BAGHDAD – A plume of dark gray smoke rises in the distance as 22 year-old “Zeeb” makes his way through the front gate of the electricity plant here Friday morning. 

            The smoke is a sign of progress for the college-educated engineer when he learns the attempt to wreak havoc in the nation’s capital was quashed by Iraqi and American security forces, and no Iraqi or U.S. Soldiers were injured.

            “There are very few people like this who don’t want to see this country succeed,” he said.  “These people who blow up cars and attack the Americans, they are few.  Most of Iraq knows that life is much better after Saddam, but security … security is the biggest challenge.” 

            Today “Zeeb” and more than 76,000 Iraqis make the daily trek into the electricity plants, water treatment plants and job sites across the country to rebuild the nation in the wake of three decades of dictatorship.

            Their hope, “Zeeb” said, is the work at the sites across the country will bolster the security and will create more jobs and more opportunities for the people of Iraq .

            “You can ask anyone here what they want and they will tell you electricity and water and a job,” he said.  “Iraqi people are very simple.  They just want the basics.”

            Providing those basics has been the aim of the U.S.-led reconstruction effort since it began nearly 18 months ago.  

            Nearly 650 reconstruction projects are underway across the country, and more than 1,800 projects slated for start before years end.  All of which are aimed at building a better life for Iraqis like “Zeeb.”

            “We know how important clean water, sewage treatment and electricity is to the people of Iraq ,” said Brig. Gen. Thomas Bostick, the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division.  “More and more projects are starting across the country, creating more jobs and more visible progress.”

            More than $7 billion of the $18.4 billion U.S. reconstruction fund has been obligated to perform the gargantuan task of rebuilding nation’s antiquated infrastructure that was plagued by poor maintenance. 

            When initial assessments were made shortly after the war, planners and project managers didn’t fully realize the scope of the damage that remained hidden deep under access panels of the country’s water treatment plants and electricity stations.

            “We had to run many of the units without maintenance for the past 10 years, so many are just barely running,” said “Mayik,” a plant manager at a central Baghdad power plant who worked for the former regime for more than six decades.  “When we would take them down, we didn’t do the major repairs needed.  We did the repair just to put the units back in operation for 10 years.  The maintenance you can say was nothing only when it breaks down we did the necessary repairs even though it was far away from the standards.  

            “We knew the standards, but we also knew the country needs the electricity; there was simply no time,” he said

            After a year and a half in the country, time continues to measure the progress of the multinational reconstruction effort.  

            In-depth assessments and further refining of projects have taken contractors and reconstruction agencies time as security and logistics challenges have at times slowed progress.

            Despite the challenges, “Mayik” said Iraq waits.

            “I guarantee the Iraqi people are patient enough to wait because they were patient for 55 years under the former regimes,” he said.  “We are all proud, and the circumstances encourage us to do more.

            “When I go home my children they cry because there is no electricity, so everyone is motivated,” he said. 

            Although there is more electricity in the country than there has been for more than 10 years, demand and distribution is keeping some neighborhoods dark.

            More than half a million new jobs have been created as new industries and factories have pumped more money to more Iraqis.  Thousands of washing machines, televisions and air conditioners have been sold, rapidly increasing the demand for electricity.

            Current electricity production hovers around 5,000 Megawatts, 600 more than before the war and slightly above the level produced in Wisconsin .

            “Electricity is everything . . . it is our lives,” said “Mayik”.  “Agriculture, water, sewage, refineries … everywhere is electricity, but there is not enough.

            “The people now rely on the electricity.  They have air conditioners and cars; they need it more than ever,” he said.

            Iraqi and U.S. engineers have brought three rehabilitated generators and one new generator online this month, adding 47 Megawatts to the national electrical grid.  Last month, seven generators were brought on line, adding 202 Megawatts to the grid - a total that now fuels 606,000 Iraqi homes and brings the available electricity to a level that far exceeds the 4,400 Megawatts available before the war.

Editor’s Note: Photos are available.  Requests should be directed to Mitch Frazier at (540) 665-5339 or via cell at 0-790-192-5105 (Iraqna). Email requests can also be made to mitchell.frazier@tac01.usace.army.mil.  For more information on the Corps in Iraq , visit www.grd.usace.army.mil.