Published Thursday
June 10, 2004
Infrastructure raids targeting confidence
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Saboteurs blew up a key northern oil pipeline Wednesday,
forcing a 10 percent cut in the national power grid just as electricity demand
is rising with the summer's heat.
The blast near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, was the latest in a series of
attacks on infrastructure, apparently a tactic by insurgents to shake public
confidence in the Iraqi government that's to assume power June 30.
The attack on the pipeline - which carries fuel to the Beiji power station, one
of Iraq's largest - reduced the country's 4,000-megawatt production by 10
percent, Assem Jihad, an Oil Ministry spokesman, told Dow Jones Newswires.
U.S. occupation officials have made the ability to provide adequate electricity
a benchmark of success toward normalcy in Iraq. But sabotage and worn out
equipment have hurt efforts to eliminate power outages, especially in the
capital.
More than a year after the occupation began, outages are common nationwide, in
some places lasting 16 hours a day. And demand is rising as summer nears.
Last weekend, an enormous power plant south of Baghdad was shut down by attacks
on fuel and transmission lines, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. At full
production, the plant is capable of supplying nearly 20 percent of Iraq's
output.
An official in the Electricity Ministry said the weekend attack was the latest
in a series in the area, and repairs on the lines had repeatedly been followed
by new strikes.
"As we have been saying for some time, international terrorists and Saddam
loyalists continue to try to derail the emergence of a modern democratic Iraq,"
said Dallas Lawrence, a spokesman for the U.S. occupation. "These terrorists
hope that by damaging Iraq's infrastructure, by depriving Iraqis of basic
services, they will be able to impoverish the Iraqi people and capitalize on a
sense of frustration."
He added: "They will not succeed."
A U.S. official said thousands of Electricity Ministry guards are being trained
but said they never would be able to provide 24-hour-a-day protection for
10,000 miles of power lines in Iraq.
.
|
|
| User: "R. Foreman" |
|
| Title: Re: Saboteurs blow up key northern oil pipeline |
13 Jun 2004 06:17:21 AM |
|
|
(TonyZ2001) Spat the Words
Published Thursday
June 10, 2004
Infrastructure raids targeting confidence
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Saboteurs blew up a key northern oil pipeline
Wednesday, forcing a 10 percent cut in the national power grid just as
electricity demand is rising with the summer's heat.
The blast near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, was the latest in a
series of attacks on infrastructure, apparently a tactic by insurgents
to shake public confidence in the Iraqi government that's to assume
power June 30.
I'd say Iraq has a slight security problem.
The attack on the pipeline - which carries fuel to the Beiji power
station, one of Iraq's largest - reduced the country's 4,000-megawatt
production by 10 percent, Assem Jihad, an Oil Ministry spokesman, told
Dow Jones Newswires.
U.S. occupation officials have made the ability to provide adequate
electricity a benchmark of success toward normalcy in Iraq. But
sabotage and worn out equipment have hurt efforts to eliminate power
outages, especially in the capital.
More than a year after the occupation began, outages are common
nationwide, in some places lasting 16 hours a day. And demand is
rising as summer nears.
Last weekend, an enormous power plant south of Baghdad was shut down
by attacks on fuel and transmission lines, U.S. and Iraqi officials
said. At full production, the plant is capable of supplying nearly 20
percent of Iraq's output.
An official in the Electricity Ministry said the weekend attack was
the latest in a series in the area, and repairs on the lines had
repeatedly been followed by new strikes.
"As we have been saying for some time, international terrorists and
Saddam loyalists continue to try to derail the emergence of a modern
democratic Iraq," said Dallas Lawrence, a spokesman for the U.S.
occupation. "These terrorists hope that by damaging Iraq's
infrastructure, by depriving Iraqis of basic services, they will be
able to impoverish the Iraqi people and capitalize on a sense of
frustration."
He added: "They will not succeed."
A U.S. official said thousands of Electricity Ministry guards are
being trained but said they never would be able to provide
24-hour-a-day protection for 10,000 miles of power lines in Iraq.
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
