Power comes out of more places than the barrel of a gun, writes Michael Jansen in Baghdad.
The advent of 2004 has brought fresh misery to the people of Baghdad. An acute fuel shortage and erratic electricity are depriving them of light and heat. Many spent the Christmas and new year holidays at home in bed.
Iraqis look to the sky to gauge the electricity situation. At the South Baghdad power plant, three chimneys out of five are spewing thick black smoke, but none of the three operational units is performing to capacity because spare parts have not been supplied for US General Electric equipment installed in 1985.
Only two of the four giant steam turbines are working at the capital's largest power plant at Dora. Mr Jehan Behnam, Dora's manager, told The Irish Times that the present output was about 250 megawatts. The plant's total capacity is 740 megawatts.
The US failure to restore Dora, in particular, is regarded by Iraqis as proof that it lacks commitment to their welfare.
Following the 1991 war, Dora, which had been repeatedly bombed, became a symbol of the government's reconstruction drive.
Although damage amounted to only 15-20 per cent, no electricity could be produced until Dora was repaired. I was in Baghdad when the fourth and final tall smoke stack, an Iraqi flag painted round it like a ribbon, began to belch steam and soot. Baghdad celebrated with street parties, lights blazing all through the night.
To achieve a quick restoration of power, the government closed down its weapons programmes and dispatched scientists and engineers working there to oil refineries and electricity plants.
Dr Salah Abdel Noor, a former member of the secret nuclear arms programme, said: "Dora was a shambles. The turbines had been pierced by rockets. We welded the steel shells of the turbines and rebuilt the control consoles.
"By the time we finished everything was brand new, rebuilt at a minimal cost. By May-June, power was restored. If we had not made this effort, we could have had civil war."
Dr Abdel Noor smiled. "I was given a medal." Mr Behnam said 95 per cent of its capacity was restored, but the level of output could not be sustained because of the embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990 and maintained after the war.
"After the oil-for-food programme began in 1996, we received a small budget for maintenance. The \ 661 Committee [dominated by the US and UK\] gave us some spare parts after a year but put others on hold. The output of the units decreased gradually due to the severe shortage of spare parts.
"Experienced people left the plant because salaries were low.
"In 1998-99 we made a contract with Siemens for the rehabilitation of units five and six but the budget was not enough to finish the work. The contract was still valid in January 2003."
During last year's war, "four or five small bombs fell in the plant, hitting a big transformer, circuit breakers and gas units. All the damage was fixed. It was only about 1 per cent. The CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority\] helped fix the damaged transformers and gave us new ones."
But Bechtel, the US company given the contract to restore electricity, refused to permit Siemens to finish refurbishing its two turbines; the two Italian units now operating were renewed by Iraqi engineers.
After several months of acrimony, Bechtel capitulated. The Siemens engineers are back in the plant and expect to get the turbines working by summer, boosting output to 500 mw.
Mr Behnam said Iraq required 7,000-8,000 mw of electricity. Last summer the output was 4,500 mw. "We are planning to reach 6,000 mw by next summer. We are doing our best, but without security, \ companies refuse to come to install new towers and lines.
"Only 1 per cent of the lines were bombed, 60 per cent were looted or sabotaged. We now have an electricity task force which is trying to fix the network."
Without electricity, Iraq cannot extract crude from its wells or pump it to export terminals and refineries which supply cooking gas, engine oil and fuel for cars, heating and manufacturing. Political power comes out of a chimney at an electricity plant as well as the barrel of a gun.