Electricity top priority in Basra (BBC)

[Roland99]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4077294.stm

Local residents are lucky to get more than three or four hours a day, even less than what they had before the war.

A better electricity supply is a higher priority than even security in the south of Iraq.

American and British-led reconstruction efforts have focused on both increasing the power supply and upgrading the transmission network.

<...>

Local people and officials working in the sector complain that much of the electricity generated in Basra is diverted to Baghdad - a practice which was employed by Saddam Hussein's government.

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. Bah! It can't be true!!!

It's all GOOD in Iraq! This is just more of that liberal media bias.

:sarcasm:

[gratuitous]

2. The chocolate ration will also increase to 20 grams next month

Stand by for the Two Minute Hate.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. This Isn't News

The knowledge that the electrical distribution record is still below pre-war levels has been out there the whole time. That's why i've been saying for months that the "good news" the media isn't reporting isn't really "good", since it's not progress, it's only repair work.

We don't make NEWS out of repairing what we've broken, and from this article, the facts that we're still only doing reparations were accurate.

We have still done nothing to make the country better on a day-to-day basis for the Iraqi people. The "bringing of democracy" and deposing Saddam may be a benefit in the abstract, but we're NOT making life better for the average Iraqi and the news media SHOULD NOT be making it look any better than it is.
The Professor

[oneold1-4u]

4. The answer is -

Ship them generators! If I could buy gas for a NICKLE A GALLON, I would run mine 24/7 and put my power company out of business!