Electricity: Turn The Lights On

Newsweek International ^ | 8-29-05 | Joe Cochrane

[katiedidit1]

Electricity: Turn the Lights On The insurgents know that depriving Iraq of power is at least as effective as killing soldiers and policemen. By By Joe Cochrane Newsweek International Sept. 5, 2005 issue - The political deadlock over a new constitution isn't the only reason Iraqis are nearing a breaking point. From rich businessmen to impoverished farmers, citizens from all walks of life are plagued by a seemingly unsolvable problem: the lack of electricity. Nearly two and a half years after U.S. tanks rolled into Baghdad, the American occupying force and two successive Iraqi governments have struggled to keep the lights on long enough to convince people they are better off now than under Saddam Hussein. They've failed partly because of inefficiency and corruption, but mostly because the Sunni-led insurgency and foreign terrorist cells have made sabotaging the country's power grid as prominent a target as U.S. troops and Iraqi policemen. "The Zarqawi [terrorist] group is targeting the infrastructure to keep pressure on the government," government spokesman Laith Kubba said late last week.

[colette]

I'm sure an oil rich company doesn't want to promote alternative fuel sources but Iraq looks like a natural for solar power. Or if they prefer oil based electricity, why doesn't someone start importing generators for homes and businesses?

[agooga]

Cutting down power poles is better than cutting off heads. I'd say that's progress.

[colette]

oops, i meant COUNTRY not COMPANY

[mainepatsfan]

The saying used to be "Mussolini kept the trains running on time". Now it's "Saddam kept the electricity on".

[LenS]

Actually, Saddam didn't keep the power on, except in Baghdad. Elsewhere he turned it off or let the infrastructure rot to keep people under control.

[mainepatsfan]

You and I know that but the MSM likes to portray Iraq as a utopia until we showed up.

[Billthedrill]

Demand in Iraq has skyrocketed past the ability of the existing grid to keep up even in the absence of sabotage. We seldom hear about that because the reason for it is an unprecedented increase in electronic consumer goods that are now available to an increasingly affluent population, and to report on that would force the MSM to conclude that maybe things are better. So they hit us with this deceptive, manipulative half-truth.

[mhx]

Welcome to California.

[speekinout]

This problem is definitely a result of situations that I can't imagine could have been anticipated. First, we didn't know that only the Sunni areas had power, and there was never enough capacity to deliver it to all of Iraq.
Second, we never imagined that the Iraqis had the means or desire to run out and buy tv's, computers, and every other variety of electronic goods, which adds to the demand.

And I give the terrorists more credit than I would have before. Hitting the transmission lines is a *very* good way to make the Iraqis annoyed with the coalition troops. I had to live without power for 3 weeks last Aug. - 3 hot weeks - and there's no better way to make someone cranky. The terrorists target the transmission lines even more than they target US troops or innocent civilians.

Americans are viewed more positively in areas that never had power before - or clean water or sewage systems - than they are in areas that were favored by Saddam.

The big milestone will be when Iraqis think that power is the responsibility of their gov't and not of the coalition troops.

[ExitPurgamentum]

Have you heard of poverty, Collette? Do you have any clue as to what you suggests costs in comparison to their resources?