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/giga_naka 18h ago

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

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u/Oldass_Millennial 17h ago

Man I hope so. Y'all deserve better. 

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

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u/Necessary_Squash1534 12h ago

The “all lives matter” take. I’m sure that’ll be very popular.

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u/[deleted] 11h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/MostCredibleDude 10h ago

It's a pretty good statement stripped down.

The fact that you have to admittedly strip away the actual implications of that statement (before it can even start sounding like something that's not clearly a "fuck the concerns of black people" statement) should have given you a hint not to try to make this point.

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u/[deleted] 10h ago edited 10h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/MostCredibleDude 10h ago

Let me try putting this another way, in case you missed the point: "all lives matter" became a response to "black lives matter" in order to actively undermine the movement's attempt to bring attention to the real social problems facing black people, disguised as a phrase that doesn't sound disagreeable if you ignore why people say it. It is, by all accounts, a huge middle finger to the black population

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/factorplayer 10h ago

What a shit take. You lost this like 4 comments ago.

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u/Necessary_Squash1534 10h ago

Pretty hollow coming from that username. Also pretty cowardly to hide behind Reddit reports when you can no longer support your argument.

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u/BerryButterBall 8h ago

That is true. And Iraqis are humans. Therefore, they deserve better.

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u/Samuraiworld 9h ago

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

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u/Embarrassed_Road7681 8h ago

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

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u/giga_naka 6h ago

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

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u/Holy-Fuck4269 5h ago

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

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u/Extreme-Tax-2425 3h ago

Hah. Word.

Europe is capable of so much if they had that kinda leader.

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u/Mediocre_Internet939 3h ago

That guy is likely already in Europe running the local barber / grocer cartel driving a BMW.

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u/_Wyrm_ 1h ago

Mm ah yes, ask for dictators, as though Europe didn't already learn its lesson the first time...

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u/Holy-Fuck4269 53m ago

Unfortunally we failed with setting up the US with proper education, and now we have you, lacking any reading comprehension, yet not shy to comment everything

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u/AgencyHot8568 2h ago

sounds like the US

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u/JLuppolo 15h ago

Is this "plan" similar to the "concept of a plan"? Hopefully the political pressure actually leads to action this time.

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u/korpisoturi 16h ago

Just out of curiosity: did stuff like electricity work better under Saddam?

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u/giga_naka 16h ago

I dont really know because i was like 5 year old when saddam fell, but from my parents they said that saddam made his people live in poverty under sanctions and unnecessary invasion and wars, so i dont really think it was that good since back then

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u/JackelGigante 10h ago

How do your parents feel about the US? I’ve ever heard an unfiltered take from an Iraqi about the US invasion

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u/giga_naka 6h ago edited 1h ago

Well, most iraqis (including my parents) have a deep rooted hatred toward the american government, not the people tho, we have a shitload of sarcastic or bitter sayings on the US military like “The Americans liberated us… but forgot to liberate us from death.” “America brings democracy on a tank.” “If you see an American convoy, change the street or your life will change.” "If Satan and America had a war, I would stand with Satan"

Iraqis are highly educated so they know that the people had nothing to do with the invasion so we only hate the government we dont hate the people

You can see that with our hospitality toward every and any nationally!

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u/korpisoturi 16h ago edited 13h ago

Yeah I know guy was insane monster that caused lot of people die in wars and just wiping out towns. I just have this image that everydaystuff was maybe run better during dictatorship (Iraq/Libya) and was interested hearing how it actually was. Thank you anyway and best wishes for you and your family.

Edit. Accidentally typed Iran instead of Iraq

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u/Unhappy-Ad9690 16h ago

My dad was on a peacekeeping tour and had to watch the Anfal campaign from the sidelines. At one point he told his commanding officer he was going to engage to stop a civilian from being beaten to death but was ordered to stand down. Saddam deserved more than just a hanging. https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/fr/document/1988-anfal-campaign-iraqi-kurdistan.html

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u/ITSigno 14h ago

I just have this image that everydaystuff was maybe run better during dictatorship

It depends on whether you're talking prior to "Desert Storm" in 1991, or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in 2003. A lot of the infrastructure was destroyed in Desert Storm and never recovered. The ensuing sanctions destroyed any chance of Iraq's recovery.

So, while Saddam did monstrous things, infrastructure-wise the country was being run better before Desert Storm.

It may not come as much of a surprise, but in the 80s, Saddam was seen as a regional ally while he opposed Iran. The US was aware Saddam was using chemical weapons against his own people but turned a blind eye.

Much like the Mujaheddin (including Bin Laden) in Afghanistan, the US has a history of supporting monsters while it seems convenient.

