http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/12/on-the-hunt-in.php

Enjoy. Discuss if you want.

12/15/2008 4:39:30 PM

Awesome.


This is a different subject.

This is the largest contract GE has ever had.

Quote :

"PRESS RELEASE Government of Iraq Signs Power Generation Agreement with GE Energy Valued at Approximately $3 Billion Iraq Power Initiative Nearly Doubles Electricity Generation Capacity Baghdad, Iraq—December 16, 2008—The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity and GE Energy announced today at a ceremony in Baghdad that they have signed an agreement for power generation equipment and services valued at nearly $3 billion to provide much-needed electricity to support Iraq’s future economic development. The announcement is a significant milestone as the country seeks to rapidly develop its energy infrastructure and increase its electricity production. Under the agreement, GE Energy is providing heavy-duty frame 9E multi-fuel gas turbines capable of supplying 7,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The Government of Iraq plans to install the units at key sites around the country to provide needed support for the electricity grid. GE’s 9E gas turbine technology has proven reliability and performance in more than 400 applications worldwide. “We are honored that the Government of Iraq has chosen GE to support its efforts to expand the country’s energy infrastructure,” said John Krenicki, GE vice chairman and president and CEO of GE Energy. “Electricity is the backbone for quality of life and economic growth. We can bring the strength and dependability of GE’s advanced power generating technology and services to Iraq’s mission to address long-term electricity demand.” As the world’s leading supplier of gas turbines, GE Energy is well positioned to help Iraq meet its future needs for reliable and stable power generation. More than 6,000 GE gas turbines are installed worldwide and have accumulated more than 200 million hours of operating experience at unparalleled reliability levels. Currently, Iraq’s daily power generation output averages less than 6,000 MW, while the demand is typically more than 10,000 MW. The GE turbines can provide a platform for power stability thus helping address electricity shortages and position Iraq for future economic growth. The agreement follows the Government of Iraq’s previous order with GE in May 2008 for eight gas turbines capable of generating 600 MW to meet short-term power requirements in Iraq. As part of the agreement, GE Energy will also provide technical advisory services, performance testing and spare parts to support the reliable operation of the turbines. In addition, GE will provide technical and management training in order to help Iraq strengthen its power sector workforce for the future. GE has a long history with Iraq and its infrastructure, one that dates back to the 1970s. There are 120 GE power turbines installed in Iraq today. Since 2003, GE has been supporting Iraq infrastructure needs in power generation, oil and gas, water processing, aviation and healthcare. “We are proud of our heritage in Iraq and hope to build on this foundation by continuing this successful partnership well into the future,” concluded Krenicki. GE has been active in the Middle East since the 1930s and today has regional management and project management offices as well as local repair and services facilities locally to serve its customers in the region. "

12/16/2008 6:14:02 PM

You gotta love America -
We'll fuck your country up over some trumped up bullshit, then force YOU to pay our companies to rebuild it.

Awesome!

12/16/2008 6:47:56 PM

^The billions of dollars we've spent helping rebuild their infrastructure are not even worth mentioning, right?


[Edited on December 16, 2008 at 7:13 PM. Reason : 2]

12/16/2008 7:12:49 PM

And we didnt target infrastructure.

AQI did.

duh.

12/16/2008 7:13:40 PM

bullshit.

first thing we did was knock out their power grid. on top of massive collateral damage to their water. not to mention invaluable cultural resources.

and that was when we weren't picking off journalists in their hotels.

we fucked their country up, we weakened our ability to respond to REAL threats, and we put our own country in a fragile economic position.

the best we can do for Iraq, is to return it to *ROUGHLY* the same as when we found it. and that's AFTER 100,000 dead Iraqis (disproportionately women and children), heading towards 5,000 dead US soldiers, >25,000 maimed and disabled US Soldiers, and ~$1 Trillion down the shitter.

12/16/2008 8:33:29 PM

Quote :

"irst thing we did was knock out their power grid. on top of massive collateral damage to their water. not to mention invaluable cultural resources. and that was when we weren't picking off journalists in their hotels."

See, you have a point until you go off the deep end. Yeah, we targeted power stations and relays, which did have a subsequent effect on the water system. But then you go crazy. We attacked cultural resources? What? We picked off journalists in hotels? Fo' real?

12/16/2008 11:01:16 PM

so i take it you started paying attention to the Iraq War around 2005, 2006.

12/16/2008 11:10:57 PM

^You do realize we have poured (depending on how you run the numbers) tens to nearly a hundred billion dollars into reconstruction, right? That's more than the entire yearly GDP of the country.

As a country, they are running a HUGE surplus, and literally have SHIT TONS of available cash to spend on new infrastructure. This isn't US companies taking advantage, this isn't shitting on the Iraqi people or government. This is one of the first really true and clear signs of a new nation rejoining international commerce.

This is, without a doubt, the best expenditure the Iraqi government could be making right now. Getting reliable power to a country is absolutely critical to every single facet of a stable civilization. From healthy food to hospitals, services, public services, police and fire protection, it all relies on stable power.

12/17/2008 4:18:40 AM

Yep. The cities, especially Baghdad, have huge problems with power losses. Flying around Bdad at night, you watch block after block after block go dark, come back on, go dark, etc. The place is lit up brightly, but it flashes on and off like a bunch of Christmas lights.

12/17/2008 6:15:57 AM

Quote :

"Flying around Bdad at night, you watch block after block after block go dark, come back on, go dark, etc. The place is lit up brightly, but it flashes on and off like a bunch of Christmas lights."

'Tis the season.

12/17/2008 8:27:38 AM

the pictures in that article completely sucked

yes, i realize he is in a warzone

but its the same as people having video cameras...if you are gonna shoot footage and then try to show it off, why not make it worth a fuck?

12/17/2008 8:43:40 AM

Quote :

"^You do realize we have poured (depending on how you run the numbers) tens to nearly a hundred billion dollars into reconstruction, right? That's more than the entire yearly GDP of the country."

Shocker, you're talking out of your ass again and are way off.

12/17/2008 8:45:13 AM

Quote :

"the pictures in that article completely sucked yes, i realize he is in a warzone "

It's not so much that he's in a war zone (his other pictures are usually quite good) it was the fact that it was so dark that in order to get any photos he needed to keep the shutter open a long time (hence the blur). It's not like you can really use a flash when you're sneaking around trying not to get your ass shot.

12/17/2008 9:25:06 AM

^^ How about you post something to refute it rather than just more bullshit?

12/17/2008 11:34:01 AM

The information is readily available, I found it before I posted that last comment. I just don't have the care to enlighten someone that thinks they know it all anyway. He posted first, he could do us all a favor and post a link or two to back his initial claim rather than me do the work for him.

12/17/2008 12:37:36 PM

the "tens or hundreds of billions" of dollars spent on alleged reconstruction have been shown in PENTAGON REPORTS to have been fradulently wasted.

yeah.

good example there, beau.

12/17/2008 3:45:46 PM

Quote :

"Yep. The cities, especially Baghdad, have huge problems with power losses. Flying around Bdad at night, you watch block after block after block go dark, come back on, go dark, etc. The place is lit up brightly, but it flashes on and off like a bunch of Christmas lights."

IIRC, the grid that existed prior to the war was pretty shitty to begin with. While Baghdad had consistent power, they got it at the expense of other cities who had to suffer through blackouts because the government put priority on the capitol.

[Edited on December 17, 2008 at 3:56 PM. Reason : durr]

12/17/2008 3:55:50 PM

could the dude not stabilize the camera? I mean, getting shot at or not, why post photos so blurry you can't see them? Either post good photos or none.

12/17/2008 3:55:57 PM

^ Somehow I think it would be rather difficult to carry around and set up a tripod in the middle of a raid.

12/17/2008 5:42:12 PM

and if it's dark, you're somewhat limited on shutter speed.

regardless, why the hell are we worried about the blurriness of the pictures? is that really all that anyone takes away from the article?

12/17/2008 5:49:23 PM

eye candy is easier than reading

12/17/2008 5:59:12 PM

Quote :

"Shocker, you're talking out of your ass again and are way off."

The GDP of Iraq, pre-war, was ~80billion dollars US.

The Pentagon says we've spent over a hundred billion on reconstruction.

I gave a range (and a large one) intentionally. Of the currently reported 85 billion, ~20 of that was spent on security.

