This latest batch of news scares me:
"Mosul dam is in danger of collapsing"
From Kurdistan24: A Peshmerga fighter looks out into the water flowing away from the Mosul Dam
As an Italian company began repairing the Mosul dam, the Iraq government warned citizens about the possible collapse of the dam.
The Italian Company has not begun to repair the dam- Not from anything I have read. Anywhere.
I noted yesterday! "A delegation from Trevi visited the dam in March to begin preparing a nearby site to host the engineers and soldiers, which a source said could take up to six months to complete”
Therefore: no work on the dam has begun
Also: New Civil Engineer 12 May, 2016 By Emily Ashwell
"Italian engineering giant Trevi has revealed how it plans to tackle the structural crisis facing the Mosul Dam in Iraq"
Revealing the plan is not the same as working on the dam- Seems to me no repairs are taking place.But someone may be working on the dam? I can't discount that. But just what is being worked on? Anyone's guess, really.
Iraqi Air Force dropped leaflets over the city of Mosul to offer instructions and emergency tips in case the dam crashes.
It's pretty hard to claim Iraq as having an airforce.. so I even take this with a grain of salt. Could have just as well been done privately. Or by NATO forces. Or not have happened at all!
Bewar Khnsy, the economic security advisor to the Kurdistan Region Security Council in an exclusive interview with Kurdistan24 discussed three main problems that would lead to the collapse of the dam: weakness of the base of that dam that needs 24-hour workforce fill in holes [a processes called grouting] in the porous bedrock under the structure; the blockage of one of the gates since 2013, and the lack of assessments on the dam since its establishment in 1986.
According to Khansy, the dam might still be in danger of collapsing because the risk rises when the level of the water increases in the months of March, April, and May. “If the Italian company renovating the dam and the Iraqi team already working there are successful in keeping the dam safe between April 15 to May 15, the dam will be safe for this year,” he added.
There appears to be no Italian team working at the dam. May 15 is in two days. That seems so arbitrary- If they can keep it safe between this date and this date the dam will be safe?
In February, Italy’s Trevi Company won a deal worth $296 million to repair and maintain the Mosul dam. The contract between Iraqi government and the Italian company was signed in March. Following the signing of the contract, Italy decided to send eight military helicopters and 130 soldiers to protect the Italian company currently repairing the dam. The troops were deployed in early May, according to Italian Defense Ministry.On May 10, The Italian Defense Minister, Roberta Pinotti, following a visit to Erbil, visited Italian soldiers. In a Tweet, Italy’s Defense Minister stated that his country deployed 450 troops to defend the 3.6 km-long (2.2 miles) dam, located near Islamic State-held Mosul in northern Iraq.
I covered this yesterday: The additional troops were to be sent. In order that the team can set up their work site. So this guy using May 15th as the end date for ensuring dam safety is just weird.
Mosul Dam, now under the protection of Peshmerga forces, is the largest dam in Iraq and the fourth largest dam in the Middle East, located on the Tigris River in the western Nineveh Province. The construction of the dam began in 1980 by a German and Italian consortium and was completed in July 1986.
As I've stated over and over Mosul Dam is under NATO/US control and has been for years nowBTW: There is not an image to be found of the Iraqi army leafleting Mosul. And no images of the leaflets. (If anyone can find a valid image, let me know?)The image included with the article linked below is a 'representational photograph'It is NOT a photo of the Iraqi army dropping anything even related to this news- Worrisome!!!Some media outlet(s) should be able to get a photo of the actual leaflet- I can't find anyRepresentational file photo.
On Monday, official journalists (???) with the Ministry of Defense announced, that Iraqi aircraft dropped leaflets on the city of Mosul, while pointed out that the leaflets included instructions to educate citizens about the emergency plans of Mosul Dam. The journalists said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi Air Force aircraft dropped millions of leaflets containing recommendations for the citizens about safety, security and emergency plans of Mosul Dam.”Noteworthy, US Ambassador to Baghdad, Stuart Jones, announced developing an early warning system in Mosul Dam, while warned of a possible “disaster” if the dam collapsed.
Notice it's not an official with the Ministry of Defence informing the media? It's an "official journalist" - That's a problem in my opinionFlashbacks galore!!** Mosul Dam Set to Fail- Intentional Take Down? Disaster Capitalism to the Extreme?.At that time I wrote that no matter how the dam failed, if it failed it was the fault of the US. Period!
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Samantha Power “Chilling Briefing” Regarding Mosul Dam. Mosul Dam, Again!
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Thank- You E. William Engdahl! And Yes, it's the Mosul Dam, Again