At 9:00 a.m. in the Iraqi desert, where the ther-mometer has already crossed the 100-degree mark, a white Chevrolet Tahoe barrels along at 110km/h north to Basra. At the wheel is a former British Special Air Service soldier, squiring three clipboard-toting engineers from Bechtel Group. Burned-out Iraqi tanks, mud huts and armored British patrols whiz by. Approaching Basra, the Tahoe darts around traffic and what must be a kilometer-long line at a gas station. Today's goal is Shuaiba, the smallest of southern Iraq's five power stations but a key to powering the two damaged 400-kilovolt transmission lines in the south that will help light up Baghdad and restart oil refineries.
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