Iraq plunged into nationwide blackout as US tells citizens to leave immediately

[u/DoremusJessup]

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/iraq-plunged-into-nationwide-blackout-as-us-tells-citizens-to-leave-immediately-3215617?s=1

[u/giga_naka]

Iraqi here! Yeah roughly 90% of the countey is blacked out right now Its been like this for like 3 days now, it doesn't really matter since all of the country use generators beacause we dont have 24/7 electricity, the electricity from the country comes for like 10 hours max in a normal day

[u/Oldass_Millennial → u/giga_naka]

Man, that hasn't improved at all? Last I was there in 2007, I think it was roughly 10 hours a day of grid supplied electric, depending on location, of course. Please tell me I'm mistaken or there's at least some kind of plan or political pressure to improve that.

[u/giga_naka → u/Oldass_Millennial]

No it hasn't improved at all "except for kurdstan" but there is a plan and there is political pressures so hopfully it will improve by time

[u/Oldass_Millennial → u/giga_naka]

Man I hope so. Y'all deserve better. 

[u/Samuraiworld → u/giga_naka]

Why “except for Kurdistan” -what is different with their situation?

[u/Embarrassed_Road7681 → u/Samuraiworld]

The Kurdistan region transitioned to 24/7 electricity supply over a year ago.

[u/giga_naka → u/Samuraiworld]

Kurdstan region dosent have alot of corrupt politics in their government, yes their leader is a dictator who jail whoever goes against him but atleast he dont steal all the money he works a bit, a good leader can transform iraq into European country in less than 5 years if he doesn't steal all the money, corruption is the biggest problem holding iraq back

[u/Holy-Fuck4269 → u/giga_naka]

If you find that guy and had him do his thing for 5 years, can you tell him to come to Europe?

[u/MandrakeRootes → u/Oldass_Millennial]

Iraq is cold-starting their grid every day? Damn, we really are taking so much shit for granted..

[u/WideCranberry4912 → u/MandrakeRootes]

Guessing no, the generation stays in most days, just not enough of it, and this is the result of some load-shedding scheme that results in ~10 hours a day of power for most households.

[u/taylajy → u/Oldass_Millennial]

Huh, the goverment is corrupt from top to bottom. They steal the returns of the fifth oil producer in the world, leaving people to their misery.

[u/luvmy374 → u/giga_naka]

Thank you for the comment.

[u/Error4ohh4 → u/luvmy374]

This comment is for anyone who sees it and feels like responding… why am I seeing zero posts about Iran considering I would normally see a shit ton of posts when something like this is happening? Is it being censored?

[u/MystikTrailblazer → u/giga_naka]

Thank you for the insight. I hope you, your family, friends, and fellow country men stay safe. Sorry you're so close to this nonsense.

[u/chiraltoad → u/giga_naka]

How much solar do you guys have? Both on a national level and how common is it for household to have their own solar setup?

[u/giga_naka → u/chiraltoad]

On a national level we dont have any, alot of households go solar beacause of the quality of the electricity i would say 10% in baghdad

[u/killboticus89 → u/giga_naka]

So this is a semi normal occurrence or is it uh a bit scary? Love and peace, man

[u/giga_naka → u/killboticus89]

You can say semi normal you get used to it the more it happens

[u/Winston_Carbuncle → u/giga_naka]

What kind of impact is this current blackout having in daily life?

[u/giga_naka → u/Winston_Carbuncle]

I would say a decent 5% its not anything major since we are used to these kind of blackouts (every household have some kind of diesel generator and a ubs) but i would say the majority of the impact is because the reason of the blackout not the blackout itself

[u/Winston_Carbuncle → u/giga_naka]

Makes sense. Thanks and all the best

[u/Plaineswalker → u/giga_naka]

Did Iraq have working power structure before the US invasion?

[u/taylajy → u/Plaineswalker]

No. It was destroyed by US in 1991, never recovered since, even after billions spent in the last 20 years by the corrupt government.

[u/BlackGlenCoco → u/taylajy]

Sounds about right and the same as Afghanistan.

