23 April 2008
Once again we are seeing the lack of results from the Iraqi government. Basic services like sewage, electricity and trash collection are not being met. Sadar City where Iraqi troops and U.S. military are fighting to gain control of this section of Baghdad, the people who live there are not getting the most basic of services met. The streets are littered with garbage and sewage is bubbling up in the streets. It is said that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is preparing to start a multimillion-dollar program to rebuild the southern part of Sadr City, which is now occupied by Iraqi and American troops. So far nothing is happening at the government level to rectify the problem. The Iraqi government insists the area is not safe enough for repairs to begin.
Residents are warning that if nothing is done to restore essential services and remove the piles of garbage, the militias would gain more support. Until the Iraqi government provides them with such basic services, they won’t trust them. Once again, American forces are building a wall to partition the neighborhood, hoping to stabilize the southern portion of Sadr City. Why do we continue to sacrifice our brave troops in a country where we get little to no help from the Iraqi government? That was the whole reason for the surge in the first place, to allow the Iraqi government breathing room. They got their breathing room and we got nothing from them.
The delivery of aid and basic services is a means of building political influence by Moktada al-Sadr’s militia. “Because of lack of security, there will not be any projects for a while” is the Iriqi governments excuse for not going forward with construction. The most intense fighting appears to be over in these sectors, so when does the reconstruction start? In the meanwhile the American troops who patrol the area walk through gray clouds of burning trash and around puddles of sewage. Let’s get our troops home!
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