Old habits die hard in new Iraq

[seemslikeadream]

None of the 19 electrical plants that has received US-funded repair work is being run correctly, according to a US official.AFP




Iraqi officials have crippled scores of water, sewage and electrical plants refurbished with US funds by failing to maintain and operate them properly, wasting millions of dollars in the process.

Hardest hit has been the effort to rebuild Iraq's water and sewage systems, a multibillion-dollar task considered among the most crucial components of the effort to improve daily life for Iraqis. Of more than 40 such plants run by the Iraqis, not one is being operated properly, according to Bechtel Group, the contractor at work on the project.

The power grid faces similar problems. US officials said the Iraqis' inability to properly operate overhauled electrical plants contributed to widespread power shortages this winter. None of the 19 electrical plants that has had US-funded repair work is being run correctly, a senior US adviser said.

An internal memo by coalition officials in Iraq says that, throughout Iraq, renovated plants ``deteriorate quickly to an alarming state of disrepair and inoperability.''
more
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Focus/GD12Dh02.html


Certainly Bechtel is earning its $1.8 billion contract in Iraq. On the other hand, the corporate leadership may now realize that the "value" expected by the Iraqi people, the company's own expectations for fair reward, and the US government's reconstruction plans were never fully developed or completely understood.

David R. Baker, SF Chronicle Staff Writer reports that,

The Iraq that Bechtel engineers found in April wasn't what they expected.

They arrived ready to see battle damage -- roads and power plants and rail lines blasted by the lightning war that swept Saddam Hussein from power. Instead, they found a country that had been quietly decaying for years.

International sanctions had starved Hussein's government of cash. Iraqi engineers couldn't order the spare parts they needed to keep power or water flowing, since the U.S.-backed sanctions blocked any gear the military could possibly use.

Threatened with jail time if their utilities collapsed, Iraqi engineers survived by jerry-rigging. They cannibalized one high-voltage line to patch another, and blacked out rural areas to keep the lights on in Baghdad. Unable to do routine maintenance, they drove their utilities into the ground. (Baker)
A quick fix was obviously impossible given the sabotage, the security situation, and the overall state of Iraq, so an increase in funds, from Bechtel's perspective, was necessary. One must sympathize with the Bechtel workers on the ground who despite the dangers try to help improve Iraqi lives. Yet one must also question whether Bechtel understood the Iraq situation in full. In this case, perhaps the fair rewards -- $1.8 billion and the usual cost over-runs -- appealed to the company's utilitarian motivations: the greatest good for the greatest number of people, including participants and non-participants alike. Bechtel addresses this utilitarian value under "Sustainability" which it defines as planning and acting "for the future -- for the long-term good of our company, our customers, and our world" (Bechtel, Visions). Perhaps, the US government's guarantee of future profits, and the possibility of owning large segments of Iraqi infrastructure -- through subsidiaries -- caused the company to overlook the obvious risks.
http://www.swans.com/library/art11/gsmith45.html

[radwriter0555]

1. Everything was working fine before bush invaded and had the US military

demolition and profit team destroy everything.

[daleo]

2. Iraq did OK before the invasions, and especially before sanctions

They had a smoothly functioning infrastructure from everything I have read. In some ways it was probably better than the U.S. (access to health care for example).

And talk about a crock of fluff:

"In this case, perhaps the fair rewards -- $1.8 billion and the usual cost over-runs -- appealed to the company's utilitarian motivations: the greatest good for the greatest number of people, including participants and non-participants alike."

[Voltaire99]

3. Before the Clinton administration targeted Iraqi water systems...

...there was clean water to drink, too.

In the current crisis, as has been argued convincingly, the job of repair should have been left to Iraqis. But that hardly suited the aims of right wingers who saw "reconstruction" as a benefit to their largely unemployed contractors back home.

[Zerex71]

4. But hey, KBR's gettin' their money!

And that's all that counts in Bu$hCo...

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. The stupid ass in that picture ought to have a wrench rather

than a gun. That's the problem, they aren't going to fix anything with those idiotic guns.

[Theduckno2]

6. Some of the problem went unmentioned?

The Chimp deliberately excluded non-Coalition members from any rebuilding contracts. I just wonder how many of those systems were built say, by French firms? That could certainly increase costs of repair! I liken it to taking my Ford in for repairs at a GM dealership and then wondering why the costs are higher and it takes longer?:think:

[BrendaStarr]

7. Article in LA Times mentions some of the other side.

Bechtel was supposed to train their Iraqi replacements when it was time to turn utilities over and they didn't.

Also not enough money was given for upkeep.

But they can always say the Iraqis are lousy workers. Most of the news media will report only that one sided and prejidiced view.

Furthermore the Iraqi engineers were used to working with jerryrigged, but basic design.

IIRC Bechtel also went in there saying they would give Iraq state of the art infrastructure, so without training Iraqis couldn't hope to be able to maintain it.

I noticed that in the LA Times it was only Bechtel people and US authorities making the claims about Iraqis just being bad workers.

I trust neither source, myself.