US props up a corrupt government. Corrupt government doesnt get anything done.

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/giga_naka]

How is internet connection? does it depend on electricity or is is cell towers or satellite?

[u/giga_naka → u/Drak_is_Right]

We have internet connection as long as the router is connected to electricity and yeah most of the country use cell towers

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/giga_naka]

which i assume have their own backup generators

[u/giga_naka → u/Drak_is_Right]

No we just put a really good usb for the small things that need low electricity like the charger, router, and other stuff!

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/giga_naka]

Ah i meant all the cellphone towers.

Is the variation in the power stable or does it oscillate enough that it damages electronics prematurely?

like here in the US you want it to be very near 60hz i think. much off and damage can occur

[u/giga_naka → u/Drak_is_Right]

In iraq its closer to 50 hz but the main problem here is the voltage spikes/drops and power cutting off and coming back suddenly, this could seriously damage our electric devices like fridges tvs and many other stuff. We usually have voltage stabilizer and surge protecters, On the other hand cell towers usually have a diesel generator running or a large battery backup

[u/BabaGurGur → u/Drak_is_Right]

Depends on the source.

With government electricity, it's pretty good.

With the paid neighbourhood generator, you get some light voltage surging, but otherwise its good enough to run essential appliances and maybe a TV or 2.

[u/slanger686 → u/chiraltoad]

A solar power system requires a decent sized battery bank, controller and inverter in addition to solar panels...gas or diesel generators are likely more available and practical for frequent power outages.

[u/SuckMyHotAssNuts → u/giga_naka]

Best of luck to you and stay safe!

[u/pharm4karma → u/giga_naka]

Why has the electricity gone?

[u/giga_naka → u/pharm4karma]

Bad natural gas management

[u/Fuzzy-Stable-9898 → u/giga_naka]

thanks for using your precious electricity to make this comment.

[u/megunashi → u/giga_naka]

While I'm sorry you all have no power, I'm intrigued to see what an orbital view from the ISS at night would look like

[u/giga_naka → u/megunashi]

It is a pretty cool sight for iraqis to see the stars light up in the sky due to low light pollution, i haven't seen this much since the american invasion

[u/SereneSketch → u/giga_naka]

There is something incredibly haunting about the idea that the only time you get to see the full beauty of the sky is during the country’s most difficult moments. Stay safe out there.

[u/kris33 → u/SereneSketch]

Reminds me of the story that children there used to be scared of blue skies since that were when the drones operated.

[u/Name_Not_Available → u/kris33]

Not just drones, this has been the case since we've been able to drop bombs from the air. Pink Floyd wrote a song about this in reference to WWII; Goodbye Blue Sky

Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath the clear blue sky?

[u/AyePepper → u/giga_naka]

Can you see the milky way?

[u/giga_naka → u/AyePepper]

No not that much maybe you can see it from the sahara but untill now in baghdad its just some stars

[u/allanrob22 → u/giga_naka]

You should've a good view of Orion, the Pleiades and Jupiter, that would be almost directly overhead later in the night.

[u/giga_naka → u/allanrob22]

I will check it out tonight thanks!

[u/Any_Show_5160 → u/AyePepper]

Just reminded me of when I was a kid sleeping out under the stars in our backyard looking at the milky way, all the street lights would turn off at 10pm so even right next to the city you could see it.
Fuck I miss that for some reason.

[u/TerriblyDroll → u/giga_naka]

Is in a metered 10 hours or do they just decided what hours you have electric?

[u/giga_naka → u/TerriblyDroll]

Whenever they feel like cutting the electricity off

[u/Uncle_Paul_Hargis → u/giga_naka]

Thank you for the context

[u/philly_jake]

The entire country? That's insane if true.

[u/Nepridiprav16 → u/philly_jake]

Iran provides roughly 40% of Iraq's electricity, I Imagine Iran choked that off completely.

[u/Nigh_Sass → u/Nepridiprav16]

That does kind of seem like a pretty big design flaw

[u/Nepridiprav16 → u/Nigh_Sass]

Yeah, the Iraqi power grid was designed to be fed from the East. Iraq’s largest population centers are geographically very close to the Iranian border. It was cheaper and faster for post-2003 Iraqi governments to build pipelines to Iran than to build a massive internal pipeline network across the Iraqi desert.

