U.S.-Funded Power Plant on Line in Iraq

The plant is estimated to add electric power equivalent for what is needed for more than 220,000 households.

"We came here with a plan two years ago that we were going to do a lot of projects, but the insecurity increased and our priorities had to shift," McCallister said during a tour of the Khor Az Zubayr site. "We had to suspend some big water projects, but we have continued to push electricity."

Audit reports released recently by Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction found that guerrilla attacks have forced the cancellation of more than 60 percent of water and sanitation projects in Iraq, in part because American intelligence failed to predict the brutal insurgency.

Iraq's incessant insurgency absorbs as much as 22 percent of project costs, more than double the 9 percent originally budgeted.

Not only do the insurgents blow up the Iraqis in markets, on streets, or at mosques, but they also fight to deprive them of clean water and electricity.