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No "spark" in downtown Baghdad

That things are going from bad to worse in Iraq is clearly seen from this piece from Newsweek. How on earth the Coalition of the Willing see all of this winning the hearts and minds of the local populace is hard to see. George Bush can speak about comparisons with Vietnam, and others about "progress" in the war-torn country - whatever that might mean! - but in the final analysis all independent assessments conclude that Iraq is a total basket-case.

"Electricity output in Iraq has been slightly lower this summer than last year. For the fifth year since the 2003 invasion, Iraqis sweat out sleepless nights on their roofs, seeking to escape the heat inside their homes. They see food spoil in warm refrigerators and go without water as household electric pumps sit idle. Televisions can't be used to keep kids from going out into the dangerous streets. Those who can afford a generator or tap into a neighbor's can get power for as long as they can pay the increased prices of diesel fuel. Those who can't have seen their power cut to less than an hour a day at times.

The electricity shortage is a major source of anger and disillusionment toward both the Iraqi government and the U.S. presence here. But much of the summer's shortfall is caused by bureaucratic snags that continue to stymie a plan for importing Kuwaiti diesel fuel—needed to power many government generators. An approximately $2.5 million dispute between government ministries and between Iraq and its southern neighbor is holding up what was supposed to be $150 million in imported diesel. Another self-inflicted wound to the country's electrical grid is even more disturbing and calls into question the entire viability of a unified Iraq. Electrical workers around the country, under the order of local officials or threats from rogue militias, are refusing to keep to national schedules for sharing power between the provinces. That not only deprives the capital of power, but causes systemwide shutdowns that sometimes damage the generators themselves."

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