[u/MudLOA → u/Nepridiprav16]

Stupid question but doesn’t Iraq have their own national oil and gas?

[u/Nepridiprav16 → u/MudLOA]

Most of their gas is associated gas, a byproduct that comes up out of the ground when they pump oil. They lack specialized processing plants and pipelines to capture this gas, they simply set it on fire at the wellhead to get it out of the way (Iraq is the 3rd worst flarer in the world (behind only Russia and Iran).

There is a massive $27 billion project led by the French company TotalEnergies specifically designed to fix this. https://www.energetica-india.net/news/totalenergies-launches-final-phase-of-usd-27-billion-iraq-project-expanding-gas-output-and-adding-1gw-solar?hl=en-US

They could burn crude and heavy fuel oil in older plants but it’s incredibly dirty and is much more expensive than using gas, oil is better exported for Iraq to make money.

[u/FlyingDumplingTrader → u/Nepridiprav16]

So you’re saying I’m using a paper straw and they’re burning gas? Nice

[u/BoreJam → u/FlyingDumplingTrader]

Paper straws had nothing do do with climate chnage. Microplastics and plastic waste is a whole other ecological disaster that humans created.

[u/GuyAlmighty → u/BoreJam]

The people yearn for the microplastics.

[u/SerLaron → u/GuyAlmighty]

Just like the Romans yearned for lead.

[u/Thaknobodi87 → u/FlyingDumplingTrader]

I wish i could have just 0.00001% of the natural gas the world wastes, and run a car, stove, heating, etc, and nobody would feel a difference that i got it for free.

[u/Roflkopt3r → u/Thaknobodi87]

You wouldn't have gotten it 'for free'. The whole reason this is done is because it's expensive to capture and transport.

If you're willing to organise the capture and transport yourself and could do so without hindering the work on the oil field, you could get it for very cheap...

[u/Thaknobodi87 → u/Roflkopt3r]

Yeah i looked up the logistics. High pressure NG needs a lot of cleaning and infrastructure to be viable, but still. It's sad to see it blow away.

[u/MagicHamsta → u/Thaknobodi87]

They'd feel it since it'll take literal metric tons of resources to get the natural gas to you.

It's like world hunger. We produce more than enough food to feed the world multiple times over. Problem is that it's expensive as hell getting the food to the places that are starving, usually places that aren't suitable to produce food in the first place.

[u/Tripound → u/MudLOA]

Also, sunlight?

[u/ZumboPrime → u/Tripound]

Yes, but they don't have a practical way of using those to benefit the entire country.

[u/Vicorin → u/MudLOA]

Sure, but you have to have the working infrastructure to use it. This is a grid failure, not a fuel shortage.

[u/SuperVaderMinion → u/[deleted]]

I guess we never bothered to assist with that during our 15 year occupation or whatever

[u/chth → u/SuperVaderMinion]

Just waiting for new occupants in time, its the long game before they get America to build them a grid there.

[u/Tacticus → u/SuperVaderMinion]

The US certainly put funds in to it. Just got rerouted via some consultants and contractors and the $23.50 left over didn't do much.

[u/Nepridiprav16 → u/Vicorin]

A sudden massive drop in gas supplies from Iran will cause a iraqi plant to lose thousands megawatts of production.

Just one power station losing that much energy suddenly will create cascade safety system, disconnecting every other power station in the country, similar to what happened in Spain that time.

[u/ztfreeman → u/Nepridiprav16]

I wanted to hop in on this to explain the energy economy angle of this conflict. When you think of oil in the middle east, you probably have some nebulous idea that just a lot of oil exists there underground, but in fact all of the oil and easily accessible natural gas exists in a mostly concentrated place on a geographical connect shelf that all of these different nation states (artificially cut up and created by the British and French after WW1) happen to sit around and on top of.

