Try looking up pre-1991 Iraqi oil revenues and see if you think that Iraqi oil would "pay for the reconstruction". I'm not sure how it will be done (Tony?) but there is just a chance that Iraqi reserves will now be tapped and revenues increased so as to wean Iraq from the taxpayer’s teat.

Iraq was in sorry shape after the Gulf war but instead of investing the billions of dollars he pilfered from the fraudulent UN oil-for-food program -in his country's own infrastructure, Saddam chose to squander the money on his own program of self-aggrandizement.

That's why it's a big deal that we are "spending Iraqi money on Iraqi cities".

Might you be, a one-eyed dog?