Iraq power grid near collapse.
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.” There have been four nationwide blackouts over the past two days and the “shortages across the country are the worst since the summer of 2003, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.” More on Baghdad’s electricity situation HERE.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
Reports
In depth studies on select topics
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Beck
Big Oil
Bolton
Bush
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Economy
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
GI Bill
Global Warming
Guantanamo
Hagee
Health Care
Immigration
Iran
Iraq
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
McCain
McClellan
Media
Military
O'Hanlon
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Politics
Race
Radical Right
RNC Convention
Rove
Surveillance
Terrorism
Third Bush Term
Torture
Veterans
Wiretapping
Women's Rights
ArchivesBlog Roll
Nothing will change.Why bother reporting on anything anymore.When it collapses I’m sure it will be the anti war contingents fault,right? Wake me up when we have civil war.
August 5th, 2007 at 7:41 amUS power grid near collapse due to environmental extremist lawsuits which prohibit “progress”.
August 5th, 2007 at 7:45 am# 2. Where is the evidence for your statement? Moreover, when was the last time that a powerline or power grid was not constructed in the United States because of environmental concerns?
August 5th, 2007 at 8:01 amThose who care about their children and grandchildren=environmental extremists.
Those who care about profits over their children and grandchildren=Republican mental extremists.
Republican=America hater=terrorist.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:36 amTroll
Enviromental concerns would more likely call for upgrading the power grid in order to reduce wastage - thus reducing the need for new power plants.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:39 amBaghdad residents are getting 1 hour of electricity a day. In 110 degree heat.
Chimpy’s thugs have responded to this crisis… they stoppe reporting this statistic.
We have spent $50 BILLION in taxpayers’ money to rebuild Iraq and we have absolutely NOTHING to show for it.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:39 amHow many roof top solar photovoltaic panels could be bought with the dollars lost or squandered in Iraq so far ? It’s 120 degrees in the blazing sun….sounds ideal for a solar solution.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:43 am“upgrading the power grid in order to reduce wastage”
The loss on high volt lines is typically 50%. We need to develop a room-temperature superconductor.
We need renewable energy too. But Chimpy and the Repukes would rather keep us addicted to oil.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:45 amSee this is why the US needs to withdraw from Iraq. So the electricity grid is forced to stand on it’s own two feet.
Seriously, was there a different solution to rebuilding and protecting critical Iraqi infrastructure in your own policy proposals ?
The solution to pretty much everything in there appeared to be to withdraw the troops and watch from Kuwait and see how well that works. While pretending really hard that you don’t already know the answer to that question.
Now let’s cue 200 people to state the bleeding obvious about bad this state of affairs is for the Iraqi people and 0 willing to even raise the topic, let alone question it, of whether withdrawal will achieve anything better or worse.
Every fkn story, every fkn day of the week, the same thing from every poster in every comment about every story.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:46 amWhat are you thinking, nobody’s noticed ?
Corporate criminal never invest profits into the infrastructure. Greedy Repukes would rather grab the cash and run.
Our nation’s bridges need $200 Billion immediately to prevent another deadly collapse.
But Chimpy is pissing away alll that money in Iraq.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:50 amI am so goddamn sick of these Thugs posing as an Adminstration.
Easdropping measures to secure America all in the name of fighting this phony war on terror is bullsh*t.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:54 amWell if you’re sick of this administration there’s only a year and a half left.
Meanwhile you’ll be glad to hear that the two frontrunners for the next administration are fighting over who will lead a tougher phony war on terrorism. Oh and neither of them will be doing anything to stop US citizens being spied on, just like the previous Democrat administration didn’t.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:02 amThis is exactly where they want to be summer 2007.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:03 amYou think it’s an accident the citizens have none while the invaders and their bases have?
The more people who kill each other or die from the lack of basics provided by the u.s.gov the less to control later.
Goal: eliminate anything but necessary facilities and armed guards for the treasure.
Come on there are only so many excuses in the entire excuse book for why there is no power.
There is power.Just none for the people who live there.
Everything is going as planned.
Don’t forget the (+ -) 5 trillion in the ground.
They make money blowing it up,make money pretending to rebuild and make all the money on what’s in the ground.
And they time it so this doesn’t get pumped until it costs 2-3-4 times as much.
That’s why they don’t care what anyone says.
Don’t get distracted.