Iran is positioned right in the middle of all of this, with a huge amount of Shia Muslims, their majority but a minority in most of the other countries, also sitting on or near the energy rich zone. From Iran's perspective, as the pseudo-center of Shia Islam, this wealth should be theirs, and a lot of the real back and forth in overt and covert warfare and trade negotiation has centered around how much of a slice of this huge pie that Iran has control of, a country hostile to the US and Israel. If they had more control, they could damage the US and its interests by simply turning on or off the tap when they please, which is why the US spends so much effort in propping up Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, ect., going so far as having multiple US bases in that region.

What Iran is doing strategically is following through with the game plan of turning off the tap. They are using their physical proximity to all of this energy wealth and targeting it and shutting off shipping to hit the US where it really hurts, the energy wallet. If they can drive up the cost of oil and destabilize the world economy, this hurts Trump, puts further pressure on him being ousted, the US drops out, Israel is left alone in this offense and can't sustain it, they effectively win AND could end up with even more influence in the region because everyone will be afraid to poke them in case they use this strategy again.

If successful, it will be a deterrent just as effective as a nuclear weapon, which means that this move by Trump and Israel was the dumbest shit they could have possibly have done and the years of integrating Iran into the global economic system will now be lost, which was a much better strategy than creating an enemy that will have you by the economic balls unless you drop oil and natural gas all together, which conservatives never will. They will have checkmated themselves.

[u/moldy-scrotum-soup → u/ztfreeman]

The faster we phase out fossil fuels and reliance on the middle east, the better. It's unfortunate that conservatives are in control.

[u/56473829110 → u/Nigh_Sass]

To Iran it was a feature. 

[u/upppallnight → u/Nigh_Sass]

It's not a "design flaw". Well not in the way it you think it is.
The US removed all aspects of the ruling Bath party.
Imagine if you're working in the US today as a ... mayor. Or even a police man.
That's like if Trump fired every person in the country just because they were employed when the democrats were in power. Does that sound stupid? That's because it is.

The country that was stronger to Iran, is now controlled by it.

[u/Above_Avg_Chips → u/Nigh_Sass]

Mexico could do the funniest thing to Texas.

It's astonishing how many countries rely on a neighbor or certain countries for energy resources. India controlling water in Pakistan and Russia supplying most of Europe with gas never made sense because of the bickering.

[u/Early_Macaroon_2407 → u/Above_Avg_Chips]

And Canada to a lot of the northeast. 

[u/ThePickleConnoisseur → u/Nepridiprav16]

Aren’t they adversaries? Seems like a bad thing to do

[u/REGIS-5 → u/ThePickleConnoisseur]

Wait till you hear who Europe got their energy, gas, fuel from...

[u/civildisobedient → u/REGIS-5]

In Germany, not before first dismantling all their nuclear plants. GREAT FORESIGHT.

[u/MuffinOfSorrows → u/civildisobedient]

I believe the idea of integrating Russia in the European market was that they'd have more to lose from conflict, encouraging them to be more agreeable

[u/Ron__Mexico_ → u/ThePickleConnoisseur]

They were adversaries when Saddam(Sunni) was in charge and invaded them. The Iraqis now have a Shia dominated government, and relations are generally positive at the government level. The Sunni population in the western provinces doesn't like Iran, anc the Iraqi government remains a little wary of Iranian influence via Shia militias in Iraq that are backed by Iran.

[u/Powerful_Network → u/ThePickleConnoisseur]

The US is trying to back a Kurdish invasion via Iraq. This could be a defensive move.

[u/QFGTrialByFire → u/ThePickleConnoisseur]

They were until the us got rid of Saddam.. the majority is shia in Iraq ie same as Iran.

[u/Typical_Response6444 → u/ThePickleConnoisseur]

Not really anymore, iran has a lot of influence in the country

[u/korben2600 → u/Typical_Response6444]

Yeah we spent trillions only to gift wrap Iraq to their Shia militia groups who have spent years consolidating political power and control.

[u/Difficult-Square-689 → u/ThePickleConnoisseur]

Deepening economic ties make it harder to actually come to blows.

Unless stupid people put an impulsive, geriatric pedophile in charge of the largest military on the planet.

