Riverbend on water and civil/social collapse
Go read Riverbend's latest post to understand what war and civic instability end up meaning for real people and families.
Her reflections on how ghastly it is for people in heavily urbanized communities to live without piped water ring home very true for me. On several occasions when I was living, working, and trying to manage a household with young children in it during the civil war in Lebanon in the late 1970s, the city water supply would be cut off. Usually, because the electricity supply was cut so the city's water pumps weren't pumping.
Luckily, our big building of some 50 apartments did have a well in it. When the electricity was cut and our seventh-floor apartment's roof-level water-tanks had run dry we'd have to take jerry-cans down to the (minus-2) level of the basement; fill them; then haul them up to our home's level... For every single drop that we used.
Think about it, all you people who live in places with generally uninterrupted water supply.
Want to wash your hands? Cook pasta? Flush the toilet? Wash some plates and cups?
Think about it VERY HARD. Because each one of those drops of water has to be hauled up 9 flights of stairs.
Don't even think about showering or washing clothes. A quick wipe with a washcloth round the underarms and other stinky body parts might be possible; or rinsing out some item of clothing that's absolutely necessary to wear. But all those drops of water should definitely be recycled once or twice more within the apartment before you let them go. (Last stop for all pre-used, "grey" water: flushing out the toilets.)
It seems that in Riverbend's home they don't have access to a well. But people there with the wherewithal can buy bottled water. So roughly similar limits on total usage would apply. (And then, what about the huge number of people without the cash to buy bottled water on the "open market"?)
What I learned in Lebanon was that, for urbanized people living through a civil war, it's "relatively" easy to find go-arounds to deal with a lack of electricity.. You can find gas lanterns, kerosene heaters, camping stoves, burn charcoal, etc. (Oops, maybe no kerosene in Iraq today.)
But water? That's absolutely impossible to do without; and a severe shortage of water affects your quality of life far more than a similarly severe shortage of electricity.
Riverbend's conclusion rings quite true for me:
- We've given up on democracy, security and even electricity. Just bring back the water.
That's right: in addition to making you feel absolutely miserable, a lack of access to water kills people.
And Allawi's hoping to "win" this election?? I don't think so.
Hi
This is USA big problem HOW they like to win Hart and Mind of Iraqis, on the ground the things going worse.
This fails due to US planning from the start till now (for almost now 18 months), yes I quite agree the difficulty of the rebuilding on the ground and the looting ect…, but USA did not listens to the Iraqis from the start neither benefit from there skills and experiences to rebuild these service till all things collapsed now NO water for 5days, No Gas for cooking, No fuel for heating, No Petrol, all we heard billions spent for rebuilding Iraq…! The reality what's the people see on the ground that’s the prove not listen to the news and reports and seminars and meetings…. And nice diagrams and percentages and the sectors where the money spent…..!
One easy question to all of you if you don’t have Petrol for one day, what can happen?
Please put yourselves in same case and comment don’t say these Iraqi 3rd world or what ever… we are all human and you in west respect the humanity, show them where is your respect to the people of Iraq, where were the first civilization born there and the first CODE of Law (HAMURABI Code of LAW) start from Babylon (which had sever damaged by US troops!!!!!)..
Good Bless