Thirst and Power

No, not "thirst for Power." We're talking about the actual daily life of Iraqis currently, and their need for water to be restored, and for the power grid to be repaired. Still. It hasn't happened yet.

This summer, the third since the fall of Baghdad, has been the worst yet when it comes to basic services. Interruptions to electricity and water supplies - caused by both decay and sabotage - are driving up the frustrations of millions of Iraqis.

While last summer public anger was directed at the US government, today it's as likely to be aimed directly at Iraq's interim government and officials.

Last Sunday in the Shiite town of Samawa 150 miles south of Baghdad, protests over joblessness and limited electricity and water supplies turned into a riot outside the governor's office in which about 1,000 residents overturned and burned a police van. The riot ended when police opened fire, killing one.

In a sign of how politically sensitive the matter has become, the rioting saw Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari rush a delegation of representatives to Samawa the next day. At a hastily convened provincial council meeting in their presence, Gov. Muhammed al-Hassani was then sacked.

And here in Baghdad, the militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for Friday protests against the lack of power and water. This is part of an ongoing campaign to shore up his power base among the urban poor by targeting the failures of his more moderate political opponents, who are now in power.

This is the third summer that Iraqis have lived with consistent power outages and lack of basic needs. That time period, incidently, coincides directly with the American Invasion...

Al-Sadr has yet another extremely easy target for his political gain. And he's not the extremist we should be worried about. The more ammunition we give for him to embolden his followers, the easier it becomes. Because in cases of poverty, it becomes easier and easier to build a practical case for extremism.

This is just how it works out there in "the real world." Not quite so ideal as we thought it would be when we wanted to Invade, is it.