Army recruitment centers swamped with applications in south (Iraq)

More than 23,000 young Iraqis in the southern province of Dhiqar have responded to a call to set up a new battalion to protect the province.

The provincial authorities have been swamped with applications, Governor Aziz Kadhem told the newspaper.

He said the authorities had asked for maximum 1,000 volunteers but “we have received more than 23,000 applications so far.”

The new force will be based in Nasiriya, the province’s capital and home to more than 550,000 people.

Nasiriya, on the Euphrates River, is relatively quiet but, according to Kadhem, the new force is needed to bring stability across the province.

Kadhem said the applicants will be vetted and admission will mainly rely on merit.

“Other points to consider include geographical representation. We want the force to be drawn from the whole province and not only the provincial center,” he said.

Southern provinces are setting up special battalions consisting solely of volunteers living within provincial borders.

Dhiqar is also reported to have established an efficient civil defense force which is currently engaged in defusing unexploded bombs and ordnances in the province.

The force’s commander, Captain Ahmad Hadi, said his men have so far defused 26,000 such bombs.

“The southern part of our province was a battlefield for the U.S.-led multinational forces.

“We still get reports of people killed and injured due to the presence of these bombs,” he said.

Here's another story from the same source. More stuff you won't see in our media.

U.S. aid agency installs 325 megawatt plant in northern city

Azzaman, May 17, 2005

The United States Agency for International Development is currently constructing a 325 megawatt power plant in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

The plant is the largest to be constructed in the country since 1990 when former leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait prompting the United Nations to impose sweeping trade sanctions on Iraq.

USAID is now the body in charge of most post-war reconstruction taking place in the country.

Despite mounting violence and attacks on foreigners, USAID officials have not withdrawn from Iraq.

A USAID statement faxed to the newspaper said Iraqi engineers and technicians were doing the bulk of work in the new power plant.

Electricity is a major problem in Iraq and the current plants have failed to meet local consumption which is believed to have soared substantially in the past two years.

USAID is heavily involved in the repair and rehabilitation of electricity infrastructure.

The agency is working hard to boost power supply during the summer months in which demand peaks in Iraq.

Maintenance work financed and supervised by the agency continues at eight secondary power generating stations in Baghdad in the hope of providing the capital’s five million people with stable power supplies by the end of June.

“The maintenance work is bound to lead to a higher efficiency as far as electricity distribution is concerned,” said the statement written in Arabic.

USAID is also working on al-Dawra Power Plant in Baghdad, which used to meet a large portion of the capital’s needs in the past.

But the 640 megawatt plant had fallen into disrepair and was in need of massive rehabilitation to bring it on stream again.

The statement said USAID maintenance work should initially revive almost half of the plant’s original capacity once it is completed.

“Cooling systems in the plant are damaged making it difficult to operate the turbines without endangering the whole plant due to excessive heat,” the statement said.

Iraq’s current needs are estimated at 6500 megawatts but the country is reported to be able to generate about half that amount.

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