Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Story Iraq: Dam Collapse

This could be a MAJOR CATASTROPHE!!!

And this is U.S. reconstruction, 'ey?

Oh, Iraq is SO MUCH BETTER since stinkfuck invaded!!!!


"Iraq warned by US that Mosul Dam at risk of collapse; Petraeus letter citing concerns delivered in May" by Peter Spiegel/Los Angeles Times October 30, 2007

WASHINGTON - The top US military commander in Iraq warned Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in May that the country's biggest dam, just up the Tigris River from the northern city of Mosul, is at risk of collapse, putting the city's 1.7 million people in danger of being inundated by a 65-foot flood wave.

Now we are being told it is IMMINENT!!!!!!


The letter from Army General David H. Petraeus, cosigned by the US ambassador to Iraq, is included in an audit to be published today. The report found that little or no progress has been made to shore up the Mosul Dam since the May warning, largely because a $27-million project funded by US reconstruction money has been plagued by mismanagement and possible fraud.

Every single fucking project!

All those BILLIONS WASTED and LOOTED!


Although the new report falls short of saying that a collapse could be imminent, the auditors exhort the US Embassy to quickly put in place a new plan to shore up the dam. That's not what tv said.

And if it is not so immediate, why the quick plan?

So not only does Bush allow American infrastructure to collapse, he DESTROYED Iraq!!!!!


The audit noted that a study completed more than three years ago found "the risks are high" that the dam could fail.

The May 3 letter from Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker said the US Army Corps of Engineers had warned US forces in December that they should move any American equipment away from the Tigris River floodplain near Mosul because of the dam's instability.

Petraeus and Crocker wrote that the warning applied to Iraqi civilians as well and urged Maliki to make the safety of the dam "a national priority" for the government.

And how many months later is it?


"A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad," more than 200 miles south of Mosul, the letter warned. "Assuming a worst-case scenario, an instantaneous failure of Mosul Dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave 20 meters (more than 65 feet) deep at the city of Mosul, which would result in a significant loss of life and property."

Wonder if the MSM would even bother to cover it.


The report, written by the US government's Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, found multiple failures in several of the 21 contracts awarded last year to repair the dam, including faulty construction and delivery of improper parts, and projects that were incomplete despite full payments.

The report did not detail the nationalities of the companies that had been awarded the contracts.

The dam, more than 2 miles wide, has been a problem for Iraqi engineers since it was completed under Saddam Hussein's regime in 1984. It was built in an area of shifting earth, which caused seepage within months of its completion and led investigators to determine that "the Mosul Dam site was fundamentally flawed."

Saddam built stuff; Bush destroys stuff!

And Georgie has him beat on the
death tolls, too!

Case closed!!!!