Hiding the bad news
By Steve Benen Thursday Jul 26, 2007 7:16pm
For some inexplicable reason, Republicans have been preoccupied for quite some time with Baghdad’s electrical supply, pointing to it as one of the good-news stories that Americans allegedly don’t hear about. The White House urged the media to cover it more a year ago; Tony Snow bragged about Iraq’s electricity-generating facilities; and then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s office boasted of Baghdad’s shining lights as an example of progress in the war.
They had it backwards. Electricity in Baghdad has been one of the more chronic infrastructure problems plaguing the Iraqi city. Indeed, over the last year or so, the number of hours Baghdad residents could expect electricity has actually dropped.
Don’t worry, the Bush administration has a plan to deal with all of this. Take steps to improve the power supply? Don’t be silly; the administration has decided to stop reporting on Baghdad’s electrical problems.
As the Bush administration struggles to convince lawmakers that its Iraq war strategy is working, it has stopped reporting to Congress a key quality-of-life indicator in Baghdad: how long the power stays on.
[T]he State Department, which prepares a weekly “status report” for Congress on conditions in Iraq, stopped estimating in May how many hours of electricity Baghdad residents typically receive each day.
It’s the quintessential Bush move -- when struggling with discouraging news, it’s easier to hide it than fix it.
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It's about time we shined a light on this one!
This one's a real shocker!
Also, frist. Have a swell weekend.
Oh, you mean the power outside the Green Zone?
Well, that's another matter completely.
Ruh Roh.
Time to update the Official Republican Iraq Talking Points.
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.
-Orwell
If we had responsible news reporters, they would jump all over this story;
but as we all know, the MSM is for "entertainment purposes" and nothing
relating to this will be printed/shown.
Maybe they can use Cheney's old battery for power...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070727/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney
If its strong enough to keep that shriveled, old husk alive...
What they really want is for no information on Iraq - good or bad - to make its way to the American public. Saying that no one reports the good news isn't because the media refuse to report the good news, it's because there is no good news.
They want American people to sit quietly in the parlor while they rob the family and rape the neighbor's dog.
The BBC is monitoring the "surge"; they have some graphics at this link:
Monitoring the Surge
Good news from a war zone? These people continually grasp on to strings. There's no such thing as good news.
Oh, the soldiers are building a school - that the air force bombed and turned to rubble.
Oh, the contractors are building a hospital - that the navy bombed and turned to rubble.
The US government is really good at one thing - breaking your leg, then taking your money and fixing it. Then claiming it's doing a great job!
Makes me sick. That's my rant, read on if you'd like:
"Defending the 'Good' Done in Iraq"
http://www.populistamerica.com/defending_the__good__done_in_iraq
"It’s the quintessential Bush move — when struggling with discouraging news, it’s easier to hide it than fix it."
We've been trying to do this from he world for 6 1/2 years since the 5 Republican appointed activist judges on the Supreme Court anointed Bush dictator when we should have been impeaching, so who are we to complain?
I guess they could do with a power surge, eh?!!!!
*ba-dum-bum-tish*
Wingnut Wisdom: Hide your head in the sand, ignore it, and pretend you're in Wonderland, and it will go away. And if that doesn't work, whine and cry to drown out the voice of reality.
"when struggling with discouraging news..."
The BushCo doesn't struggle with 'discouraging' news - LOL. What kind of insanity is this? Bush is unaffected by the facts and our perception of them. Of course his team tries very hard to keep the truth from getting in thier way.
They struggled through the election dabacle.
They struggled with all those vacation days of a lame pretender being laughed at by the world of Nations.
They struggled with 9-11, Well no they used it as the flash point to further solidify thier coup against our nation.
They struggled through the 9-11 investigations.
They struggled through 'the largest re-organization of the federal goverment ever'...
They struggled us into this god awfull illegal war.
They struggled to make us all war crimals.
They will continue to struggle through what ever they choose if history is a guide - So to pose this little point of electricity as even rising to a struggle... Lacks contextual credibility.
They struggle to change reality into a nightmere - Dropping a sentance or two in a report is no struggle honey.
How much have we spent on no-bid contracts to "fix" the electricity problem?
Bud @ 6:
As I said in another C&L thread...." replacing a battery device in Dickhead Cheney's
heart"....He has NO heart.
Marcus Aurelius @ 7:
So Iraqi women, children, men, natural resources resources are the 'neighbor's dog' in this metaphore or...???
Iraq is the dog and we are the rapist... or
Somthing offends or chaffes at reason here. What we are doing is a WAR CRIME buddy - Not a typical republican evening in the suburbs as you discribe.
Sorry for the "Block Quote in my above comment ... It is my comment but for some reason the little blockquote buttons wouldn't work and it blockquoted the whole comment.
War on Terror is the War on Drugs is the War on Poverty is the War on . . . .
Michael Ware (sp?) of cnn, today said the average Iraqi has on the average, about an hour a day of electricity each day.
Al Kida has lost their sanctuary in Bagdaddy said the general testifying before congress today.
