Under the Wire

When you read the papers, you see that one of the average Iraqi's primary concerns is electricity, or in most cases the lack thereof. Providing enough electricity to all the urban centers in Iraq will go a long way to enhancing the government's credibility and legitimacy--which is why power stations and lines are so frequently targeted by insurgents and terrorists. The primary obstacle to providing adequate electricity is the almost geometric rate at which demand is outpacing supply. Every city and ville we've been through is festooned with satellite dishes, implying color TVs (if not full-fledged entertainment centers) inside.
Few people had televisions during Saddam's reign. And those that did had an eclectic mix of totalitarian propaganda and Big Brother public service announcements to choose from. Now, Iraqi's enjoy whatever media and programming they can pay for. Other electric appliances (often used and in varying states of servicability) are sold in the outdoor markets and indoor show rooms.
No utility company could keep pace with the Iraqi's exploding demand for electricity. So the Iraqis take matters into their own hands and run spikes into whatever power lines and sources that they can. The result is that when we go out on patrol, we're often traveling under an unbelievable net of home-grown power lines. This poses two problems for us.
As seen below, the MRAP stands pretty high. Definitely high enough to rip out some of the lower power lines. Gunner Joe already ripped out a major power line near one of our Iraqi National Police Battalion command posts. The line arced all over the top of the vehicle. Luckily, Gunner Joe was down in the turret with other problems, as the snagged power line had ripped his .50 cal out of the mount and dumped it into his lap. Still, the adjoining transformer was very pretty as it blew up and took out about a half block's worth of the grid. So there is some a safety issue with manuevering through the streets in an MRAP (or, rather, the power lines add an additional safety issue).
Which leads to the second problem: it's hard to win hearts and minds when you take out a guy's MTV, dude.