In the most recent AP article about how badly we're running the entire Iraq thing, and just how badly the Iraqis have it; two things kinda jumped out at me.
BAGHDAD - Iraq's power grid is on the brink of collapse because of insurgent sabotage, rising demand, fuel shortages and provinces that are unplugging local power stations from the national grid, officials said Saturday.
Rising demand? Isn't that kinda like people are USING more?
If the economy was so bad, it seems like the demand would be falling.
Electricity shortages are a perennial problem in Iraq, even though it sits atop one of the world's largest crude oil reserves. The national power grid became decrepit under Saddam Hussein because his regime was under U.N. sanctions after the Gulf War and had trouble buying spare parts or equipment to upgrade the system.
The power problems are only adding to the misery of Iraqis, already suffering from the effects of more than four years of war and sectarian violence. Outages make life almost unbearable in the summer months, when average daily temperatures reach between 110 and 120 degrees.
The U.N. sanctions couldn't keep Saddam from building palaces all over the country, or working on WMD's, but somehow he just couldn't find the off the shelf parts to maintain the electrical system?
If I remember right, the only reason Baghdad had 24/7 electricity when Saddam was in power was because the majority of electricity was funneled into Baghdad, and the rest of Iraq was left to live in the stone-age.
No power for A/Cs makes life almost unbearable? Is that just for Baghdadians? Do the rest of the Iraqi citizens have less of a hard time living like they have for millennia just because some reporters are without A/C in their hotels?
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