U.S.-Funded Power Plant Comes on Line

AP ^ | 2/19/6 | PAUL GARWOOD

[SmithL]

BASRA, Iraq -- Glistening in Iraq's barren southern salt plains, a natural gas-driven power station has come on line, generating sorely needed electricity for war-weary Iraqis and demonstrating that much-maligned U.S.-led reconstruction efforts are beginning to bear fruit.

U.S. officials said Sunday that increasing Iraq's electricity generating capacity through facilities such as the 250 megawatt electricity plant near the southern city of Basra is crucial to American efforts to encourage Iraqis to turn their backs on the insurgency.

Among the most infuriating problems for Iraqis nearly three years after the U.S.-led invasion remains the lack of regular electricity to run lights and home appliances, including air conditioners during Iraq's summer, when temperatures soar beyond 120 degrees.

Daniel Speckhard, who heads the U.S. reconstruction effort here, said Iraqis had expected instant results after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, which had allow the country's electricity-generating plants and national grid to deteriorate.

"They were hoping instantly to have the same kind of things we have in the United States, where you have 24 hours of power," Speckhard said. "What we are looking for by this coming summer is to get so the whole nation has roughly 12 hours of power, which is significantly better than where we have been."

Of 425 electricity-related projects, only 300 are expected to be completed before the $18.6 billion approved by Congress in November 2003 for reconstruction in Iraq runs out, U.S. officials have said.

Baghdad is among the country's worst off areas with most streets unlit at night and many of the capital's 7 million people relying on generators.

Iraqis living in Basra, the country's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, have an average of 12 hours a day of power already, up from much lower prewar levels, as a result of the new plant.

[SmithL]

I saw the light!

[FOG724]

Amazing how fast they can get those up and running when you don't have enviros fighting you at every turn.

[68skylark]

Reconstruction found that guerrilla attacks have forced the cancellation of more than 60 percent of water and sanitation projects in Iraq, in part because American intelligence failed to predict the brutal insurgency.

A sane person would blame the trouble on the "insurgents," and their bombs, and the nasty culture which produces them.

But to this writer, it's our failure, because we failed to predict the barbarity.

[68skylark]

"I feel confident that the plant will be maintained when we leave. It doesn't take many people to operate and maintenance won't be nearly as much as the old facility was," said Robert Lee Cipsey.

I admire an optimist. We'll see if he's right.

[68skylark]

war-weary Iraqis...

I guess Iraqis weren't "weary" when Saddam was in power -- or the author doesn't think so, anyway. That was the golden era in the eyes of the American left.

Iraqis are only "weary" now that Saddam is gone and they have their liberty.

[auntdot]

I seem to remember some months ago that GWB was thinking about building Nuke power plants on the grounds of military bases. I have not heard a peep about this idea since.

Do any Freepers have any info about what happened to this great idea?

[Wiz]

ping

[Loud Mime]

Amazing how fast they can get those up and running when you don't have enviros fighting you at every turn.

Halliburton Unchained?

[Loud Mime]

Sorry, I can't answer your question, but: The new US Embassy sits on 104 acres.....that's big enough for a nuke plant, isn't it? AND and embassy is considered that nation's own land.