The shortcoming in electricity appears to be typical of a slow pace for reconstruction projects. The managers of the reconstruction told the New York Times that fewer than 140 of 2,300 promised projects are under way on the ground.
Many Iraqis, unable to believe that the people who ousted their longtime dictator in three weeks can't fix the power grid in 14 months, are convinced that the United States is punishing them by withholding electricity.
"It damages our psychology and puts a strain on the family," said Majid Sadoon, a middle-class businessman whose tidy Baghdad apartment contains an air conditioner, a satellite television receiver and a computer with Internet connection, all useless during blackouts.
When the power fails at night - temperatures don't dip below 90 degrees - the apartment becomes an oven, and sleep is impossible. Throughout Iraq, the power typically is on for a total of 12 hours in a 24-hour period.
The power grid has been putting out an average of 4,400 megawatts in the last month, officials said, only slightly exceeding the prewar level despite the expenditure of more than $2 billion to restore and improve the system. Since power is distributed equitably across the country these days, that's particularly bad news for six million Baghdad residents, most of whom had nearly 24-hour electricity before the war because Saddam Hussein wanted it that way.
U.S. officials say it's unfair to give weight to the complaints of once-privileged Baghdadis, and they have a point. But, according to the GAO report on Iraq reconstruction, electricity in many of Iraq's provinces still failed to exceed prewar levels as of late May.
