The Other Failure in Iraq: the Economy
by Eric Le Boucher, Le Monde

Of the 136 planned water projects, only 49, or 36%, have been completed. "Most of the purification, irrigation and damming projects have had to be abandoned." A total of 2,200 megawatts of supplementary electric capacity have been built, while 3,400 megawatts were necessary.

Consequences: Infrastructure has deteriorated compared to the Saddam Hussein era and critical services offered to the population are inferior to what they were. Less electricity is produced and current is only available 3.7 hours a day in Baghdad, compared to 16-24 hours before the war. It's a little better in the rest of the country: 10 hours compared to 4 to 8 hours. Only a third of the population has access to potable water (8.25 million) versus half under Saddam (12.9 million). Five million people have sewer access compared to 6.2 million before.


Full story here.