Iraq News (1 July)

The Good:

• Civilian fatalities are down in Iraq for June to 448, Iraqi officials have noted
• $100M has been allocated to Sadr City reconstruction from Baghdad's government
• Oil contracts are being made available to 35 international companies for six of Iraq's oil fields. Iraq is tied with Iran for having the most oil reserves at #2 (Saudi Arabia is #1)
• Jordan has named its first diplomatic envoy to post-Saddam Iraq
  

The Bad:

• 4 Baghdad judges have been targeted with extremist violence, and the head judge in Sadr City has been injured along with his family
• The transfer of security responsibility to the Iraqis in Diwaniyah Province has been delayed due to bad weather
• Aswat al-Iraq reports that the government-funded paper Al-Sabah and the mouthpiece of the Dawa party (Prime Minister Maliki's political party) are furious at the government for not providing adequate electricity during the hot Iraqi summer. Iraqis have resorted to buying gasoline on the black-market as well (long utilized as a way to fund the Mahdi Army). If these government-friendly papers are saying it's bad, you can only imagine what the average citizen has to say

The Ugly:

• The Rand report on the failure to adequately plan for post-invasion Iraq is available
• The Pentagon has ordered KBR to check the electric wiring for all buildings under their supervision in Iraq following the electrocution of many service members. Yo, Mr./Mrs. KBR electrician, check my old office in the embassy (lights smoked 2 times and one small fire)
• More ISAF troops have died in Afghanistan this month than Iraq for the second straight month

Diwaniyah Turnover delayed (graphic from AFP)