UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan warned yesterday of an impending humanitarian crisis in Basra due to the destruction of electric and water facilities. But the US engineers are working non-stop so that both electricity and water are restored very soon, even as early as today according to some reports.

Not to sound too bitter... but when Saddam's goons destroyed all the power plants in Kuwait a week before they were driven out by the Allied forces in 1991, we were stuck for weeks without electricity and not much water since the flow of water depended somewhat on electricity. Of course, being cut off from the world, I have no idea how this was viewed by the UN and the world's media at the time. Was it declared a humanitarian crisis? Does anyone remember? I'd like to hear from you.