It is unfortunate that it took a request from the Bush administration to use more than $3 billion in funds for security in Iraq to tell some members of Congress how badly things were going there. That money was appropriated for rebuilding, but reality dictates that the money be moved because without security, rebuilding can’t take place.

The request to spend some of the $18 billion allocated last year to rebuilding for security measures will most likely be approved by lawmakers, as it should. The concern is the larger message it sends about conditions in Iraq, where more than 1,000 American soldiers have been killed, nearly 900 of them since official fighting was declared over May 1, 2003.

Also last week The New York Times reported that a classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in July painted a pessimistic picture of the future in Iraq. At worst, Iraq could descend into civil war by 2005, according to the estimate, the first since October 2002, before the war began. The best scenario is a country whose stability remains tenuous. Such an assessment is in stark contrast to the administration’s public statements about continued successes in Iraq. So is the State Department request.

The diversion request, said Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, “does not add up, in my opinion, to a pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we’re winning. But it does add up to this, an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble.”

While lawmakers should approve the request so that both reconstruction and security efforts move forward, albeit slowly, they should also ask for more details about why security remains such a problem and what is being done to correct the situation before the State Department is before them again asking for more money.

Under the State Department request, there would be 45,000 more police, 16,000 more border patrol guards and 20 additional National Guard battalions. At the same time, funding for water, sewer and electricity projects would be reduced.

Given the fact that water and electricity are essential for Iraqi residents, such cuts sound alarming. However, of the $18 billion set aside for rebuilding, only $1 billion has been spent so far. This confirms that it is still too dangerous in Iraq to undertake essential projects. Without adequate security, people doing the rebuilding work or lining up in hopes of acquiring a job have just become targets for insurgent fighters.

Last week United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the U.S. war against Iraq “illegal.” Some would use this and the request to divert money as a reason to re-hash whether the United States should have invaded Iraq in the first place.

The time for such debates is over. Iraqis want utility and government services. If, however, a lack of security makes these impossible to provide, it is clear which is a higher priority.