# Why so long to fix electricity in Baghdad **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394 "2003-04-26T22:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![djbdjb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@djbdjb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djbdjb)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394/1 "2003-04-26T22:38:19Z")
I see from a NY Times headline that 60% of Baghdad has power. Why is it taking so long? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394/2 "2003-04-26T22:57:13Z")
Well, there’s been accounts that the powerplants were boobytrapped, and since the Ba’ath party was in charge of everything, a lot of those guys have fled. Not to mention there was damage the pipes supplying oil to the powerplants. But really, considering that Baghdad is a city of some 5 million or more people, and that the US has only been running the show there for a little more than a week, getting power to 60% of the city in that amount of time is pretty good, IMHO. You should live in TN where there’s only about 7 million people and it takes _months_ to restore power to someplaces after an _ice_ storm. Hate to think how long it’d take them to do that after a _war_ had been fought here, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394/3 "2003-04-27T01:18:50Z")
Just getting the lines replaced or repaired in a city of that size is a massive chore. 60% is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394/4 "2003-04-27T04:36:30Z")
I’ve heard that one of the problems is that the equipment is not standredized, so you have a mish-mash of equipment from different nations and different manufacturers, which can make it difficult to make it all work together. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394/5 "2003-04-27T17:59:37Z")
Also, I read in the Washington Post newspaper, that a lot of the managers only had their positions because they were members of the Ba’ath party, not because of their skills. Schematics of the various power plants weren’t available, because the ruling hierarchy didn’t believe in letting workers know more than they needed to in order to do their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-long-to-fix-electricity-in-baghdad/171394/6 "2003-04-27T22:17:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Well, there’s been accounts that the powerplants were boobytrapped… \*\* You ain’t kidding. I personally know a person who is in Iraq right now (although not in Baghdad) looking over T&D equipment. Not only is some of it booby-trapped, but a large amount of it was deliberately destroyed in some sort of way that (in his opinion as an EE with 20+ years experience) could only have been an attempt to do some sort of “scorched earth” thing. Thankfully, whoever was doing it didn’t really know what they were doing. The report on missing schematics is not lying either - there are entire plants where there is essentially NO documentation. You got 180,000 wires in 20,000 cable trays, and you have to trace each one. Hmmm…and what’s that pipe marked “zxyfff-000458” do…? I’d say 60% done is pretty good, despite what the news media bitches about. If they get to 80% by the end of the year it would be a world-class effort, IMO.