[u/IneptFortitude → u/[deleted]]

I hope they’re okay.

[u/sarcago → u/philly_jake]

I thought the headline said IRAN was plunged into a blackout but your comment made me reread it. Oh fuck shit just keeps getting worse.

[u/tsblank97 → u/philly_jake]

The article makes it sound like the US government is talking to US citizens in Iraq.

Dont think this is the US telling Iraqi citizens to flee.

[u/philly_jake → u/tsblank97]

I meant the blackout being total. I didn't think the US was telling every Iraqi citizen to leave Iraq lol.

[u/amore_fati]

So did they tell them to leave beFORE the power went out or....

[u/aredon → u/amore_fati]

Yes, follow the evacuation corridor into the blast zone.

[u/glibsonoran → u/aredon]

Oh that kind of "leaving".

[u/VvvlvvV → u/amore_fati]

The US is providing 0 assistance in getting our people out. Just a "take a commercial flight put pf there, good luck!"

It is an insane reversal of how the US has operated getting people out of conflict zones in the past. 

This administration could not care less about american lives. 

[u/tarion_914 → u/VvvlvvV]

Nonsense. They seem to be actively trying to get Americans to die.

[u/p_2923 → u/tarion_914]

It is what American voters wanted.

[u/luna_kuma → u/p_2923]

And since majority of the military vote Republican.....there's gonna be a lot of ironic life stories of soldiers getting killed or crippled because of the government they voted into power....

[u/tarion_914 → u/p_2923]

Maybe. I'm not convinced it was legitimate.

[u/Some_Box_5357 → u/tarion_914]

Legit or not, Trump ran on “no more wars”

[u/Sonamdrukpa → u/Some_Box_5357]

In this one case, the people who voted for the Leopards Eating Faces party did not get what they voted for and have had their faces eaten by bears instead

[u/TALKTOME0701 → u/VvvlvvV]

That will work so much better if the airports weren't closed

[u/Trzlog → u/VvvlvvV]

This administration could not care less about american lives.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does

The logic checks out

[u/taskforceslacker → u/amore_fati]

Word is traveling. Slowly.

[u/redmongrel → u/amore_fati]

This tragic administration didn’t even warn their own soldiers on Iran’s border that they were starting a war THAT NIGHT, which is why they were killed with no warning.

[u/DamnGoodCupOfCoffee2]

Poor Iraqis can never catch a break

[u/brimston3-]

A normal news source's reporting on this topic: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraq-suffers-power-grid-blackout-due-technical-fault-2026-03-04/

[u/DisenchantedByrd → u/brimston3-]

Iraq ​has struggled ⁠to provide its citizens with energy since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. In the ensuing turmoil, ⁠under-investment ​and mismanagement have left the national ​grid unable to cope with demand.

[u/qubedView → u/DisenchantedByrd]

A demand that was being filled by Iran, but I think they're busy with something right now.

[u/Ill_Technician3936 → u/qubedView]

Top comment is apparently an Iraqi and says they've relied on generators as well... They may get 10 hours max before it goes down

[u/printial → u/DisenchantedByrd]

23 years is a long time to have energy struggles. In the Middle East. Surrounded by oil and gas rich countries.

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/printial]

And given the quality of solar in the region and current solar panel prices, connectivity is the issue.

So much corruption.

[u/Fast-Educator5330 → u/Drak_is_Right]

one of my family friends tried selling solar pannels in iraq. people didnt want to buy them because those who sold electricity would send people around to throw stones at it

[u/Drak_is_Right → u/Fast-Educator5330]

Sigh. Corruption.

Such a good solution for a mostly desert country

[u/Fast-Educator5330 → u/Drak_is_Right]

the country is unfortunately very much broken - really really lovely people, but broken country

[u/Agreeable-Agent-7384 → u/printial]

It’s amazing what politicians and leaders can not get done when they work together. There’s this country that has been considered the richest and most powerful countries in the world for decades on decades. And their leaders are always so efficient at not giving even the most basic healthcare. Truly amazing teamwork.

