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So they were working on fixing this but the west imposed sanctions in the 90s and stopped work. "There is no permanent solution except building another dam,” A

by chippy 11y ago

So they were working on fixing this but the west imposed sanctions in the 90s and stopped work. "There is no permanent solution except building another dam,” Ansari said. A second structure, the Badush dam, was started 20km downstream, to prevent a catastrophe in the event of the Mosul dam’s failure. But work on Badush halted in the 1990s because of the pressure of sanctions, leaving it only 40% complete."

acqq 11y ago
Not to mention the war in 2003 and everything afterwards, as presented by Bush (even if he hasn't personally developed the plan), it was "to bring democracy" there. Since the US was effectively for years in charge there, since 2003, theoretically, there was certainly enough time and money to finish the second dam.
- salgernon 11y ago
  http://the-reaction.blogspot.com/2007/10/god-really-doesnt-like-bush-much.html The US was trying to provide "aid" in protecting the dam in 2007 - I have no idea if it was taken on as a legitimate project or just wallpaper to say "see how we're helping". I don't have time for fun conspiracy theories, but I'm sure lines can be traced all around construction of the dam, through the bush family, back to infrastructure, etc.
  - acqq 11y ago
    The estimated cost of finishing the second dam is much bigger than the "aid" from the link (the aid was meager $27m, split to 21 contractor), but still orders of magnitude lower that the money spent by the US only on the military in Iraq. Therefore not surprising, from the 2007 article behind your link: "In a report published on Tuesday, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said US-funded "short-term solutions" had yet to significantly solve the dam's problems." To compare: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSB... "Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion" If I calculate correctly, enough for 74,000 such "aid" fixes.
tome 11y ago
Interesting that you can find a way to blame this on the West when Saddam could just have complied with the UN (who imposed the sanctions, not the "West"), had the sactions removed, and given his people a better life.
- acqq 11y ago
  Actually, the US wanted Saddam away just the same like they wanted Assad away. There was nothing Saddam could do except for allowing the US to take over the whole country and prosecute (and kill) him. That's why the info about WMD was faked, both by the US and the UK. The UK was extreme, doing copy paste of the works of students from the internet. It's an interesting read. The UK articles from 2003(!): http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jun/08/media.openup http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jun/08/media.openup http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-159314/No-10-admits-mistake-Iraq-dossier.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-159314/No-10-admits-... "The Government was accused of attempting to mislead Parliament and the general public after it emerged a dossier of evidence against Saddam Hussein was largely lifted from a Californian postgraduate student's outdated thesis."
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

by chippy 11y ago

acqq 11y ago

Not to mention the war in 2003 and everything afterwards, as presented by Bush (even if he hasn't personally developed the plan), it was "to bring democracy" there. Since the US was effectively for years in charge there, since 2003, theoretically, there was certainly enough time and money to finish the second dam.

salgernon 11y ago
http://the-reaction.blogspot.com/2007/10/god-really-doesnt-like-bush-much.html The US was trying to provide "aid" in protecting the dam in 2007 - I have no idea if it was taken on as a legitimate project or just wallpaper to say "see how we're helping". I don't have time for fun conspiracy theories, but I'm sure lines can be traced all around construction of the dam, through the bush family, back to infrastructure, etc.
- acqq 11y ago
  The estimated cost of finishing the second dam is much bigger than the "aid" from the link (the aid was meager $27m, split to 21 contractor), but still orders of magnitude lower that the money spent by the US only on the military in Iraq. Therefore not surprising, from the 2007 article behind your link: "In a report published on Tuesday, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said US-funded "short-term solutions" had yet to significantly solve the dam's problems." To compare: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSB... "Iraq war costs U.S. more than $2 trillion" If I calculate correctly, enough for 74,000 such "aid" fixes.

tome 11y ago

Interesting that you can find a way to blame this on the West when Saddam could just have complied with the UN (who imposed the sanctions, not the "West"), had the sactions removed, and given his people a better life.

acqq 11y ago
Actually, the US wanted Saddam away just the same like they wanted Assad away. There was nothing Saddam could do except for allowing the US to take over the whole country and prosecute (and kill) him. That's why the info about WMD was faked, both by the US and the UK. The UK was extreme, doing copy paste of the works of students from the internet. It's an interesting read. The UK articles from 2003(!): http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jun/08/media.openup http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jun/08/media.openup http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-159314/No-10-admits-mistake-Iraq-dossier.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-159314/No-10-admits-... "The Government was accused of attempting to mislead Parliament and the general public after it emerged a dossier of evidence against Saddam Hussein was largely lifted from a Californian postgraduate student's outdated thesis."
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]