H15209
Headlines : IraqIraq Power Grab
Iraqi militias are increasingly retaining control of switching stations key to Iraq’s infrastructure creating, in a sense, localized electrical feifdoms. As a result Baghdad is fortunate to receive a few hours of sustained power a day while areas around militia controlled plants or those unwilling to provide power to the capital can enjoy the almost unheard of luxury of uninterrupted power.
The militias also manipulate the power grid to assist in attacks on coalition forces.
[Posted By variable]“The lights in the city were going on and off all over,” said Corporal Daniel Jennings, 26, one of the British defenders. “They were really controlling the whole area, turning the lights on and off at will. They would shut down one area of the city, turn it dark, attack us from there and then switch off another one and come at us from that direction. What they did was very well planned.”
Republished from International Herald Tribune
BAGHDAD: Armed groups increasingly control the antiquated switching stations that channel electricity around Iraq, the electricity minister said.
That is dividing the national grid into fiefs that, he said, often refuse to share electricity generated locally with Baghdad and other power-starved areas in the center of Iraq.
The development adds to existing electricity problems in Baghdad, which has been struggling to provide power for more than a few hours a day because insurgents regularly blow up the towers that carry power lines into the city.
The government lost the ability to control the grid centrally after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, when looters destroyed automated dispatch centers, the minister, Karim Wahid, said in a briefing Wednesday with U.S. military officials.
The briefing had been designed to highlight successes in the U.S.-financed reconstruction, but it took an unexpected turn when Wahid, a highly respected technocrat and long-time ministry official, began taking questions from the Arabic and Western news media.
Posted by variable
...note how the 4 and the dollar sign on the keyboard are "intertwined....":http://www.i18nguy.com/l10n/rokuyo-japanese-calendar.html .@** ..--static transmision...._--_8**over][out** half the lies they tell about me aren't even true Hua Hu Ching ...
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veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery suspicious.
Got it : They’re looking for an excuse to send in the heavy artillery.
OPEN QUOTE
The government lost the ability to control the grid centrally after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, when looters destroyed automated dispatch centers, the minister, Karim Wahid, said in a briefing Wednesday with U.S. military officials.
The briefing had been designed to highlight successes in the U.S.-financed reconstruction, but it took an unexpected turn when Wahid, a highly respected technocrat and long-time ministry official, began taking questions from the Arabic and Western news media.
He cited the northern cities of Mosul and Baqouba and the southern city of Basra as some of those refusing to route electricity elsewhere. “This greatly influenced the distribution of power throughout Iraq,” Wahid complained.
END OF QUOTE other recent goodies from the same authors, of New York Times and The Carlyle Group fame include
OPEN QUOTE
Iraqi Premier Stirs Discontent, Yet Hangs On
By DAMIEN CAVE; JAMES GLANZ CONTRIBUTED REPORTING.
Despite a continuous string of setbacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki remains in power, largely, it seems, due to a lack of plausible alternatives.
END OF QUOTE
If you follow the International Press, otoh, Maliki has been doing very well. Unfortunately for the Corporations, that means he’s been extending a hand in friendship to Regional Backers like Iran and Syria.
How very convenient
LOL. But there’s a twist.
Detained Iranians freed in Iraq
US forces have released seven Iranians hours after arresting them at a central Baghdad hotel, Iraq’s state television said.
Radio Sawa, a US-financed Arabic language station, and Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the delegation was in Baghdad to negotiate contracts on electric power stations with the Iraqi government.