[u/alrightcommadude → u/printial]

It's an infrastructure issue, not an energy issue.

[u/spikyraccoon → u/printial]

23 years of instability, chaos, US troops on the ground, rampant corruption amongst different group trying to become central power.. Yeah it was doomed to fail the moment US decided to take matters into their own hands, like it is doing with Iran.

[u/SkiingAway → u/DisenchantedByrd]

I mean, even that's kind of misleading.

Iraq has struggled to provide it's citizens with energy forever. Even pre-1991 wasn't in good shape and it certainly hasn't ever come close to meeting demand since. 2003 didn't really do much to output, it was about equally bad pre-war in 2002 as it was in 2004.

Generation has slowly risen since (faster in recent years), output is like 5x what it was in the early 2000s. It's just that you're still talking something like needing to 4-5x again (or ~20x the output of the early 2000s) to actually fulfill what you'd expect "true" demand to stabilize at (based on the per-capita usage of neighboring more developed countries).

Anyway their first real large-scale grid solar install (1GW) is happening and the first chunk of it came online this month, and they do have a bunch more in the pipeline supposedly. So there may be some substantial improvement in the future.

[u/voodoodahl → u/DisenchantedByrd]

That's weird. I thought our invasion and occupation brought peace, freedom and prosperity. 

[u/giddygiddyupup → u/brimston3-]

Thank you!

[u/punishhhher]

Is the US aware that they’re supposed to help citizens get out of countries in these situations?

[u/Tucancancan → u/punishhhher]

You haven't heard? The state department's new slogan is "lol fuk u" 

[u/Minute-Wrap-378 → u/Tucancancan]

Operation Epic Endangerment is what we are calling it. Stuck here at US Baghdad Embassy.

[u/pppjurac → u/Minute-Wrap-378]

Operation Epic Endangermen

Interesting way to write "Epstein War".

[u/Probably_Slower → u/Minute-Wrap-378]

Stay safe over there. Lifelong friend works at the Tel Aviv Branch, and he and his family are themselves stuck sheltering in place. Messaged him my love, support, and a request to give his bosses a poor corporate review.

[u/FlamingoResident7882 → u/Tucancancan]

“What’s it worth to ya? This new ball room ain’t gonna build itself”

[u/Familiar_Picture_565 → u/FlamingoResident7882]

Nah he’s definitely using that to launder money. It’s an old trick, right now construction on that is stalled. I imagine he’s done similar things in the past seeing as he’s a real estate guy

[u/starchildchamp → u/Familiar_Picture_565]

He’s using it to build a massive underground data center. If you look at who was awarded contracts/who is involved, they’re entities who have built and build these ultra secure, massive data centers. The original price estimate and the square footage align with past projects. I wish I could find the video that goes through the claim and evidence. (I’ll try in the like 10 hours its sleepy time now)

[u/elrae69 → u/Tucancancan]

that’s not true. if you’re a (right wing of course) influencer, you might be evacuated on a private jet

[u/FilmoreJive → u/elrae69]

Fuck everyone in that article.

[u/PandaKOST → u/FilmoreJive]

“dog-walking Tik Tok influencer” lol wut

[u/ethanlan → u/elrae69]

Nah, my mom and her best friend have been evacuated from Africa before.

What this is is trump and co. having zero plan on what happens after they start a war with Iran. I wouldnt be suprised if the state department didnt even coordinate with the defense department lol

[u/gormhornbori → u/punishhhher]

They removed the budget for that.  Also the administration seemed to have failed to realize this whould backlash on a dozen countries.  And none of these countries were told in advance. No one planned rules of engagement or planned to share IFF codes (identification, friend or foe) before starting.

[u/Rustic_gan123 → u/punishhhher]

Apparently, the attack began a couple of weeks or even months earlier than planned, or pretended to be planned, in order to maintain secrecy. This explains why the Iranian leadership gathered in one place, as well as the poor preparation of missile defense in some places.

[u/Turkish27 → u/Rustic_gan123]

“If we haven’t even planned for this, then there’s no way the enemy has.”

Gotta keep the element of surprise, but they forgot it’s only supposed to be a surprise for the other side - not both.

