Pissing Against The Wind

By Cernig

There comes a point in reality-denying where it can only be described as pissing against thew wind.

The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says he has refused to accept the resignation of six cabinet members from the main Sunni bloc in parliament, the Accordance Front.

The six announced their resignations on August 1.

However, a senior parliamentarian from the Sunni group, Saleem al-Juburi, said they will quit anyway.

Such pointless refusal to face the facts can only lead observers to question the sanity of the denier. Cheney is another in the same position, as he repeatedly claims the surge is working. Yet the evidence says that simply isn't the case.

During the seven-day period from 26 July to 1 August there were 482 violent deaths across Iraq. This is a rise of nearly 70 people on last week's total.

...Looking back over the whole of July, Iraqi officials say more than 1,600 civilians were killed.

This figure is higher than the number of deaths for February this year, when the US surge began.

Keep in mind, too, that there is usually a seasonal drop in deaths at this time of year and that US officials are reduced to massaging the figures to keep even a semblance of an approach to reality about claims of surge success. Every success is counterpointed by a dozen deaths, a dozen failures.

One surge that definitely isn't happening is any kind of electrical power surge, with families across Baghdad getting less than 30 minutes of power a day. The BBC have been keeping a close track of power and water shortages in Iraq and the AP reports that the entire Iraqi grid is dangerously close to total collapse.

Iraq's power grid is on the brink of collapse because of insurgent sabotage of infrastructure, rising demand, fuel shortages and provinces that are unplugging local power stations from the national grid, officials said Saturday.

Electricity Ministry spokesman Aziz al-Shimari said power generation nationally is only meeting half the demand, and there had been four nationwide blackouts over the past two days. The shortages across the country are the worst since the summer of 2003, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, he said.

Power supplies in Baghdad have been sporadic all summer and now are down to just a few hours a day, if that. The water supply in the capital has also been severely curtailed by power blackouts and cuts that have affected pumping and filtration stations.

Karbala province south of Baghdad has been without power for three days, causing water mains to go dry in the provincial capital, the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

"We no longer need television documentaries about the Stone Age. We are actually living in it. We are in constant danger because of the filthy water and rotten food we are having," said Hazim Obeid, who sells clothing at a stall in the Karbala market.

...One of the biggest problems facing the national grid is the move by provinces to disconnect their power plants from the system, reducing the amount of electricity being generated across the country. Provinces say they have no choice because they are not getting as much electricity in return for what they produce, mainly because the capital requires so much power.

"Many southern provinces such as Basra, Diwaniyah, Nassiriyah, Babil have disconnected their power plants from the national grid. Northern provinces, including Kurdistan, are doing the same," al-Shimari said. "We have absolutely no control over some areas in the south," he added.

"The national grid will collapse if the provinces do not abide by rules regarding their share of electricity. Everybody will lose and there will be no electricity winner," al-Shimari said.

The power situation seems to be an advanced version of the creeping sectarian division and balkanization taking place in the whole country.