This is a blog written by an Iraqi man who I think is a dentist in Baghdad. It’s quite a good diary of everyday life in the city.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:04 amThank you Candyce for that link. His blog is a great insight into Iraq. We need more of those kinds of exchanges and less of the trolls who add nothing to the conversation.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:26 amI don’t see anyone blaming the terrorists for the problems because of their constant sabotage. People on here should be calling for US-Iragi forces to kill or capture more of the people responsible.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:35 amLast week two Brookings Institution “scholars”, O’Hanlon and Pollack did a road show on how great our military escalation is going in Iraq. You know, I didn’t realize what a bunch of phony apologists those “think tankers” O’Hanlon and Pollack were until Frank Rich outed them today. Bottom feeder sell-outs like O’Hanlona and Pollack are truly the scum of the Earth. In the grand tradition of Fox and the Fox-Republicans, these partisan cheerleaders disguised as non-partisan experts try to pass themselves off as something they’re not. In the process, US soldiers are dying and being wounded because of the denial and idiotic foreign policy that posers like O’Hanlon and Pollack enable through their deceit. What a way to make a living. I guess they can continue it down in Hell after they are through.
In contrast to claims of military successes, back in reality, I believe the statistics of Americans dead in Iraq last month were 81, the same number as in February and March, before the most recent escalation started. Iraqi casualties rose 33% over the prior month. And by the way on the political front a Sunni faction walked out of the government.
http://select.nytimes.com/ 2007/ 08/ 05/ opinion/ 05rich-1.html?hp
August 5th, 2007 at 9:38 amWe created the sabotage by opening up a vacuum into which sabotage could flow. That’s apparent to everyone now. But going beyond the misguided invasion to begin with, the Debathification was a tragic error that split the people. Bremer’s inept handling of the aftermath of the invasion. Go read the diary I posted above. Iraqi forces are corrupt and deeply entrenched in the various factions. Translators for the U.S. Army by day, informers upon their own citizens by night. Countless monies - countless! - wasted and not a single improvement to the Iraqi infrastructure that we destroyed.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:43 amTroll sh!ts where he eats.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:53 amLooks like you came late to the party and without you wits about you. Fact: Iraq did not commit terrorism against the US. If you want to capture and kill the responsible parties, start with the bush administration. Eventually, you’ll get the global oil cabal. There are your terrorists.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:59 amCandyce. Everything you said is true - if you accept that the invasion was just and/or justified. The preemptive invasion of a foreign country was the great misdeed that lead to the problems you cite.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:02 amYes, Marcus, that’s why I said beyond the misguided invasion. We can’t take that back, unfortunately. Everything that has happened just compounds the tragedy.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:04 amC:
No coffee yet. Reading comprehension failing….aaaaak!
August 5th, 2007 at 10:06 amCome on over, Marcus. Freshly brewed, with biscotti.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:08 amC:
Thanks for the invite (just had my first sip). Where is “over”?
August 5th, 2007 at 10:09 amWhile Democrats look as they are in opposition to this war ,in everyday passes they look as partners in this war they keep criticising.
They gave Bush all what he wanted and then some…
This will go on and more hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent,and thousands of lives will be lost,and Iraqi infrastructure is in a total collapse. How can a society live on 2 hours of electricity daily,no water, most sewage lines broken ,no maintenance.
Maliki said yesterday that he “will not put a date or a plan on withdrawal of US troops,and US troops might need to stay another 5 years in Iraq, so Iraq will not have a civil war”.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:11 amyet the same man said last week that: “Americans can leave and we can handle it…”
While politicians from Right and Left, in US and in Iraq looking to score points and keep holding on their seats, the same continues and there is no sign it is ending soon.
Last November’s elections thought of as a hope of slowing down, take a good evaluation then take a ‘U turn’, but it seems that both parties
are on the same saddle.
Now we hear Obama wants to open another front with Pakistan,Clinton keeping the nuclear option on the table, and another Republican Congressman candidate is looking to bomb Mecca.
Hope now is our only game left ,and that is when we put politics aside and be realistic.
I am south of Austin, TX, sitting on my back deck and watching twin fawns chase each other around the yard.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:12 amComment by tarazan — August 5, 2007 @ 10:11 am
Don’t forget, all bets are off when we go bankrupt. We’ve been too fat for too long. The next great transformation of America will be driven by hunger and poverty. We’re reliving the Roaring ’20s.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:14 amI hear Austin is an island of normalcy surrounded by the rest of Texas. I’m just outside DC, in Virginia. No normalcy here. Can’t see the asylum through the inmates.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:18 ammy posts aint working this sites gone down hill …….BYE
August 5th, 2007 at 10:26 amCandyce:
BTW: I frequently refer to VA as “Texas, Jr.”