"The Shia and the Sunni and the Al Kidas are all attacking us because they want us to leave, but the Al Kidas strategy has failed"
I'm listening to this now on C-Span. I wish someone would just stand up and tell these military morons to shut the fuck up.
Excuse my French.
pissed off patricia @ 20:
I'm really pissed off too Patricia . . . isn't it time for us to light the torches and meet in D.C.?
C'mon, some good news:
The number of foreign workers Halliburton's forced into brutal slavery has held steady. Freedom's on the march, people.
It take more power to cold crank Cheneys heart.
Well, not unlike when Dick Cheney was a continuing 'problem' (or was he) they would hide him away in some 'undisclosed location'. But we were always onto Cheney being eternally angry and humorless and more popular than, well Dick Cheney.
Alexander the great conquered Mesopotamia without a single kilowatt. He used intellegence, courage, and, above all, his LEADERSHIP.
Bush....not so much.
Ah.. lights in the streets. Now the continual upswing in suicide bombers will be able to see their targets in the dark.
And lets not forget those great schools that we've built that are now handing out doctorates to muslim extremists so they can circumnavigate the globe without as much scrutiny.
What's the next steaming pile of good news going to be? An economy built solely on the weapons trade?
[...] Speaking of electricity: [...]
"What’s the next steaming pile of good news going to be? An economy built solely on the weapons trade?" -Zenrage (#27)
Kidnapper ransom brokering. The market is hot hot HOT!
electricity????
C&L...could you please expose that we are systematically controlling both sides in this "war" whereby we are purposefully funding and giving logistical info to Cheney's personal black ops to kill and kidnap american soldiers so that this "war" will never end???
I think that the american people deserve to know that just like in vietnam, we are funding and supporting the enemy that kills US soldiers.
yes, cheney kills US soldiers
yes, Cheney ordered the kill shot on Tillman
yes, Cheney gave stand down orders to block the missle that hit the pentagon on 9/11/2001
yes, Cheney has a direct conflict of interest in that his income is directly related to the deaths caused by US foreign policy. as the deaths go up, so does cheney's royalties.
is it possible for you to heed the warnings of MLK? please do not remain silent during a time of moral dilemma. we may not have many more chances to expose the truth and take back this country from the hands of these enemies foreign and domestic.
FUCK !.. Is there any end to Bushes fucking bullshit ? Just an endless stream of spin and pure bullshit. Just watched the trailer for No End In Sight. The movie about how Bush has micromanaged every huge fuckup in Iraq.These assholes wont be happy till there is nothing left to fuck up,destroy or steal and thats just America. As a Canadian, im really starting to get pissed off about the NAU deal. God damn !!.. Canada dont need fucking anything to do with any fucking thing Bush is doing. We have seen how he manages to fuck up every other thing he comes in contact with. He couldnt "lead" a blind dog to a pile of shit.
Col Kilgore @ 31:
thats not true , all cheny has to do is yell come here little doggie ,
There is NO good news from Baghdad. It is such a reach to show off 'wins' - which aren't. We blow up torebuild?! And then do a shitty job of it? Of course, it really is planned to control the locals. This is spreading democracy?
I am getting Bush-Admin-continues-fucking-up-itist. I am on overload. It is going to be so difficult to wait for Jan. 20, 2008.
They don't have as much electricity as they used to have, they can't produce much oil, pretty soon these bozos are going to start running out of sand over there.
As a numbers person, I have followed the Brookings Iraq Index since the beginning. In 2007, the MW generated nationally averages 30% - 40% lower than before the US invasion and 75% - 84% lower in Baghdad.
Other interesting info from Brookings Institute data.....
- in the first year of the war, there was one insurgent for every 28 US soldiers
- by 2007 there are now ten times as many Sunni insurgents (and supporters) for the same number of US troops or one insurgent for every 2.3 US soldier. This horrific fact does not include the estimated 800- 2,000 foreign fighters (Al Qaeda and others), or Shite militias such as Badr or Sadr brigades.
The "surge" is on the other foot......it is the Iraqi resistance that has surged while the "coalition of the willing" has gotten out of Dodge.
Oil production is another story that is not discussed much in the news. Production has dropped significantly with the US occupation as have Iraq oil exports. Initially, Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) was estimated to have produced 2.8 to 3 million barrels of oil per day (Mb/day) and to export between 2.0 and 2.6 Mb/day. Under US occupation, Iraq averages 2 Mb/day in production and 1.5 Mb/day in exports.
bush is an insensitive fucking asshole. as long as he gets his 6 months of vacation per year, he does not care about anything else.
bush is an insensitive fucking asshole. as long as he gets his 6 months of vacation per year, he does not care about anything else.
oh yeah, bush does stick his head in the sand, that's when cheney finds it most convenient to insert his hand up shit-for-brains hole, so he can give his saturday radio show of fake news.
It's fucking Alice in Wonderland. Goddammit. You can't believe anything you read and the administration blocks everything they don't want you to read. Goddammit. When will the dems impeach this sonofabitch? What the hell else does he have to do? Here's a man who can hide information, distort information, ruffle through your bank records, eavesdrop on you, lock you the fuck up forever without a trial, lawyer or even a fucking charge...
