The relentless negativity of mainstream media is no longer surprising, but here’s a particularly egregious example, as Reuters predicts (with an almost gloating tone) a brutal Afghan Iraqi winter: Iraqis Face Winter Shivering by Candlelight.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - As if the daily struggle to dodge bullets and bombings is not enough, many Iraqis now face a freezing winter shivering by candlelight as persistent attacks keep the power out for more than 12 hours a day.

“Saddam Hussein used to cut off the electricity for a couple of hours a day and we’d complain,” said Fadia Karim, 33.

“Now there’s no power for hours and hours every day. There’s no fuel for the generators, no kerosene for the heaters. People are beyond complaining. Things are just getting worse.”

Sabotage attacks on power plants, transmission lines and the oil pipelines and fuel trucks that feed them, mean Iraqis face a cold, dark winter queuing at petrol pumps for fuel to run their generators — for those that have a generator.

See? It’s actually worse now than when Saddam’s torture rooms were running.

You have to read down to the middle to find out that power is actually almost at pre-war levels, and the electrical grid is being repaired and upgraded—and even this good news gets a nasty negative spin:

Twenty-one months after Washington launched its war with the promise of a brighter future, Iraq produces 4,100 megawatts of electricity, a little below prewar levels and about half the country’s surging domestic demand.

Repairing and upgrading a grid left dilapidated by neglect and 13 years of sanctions was always going to take time, especially as custom-made parts must be brought in from abroad. But the 18-month insurgency has compounded problems.

Despite the dangerous roads, some progress is being made. New engines will be unveiled at Mosayeb power plant in January, bringing it up to 1,200 megawatts, Sameraei said.