On Tuesday there were some minor discussions on ISIS's plans to overtake a dam in Iraq. Here is some more information on that dam and the current updates on this development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haditha_Dam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul_Dam
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-push-for-iraqs-dams-draws-american-airstrikes/
After you have read these post 3 important take-aways from the article. These will be our discussion points.
The dam is a huge source of water and electrical power.
ReplyDeleteIf they destroyed the dam, water would go all the way to Baghdad.
Why does America have to always be so involved and babysit other countries?
It was interesting and also mid blowing that the dam is over 5 1/2 miles long! Also the second fact that caught my eye was the cost of constructing this amazing site, $830,000,000. It took 10 years to build it.
ReplyDeleteI learned that the Haditha Dam project, located in Haditha, Iraq, costed the Ministry of Water Resources the equivalent of $830 million in the United States. The building of the Haditha Dam destroyed several archaeological dig sites discovered between 1982 and 1983. Lastly, I learned that dam serves water to many people for irrigation in their arid environment.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I took away from this article is that it created the Haditha reservoir which caused valuable articles to be lost in a flood, some of which was recovered. Another point that I found interesting was that United States soldiers overtook the dam in order to keep Iraqis from destroying it which would have caused a lot of flooding throughout the river, if the dam were destroyed it could be a danger to our US soldiers that are stationed in the area, my final point that I found interesting is members of the ISIS group were using the Euphrates river and making it flood in certain areas as an attack mechanism.
ReplyDelete3 important take-aways:
ReplyDelete- I did not know that ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (in fact I had never heard about it before this class)
- why does ISIS want to gain control of this dam so bad? (I get that the dam is a major source of water and electrical power, but why would just a group such as ISIS want to control it- rather than have it produce for the country)
- wikipedia says that United States Army Rangers have seized the dam on April 1st in order to prevent it from being destroyed- if ISIS gains control is their plan to destroy the dam?
- $830 million is quite the price for a dam
Haditha Dam is an earth filled damn north of Iraq.
ReplyDeleteThe dam Is 5.6 miles long and 187ft high.
On June 3, 2004, Haditha Dam's powder station operated at full capacity for the first time since 1990.
It seems to me that ISIS is trying to take over all or at least almost all of the dams in Iraq. This would give them an awful amount of control over the Iraqian people. Especially if water is such a precious commodity. they could take a hold of it just to have a old of the people.
ReplyDeleteIf they have open up one dam already there's no saying that it wont happen again. They could open the Haditha Dam and flood the airport and the city to make an example. They could also do it just to try and get the U.S. out of their country.
I don't know why they want to flood another one of their cities like they did with the Falluja Dam. But I suspect is some kind of power hungry strike that they are trying to accomplish and take a hold of the citizens like so many in the past.
I have never heard of the Hadith Dam (5.6mi long and 187 ft. high) but the article says it is the second largest hydroelectric contributor to power systems in Iraq. The dam is a major source of electricity and water power.
ReplyDeleteIn the article, it says it’s under the control of the Iraqi security forces, so what does that have to do with the US? Why are we involved?
Also was the ISIS trying to take over the dam or try and flood it? Why would they want to flood it if it is such a powerful electricity source?
The three important take-aways in this article is:
ReplyDelete1. ISIS could flood Baghdad and other large swaths of the country if they control the dams.
2. It would give the ISIS control over electricity, which they could use to strengthen their control over residents in Iraq.
3. The decline of water levels in the Euphrates over recent years has led to electricity shortages in towns south of Baghdad, where steam-powered generators depend entirely on water levels in which ISIS could possibly control which could lead to electricity outages permanently.
Something I found interesting is that not only will the dam hurt the town it is currently in, but it would affect all of Iraq. The dam would flood the entire the city and kill many lives. I couldn't imagine going to sleep at night, knowing that possibility could happen at any given time.
ReplyDeleteI also found that more than 50,000 tonnes of material have been put into the Mosul dam since leaks began forming shortly after the reservoir was filled in 1986, and 24 machines currently continuously pump grout into the dam base.
My last point is I had no idea just how large the Haditha dam was. Hearing that it is 29,738 ft long and 187 ft high is astonishing to me. The amount of damage this dam could do is breathtaking.
With the ISIS wanting to over take the Haditha Dam in western Iraq, this had led the United States military to launch an airstrike around the dam. ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq an Syria insurgents (also known as ISIL). They are trying to capture the dam and destroy it. If the dam would to be destroyed it would cause a flooded further down stream and also destroy the electoral power that it provides to the country. The dam is under control by both Iraqi Security Forces and with support from Sunni tribes. It consists of six power generators located alongside Iraq's second-largest reservoirs. ISIS could possibly flood Baghdad and other large swaths of the country if the get control of the dam.
ReplyDeleteThe Haditha reservoir is extremely important in powering the electrical grids and power to large cities in Iraq, this was an extremely expensive project costing around $830 dollars. I was not aware of our past experience's with this dam or neither with the affect that it would have on more than just a village of innocent people as well as our soldiers and large cities filled with innocent people. There has been 133 airstrikes since august a multitude of them have been targeted on keeping ground against ISIS taking over the Dam.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that ISIS stood for Islamic state of Iraq and Syria insurgents. I also didn't realize that the dam was so vital to control. I didn't know that it could destroy personnel buildings if it were flooded. I think it's crazy that ever since the invasion in 2003, US marines have been stationed at the Masul and Haditha dam and have rebuilt them in full.
ReplyDeleteThe dam is 187ft tall and 5.6 miles long.
ReplyDeleteIt began being built in 1977 and opened up in 1987.
And it's crazy that the dam cost $830,000,000 to make.
I've never knew anything about the Haditha Dam. I've learned that “if the dam were to be destroyed, the damage that it would cause would put a significant additional and big risk into the mix in Iraq.”
ReplyDeleteI've also learned that just last month the ISIS fighters were battling to capture the Haditha Dam. They had six power generators located alongside Iraq's second-largest reservoir.
Before Today I didn't know anything about the Haditha Dam but I've also learned a lot throughout these two articles and the only thing I knew about was the dam being a major source of water and electrical power.
On Sunday the U.S. military dropped airstrikes around the Haditha dam in order to prevent groups from taking over the dam. If something was to happen to this dam making it break, it said it would flood all the way to Bagdad. This would be a major blow to the people of Iraq being that water is so limited in Iraq.
ReplyDeletewhat makes these articles interesting it that the dam in Iraq is about A couple miles long and it took 10 years to built and it costs 830,000,000. there are been some talks about air strikes going on.
ReplyDelete1. Although I was aware that not all Iraq’s people have a hold back to the US, I did not know about the specific tribes, like the Sunni, and how they were supporting to keep the ISIS away from the hadith dam.
ReplyDelete2. I thought it was interesting to know that the Hadith Dam was designed by the Soviet Union’s Ministry and constructed by Yugoslavian companies. Made me speculate what previous agreement they had with the Soviets.
3. An important point was how the Gulf Division of the Army sent the troops to protect the dam, in order to prevent one of the biggest, probable catastrophe, that could happen in a country, if overtaken by the ISIS.
There would be a lot of bad things to happen if the dam was to break or not be properly cared for.
ReplyDeleteI think the U.S. has good intentions when we try to help other places out but we need to work on ourselves first.
I didn't know the United States did an airstrike so I thought that was something I could take away from the article.
If the band was destroyed it would add risk into the mix in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteIf it were opened it would have flooded a the baghdad airport.
The airstrikes are aimed at protecting U.S. personnel and facilities, as well protecting critical infrastructure and aiding refugees fleeing the militants.