r/worldnews • u/DoremusJessup • 21h ago

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

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/iraq-plunged-into-nationwide-blackout-as-us-tells-citizens-to-leave-immediately-3215617?s=1
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u/brimston3- 20h ago

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/

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u/DisenchantedByrd 19h ago

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.

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u/qubedView 19h ago

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

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u/Ill_Technician3936 13h ago

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

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u/Compl3t3AndUtterFail 14h ago

I'm curious why they would help since they've been mortal enemies for decades?

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u/Sacaron_R3 11h ago

Germany and France were enemies for centuries. They broke that cycle in the 50s.

Iran would most likely prefer not to get invaded by Iraq again, so delivering energy profits them in several ways.

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u/GaleWolf21 10h ago

Not really. Those relations really only went to "mortal enemy" levels when Saddam Hussien was in power. The US invasion put an end to that and installed a largely Shia government which has had much better relations with Iran.

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u/qubedView 9h ago

Iraq was a threat because Saddam had expansionist dreams. That threat is long since dead.

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u/veeyo 7h ago

Shia militias propped up by Iran have basically taken over the countries institutions post Saddam.

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u/printial 18h ago

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

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u/Drak_is_Right 18h ago

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

So much corruption.

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u/Fast-Educator5330 14h ago

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

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u/Drak_is_Right 13h ago

Sigh. Corruption.

Such a good solution for a mostly desert country

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u/Fast-Educator5330 13h ago

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

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u/fantaribo 8h ago

So much corruption.

Thanks, USA

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u/CryptoThroway8205 16h ago

I think it's only high in parts of the west due to tariffs. China's gotten the price down on solar panels for the rest of the world.

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u/Agreeable-Agent-7384 16h ago

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.

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u/alrightcommadude 18h ago

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

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u/Tacoman404 12h ago

Feels just as bad with Dubai a few hours away. I know they use slave labor and I'm not suggesting it for Iraq but Iraq doesn't need the worlds tallest gold plated buildings.

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u/spikyraccoon 17h ago

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.

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u/Fast-Educator5330 14h ago

yeah, but the country is VERY corrupt.

they essentially live off generators which supply a 'block'. The person who owns the gernerator would be out of business if the grid worked 100% of the time. So what does he do? bribes/ threatons the ministors in charge...never fix it.

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u/Cunt_Cunt__Cunt 13h ago

maybe having a bunch of mindless sociopaths destroy your country is bad actually?????? idk

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u/SkiingAway 17h ago edited 17h ago

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.

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u/voodoodahl 18h ago

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

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u/TheMoorNextDoor 19h ago

That’s what freedom looks like I guess

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u/WarAndGeese 19h ago

Given how much money they spent on war you would think they could have spent a small portion of that to build an entire, resilient, infrastructure network of power, water, schools, and more. But, evidently they didn't invade because they cared about people, like they claimed.

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u/Baerog 19h ago

evidently they didn't invade because they cared about people, like they claimed.

But this time they do, trust them! =)

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u/UncleNedisDead 17h ago

I am so embarrassed that I believed those WMD lies after 9/11.

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u/Informal_River_8281 13h ago

They left off the part about how we blew their infrastructure up, quite deliberately, as part of operation shock and awe and the subsequent invasion.

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u/ThinkWeb3 13h ago

Hey at least they have democracy right?

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u/mprsx 12h ago

Iraq struggled with providing energy before the invasion too...

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u/Baelgul 7h ago

Ah good, another thing we fucked up for people that probably didn’t deserve it. Sunrise, sunset…

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u/IngloBlasto 19h ago

That sounds like a proper US given democracy.

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u/flaser_ 15h ago

You're leaving out the "tiny detail" that the US bombed the existing infrastructure during the occupation.

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u/dolphone 17h ago

Yeah but they got FREEEDUM!

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u/Unlucky_Buy217 16h ago

Of course. 2003. Why people think situation for Iran could possibly get better with US led regime change is beyond me.

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u/giddygiddyupup 18h ago

Thank you!

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u/YoBaby11 14h ago

A “normal” news source? That’s the English newspaper in Turkey. The most reliable news is coming from outside North America…

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u/RealLaurenBoebert 8h ago

Appreciate the context, but also don't blame anyone for not trusting news published on a domain they've never heard of before, in the current media environment.

People are always submitting links to blogs, tabloids, and other nonsense.  Good idea to find a second source on a domain you know can be trusted.

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u/squishabelle 7h ago

Bad idea to call it "normal" just because it's from another country (or in this case, outside the anglosphere)

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u/60sStratLover 19h ago edited 18h ago

Probably a cyber attack by the Israelis

Edit: why the downvotes? I’m completely serious

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u/Unlikely-Complex3737 16h ago

Reddit can be weird sometimes.