Iraq’s electricity minister asked U.S. firms to join the reconstruction effort of one of the country’s highest priority projects: bringing power to Iraqis, most of which have precious few hours of electricity a day.
Karim Waheed Hasan is in Washington and, according to a statement released by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force, is looking for U.S. bidders on projects.
“We have the money, the manpower, and the fuel, but we need the material and the supervision,” he said at the U.S. Energy Association’s offices in Washington, DC. “I am here to urge U.S. companies to participate in Iraqi reconstruction.”
According to the release, the Ministry will spend $27 billion to 2016 to build new generation and transmission capacity, rehabilitate existing plants and equipment, to boost capacity to 10,000 megawatts.
Iraq just signed deals worth billions with Chinese and Iranian firms.
China’s Shanghai Heavy Industry has started work on a giant power plant in Kut, the capital of the southern province of Wasit, a $940 million project, Ali al-Mawsawi reports for Azzaman.
Two workers were injured after rockets hit Baghdad’s Dora refinery, Voices of Iraq news agency reports.
Iraq’s Economy
A new dam in oil-rich Kirkuk is being built to help move the area’s agriculture industry forward, Marwan al-Ani reports for Azzaman.
The 2008 budget won’t be approved until after Eid, Al-Sabaah reports.
Security, Society and Politics
Iraq’s Sadr uses lull to rebuild Army: Moqtada al-Sadr’s Shiite militia aims to return leaner, stronger, Sam Dagher reports for The Christian Science Monitor.
We’re ready to take over security, Iraq’s defense and ministers say, Al-Sabaah reports.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry has tasked 3,000 secret police with hunting down terrorists in Baghdad, Al-Sabaah reports.
Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi is in Jordan to talk about the refugee crisis there, AFP reports.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have formally requested to reopen their embassies in Baghdad, Steve Negus reports for the Financial Times.
The Iraq Press Roundup by UPI’s Hiba Dawood.
Why the Worst Is Probably Over in Iraq, a new essay by the American Enterprise Institute’s Reuel Marc Gerecht. His premise is that political lefties are reluctantly admitting that the surge is working. The problem, however, is that the recent decrease in violence is merely relative — and hasn’t been matched with any real increase in the quality of life for Iraqis, economic enhancement, political reconciliation or deescalation of the sectarian/religious power vacuum — thus there’s no way to conclude the surge is a success in a couple months of “less horrible” news, after four and a half years of escalating hell.
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