Iraqis still reliant on power generators as U.S. prepares to leave

[unhappycamper]

At Doura Power Station in Baghdad, workers try to keep up with demand in late July. A U.S. official says 24-hour electricity is years away.


Iraqis still reliant on power generators as U.S. prepares to leave
By Janine Zacharia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, October 2, 2010; 7:46 PM

IN BAGHDAD As the U.S. military prepares to leave Iraq, Iraqis are still asking: What about the electricity?

In 2003, they heard President George W. Bush's promise: "We will help them to restore basic services, such as electricity." Seven years later, the state's inability to provide reliable power to homes remains one of the most striking signs of the dysfunction that persists here and a nagging source of frustration for ordinary Iraqis.

In the absence of dependable central power, generators - from small gasoline-powered models for individual homes to diesel-driven giants that fuel a neighborhood - churn around the clock in Baghdad and across the country. The hum is everywhere, a constant auditory reminder of Iraq's problems and an unfulfilled American promise.

The power shortages have resulted from corruption, failed development policies, insurgent attacks on installations and a government paralyzed by sectarian political infighting. Iraq's electricity minister was forced to resign in June after deadly protests against shortages erupted across the country. But protesting didn't turn the lights on.

"Iraqi citizens had to find an alternative," said Adel al-Bayati, a generator merchant. "That alternative is not to count on the Ministry of Electricity."




unhappycamper comment: Is there anything that dubya did not fuck up?

[eridani]

1. Under Saddam, it only took 6 months after the 1991 destruction

Apparently he had the sense to just leave his engineers alone to work.

http://www.juancole.com/2010/10/iran-wins-iraqi-elections-7-months-later.html


This is due to the complete destruction of Iraq's sewage treatment plants, factories, schools, hospitals, museums and power plants by the U.S. military. UN-HABITAT, an agency of the United Nations, recently published a 218-page report entitled "State of the World's Cities, 2010-2011." In an August piece, Foreign Policy in Focus senior analyst Adil E. Shamoo commented: "Almost intentionally hidden in these statistics is one shocking fact about urban Iraqi populations. For the past few decades prior to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the percentage of the urban population living in slums in Iraq hovered just below 20 percent. Today, that percentage has risen to 53 percent: 11 million of the 19 million total urban dwellers. In the past decade, most countries have made progress toward reducing slum dwellers. But Iraq has gone rapidly and dangerously in the opposite direction."

<snip>

After the Desert Storm bombing campaign in 1991, power plants and power lines were 91 percent destroyed. The oil supply had totally stopped. The oil fields of Kirkuk in the north and Rumaila in the south, refineries, pumping stations, oil terminals for export in Um Qasr and Fao were all eliminated. Iraqis were able to restore electricity within six months despite the severe sanctions imposed on the country. The reconstruction campaign following the end of hostilities in March 1991 was an achievement of staggering proportions. Now, after seven years of "liberation," basic public services are still not properly functioning.