How low can they go?

To anybody who still may have doubts about who the bad guys are here, I direct your attention to this little piece of overlooked news:  The arhabi have actually attacked the water supply to the city about 10 days ago.  I guess attacking the oil and electricity infrastructure wasn't enough.  It was obviously not designed to hurt us, because our FOB's are self-sufficient.  In fact, we found ourselves scrambling to not only fix the damage to the pipes but to find a way to get alternative sources of water.  We even diverted the water trucks that supply our FOB and sent them into Baghdad.  The scumbag arhabi cut off the water to half of Baghdad when the temperature is over 105 every day and getting hotter.   These are the "freedom fighters" that Michael Moore loves so much?   Even our Chaplain is starting to grow disgusted, and he came here with the most open heart of any of us.  Back to work - More scumbags to find...

Comments

[Dan]

The Hanoudi Letter mentioned no water a few days ago. I wondered what that was all about. (MSM's news blackout, you know.)

Sir, I thank you for your service. I argue with anti-government Iraqis(?) every day on the Internet. What kind of lifestyle do these scumbags want? Is this part of their religion or what?

---Dan

[THIRDWAVEDAVE]

Sadly, some still don't know who the "real" bad guys are. What's more, some of these people are members of Congress...Stay safe.

[Dan]

PS
I would like to see Michael Moore in 105 degree heat. Do you think that if he ever broke a sweat that he would smell like pancakes?

---Dan

[EagleSpeak]

One of the differences between these "insurgents" and classic guerrilla forces seems to be their complete disinterest in winning the hearts and minds of the populations (and thus gathering popular support). As Mao wrote: "What is the relationship of guerrilla warfare to the people? Without a political goal, guerrilla warfare must fail, as it must, if its political objectives do not coincide with the aspirations of the people and their sympathy, co-operation, and assistance cannot be gained. The essence of guerrilla warfare is thus revolutionary in character. On the other hand, in a war of counter-revolutionary nature, there is no place for guerrilla hostilities. Because guerrilla warfare basically derives from the masses and is supported by them, it can neither exist nor flourish if it separates itself from their sympathies and co-operation. "

What the insurgents are up to amounts to plain and simple thuggery ...

Thanks for letting us know.

[Karen]

So our forces scrambled to fix the problem. Hmmmmm.....I thought we were just there for the oil. I'm sure Senator Kennedy will be speaking about this as well as all the other positive things our troops are doing over there. Or maybe not.

Thank you and God bless you.

[Don Cox]

The aim of things like attacks on the water supply seems to be to blame it on the "occupation". The message is that things were better under Saddam. And some will believe that the Americans (or the Zionists) blew up the water main themselves.

[YankeePaPa]

More from our beloved press..Time Magazine..July,2005..

Oil But No Gasoline, Rivers But No Water
A year after winning back sovereignty, Iraqis have few reasons to smile

Posted Sunday, Jul. 03, 2005
In Baghdad, you learn to savor small pleasures. When the weather turned unexpectedly cool one recent evening after a long sequence of 113°-plus days, people emptied out of their houses, braving the ever present threat of violence in order to enjoy a brief reprieve from the heat. As I stood in the front yard of TIME's Baghdad bureau, feeling the welcome breeze against my face, I asked my Iraqi colleague Harith if a sharp drop in temperature was common for the month of June. He shook his head. "This is a gift from our God," he said. "He knows many of us have no electricity, so he gives us a cool breeze so we can sleep at night."

These days, that's one of the few mercies Iraqis can hope to get. When President Bush addressed Americans last week on the state of the war in Iraq, he said that in the year since the U.S. returned sovereignty to an Iraqi government, "we have made significant progress." But here in Iraq, healthy indicators are hard to come by. Everyday life in much of the country has deteriorated in measurable ways. According to the Brookings Institution, Iraq's power system generated less electricity in June 2005 than in June 2004; crude-oil production is down, as are revenues from oil exports; the mile-long lines at gas stations are back after subsiding a few months ago. Many Baghdad neighborhoods have had little or no water supply for several weeks. It's small wonder that Harith was so grateful for the brief temperature drop: his neighborhood routinely gets less than four hours of electricity a day.

While few Iraqi residents would probably say their living conditions have improved over the past year, they do have a new object of ire: Iraqis now blame their woes as much on the government elected in January as on the Americans. That's encouraging news, a sign that Iraqis realize they can't depend on the U.S. to solve all their problems. But it's also a reminder of how far Iraq has to go. In his speech last week, Bush said that "the best way to complete the mission is to help Iraqis build a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself." A year after the handover of sovereignty, none of those conditions are close to being met. The government has been promising an improved power supply but has failed to deliver. It fingers insurgents for blowing up water pipelines but seems unable to repair the damage. It claims success in operations against the rebels, but their ability to strike in the heart of Baghdad is undiminished. The mood of high optimism that followed the Jan. 30 election has long since disappeared. "We have oil," says Hamid, an Iraqi who is TIME's security coordinator, "but no gasoline. We have rivers but no water. We have guns but no security."

It's all taking a toll on Iraq's citizens. While most maintain a remarkable resilience in the face of the suffering, there is also a growing sense of bitterness. Hamid, for instance, used to be a wedding singer and hopes one day to become a kindergarten music teacher; it has been months since we last heard him sing. Iraqis who work for foreign companies, especially American ones, are in double jeopardy--branded as traitors and infidels by terrorist groups and identified as lucrative targets by kidnapping gangs. A year ago, we would have accompanied this article with a picture of our Baghdad staff members, and we would have told you their real names. Now we can do neither of those things for fear of endangering them and their families.

Perhaps the most telling indicator of Iraqis' state of mind is what they watch on TV. A year ago, when TIME's Iraqi staff members gathered around the office TV set for a break, they tended to watch Lebanese music videos and Egyptian sitcoms. These days, they almost always watch the news, usually on one of the many Arabic channels that offer endless images of death and desperation in Iraq. So grim is the mood that even escapist entertainment provides no relief. "The news is our life," says Rashid, one of my Iraqi co-workers. "And our life is the news." The sobering reality for the Bush Administration is that it's becoming harder to persuade Iraqis that either one is going to get much better.

[Maggie]

What can American civilians do to help? Why can't someone post shipping information? I would send a case of water and I know plenty of other people would too. I heard all about this on NPR by the way. There is not a complete news blackout on the subject. They said that the water plant workers were doing round the clock repairs and soon the government would truck in water. But I still think it would be helpful if when this kind of crap happened, Americans sent one on one aid. some guy has no water and he gets a package from America with water. Of course, I have no idea how long it would take to ship and what it would look like when it got there, but I still think it's a good idea for PR value alone.

[Sheryl]

I am just thankful that you are there. I come from a long line of vets. I have been married twice and neither of them had guts enough to get the job done. If I weren't so danged old now (55), I'd sign up myself. As it is, thanks be to God and men like yourself who secure our country and our freedom. Those who do not understand who the real enemy is, are lost anyway. There is little to no hope for them. I am pleased to see the picture with the children. It sure puts the lie to some of the garbage coming out of the mouths of some who call themselves Americans. Again, thank you for what you do and who you are. God is not finished yet.