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ABC claimed an Exclusive from Baghdad as Terry McCarthy (subscription required) sat down for a one-on-one with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki--fresh off "a rare moment of celebration" as he welcomed home the Asia Cup winning national soccer team. Normally al-Maliki's job consists of "carbombs, squabbling politicians and impatient US officials.' McCarthy reminded al-Maliki of his prediction to ABC anchor Charles Gibson eight months ago that Iraqi security forces would be able to take over from US troops by June. Now he says: "Neither we nor the US can provide a timetable." McCarthy got the impression that al-Maliki "seems to feel very little urgency about anything."
And if the United States' bridge-crumbling infrastructure looks weak, consider the lack of progress in the reconstruction of Iraq. CBS' Allen Pizzey showed us the painfully slow efforts to provide potable water. He took us to one Baghdad neighborhood where it took ten months for the USNavy to refurbish a pumping station: "security permitting" it will supply 20% of the neighborhood, leaving the other 80% to "walk miles to bring home a bucket of water." Pizzey showed us a plant that produces ice in the 100F heat. They "claim they use clean water" yet his cameras caught workers taking a cold shower in the water first before they froze it. Providing essential services is a cornerstone of counterinsurgency doctrine, Pizzey pointed out, yet the entire four-year $1.5bn water effort "all adds up to the proverbial drop in the bucket."
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