August 5th, 2007 at 10:41 amHow could we expect this Administration of Keystone Kops tp dp ANYTHING? They can’t begin to rebuild NOLA, they have let our entire public infrastructure go to hell, their environmental policies are a crime, they can’t get complete armor to the troops in over 3 years, ……..AND have bankrupted our country (financially and morally) with their “small” government.
The Repugs should be SOOO proud of all their accomplishments. And the Trolls here are just too blinded by the NeoCon gilded Bullshit to even see it.
August 5th, 2007 at 10:49 am……and the Iraqi “Congress” isn’t even fiddling. Its members are on an intermission break (no lights)……
August 5th, 2007 at 10:50 amWhat, did former California Governor Gray Davis take charge over there?
August 5th, 2007 at 2:06 pmThe problem the Iraq people are having will have to wait until the Iraq government gets back from vacation. The United States has already given 1 TRILLION dollars to Iraq, when the officials get back from their vacation Bush will ask US taxpayers to the money to repair the problem. Yes we invaded Iraq because of WMD that was a lie so it was changed to Iraqi Freedom. Bush told the World the US would go it alone on the invasion. This is an Iraq Civil War but the US still uses the words Al Qaeda just to keep Americans on their toes. Even the troops in the feel know what’s going on as Iraqi’s are fighting Iraqi’s for leadership. The Bush appointed Iraq government is just getting paid and stealing as much as they can. The US contractors are getting paid for not doing the job. Oh yes the US contractors are using slaves for what ever work is don’t. So the Iraq people will just have to wait until Sept. then maybe something can be done. It’s part of the sham to blame Terrorist for everything if that doesn’t work blame Bill Clinton. Next the White House will report that Bill Clinton called for the illegal invasion of Iraq based on lies after 9/11, yes Bush didn’t come into office until after that mistake. Tony Snow will report that as he is a loyal Republican liar.
August 5th, 2007 at 2:23 pmComment by muckdog — August 5, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
Worse.
The same band of cronies who enabled Enron and their schemes to fraudulently charge California for energy that didn’t exist, and that were ultimately responsible for the energy debacle in that state, have taken charge over there.
It’s much worse.
August 5th, 2007 at 3:49 pmThis lack of progress has been typical of this war. Clearly no political progress is being made in Iraq either. The war has been badly mismanaged from the beginning. Bush is now learning the his policy of unilaterally invading Iraq to bring democracy to the Middle East by force is a failed policy. As is the surge. The surge was such a badly conceived idea that the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not support it. Neither did Gen. Casey.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:32 pmAccording to the report, Iraq’s child mortality rate has increased by a staggering 150 percent since 1990. Some 122,000 Iraqi children died in 2005 before reaching their fifth birthday. More than half of these deaths were among newborn babies in the first month of life.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:39 pmBush wants the Iraqi citizenry to all drop dead of heat exhaustion or from disease or being blown to bits. He just wants to control Iraq’s OIL and get those Iraqi ants (people) out of the way.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:48 pmAnother factor that has been reported is that power plants made by coalition forces and given to Iraq haven’t been maintained. The dumb thing is that we didn’t figure out that would happen in advance in a country where the people don’t have the money to buy food and water.
Just like giving out $ 50,000 luxury cars to the poor - they can’t afford the gas, oil, maintenance, upkeep, taxes, ……
August 5th, 2007 at 4:53 pmThe media and a lot of people have the false assumption that this White House actually cares what happens to the Iraqi people. They don’t. Forget all the altruistic reasons for the invasion and occupation. They are lies. We went there to take control of that part of the world—just like the last 100 times the US has invaded another country. This time the primary reason was obviously the oil and natural gas. Iraq has the second largest reserves in the world (some say #1) and sits in between Saudi Arabia (#1) and Iran (#3). The next “threat to America” is Iran.
If this invasion and occupation has killed one million Iraqis, made four million refugees, made Iraq the second-worst failed state in the world, opened up the country to terrorists, caused one in eight Iraqi children to die before the age of five, caused 45% unemployment, destroyed clean water, destroyed healthcare, destroyed the power grid, and caused people to wait in line 14 hours for gas—-so be it!!! We don’t care! We went there to control that part of the world. If our puppets won’t do it for us, then we must leave the troops there.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:03 pmFour and a half billion spent on electric projects and there is LESS electricity in Baghdad than right after the war! But there are a lot of very rich contractors! Ferenghi law of rony capitalism–you HAVE TO HAVE a war to HAVE war profiteering!
