Re: [casi] Electricity in Baghdad?

[Ax.Sternberg@DELETETHISt-online.de (Alexander Sternberg)]

Dear Jennifer and All,
let me make just to remarks:

Electricity supply had been increased ot Baghdad at the expense of
the electricity supplied to other locations in Iraq, namely the
Northern Kurdistan Regions Dohuk Governorate, which is now
practically cut off from Central Iraqi supplies. If that is the
exclusive reason for Baghdad shining, I do not know, but certainly
considerable contribution.

Taking the risk of being repetitive: no child in Iraq needs to be
denied medical treatment if only the available resources would have
been used and would be used for what they are by the GOI, instead
of, for instance, being resold to third parties for hard dollars.
Just have a look at the Northern Kurdish governorates, and you will
see what I mean. It was suggested that the Northern governorates
where better off in some mysterious way than the Center-South. The
truth is they are under the same sanctions and they receive
proportionally the same amount of medical supplies under the OFF as
the rest of Iraq, they suffer from irregular supplies through that
programme because of deliberate obstruction by Baghdad and because
of a slow UN machine. The two governments of the Kurdistan Region
however, over the past few years, have regularly spent considerable
amounts of their budget to fill the gaps in the medical sector by
buying additional medicines, guess where, in Baghdad from a company
owned, guess by whom, a certain Odeh, or elsewhere.

Obviously its a matter of setting priorities, and children are
rated differently in the Centre-South than in the North of the
country. Its not the larger amount of aid given by foreign NGOs to
the Kurdish Region as has been suggested on this list. Because
these do not exist in Kurdistan in any significant number any more
ever since 1996. The only significant amount for additional medical
care from an outside source has not become effective yet: I speak
of the 3 million or so dollars that the US government agreed to
hand out to the two Kurdish administrations this week for that
purpose. That is an absolute first, and we shall see how it works.
It certainly is welcome.

Cheers
Alexander

jennifer horan wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>
> I recently returned from Baghdad where I and 14 other Americans participated
> in a Peace Walk to raise funds for ill Iraqi children denied medical
> treatment due to the sanctions.
>
> Baghdad has far more electricity than it did in the past.  Almost every shop
> I went into had air conditioning. We went to Saddam Tower, a tourist
> skyscraper, and were treated to an evening view of what looked like a
> modern, lit up city with no discernible brown-out/black-out areas. So has
> the GoI been able to spruce up the electricity needs for Baghdad with
> revenues from its non-UN authorized oil sales? That's the only conclusion I
> can reach. Also, Tun Myat swears that phone lines within Iraq have vastly
> improved even in his two year tenure, a development he suggested was due to
> GoI's spending of non UN funds.
>
> Comments, thoughts, insights? Best--Jennifer
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
> To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
> To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
> All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk


_______________________________________________
Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss
To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk
All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk