Baghdad Burning [1]
Fuel Shortage...
by River
...I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend,
where hearts can heal and souls can mend...
- Sunday, December 12, 2004
from River's blog, at http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
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Fuel Shortage...
It has been a sad few weeks
The situation seems to be deteriorating daily. To brief you
on a few things: Electricity is lousy. Many areas are on
the damned 2 hours by 4 hours schedule and there are other
areas that are completely in the dark- like A'adhamiya. The
problem is that we're not getting much generator
electricity because fuel has become such a big problem.
People have to wait in line overnight now to fill up the
car. It's a mystery. It really is. There was never such a
gasoline crisis as the one we're facing now. We're an oil
country and yet there isn't enough gasoline to go around...
Oh don't get me wrong - the governmental people have
gasoline (they have special gas stations where there aren't
all these annoying people, rubbing their hands with cold
and cursing the Americans to the skies)... The Americans
have gasoline. The militias get gasoline. It's the people
who don't have it. We can sometimes get black-market
gasoline but the liter costs around 1250 Iraqi Dinars which
is almost $1- compare this to the old price of around 5
cents. It costs almost 50,000 Iraqi Dinars to fill up the
generator so that it works for a few hours and then the
cost isn't so much the problem as just getting decent
gasoline is. So we have to do without electricity most of
the day.
Cooking gas has also become a problem. The guy who sells us
the gas cylinders isn't coming around because apparently he
can't get the used cylinders exchanged for full ones.
People are saying that it costs around 10,000 Iraqi dinars
to buy one on the street and then, as usual, you risk
getting one that might explode in the kitchen or be full of
water. We're trying to do more and more of our 'cooking' on
the kerosene heater. The faucet water is cold, cold, cold.
We can't turn on the water heater because there just isn't
enough electricity. We installed a kerosene water heater
some time last year but that has also been off because
there's a kerosene shortage and we need that for the
heaters.
I took my turn at 'gasoline duty' a couple of weeks ago. E.
and my cousin were going to go wait for gasoline so I
decided I'd join them and keep them company. We left the
house at around 5 a.m. and it was dark and extremely cold.
I thought for sure we'd be the first at the station but I
discovered the line was about a kilometer long with dozens
and dozens of cars lined up around the block. My heart sank
at the discouraging sight but E. and the cousin looked
optimistic, "We just might be able to fill up before
evening this time!" E. smiled.
I spent the first hour jabbering away and trying to
determine whether or not gasoline was actually being sold
at the station. E. and the cousin were silent- they had set
up a routine. One of them would doze while the other
watched in case a miracle occurred and the line actually
started moving. The second hour I spent trying to sleep
with my kneck at an uncomfortable angle on the back head
rest. The third hour I enthusiastically tried to get up a
game of "memorize the license plate". The fourth hour I
fiddled with the radio and tried to sing along to every
song being played on air. (It should be mentioned that at
this point E. and the cousin threatened to throw Riverbend
out of the car).
All in all, it took E. and the cousin 13 hours to fill the
car. I say E. and the cousin because I demanded to be taken
home in a taxi after the first six hours and E. agreed to
escort me with the condition that I would make sandwiches
for him to take back to the cousin. In the end, half of the
tank of gasoline was kept inside of the car (for
emergencies) and the other half was sucked out for the
neighborhood generator.
People are wondering how America and gang (i.e. Iyad
Allawi, etc.) are going to implement democracy in all of
this chaos when they can't seem to get the gasoline flowing
in a country that virtually swims in oil. There's a rumor
that this gasoline crisis has been concocted on purpose in
order to keep a minimum of cars on the streets. Others
claim that this whole situation is a form of collective
punishment because things are really out of control in so
many areas in Baghdad- especially the suburbs. The third
theory is that this being done purposely so that the Iraq
government can amazingly bring the electricity, gasoline,
kerosene and cooking gas back in January before the
elections and make themselves look like heroes.
We're also watching the election lists closely. Most people
I've talked to aren't going to go to elections. It's simply
too dangerous and there's a sense that nothing is going to
be achieved anyway. The lists are more or less composed of
people affiliated with the very same political parties
whose leaders rode in on American tanks. Then you have a
handful of tribal sheikhs. Yes- tribal sheikhs. Our country
is going to be led by members of religious parties and
tribal sheikhs- can anyone say Afghanistan? What's even
more irritating is that election lists have to be checked
and confirmed by none other than Sistani!! Sistani- the
Iranian religious cleric. So basically, this war helped us
make a transition from a secular country being run by a
dictator to a chaotic country being run by a group of
religious clerics. Now, can anyone say 'theocracy in sheeps
clothing'?
Ahmad Chalabi is at the head of one of those lists- who
would join a list with Ahmad Chalabi at its head?
The borders are in an interesting state. Now this is
something even Saddam didn't do: Iraqi men under the age of
50 aren't being let into the country. A friend of ours who
was coming to visit was turned back at the Iraqi border. It
was useless for him to try to explain that he had been
outside of the country for 10 years and was coming back to
visit his family. He was 47 and that meant he, in his
expensive business suit, shining leather shoes, and
impressive Samsonite baggage, might be a 'Jihadist'. Silly
Iraqis- Iraqi men under 50 are a sure threat to the
security of their country. American men with guns and tanks
are, on the other hand, necessary to the welfare of the
country. Lebanese, Kuwaitis and men of other nationalities
being hired as mercenaries are vital to the security of
said country. Iranian men coming to visit the shrines in
the south are all welcome... but Iraqi men? Maybe they
should head for Afghanistan.
The assault on Falloojeh and other areas is continuing.
There are rumors of awful weapons being used in Falloojeh.
The city has literally been burnt and bombed to the ground.
Many of the people displaced from the city are asking to be
let back in, in spite of everything. I can't even begin to
imagine how difficult it must be for the refugees. It's
like we've turned into another Palestine- occupation,
bombings, refugees, death. Sometimes I'll be watching the
news and the volume will be really low. The scene will be
of a man, woman or child, wailing in front of the camera;
crying at the fate of a body lying bloodily, stiffly on the
ground- a demolished building in the background and it will
take me a few moments to decide the location of this
tragedy - Falloojeh? Gaza? Baghdad?
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– River
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Girl Blog from Iraq... let's talk war, politics and occupation
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