In the Dark Over Power Outage (washingtonpost.com)In Baghdad
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 17, 2003; Page A01
BAGHDAD, April 16 -- At 8 p.m. on April 3, as U.S. tanks rumbled into Baghdad's international airport to prepare for a final attack, the power went out across this sprawling city. Perhaps the Americans had bombed a power plant, people here figured, or President Saddam Hussein had ordered everything shut down. Either way, they assumed, once the government fell and U.S. forces asserted control here, the lights and the air conditioning would be on again.
That never happened. Although it has been a week since U.S. troops swept into Baghdad, the power still is out -- and nobody can figure out why.
The Americans are convinced it was because of Iraqi sabotage. The Iraqis are certain it was because of U.S. bombs. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has mounted a major humanitarian effort here, is not sure which side to believe.
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 17, 2003; Page A01
BAGHDAD, April 16 -- At 8 p.m. on April 3, as U.S. tanks rumbled into Baghdad's international airport to prepare for a final attack, the power went out across this sprawling city. Perhaps the Americans had bombed a power plant, people here figured, or President Saddam Hussein had ordered everything shut down. Either way, they assumed, once the government fell and U.S. forces asserted control here, the lights and the air conditioning would be on again.
That never happened. Although it has been a week since U.S. troops swept into Baghdad, the power still is out -- and nobody can figure out why.
The Americans are convinced it was because of Iraqi sabotage. The Iraqis are certain it was because of U.S. bombs. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has mounted a major humanitarian effort here, is not sure which side to believe.
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