Iraqis frustrated with progress of U.S. reconstruction effort

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - The aging turbines at Ali Talib Ali's power plant, one of four in Baghdad, desperately need a tune-up. Ali has neither the spare parts nor the tools to do the job, so every time U.S. reconstruction assessment teams visited, he gave them the same wish list of widgets and machinery.

After three months of assessment visits, Ali stopped writing lists. Last week when another American team stopped by, Ali told them he didn't need anything.

"We give them enough lists," Ali said. "Every time we write you a list, you bring nothing. No more."

The frustration in Ali's voice resonates far beyond the walls of the al-Qudus power plant on the northern edge of the city. Five months after U.S. forces routed Saddam Hussein from power, millions of Iraqis cannot fathom why the world's superpower has failed to deliver on promises of reliable electricity, clean drinking water and safe streets.

...

Part of the problem, Bearpark said, is that while Iraqis have every right to complain about outages and bad water, they harbor unrealistic expectations about what can be done in a span of five months.

"The length of time it takes to put right the damage that was done in 35 years of neglect of maintenance is months and years," Bearpark said, "not days and weeks."

(more)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/world/6792444.htm

It's funny how these people who cry, "We didn't know how badly off the infrastructure would be" cite neglect, instead of war and sanctions, as the cause.

[Parche]

1. Iwreck

You think they are frustrated over there
How about the people in the US about the reconstruction over here!!

[bahrbearian]

2. You'd think 3 billion dollars in cruise missles would have fixed all that.