August 5th, 2007 at 5:09 pmWhat, did former California Governor Gray Davis take charge over there?
Comment by muckdog — August 5, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
Truly dishonest and meaningless statement. Gray Davis did not cause the California Energy Crisis. It was an enormously complicated mess that began under the Wilson Admin and got progressively worse. In the end it was pretty much proven that major energy suppliers such as Enron gamed the market and defrauded Californians of BILLIONS of dollars.
Remember the “Grandma Millie” comments?
If you’re going to post comments, pls try to make sure they’re somewhat factual.
August 5th, 2007 at 5:27 pmOh Gray Davis completely mismanaged the situation. Grow up.
August 5th, 2007 at 6:04 pmOh Gray Davis completely mismanaged the situation. Grow up.
Comment by muckdog — August 5, 2007 @ 6:04 pm
Nope.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Unfortunately, that’s par for you - ignorance.
August 5th, 2007 at 6:44 pmYou guys make some good points about Gray Davis except for one point. Enron was meeting with Dick Cheney and the Bush Family withdrew their shares just before the investigation. Now the joke is on all of us as Ken Lay did what some have done in the past that is fake his own death. It was a good plan and it worked. Problem is Bush went to Chicago to the bank that had money listed with names including his that held money from the profits of Enron. If you don’t remember it was on this birthday but he was in a hurry so he didn’t have time to talk. When the real deal comes out about Enron people will say it was a great scam. Only the people at the Cheney meeting were protected other were served to the wolves. Davis made sure California was in the lawsuit, but I notice no one said a word about how Arnie changed the policy so the people wouldn’t get refund but I guess that’s not important because a Democrat didn’t do it.
August 5th, 2007 at 7:54 pmDavis made sure California was in the lawsuit, but I notice no one said a word about how Arnie changed the policy so the people wouldn’t get refund but I guess that’s not important because a Democrat didn’t do it.
Comment by Jackie — August 5, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
Yep.
August 5th, 2007 at 8:08 pmhttp://progressiveindependent.com/ dc/ dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=31292
Water taps run dry during the peak of Baghdad summer heat
STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer
August 2, 2007 11:30 AM
BAGHDAD (AP) - Much of the Iraqi capital was without running water Thursday and had been for at least 24 hours, compounding the urban misery in a war zone and the blistering heat at the height of the Baghdad summer.
Residents and city officials said large sections in the west of the capital had been virtually dry for six days because the already strained electricity grid cannot provide sufficient power to run water purification and pumping stations.
Baghdad routinely suffers from periodic water outages, but this one is described by residents as one of the most extended and widespread in recent memory. The problem highlights the larger difficulties in a capital beset by violence, crumbling infrastructure, rampant crime and too little electricity to keep cool in the sweltering weather more than four years after the U.S.-led invasion.
Jamil Hussein, a 52-year-old retired army officer who lives in northeast Baghdad, said his house has been without water for two weeks, except for two hours at night. He says the water that does flow smells and is unclean.
Two of his children have severe diarrhea that the doctor attributed to drinking what tap water was available, even after it was boiled.
”We’ll have to continue drinking it, because we don’t have money to buy bottled water,” he said.
Adel al-Ardawi, a spokesman for the Baghdad city government, said that even with sufficient electricity ”it would take 24 hours for the water mains to refill so we can begin pumping to residents. And even then the water won’t be clean for a time. We just don’t have the electricity or fuel for our generators to keep the system flowing.”
http://www.newspress.com/ Top/ Article/ article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565062429059712736
Did the Green Zone have water? Bottled or otherwise?
This is what genocide looks like.
And I bet that the water and electric utilities have been “privatized” as per Naomi Klein’s article
Woe is Baghdad.
Trapped.
Alone.
Parched.
Pray for Rain For The Iraqis, That God Took Pity When Man Would Not and Shame the Ones Who are Doing this Horror to the Iraqis and all of Us.
August 6th, 2007 at 12:08 pm“We are improving roads and schools and health clinics and working to improve basic services like sanitation, electricity and water.” G.W. Bush June 27,2005 Ft. Bragg, NC.
“To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs.” G.W. Bush Jan. 10 2007. Address to the Union speech.
Lies, corruption, lies.
August 6th, 2007 at 2:14 pm