August 26, 2010

One best signal of how ruinous the U.S. occupation of Iraq has been is the story of electricity.

The same signal can be used to assess the ruinous policies and practices of the political factions the U.S. has helped to rule the country.

Practically, there is little or no electricity in Iraq while prior to 2003 major cities used to enjoy minimum 12 hours of non-interrupted supplies from the national grid.

Conditions were supposed to have improved. The former regime was under punitive U.N. trade sanctions; nonetheless, its electricity commission was on its way to reduce outages to the minimum.

In the post-U.S. invasion era, the sanctions were removed and billions of dollars were earmarked to rehabilitate the national grid. But the country has plunged into almost total darkness.

Violent demonstrations, most of them spontaneous, have been mounted in several cities, particularly in southern Iraq.

Several Iraqis have been killed and wounded in these demonstrations. The electricity minister has been sacked and replaced, but power shortages are still worsening.

If you have never seen the inferno that results from temperatures brushing 50 degrees centigrade, you will never appreciate how critical electricity is for a country like Iraq.

U.S. combat troops have withdrawn, leaving behind a country in darkness, after spending countless of billions of dollars on combat missions that ruined cities, villages, roads and orchards and shed rivers of innocent blood.

They left behind their lackeys who are now squabbling, fighting and battling over government posts and privileges.

The fate of their ruined country and the fate of their oppressed people is none of their business.