Iraq and Afghanistan

James Hamilton has a nice post, reviewing some recent research out of the Brookings Institution:

"Despite hopes for progress in 2005, data reported in the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index suggest that electricity availability in Iraq averaged 13 hours per day in 2004, 11 hours per day in 2005, and a little over 10 hours per day in January 2006, compared with an estimated 16-24 hours per day prior to the war. The graph below indicates that electricity production was 6% lower in 2005 than in 2004. In part these problems are the direct result of insurgent attacks on infrastructure and personnel, the latter in particular making it extremely costly to bring in outside technicians to train local operators of generating facilities in necessary maintenance and service procedures."



Unless this situation improves, winning the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqis will be unlikely.

That may be the least of our worries: first we have to get Afghanistan right!