach to Reforming Contingency Relief and Reconstruction Operations Acronyms Dramatis Personae ANNEXES I. The Genesis and Methodology of Hard Lessons II. Oversight of Reconstruction Programs and Expenditures APPENDIX: Key Documents A. UNSCR 1483 B. NSPD 36 C. NSPD 44 D. CPA Regulation 1 E. CPA Order 1 F. CPA Order 2