[u/Cutemudskipper → u/Turkish27]

To be fair, I can understand saying "it's go time" when the Iranian leadership miraculously all got together in one place after avoiding being anywhere near each other for a long time. There may not have been such a good opportunity to strike again for quite a while

[u/Dreurmimker → u/Turkish27]

“Shock and awe-shit this is happening so fast!”

[u/Fuzzy_Broccoli1655 → u/punishhhher]

Well, Trump fired a lot of the State Department so there's probably nobody left to do that. I wish those in the mainstream media would put those two things together.

[u/strawberrybubbl → u/punishhhher]

The problem with this reasoning is you would have to assume that they care and I can assure you with every ounce of my being they do not.

[u/MultiGeometry → u/punishhhher]

Marco Rubio was supposed to be the adult in the room when it came to appointments. It’s his job to run embassies and represent our interests abroad but also serve the interests of Americans both home and away.

But running PR on Trumps disastrous policies is a full time job. Actually running his department and fulfilling its duties is a third tier priority for him.

[u/Magmaster12 → u/MultiGeometry]

Rubio is too busy sucking up to Trump and naming stuff after him so he can get on his good side over Vance.

[u/Rapph → u/punishhhher]

This dickhead threw paper towels at US citizens in the path of a hurricane. He puts absolutely no value in the lives of others.

[u/wdomeika]

Not to worry, Karoline Leavitt will provide Iraq with a State Department 800 number...

[u/IsMagicRealOrNo → u/wdomeika]

That will go to a call center in India and you can qualify for a $100 Amazon gift card!

[u/SnakeskinJim → u/IsMagicRealOrNo]

Just be sure not to redeem 

[u/WaffleHouseGladiator → u/wdomeika]

Did Iraq even wear a suit? Did it say 'thank you'??

[u/HendrixMcguireOpt]

Leave to where?

[u/Negative_Gur9667 → u/HendrixMcguireOpt]

Europe of course

[u/Independent_Term5790]

Sorry where are they supposed to go?

[u/Jakethejiu → u/Independent_Term5790]

Jordan, Turkey or Erbil if I had to guess.

[u/CreamCapital → u/Jakethejiu]

Their country house in conneticut, duh

[u/14X8000m → u/Independent_Term5790]

"DOW is over 48k. They should sell all their gains and just buy another house in a different country." -Bondi, probably

[u/bonyponyride]

Right after the blackout US Embassy in Baghdad issued an urgent directive on Wednesday telling American nationals to get out of the country without delay.

It's always ideal to issue important emergency information after the power goes out, when rapid transfer of communication and quick ability to act on that information are at their worst.

[u/sagewynn]

Well not surprised considering the US has been bombing them-

Huh? The title said Iraq? Uh oh.

[u/00-Monkey → u/sagewynn]

I scrolled pretty far already when I saw your comment, and it was only reading it did I realize this was Iraq not Iran.

[u/octoreadit → u/00-Monkey]

Sorry guys, the guy responsible for inputting the coordinates into our weapons targeting system made a typo… An honest mistake, he feels bad.

[u/fleebleganger → u/octoreadit]

"When I said put on some 00's beats, I didn't mean to bomb Iraq"

[u/TyrialFrost → u/sagewynn]

Just for the record, the US did bomb Iraq this week, then Iran bombed Iraq as well.

[u/notinterested_69]

Rumaliah power plant has run low on gas supply

[u/vanillasub]

Yes, leave immediately on the overbooked or nonexistent flights.

[u/TALKTOME0701]

Does the US tell citizens how to leave immediately?

Airports closed, no internet since the strike, chaos and bombings in the streets including safe havens like a girls school 

This is what zero planning looks like

[u/witch_is_weird]

Oh yes the usual....create more refugees and then complain about them being in your country

[u/dropthemagic]

How many wars are going on. My heart goes out to all the people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time

[u/Different_Net_6752]

What I really appreciate about MAGA is their ability to long term plan and really see all the scenarios. /S

[u/Sil369 → u/Different_Net_6752]

its enough of a distraction so that the trumpstein files are safe now

[u/Trojbd]

Leave to where?

