Power outage plunges half of Baghdad into total darkness | Azzaman | July 22, 2007

The Karkh side of Baghdad where nearly half of the city’s six million people live has been without electricity for more than 10 days.

The Tigris River divides Baghdad into two parts – the Karkh and Rasafa. Baghdad has much less electricity than before the 2003-U.S. invasion.

Nationwide, electricity generation rates are also lower with major cities and towns often suffering more than 20-hour long outages. ...
- posted by Editor @ 1:29 PM

Jordan Complains of Iraqi Refugees: Jul 26, 8:57 AM (ET) | By DALE GAVLAK

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordan pleaded for international help Thursday to deal with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have fled here to avoid the violence at home, saying they cost the kingdom $1 billion a year in basic services.

The influx of 750,000 Iraqi refugees into Jordan has strained infrastructure and brought the threat of violence to the country, Jordanian Interior Ministry Secretary-General Mukheimar Abu-Jamous said on the opening day of a conference on the issue.

"The prevailing security situation in Iraq, which prompted an influx of refugees to Jordan, has led to increased security challenges in our country," he said. "Our security bill has peaked."

He did not specify the security problems, but Jordan has shown concern over a possible spread of Iraq's sectarian violence onto its soil as well as potential criminal problems from Iraqis who have few steady job prospects in exile.

The one-day conference is looking into ways to ease the burden of countries hosting the more than 2.5 million Iraqis who have fled their home. Among the participants were representatives from Iraq, Syria, Egypt, the Arab League and U.N. relief organizations.

The U.S., Turkey, Iran, Russia and Japan were also attending as observers.

Besides the influx into Jordan, some 1.5 million Iraqis have fled to Syria, while Egypt and Lebanon have more than 200,000 each. Under pressure to take in refugees, the United States has said it will accept some 7,000 Iraqis by the end of September.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, about 50,000 people continue to flee Iraq every month, mostly to neighboring Jordan and Syria. The two countries have repeatedly warned that the influx was exhausting their limited resources, burdening their health care and education systems and causing a sharp rise in inflation and real estate.

Another 2 million Iraqis are believed to be displaced within Iraq, many taking refuge in the Kurdish north, which has largely been spared violence, or in the Shiite heartland in the south. ...
- posted by Editor @ 6:57 AM

July 4, 2007, 12:58AM U.S. troops outnumbered by contractors Figures show reliance on private companies to carry out the occupation By T. CHRISTIAN MILLERLos Angeles Times

The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government's capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.

More than 180,000 civilians — including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis — are working in Iraq under U.S. contracts, according to State and Defense Department figures obtained by the Los Angeles Times. Including the recent troop surge, 160,000 soldiers and a few thousand civilian government employees are stationed in Iraq.

The total number of private contractors, far higher than previously reported, shows how heavily the Bush administration has relied on private corporations to carry out the occupation of Iraq — a mission criticized as being undermanned. ...
- posted by Editor @ 10:34 AM