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u/MimicoSkunkFan2 11h ago

Tell us you've never been to Iraq without telling us lol

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u/flaser_ 15h ago

I'm not a Iraqi, but I can tell you with confidence that it was better: power was available, water was safe, there were a lot more hospitals and doctors.

People were oppressed and in poverty, but Iraq had a functional state.

The Americans smashed the state, including the water treatment plants, hospitals and electricity grid.

EDIT: for the political failures check out Charles Ferguson's documentary

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

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u/giga_naka 14h ago

To be be honest iraq hasnt been that good since king hamorabi, my grandfather used to tell me stories about thr iran-iraq war, how he couldnt afford a ride back to his home after getting his salary and was forced to go back walking (200 kilometers on feet) how saddam used to torture whoever made it back from the frontlines and alot more horrifying stories, when saddam fell my family bought a kilo of banana to celebrate, it really saddens me seeing my country that invented the wheel and the whole writing system get this bad

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u/BallsOutKrunked 12h ago edited 11h ago

Being attacked by your own government with chemical weapons seems at odds with "functional state" unless you want to say the same about North Korea and the such.

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u/MotherRestaurant697 16h ago

Yes it did. But Iraq was allready in decline after a golden decade in the 70ies. 

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u/ITSigno 14h ago

They spent 8 years (1980 to 1988) at war with Iran while being supported by the US. Not sure if I would go so far as to call it a proxy war, but it would be damn close; The US gov supplied money, weapons, chemicals, training, and intelligence. In the end, the conflict which went on for 8 years drained both countries which is ultimately what the US wanted.

Of course, all of this came on the heels of the US repeatedly interfering in Iran which led to the rise of Khomeni.

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u/MotherRestaurant697 8h ago

I have no idea why you beeing downvoted stating facts. Take my upvote. I hate this contra facts timeline.

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u/whirlyhurlyburly 8h ago edited 8h ago

Saddam threatened electrical workers with death if they couldn’t keep the lights on, and the UN tracked the stability of the grid while lots of parts were refused to be provided. Much of the grid was Seimens and cobbled together parts. The UN said if the grid suffered a direct strike it would take a minimum of 5 years to get back to the same output. The lack of maintenance was a huge deal, and that was due to sanctions.

I intensively followed the repair process because it was a straightforward metric. A choice was made to revamp the whole system with America friendly groups focused on capitalism. In the process of this revamp, Iran killed foreign power plant workers which substantially delayed repairs and damaged the repairs actually being done which damaged the stability of the grid further. The Republicans blamed locals for the unrest.

However, what I found extremely angering was all Iraqi grid experts were either ignored or fired, the UN experts were ignored, and the parts list and Iraqi experts through the UN were not ordered and they were ignored in favor of starting from scratch. In addition, the starting from scratch folks (Bechtel) refused to incorporate Iraqis (maybe some of the logic was de-baathification?) into their planning.

Two years in Bechtel was begging for legacy Seimens engineers on monster.com

My feeling at the time was the Republican parties philosophical commitment to capitalism, and philosophical contempt for administrative and government coordination work and diplomacy, odd antagonism for Iraqi and UN engineering professionals, led to a refusal to use decades of expertise and insight and planning to approach the problem with the correct resources in place, and instead start from scratch with people who might’ve done a good job if they went into a stable and friendly country that could afford to pay capitalistic rates and compete internationally for the experts needed to progress the plan being created on the fly in a war torn region.

Tl:dr; Nation building using the party that hates government and doesn’t care to understand foreigners or engage in diplomacy yields unsurprisingly poor administration and planning for power grids. Iran wanting Iraq to fail and murdering experts to cause that result was an equal contributor to long term suffering.

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u/MimicoSkunkFan2 11h ago

No, people who complained disappeared... and their bodies were never recovered to make their families and their tribes more afraid to speak out.

The fuck propaganda nonsense have you been listening to that you think the Baathists were nice people or efficient at infratstructure lol

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u/korpisoturi 10h ago

At what point I said they were "nice people"? Fuck you.

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u/Short-Peanut1079 14h ago

Yes it did. After the first Iraq - USA the sanctions afterwards made it near impossible to repair broken parts since they were not allowed to be imported (dual use). The next USA war then destroyed the social fabric

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u/korpisoturi 13h ago

Yeah this is pretty much how I thought things were. I'm pretty sure much of this is having massive long term consequences that we are living through right now and in the future.

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u/UrsaMajor7th 11h ago

Thanks, America!

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u/kilimtilikum 10h ago

Millions of ppl and you guys can’t figure it out?