I remember sometimes when Howard Dean said Iraq would probably not be better off with Saddam gone, nor would we here be safer. He was attacked strongly for those words...but he was right.
Asked if the Iraqi people are better off now than they were under Saddam, Dean said, "We don't know that yet. We don't know that yet, Wolf. We still have a country whose city is mostly without electricity. We have tumultuous occasions in the south where there is no clear governance. We have a major city without clear governance." CNN 2003
...." In a major foreign policy address Monday, Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean hailed the capture of Saddam Hussein as "good news for the Iraqi people and for the world," but also claimed that his capture "could have taken place six months ago."
"The capture of Saddam has not made America safer," Dean also said in the speech."
...."DNC Chair Howard Dean: "It Looks Like Today, And This Could Change, As Of Today It Looks Like Women Will Be Worse Off In Iraq Than They Were When Saddam Hussein Was President Of Iraq." (CBS's "Face The Nation," 8/14/05)
I just read at Iraq Slogger that a mother with a nursing baby was killed in the streets for not wearing her veil. Millions fleeing. We just cut off electricity to the city of Baghdad. I would say Dean was right.
Our country has only taken 63 Iraqis recently who have been displaced. This is a human tragedy with millions leaving their homes.
Southern Iraq can't support anymore IDPs.BAGHDAD, 12 July 2007 (IRIN) - Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in southern Iraq are concerned about the fate of newly arriving internally displaced persons (IDPs), after the authorities in the southern provinces said they could not cope with any more of them.
Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty
Baghdad, IRAQ: A displaced Iraqi fills a jerry can with drinking water from a broken pipe next to a camp for displaced people in Baghdad, 20 June 2007“Officials in the southern governorates have told us they cannot take in more IDPs as their security cannot be guaranteed,” said Mayada Obeid, a spokesperson for South Peace Organisation, based in Basra.
“Police in Najaf and Basra have told us they have reported cases of new IDPs being targeted by militias, and at least seven people have been killed trying to settle in displacement camps,” said Obeid.
....."A senior official in Basra Governing Council, Hassan Abdul-Kareem, told IRIN: “We can no longer ignore the lack of essential supplies in our governorate. Previously displaced families are demanding our assistance and we cannot satisfy even their needs. There are no places for their children in schools, we cannot give them medical care and the price of goods is high.”
“We understand that the situation is critical for families fleeing their homes but we cannot be the only ones to help all those displaced people. The only way to prevent the situation from deteriorating further is to ban IDP camps from accepting any more displaced people,” he said.
People from Sadr City now are leaving their homes daily. It is like in Fallujah...they can be treated like enemy combatants if they stay.
Leaving Sadr CityWISSAM AL-OKAILI/AFP/Getty
Baghdad, IRAQ: Iraqi children stand in their house after it was raided by US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad's impoverished district of Sadr City, 30 June 2007.A human tragedy for which we are responsible.