"In Baghdad, Struggle Ties Security to Basic Services"
"BAGHDAD — Even as American and Iraqi troops are fighting to establish control of the Sadr City section of this capital, the Iraqi government’s program to restore basic services like electricity, sewage and trash collection is lagging, jeopardizing the effort to win over the area’s wary residents....
Almost a month after American and Iraqi forces pushed into the area, there are no signs of reconstruction. Instead, the streets are filled with mounds of trash and bubbling pools of sewage. Many neighborhoods are still without electricity, and many residents are too afraid to brave the cross-fire to seek medical care. Iraqi public works officials, apparently fearful of the fighting, rarely seem to show up at work, and the Iraqi government insists the area is not safe enough for repairs to begin.
On Saturday, three Sadr City residents gingerly approached an American Army position to deliver a warning: Unless the Iraqi government or its American partner did something to restore essential services and remove the piles of garbage, the militias would gain more support.
The Iraqi government has long had difficulties improving services for its citizens, but the delay in mounting reconstruction efforts in Sadr City is complicating the American strategy to thwart the area’s militias and halt the mortars and missiles that had been fired from its streets toward the fortified Green Zone.
Oh, so it isn't about helping Iraqis!!!
It is about stopping attacks on the Green Zone!!!
Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!
Hoping to stabilize the southern portion of Sadr City, American forces are building a wall to partition the neighborhood.... Residents have repeatedly asked American troops during patrols why the garbage cannot be removed and basic repairs made in the areas the Americans control, especially since the most intense fighting appears to be over in these sectors....
The delays in restoring basic services are readily apparent to the American troops who patrol the area. During a patrol on Sunday, soldiers walked through gray clouds of burning trash and sidestepped puddles of sewage.
Residents complained about the garbage strewn across the streets and the broken water pipes. One man, who said he was afraid to give his name, said that the Iraqi government had done nothing to create jobs.... "
This is "PROGRESS?"
