Mission Accomplished: No Power and no schools in Iraq

[Botany]

And they say we don't hear the good news out of Iraq.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/world/middleeast/19electricity.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5090&en=89306aa81e82b756&ex=1324184400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Iraq Insurgents Starve Capital of Electricity

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: December 19, 2006
BAGHDAD, Dec. 18 — Over the past six months, Baghdad has been all but isolated electrically, Iraqi officials say, as insurgents have effectively won their battle to bring down critical high-voltage lines and cut off the capital from the major power plants to the north, south and west.


The battle has been waged in the remotest parts of the open desert, where the great towers that support thousands of miles of exposed lines are frequently felled with explosive charges in increasingly determined and sophisticated attacks, generally at night. Crews that arrive to repair the damage are often attacked and sometimes killed, ensuring that the government falls further and further behind as it attempts to repair the lines.

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BAGHDAD, Dec 18 (IPS) - Two in three children in Iraq have simply stopped going to school, according to a government report.

Iraq's Ministry of Education says attendance rates for the new school year, which started Sep. 20, are at an all-time low. Statistics released by the ministry in October showed that a mere 30 percent of Iraq's 3.5 million students are currently attending classes. This compares to roughly 75 percent of students who were attending classes the previous year, according to the Britain-based NGO Save the Children.

Just before the U.S.-led invasion in spring 2003, school attendance was nearly 100 percent.

Iraqis are forgetting almost what a child needs. Dr. Ahmed Aaraji of the Baghdad Societal Organisation, an Iraqi NGO which monitors the state of Iraqi schools and families in an effort to assist families where possible, is trying to remind everyone what that should be.

"To build a child's character, the home atmosphere should be appropriate, parents should attend to children, the school environment should be proper, and the whole society should function at the best level," he told IPS. "But none of these factors seems to exist in Iraq any more."

http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/iraq/0...

[bbernardini]

1. Why do you hate America?

:sarcasm:

[Botany]

2. Because I think "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is not working.

No schools, no power, no jobs, & no water ..... I wonder if we are not
creating the perfect terrorist breeding grounds?

[rodeodance]

3. time for a Pickles visit to Iraq----

[whistle]

4. Iraqis are better off now than they were under Suddam....

:wtf:

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Well, They Don't Have Pesky Things To Worry About!

Like jobs, schools to go to, doctor's visits to take care of their health; they don't have to bother with shopping, or going to banks that aren't open anyway.

So, i guess you're correct. They have none of those nasty requirements of modern life. How lucky!
The Professor

[KansDem]

6. You need to report this as "good news." Just tweak these headlines a little bit...

Like:

"Iraqis Conserve on Power: Lower Power Bills Give Iraqis More Buying Power at the Mall!"

and

"Iraqi Schoolkids down at the Fishin' Hole: Extended Vacation Gives Them Opportunity to Land 'the Big One!'"