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The article says the Iraqi government has hired an Italian contractor to reinforce and maintain the dam. This presumably makes the massive-disaster scenario de
by zazen 11y ago
The article says the Iraqi government has hired an Italian contractor to reinforce and maintain the dam. This presumably makes the massive-disaster scenario described in the Guardian's rather clickbaity headline somewhat less likely.
Edit: fair enough, it might not be as simple as just hiring some engineers to fix it; I hadn't considered the location. But still: when the news event that happened yesterday is that some engineers were hired to fix the dam, I think it's a bit disingenuous to therefore run a story with a headline saying "dam on brink of collapse, may kill one million."
- moonshinefe 11y agoNot necessarily. Mosul is ISIS's stronghold and what happens if they don't take too kindly to the 450 Italian troops + workers over there working on the dam that's next to their main city? It seems quite against their self-interests to stop the work, but you never know with this level of crazy.
- bgilroy26 11y agoThey ought to be able to finance the project by borrowing against the proceeds of the movie they make about the whole ordeal
- Vespasian 11y agoFighting with heavy weaponry (such as artillery) around the dam is probably not in their interest either (potentially flooding their 'capital'). Shells tend to have a negative effect on structural stability. On the the other hand obviously while they were holding the dam it was apparently free for all machinery looting season, which is not to clever if you plan to establish your headquarter downstream.
- afarrell 11y agoThe problem is that the Italian contractor refuses to work unless the Italian army is allowed to send a unit to defend them. Last I'd heard, the Iraqi government is withholding their approval for this.
- spacecowboy_lon 11y agoAnd the problem of getting workforce and the required plant to the location in the middle of a low level civil war.
- mercurial 11y agoConsidering the propension of the Iraqi military to run away when faced with ill-equipped, outnumbered opponents, I can't blame the contractor.
- arethuza 11y agoSome Soviet engineers ended up having a particularly nasty end when they were captured while working on the infamous Kajaki dam in Afghanistan.