In other news of 'progress' (the liars in the administration and many of their MSM flunkies claim a 'turned corner'), Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) addresses the realities of the issue of electricity in Iraq:
When the power fails and there is no gas for the generator, Mohammed Azzawi has a plan to make it through the stifling summer nights. He collects the fans from old computer hard drives and powers them with backup batteries.
Faced with their fifth summer without a regular supply of electricity, Baghdad residents have come up with some novel ways to cool off.
Decades of corruption, neglect and war have left Iraq's electricity grid on the verge of collapse. Iraq is generating enough power to meet only half the nationwide demand, and most Baghdad residents are down to an hour or two of electricity a day. The shortfalls are the worst since U.S.-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003, Electricity Ministry spokesman Aziz Shimari said.
When you consider how many worthless writers the Times of New York has, it may be a distant memory but once upon a time they did (briefly) address the issue of potable water. (For any confused, our transition was papers with "Times" in them, Zavis was not insulted in the previous sentence.) C.J. Chivers at least appears to be functioning today. From "Pilots Say Missile Was Fired at Airliner in Northern Iraq:"
A European civil aviation authority said yesterday that it was reviewing security conditions at airports in northern Iraq after two pilots reported that their passenger airliner had been attacked by ground fire last week while taking off from Sulaimaniya.
This would be the heavily spun "Other Iraq." The 'safe' region, the area promoting tourism. Chivers also cites the centrist Brookings Institute to note that during the illegal war "at least 34 helicopters have been shot down".
Now remember little Stevie yesterday deciding that a real reporter was one that repeated military lingo and avoided serious issues? Ross Colvin (Reuters) notes some realities, not many mind you, but a few, such as this about Fatima:
After receiving adoption inquiries, the hospital's chief doctor made enquiries at the U.S. embassy, staff said. They replied that "Iraqi law does not currently permit full adoptions as they are currently understood in the United States".
So there has been interest in adopting Fatima but the decision was made to keep her as a US military base pet. If that's not clear, note that she has five siblings and, apparently not qualifiying for 'cute' and 'small,' they're at an orphanage. Colvin writes, "Her presence is a welcome distraction for staff." Well, as long as the US gets to have a pet. This is disgraceful, we noted so yesterday. It shows a complete breakdown in the chain of command and it endangers Fatima. It's not a 'pretty' story, no matter how hard they try to spin it.
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alexandra zavisthe los angeles times
c.j. chivers
the new york times
