BOB HERBERT: The Nightmare Is Here

[kevinmc]

We’ve heard from General Petraeus, from Ambassador Crocker, and on Thursday night from President Bush. What we haven’t heard this week is anything about the tragic reality on the ground for the ordinary citizens of Iraq, which is in the throes of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

President Bush may not be aware of this. In his televised address to the nation he warned that a pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq could cause a “humanitarian nightmare.”

A trusted aide should take the president aside and quietly inform him that this nightmare arrived a good while ago.

When the U.S. launched its “shock and awe” invasion in March 2003, the population of Iraq was about 26 million. The flaming horror unleashed by the invasion has since forced 2.2 million of those Iraqis, nearly a tenth of the population, to flee the country. Many of those who left were professionals marked for death — doctors, lawyers, academics, the very people with the skills necessary to build a viable society.

The Iraq Ministry of Health reported that 102 doctors and 164 nurses were killed from April 2003 to May 2006. It is believed that nearly half of Iraq’s doctors have fled. The exodus of health care professionals in a country hemorrhaging from the worst kinds of violence pretty much qualifies as nightmarish.........

http://freedemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/09/bob-herbert-nightmare-is-here.html

[SharonAnn]

1. And reports are coming in that cholera is showing up and location of cases is nearing Baghdad.

With contaminated water, broken sewers, and a collapsed health care system, this could be huge!


I'm heartbroken about this and stupefied that there's anyone who thinks we should stay in Iraq, for any reason whatsoever. We will pay for what we've done to Iraq and its people.

[rodeodance]

2. NEW death count here:

> ORB - Opinion Business Research: 1.2 million Iraqis murdered

> http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78

[CrispyQ]

3. Resistance in the Ranks: Iraq Vets say No to War

Worth the clicks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x307695

Resistance in the Ranks
Iraq Vets Say No to War

[Iwillnevergiveup]

4. SOUNDS LIKE

sub-Saharan Africa.

:cry:

[Comadreja]

6. Sounds Like

Palestine. I expect the US military to arrive at the same conclusion as the Israeli military. . .impoverish, imprison, factionalize, sicken and kill as many Resistance fighters as possible. There are also thousands of "internal" Iraqi refugees..

“This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don’t think it’s an extremist thing to do anymore. I really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my co-workers. But I also want this to stop. Disbelief and horror is what I feel. Disappointment. I am disappointed that this is the base reality of our world and that we, in fact, participate in it. This is not at all what I asked for when I came into this world. This is not at all what the people here asked for when they came into this world. This is not what they are asking for now. This is not the world you and Dad wanted me to come into when you decided to have me.” - Rachel Corrie in an email to her parents before she was murdered by an Israeli bulldozer operator. See: An American Heroine, Murdered by Israelis

[EVDebs]

5. But *'s base is making a killing

Hunt Oil's separate deal in Kurdish Iraq

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/09/the-hunt-for-oi.html