Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[harrypothead]

Water Plant Fire Deepens Misery in Baghdad

Friday July 1, 2005 9:46 PM
By MARIAM FAM

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A mortar attack sparked a fire Friday that forced authorities to shut down a water plant, leaving millions of weary Baghdad residents with dry taps in 100-degree heat, Iraqi officials said.

Just a day earlier, the mayor of the capital threatened to quit because of mounting infrastructure problems - including a lack of clean drinking water.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5112696,00.html

The water shortage added to the misery of Baghdad's estimated 6.5 million people, who face frequent electricity outages, erratic fuel supplies, congested traffic, diminished public services and the ever present threat of kidnappings and car bombings.
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With conditions like this, how long before Iraq erupts into full blown civil war, and what right did we have to do this in Iraq?
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Last update: July 1, 2005 at 10:00 PM
Shiite leader's top aide gunned down
Andy Mosher, Washington Post
July 2, 2005 IRAQ0702


BAGHDAD -- Gunmen assassinated the top aide to the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most prominent Shiite Muslim cleric, on a street in central Baghdad on Friday, according to Iraqi security officials. The killing prompted Muslim preachers to use sermons at Friday prayer services to call for an end to violence.

Police said Kamaleddin Ghuraifi, Al-Sistani's Baghdad representative, was gunned down on his way to Friday prayers at Al-Doreen Mosque on Haifa Street, a dangerous area where Iraqi and U.S. officials say order is gradually being restored by Iraqi security forces.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5487456.html