MORE ON THE ELECTRICAL SITUATION

And it is just as COL Tucker told us it was.

While much of the country has improved access to power, it is at Baghdad's cost. The capital enjoyed 24-hour access to electricity under Saddam Hussein, said Strock, a member of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers who is deputy director of operations for the civilian authority.

"There's never been enough electricity to go around, and Saddam definitely used the provision of utilities as a political tool to reward those he wanted to reward and punish those he wanted to punish," Strock said when telephoned in Baghdad.

Now Baghdad -- with 5.5 million people -- is feeling the pinch as the coalition tries to spread electricity more equitably throughout the country. All the while, violence against U.S. forces has increased with five soldiers killed and four wounded in separate attacks over the last week in the city.

The Coalition Provisional Authority is launching a major information campaign to convince Baghdadis that the loss of power is not punishment but an attempt to spread the pain of an antiquated and oft-sabotaged power system, said Andy Bearpark, the CPA's director of regional services in Baghdad.

The rest is here.