blah blah blah Bush taking point lies blah blah blah.
Well, I’m not Iraqi, nor am I in Iraq, so I can’t really say…why don’t we ask them? 
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/ (this one’s my favorite, because it’s so hard to find anything positive to read about Iraq, and I think everyone needs hope)
http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/ (there’s links to many other blogs some Pro-American, some Anti, some ambivalent on the right-hand side bar, under Iraqi Blogs. There’s some soldiers’ blogs as well a bit further down)
Thanks for posting the link, I hadn’t read this one before. Don’t mean to hijack this thread and even less attack Cerri. But I did “notice something”. (Slight hijack follows)
My initial response… hey, great stuff. Why can’t they do more of this and less of that other thing? I’d be all for it.
Then I noticed the reading on my BS-O-Meter.
If I’m not mistaken this base is Japanese. Call me prejudiced but I would’ve wanted to have seen this mentioned. Also this blogger has photos of everything, why not this thing? Googling, I found no other mention of such a thing (children painting a coalition base) anywhere.
And this is not the only item in that blog that caused the needle to twitch on my BS-O-meter.
Can anybody help me prove that this story is real? I want nothing more than to believe this is real but I’m unable to do so right now.
Insightful & well thought out rebuttal of my post. Thank you, I shall remember this in the years to come. :rolleyes:
Great, news reports all over the place about concrete evidence AQ is hitting the US this summer. (probably bullshit, but still)
The reason why you ask?
Well, they’re pissed about the Iraq war. :rolleyes:
So I’m glad someone is better off, but in the future I’d prefer it to be us.
Of course their real reason is they just don’t like the U.S. and Israel, Iraq invasion or not.
Can’t really comment on the particular story, but the blog and blogger are authentic:
Business Guide for Iraq
U.S. Department of Commerce
Revised March 5, 2004
V. OVERVIEW OF KEY INDUSTRY SECTORS
Water:
The Ministry of Public Works recently announced that average
daily availability of water services i n Iraq is one-hour above pre-war levels.
Over 90 percent of the urban population is thought to have access to
water, but quantities per capita are insufficient. It is estimated that 60
percent of the overall population has access to potable water. In many
neighborhoods, leaking pipes have contaminated potable water networks.
The water treatment system in Iraq consists of 218 traditional water
treatment plants and 1,191 mobile compact water treatment plants that
mainly serve rural areas. Baghdad’s water distribution system consists of
nine large dams, 18 major barrages, and 275 pump stations. The
equipment used in these pumps stations is over 20 years old.
The Ministry has plans to ensure that the 90 percent of Iraqis who
currently have access receive clean water by 2004, and that all Iraqis
have access to clean water by 2005.
The Ministry’s plan also calls for extending sewage treatment to 15
percent of the country by the end of 2004 and to 30 percent by the end of
2005. Only eleven percent of Iraqi citizens nationwide currently have
proper sewage facilities. Only half of the country’s sewage treatment
plants are operational. In Baghdad, deteriorating sewage treatment
installations are unable to handle increasing flows caused by population
growth. Steps taken by the CPA and various non-government
organizations (NGOs), in cooperation with the Baghdad city water
authorities and the Army Corps of Engineers, averted an immediate water
crisis in Baghdad.
Projects aimed at improving Iraq’s irrigation syste ms, potable water
availability, and wastewater treatment facilities are included within the
scope of USAID’s Capital Construction contract. Bechtel is currently
working on a project to increase water capacity on the eastern side of
Baghdad, increasing flo w from 580 million liters per day to 780 million.
Work has also begun in Basrah, Diwaniyah, and Hillah on sewage
treatment plants.
**Electricity Production in Iraq Remains Below Pre-War Levels**
Baghdad , May 14
by Dahr Jamail
Iraqi officials say the power supply in their country has not yet been repaired to pre-war levels.
Currently, even in the best neighbourhoods of Baghdad there is only twelve hours of electricity per day, and this only intermittently. Most areas of the city have between six and eight hours of power per 24 hours.
Baghdad resident Salam Obidy is frustrated by the unreliability of the electrical grid. “I have three hours on, and four hours off,” he said. “Mostly it is completely unscheduled. Yesterday I spent all night not sleeping because it was so hot.”
Not much different than
**DRAFT WORKING PAPERS**
Iraq Status
[size]03 1505 EST May, 04 page 24[/size]
And not in conflict with:
Business Guide for Iraq
U.S. Department of Commerce
Revised March 5, 2004
V. OVERVIEW OF KEY INDUSTRY SECTORS
Power:
In early October 2003, Iraq’s electricity production exceeded
demand for the first time in years. However, to satisfy Iraq’s peak demand
for electricity, the country will need 50 percent more generation by
summer 2004. Decades of fuel shortages and lack of regular
maintenance have severely curtailed dependable electrical supply. Postwar
looting and sabotage rendered seven of the country’s major
transmission lines inoperable. Given these needs for reconstruction,
companies may have numerous and wide-ranging opportunities in the
power sector.
The United Nations has several projects underway in Iraq, one of which is
electricity rehabilitation. In the three northern governorates (Erbil, Dohuk,
and Suleimaniya), the UN Development Program (UNDP – www.undp.org)
implemented the Electricity Network Rehabilitation Program (ENRP –
www.enrp.undp.org) to rehabilitate the electricity network across four main
sectors: generation, transmission, substations, and distribution. Through
ENRP, the UNDP has built up capacity to implement an operation of $800
million. Its work has resulted in power stability for about 380,000
households (2.7 million people). Thus far, ENRP has awarded 25
contracts worth $238 million. The ENRP provides information on current
vacancies, invitations for expression of interest, and procurement notices.
At the Iraq Donors’ Conference in Madrid, the Ministry of Electricity (MOE)
proposed construction of combined cycle power plants, transmission line
additions, completion of thermal power stations begun under the Oil for
Food Program, and training of technicians. The Minister expressed
concerns for environmental sensitivity and security for workers in the
electricity sector. The CPA is transitioning securing forces to the MOE.
Over 20 electrical facilities have been transferred.
During the week February 6 – February 11, 2004, the average peak
electricity production was 4034 MWpd. Total megawatt production for the
week was an increase of 1.0 percent over the previous week. Electricity
production Iraq-wide since November had been relatively steady.
Nine 500kV transmission lines and seven 132kV transmission lines
continue to be out of service. As of February 6, 758 MWpd of generating
capacity was on forced outage and 874 MWpd was on scheduled outage.
The Ministry returned two generators to service during the January 31 –
February 6 period.
Some are playing the number crunching game.
The ‘peak production’ is trumpeted while the ‘average’ is not.
Thanks for that link! There are indeed a few pro-American bloggers. Another one I believe is Hammorabi. I think a pro-American Iraqi is not more right or more wrong than a pro-American American saying the same things. Or necessarily less biased or more biased. But at least they tend to be more knowledgeable (not always).
Idiot hothead just like those who wanted Fallujah turned into a “parking lot”.
Well, duh. With the Iraq war we’ve laid the ground work for the next generation of terrorists.
So to recap, AQ hates US, they want our destruction, Iraq war or not, but it was still a dumb move that makes a bad situation worse.