WHAT CAN'T THIS MAN DO? What makes him different than King George? What?
I don't know if its an issue of a "quintessential Bush move " truthfully. I spent 3 years working for a mil contractor, and its really a broad problem. The GOP millionaires and Military types have a philosophy that if you don't talk about bad things, that they aren't happening. (Notice I threw GOP in there exclusively, because Dems don't last long in that environment. Far too disgusting, hence why I don't work in the industry anymore). the problem is centered around them s a group, but I don't believe Bush is the cause or epicenter of it.
Its really a 'chicken-hawk, bury-your-head-in-the-sand' kind of thing, rather than an 'idiot-boy-king' kind of thing.
Maybe the administration is of the opinion that Americans don't want to be bothered by the fact that they are sitting comfortably in airconditioned offices and homes while Iraqis are roasting in sometimes 120 degrees heat.
This made me think about Russia back in the Soviet era. For decades one of the biggest propaganda campaigns of the Soviet regime had to do with electrical production - the number of hydroelectric dams being built, the new gas and coal fired generating stations, the technical brilliance of Soviet nuclear plants, etc, etc.
How incredibly ironic for Bush & co. to boast so loudly about electricity production in Iraq - even as it was actually stagnating - and then just shut up about it.
Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld - the Brezhnev, Stalin and Beria of the modern world.
hahahha, electricity? This is the best the almighty Buscho election stealing spin machine can come up with now? After staged monument demolition, aircraft landings, meaningless (and in hindsight, inflammatory) elections, killing some Jordanian thug that was supposed to be a "turning point", to the surge that seems more like a dribble, and after all of that, all they have to toss out is 'the electicity is on?'
Oh my, how the mighty have fallen.
James Glanz reports in today's (07-28-07) NYTimes, citing recent findings of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction:
"In one of the most recent cases, a $90 million project to overhaul two giant turbines at the Dora power plant in Baghdad failed after completion because employees at the plant did not know how to operate the turbines properly and the wrong fuel was used. The additional power is critically needed in Baghdad, where residents often have only a few hours of electricity a day."
The American people need to know who awarded these contracts, what specific departments, corporations and INDIVIDUALS are responsible. Three need to be more than corruption charges. These people are failing in government responsibility, bilking the U.S. government, and exploiting the struggling Iraqi people IN TIME OF WAR. The should be serving very long prison sentences. We lock up rifle toting Afghan tribesmen for years with no charges. We permit bureaucrats and greedy corporate charlatans to waste BILLIONS and build inoperative projects. Who is really more dangerous for U.S. security, interests and values?
Next the White House will convene a right-wing propaganda conference with the MSM to stop all reporting on the Iraq war.
Then when they start the new Iran war they'll classify it 'SECRET'.
That'll calm the country down, and give the republicans a shot at the '08 elections.
They should hook up a gizmo to turn off the power wherever the Commander in Chimp or Darth are at whenever there's no power in Sadr City. Or better yet, hook up the same gizmo to the Fox "News" transmitter.
.
I cannot believe what we have done. People dying every day. The best military we have ever had is getting killed, innocent people are dying, their homes destroyed. Their lives destroyed. Then we bitch because they aren't getting their act together. These people are accustomed to living under a dictatorship, they don't know how to get their act together.
They say children who torture or kill small animals often grow up to be serial killers. Well, Bush found a way to grow up to be a legal serial killer.
"They had it backwards. Electricity in Baghdad has been one of the more chronic infrastructure problems plaguing the Iraqi city."
Yes, but that's _why_ they have to get the opposite-reality "story" out to smother the truth. Hey, your "truth" vs. my "truth". Been working great so far to confuse the susceptible.
Congress dosen't have the backbone to impeach / stop Bush-Cheney but I would love to see the next President, as soon as sworn in, to order the Secret Service to arrest them at the inauguration and offer them to any country that will prosecute them for war crimes. "Take a number please."
Nice story in the NY Times today about Iraqis trying to keep perishable food cool with great blocks of ice. The price of ice has gone way up, the old ice-making plants are being rejuvenated, but the owners of the ice plants are finding it hard to do business with all the violence....and leaving for other countries, lest they die.
Nice Ice. Wouldn't you love to keep your mayonnaise cool on a block of ice when it's 130 degrees out there? Hmmm.....we should ALL have to endure what the Iraqis endure, just because we DID IT TO THEM FOR NO REASON. No reason at all. Just because we could.
Nothing Rethuglicans say will ever change the true facts.
What else are they hiding under the rug? I don't trust anything at all these guy's and their leashed media tell us. The tip of that there iceburg isn't looking so fine. Did you know theres a park on a old superfund site in West Seneca N.Y. named Tim Russert Park kind of appropriate.
Actually, the other thing they are hiding under the rug is the fact that the new systems installed are unsafe and would fail an electrical inspection here in the US.
Even in the new 104 acre US Embassy "fortress" being built by Kuwati contractors, the electrical wiring is below standards. The new guard building pretty much has to be rewired because they used wire that was a thinner guage then what is required for the service load. So the building is a fire hazard.
So a major problem with the electrical grid is shotty workmanship and lack of oversight.
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