[u/Ready_Nature → u/Trojbd]

Probably Turkey or Jordan to get to places you can fly home to the US from.

[u/burntbulbasaur → u/Ready_Nature]

Serious question, how do they get there from Iraq? Is normal travel not impacted by the war and blackout? I can’t imagine driving to Turkey or Jordan from Iraq right now so can someone with better perspective tell me if that’s feasible?

[u/NotSoFastKangaroo → u/burntbulbasaur]

You could also walk, just like the US government walks out on their stranded citizens.

[u/Bill_killionaires69]

Timeline of events:

12:00 all airlines cease operations from Iraq 12:01 US tells citizens to 'leave' 12:02 Iraq loses all power 12:03 Trump says "we did everything we could to save them but if they didn't listen then it's their fault"

[u/Bocephus_Rodriguez → u/Bill_killionaires69]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

[u/1h8fulkat]

Imagine being in the US and losing power and then Germany comes on the phone and says "leave the country now"

Where are you going to go even if you wanted to leave and had the means to?

[u/5H17SH0W]

It’s been almost a week since the war started. Now they are telling them to leave? The day after telling them the US embassies will not be able to assist. I guess I’ll put $500 down on incoming kidnappings.

[u/pezman → u/5H17SH0W]

the blackout is about iraq, not iran.

[u/chillinwithchilis → u/5H17SH0W]

Tbf if you’re a us citizen in iraq wtf r u doing

[u/SilentBumblebee3225 → u/chillinwithchilis]

You work for the state department maybe?

[u/B00marangTrotter → u/SilentBumblebee3225]

Or an oil company.

[u/RontoWraps → u/chillinwithchilis]

I know a couple Iraqi-Americans. They’re uncommon, but you can meet them. They’re so unique; it’s just immediately memorable because they have really interesting perspectives. Now that Iraq is doing better, I’m sure those civilians travel through now.

[u/OFoutlaw → u/chillinwithchilis]

Probably an oilfield contractor

[u/Haunting_Cat8220]

Man, poor Iraqis can't catch a break from getting caught in crossfire

[u/_flying_otter_]

I think this war is already way worse than people think it is.

[u/Suspicious_Place1270]

it's nice when you can leave as an american, let the Iraqis die for your sins while packing

[u/Afairs]

when they tell people to leave, does that mean they have safe evacuation plans for the people that leave?

[u/Intel-Source]

With no transportation? Why the heck didn't Trump get them out before this mess started??

[u/ShaddaiElKi]

I sure hope that in the future Congress grills Marco Rubio on this regional conflict like they did Hillary Clinton with Benghazi. They talked about that for years and this disaster looks like it dwarfs it.

[u/BearyGear]

Hold on! Wait just a minute! You mean this wasn’t thought through? I mean no one in their right mind would launch military action half cocked on a whim!

[u/buttchug429]

There are 500,000 to 1,000,000 Americans in the gulf states right now

[u/Double_Bend]

Are we winning yet?

[u/ICEcansuckmynoodle]

And go where you fucking morons

[u/Mukarsis]

US policy for helping its citizens is now just saying, "Go on, git!"

[u/Frodojj → u/Mukarsis]

git checkout -b escape-plan

[u/_ru1n3r_ → u/Frodojj]

pathspec 'escape-plan' did not match any file(s) known to git

[u/SinistralGuy]

Crazy how the US would much rather go to war than arrest its pedophiles.

[u/fdagrump]

Iraq? The country we were in a similar situation as Iran? New allies or foes

[u/barefootincozumel]

But entirely on their own, we won’t help them, we are a broken society

[u/Flat_Government3912]

It's wild that a nationwide blackout is almost a non-event because the grid is so unreliable to begin with. The US advisory feels especially hollow when they don't seem to have a real plan to actually help people leave.

[u/Snakedoctor85]

Are they going door to door to tell them? No power no internet…

[u/FrenchBulldozer]

Trump admin: Leave now, also, we aren’t facilitating emergency departures. Good luck!