That leaves 65 billion.

USAID has spent over 6 billion on TRACEABLE, useful rebuilding efforts. Which, by every account I've seen, was in the range that most independent agencies said it would cost to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure (3-20 billion is about the total range I've seen). This is real work that has had a huge positive impact.

Somewhere between 5-15 billion has been spent on training and equipping the Iraqi police and military to become self-sufficient and able to maintain law and order. Yes, shit tons of money has been wasted here.

That leaves 40 billion of funds that went to SOMETHING. Granted a lot of it was probably wasted and pilfered, but even with that assumption, that's still a LOT of money that was put in the pockets or buildings or bridges of Iraq.

12/17/2008 6:43:37 PM

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4BF59920081216

The problem isn't that we wasted the money on US corporate contractors who wasted it. The problem is that corruption in Iraq, and in the middle east in general, is fucking rampant. There is MASSIVE corruption in every aspect of every industry, political and economic system in the country.

And the USA didn't introduce this problem. We made it worse by throwing more money into the region, but greed, fraud and white collar crime has been an enormous problem across the middle east for a long, long time.

The best thing we can do as a country is to ween our government out of the investment/rebuilding picture and let the country handle its own finances. It has a LOT of income generation, and plenty of resources to survive in the international markets.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45114

Also, the fact that our government was almost utterly incapable of handling the 100billion we already spent, tells me that we SHOULDNT SPEND ANY MORE. Because, Obama or Bush, we will fuck it up, throw it all away and the Iraqi people will still get the shit end of the stick.

[Edited on December 17, 2008 at 6:54 PM. Reason : .]

12/17/2008 6:49:45 PM

Some more interesting reading material.

http://smallwarsjournal.com/documents/connable.pdf

http://www.comenserv.org/HANDBOOK%20ON%20ISLAM.html


Both of these, in my opinion, will help in understanding the people and problems of Iraq. You will never make any sense of it whatsoever as long as you view it through American eyes. It doesn't always make sense otherwise, but it's a start.

...and don't get me wrong--I am still the #1 fan of killing every motherfucker in this country who doesn't want to play ball and be at least relatively civilized (shooting the place up, planting bombs in the road, etc, does not qualify as relatively civilized). The difference is that, unlike maybe 5 years ago or so, I recognize that it IS important to understand them and why they do such seemingly ridiculous things. Ruthlessly killing the bad apples is an important part of the game, but it will never, EVER solve the problem by itself. It's just a tool in a MUCH broader scope of things we need to do.

[Edited on December 17, 2008 at 7:27 PM. Reason : asdfasd]

[Edited on December 17, 2008 at 7:28 PM. Reason : ^ even the aspect of corruption is covered in my articles (1st one, specifically)]

12/17/2008 7:18:38 PM

maybe we should draw and quarter all the bad guys and hang their limbless corpses in the market squares.

12/17/2008 7:39:22 PM

Pretty sweet idea

but I don't think it would advance our cause.

12/17/2008 8:18:18 PM

I will admit. This surprised even me.....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/21/iraq.christmas/index.html

Quote :

" In the middle of the park there's an art exhibit, the creation of 11- and 12-year-olds: six displays, each about three feet wide, constructed of cardboard and Styrofoam, filled with tiny dolls dressed like ordinary people, along with model soldiers and police. They look like model movie sets depicting everyday life in Baghdad. Afnan, 12 years old, shows me her model called "Arresting the Terrorists." "These are the terrorists," she tells me. "They were trying to blow up the school." In the middle of the street a dead "terrorist" sprawls on the asphalt, his bloody arm torn from his body by an explosion. Afnan tells me she used red nail polish to paint the blood. A little plastic dog stands nearby. "What is he doing?" I ask. "He looks for terrorists and searches for weapons and explosives," Afnan says. Her mother, the children's art teacher, Raja, shows me another child's display called "Baghdad Today." "This is a wedding," Raja explains. "Despite the terrorism, our celebrations still go ahead. This is a park, families enjoying time. And this is a market where people go shopping without fear of bombings. This is a mosque where people can pray with no fear.""

[Edited on December 21, 2008 at 7:00 PM. Reason : link]

12/21/2008 6:59:56 PM