Juan Cole has this:Contrary to the glowing depictions of Iraq in the US press, Baghdad is engulfed in a lake of sewage so big it can be seen on Google Earth, many neighborhoods lack water, and electricity supply is insufficient and spotty. Although the Iraqi government crows about building clinics, the fact is that most nurses and physicians have fled, and medicines are in short supply. Last I knew, water purification was being impeded by US blockades on chlorine trucks coming in from Jordan. Some 70% of Iraqis do not have access to clean water, and there have been 100 recent cases of cholera in the capital, especially in the slum of Sadr City.
In nearby Baquba to the northeast, most children cannot go to school because of the poor security and some of those who can faint from hunger. The lack of services, poor security and perceived US favoritism to Shiite have stirred anger and resentment in Baqubah against the US.
--the BB
2 comments:
As long as we've got plenty of inexpensive consumer goods in this country, nothing is going to change.
The truth is, if we care at all, we don't care enough to give up our own comfort which is what it would take to make right in Iraq.
Perhaps one of the most telling signs of how wrong this all is lies in the fact that the American people have not been called on to make any sacrifice. If this were not a phony war, we'd all be called on to do more than shop.
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