Freed of militias, Basra has new problems

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

BASRA, Iraq - Men and women can openly study and party together for the first time in years at Basra University, free from the threat of Shiite gunmen enforcing extreme Islamic views.

To get to class, however, the students must navigate traffic jams and ubiquitous checkpoints that the Iraqi military calls the price of peace in this sweltering, oil-rich southern city where temperatures soar above 120 degrees.

It often doesn't get any cooler indoors. Basra is suffering widespread electricity shortages that residents blame on Iraqi authorities, who in turn point the finger at neighboring Iran. And then there's the lack of clean tap water.

From students to merchants, people here say they are happy and hopeful about their new freedoms three months after the Iraqi military wrested control of the country's second-largest city from Shiite militiamen. But frustration is rising over the failure of the Iraqi government to follow through on its promises to improve basic services, provide jobs and distribute enough food to citizens.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_basra_aftermath

[Arctic Dave]

1. I hate it when they say "wrested control" from the militias.

I guess they haven't realized the public at large in these areas is the militias. Shites letting the gov't hang out in their neighborhoods while they are waiting for the elections so they can take more political power. This is the reason the US is being lovey dovey with the Sunnis right now, so they will counter the Iranian influence.