8 Million Iraqis Destitute...fighting for food and water.

[madfloridian]

Hard to take in what we have done there. Yet the man who started this invasion with no planning is still given free air time to keep on with his lies and spin.

NGOs: 8 Million Iraqis Destitute

About 8 million Iraqis — nearly a third of the population — need immediate emergency aid because of the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, relief agencies said Monday.

Those Iraqis are in urgent need of water, sanitation, food and shelter, said the report by Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee network in Iraq.

"Basic services, ruined by years of war and sanctions, cannot meet the needs of the Iraqi people," said Jeremy Hobbs, the director of Oxfam International. "Millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee the violence, either to another part of Iraq or abroad. Many of those are living in dire poverty."

The report said more than 2 million people — mostly women and children — have been displaced within Iraq, and 2 million Iraqis have fled the country as refugees, mostly to neighboring Syria and Jordan.

More from there.

Crush of Desperation for Humanitarian Aid



Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty
Iraqis soldiers try to push back Iraqi woman as they rush to receive humanitarian aid from the Iraqi Ministry of Trade in Baquba, 60 kms (35 miles) north of Baghdad, 05 August 2007.



Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty
An US soldier gestures with his M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) as Iraqis rush to receive humanitarian aid from the Iraqi Ministry of Trade in Mufrek, western Baquba, 60 kms (35 miles) north of Baghdad, 05 August 2007.



Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty
A US soldier stands guard as Iraqis wait to receive humanitarian aid from the Iraqi Ministry of Trade in Baquba, 60 kms (35 miles) north of Baghdad, 05 August 2007.

[Olney Blue]

1. Has anyone told Bush? Oh I forgot, he's on vacation.

[iamjoy]

2. Wounded Knee

Seeing those soldiers pointing guns at unarmed civilians - mostly women and children, I think of what happened at Wounded Knee.

[EFerrari]

3. The more things remain the same. n/t

[PA Democrat]

4. Is this what "winning" looks like?

[leftchick]

5. I wonder if those soldiers

notice what "Liberation" of Iraqis looks like. This democracy sucks.

[zabet]

6. K & R

I have no words....

[madfloridian]

7. There are no words.

Some weeks there just are no words.

[williesgirl]

8. I bet Saddam is looking better to these starving folks right now - sad isn't it?

recommended

[roody]

9. That soldier looks frightened.

[slipslidingaway]

10. How many lives and how much money have we spent for this?

[enid602]

11. cost

I wonder what the cost of comprehensive humanitarian aid would be, versus the billions we spend each week to keep them in such desperate circumstances.

[Time for change]

27. It would be miniscule in comparison

[Grandrose]

12. Unforgivable!

Just think about it...none of this suffering was necessary and no end in sight!

[ninkasi]

13. Is this what the country I was born in 64 years ago

is reduced to? Is this what my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, and every war after, fought for? I am so deeply ashamed at what we've become. I am at a loss for words to describe what I feel now.

[irislake]

32. Stop whining

Think of the oil you're taking from them. You need it for your SUVs.

[whistle]

14. This is exactly what Bush and Cheney and the neocons have wanted

...because they are vicious, greedy, relentless and inflexible concerning their goals. The oil 45 billion barrels at $75 per barrel to be controlled by Exxon and BP an asset worth over $3.375 trillion and rising. The oil in Iran is a similar prize as are the reserves throughout the Southeast Asia and they want it all!

[msongs]

15. genocide?? nt

[slipslidingaway]

16. "Degraded Policy... Children Suffering, Filthy Water, Burning

Villages: These Are Our Sanctions Against Iraq"

Older article and a reminder that this horror did not start with the invasion of Iraq, our Congress is now happily passing sanctions against Iran.


http://www.commondreams.org/views/111800-105.htm

"Monday sees the launch of a national petition against sanctions in Iraq. It will probably pass unnoticed. Sanctions aside, Britain and America bomb Iraq whenever they feel like it, and with no news coverage at all. Presumably, the purpose of the bombing and sanctions is to degrade something. The something is ourselves."


The Secret Behind the Sanctions: How the U.S. Intentionally Destroyed Iraq's Water Supply

http://www.progressive.org/0801issue/nagy0901.html

[merh]

17. is this the surge they have been talking about

you know, the one that is working

[salinen]

18. No such thing as an Iraqi citizen

they're all insurgents.

[angrycarpenter]

19. ultimately

this is why we will remain in Iraq. The country will be dependent on us for A long time for basic needs. The need to get humanitarian aid to the needy will mean A military presence to protect the supplies and bases to operate from. Remember Somalia?

[Middle finga]

20. This Iraq war could be the beginning of the end of America

as a superpower, everything is screwed up there in some aspect things are worst than most of us could've ever imagined. This is the ultimate quagmire, it would be immoral to leave iraq in this condition but staying makes things even worst. the half trillion we've spent thus far has all been spent on the military and hardly anything for rebuilding those people lives. If america was a smart people, we would ignore those tough talking candidates and elect someone that's committed to peace so he could go to the international community, apologize for the mess we've caused and beg them to help us out of this mess.

[irislake]

33. Many people around the world

privately hope it WILL be the end of America. You should teach REAL American history in your schools. Iran had a democracy at one point. Then the CIA put in a murderer. To keep the oil. Can you blame Iranians for not loving America? Now you want to "nuke" them cuz they're so "evil".

The tragedy of Iraq breaks the hearts of all decent and intelligent people.

Which nation is the greatest "evil-doer" on the face of this earth? Bin who? Bin Laffin bout that.

Where will it end?

Read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman".

The outside world knows who the real "terrorists" are!

[madfloridian]

36. That tough talk is the legacy of the "national security" democrats.

Like the DLC and the Blue Dogs, who think that is truly the only thing to win on....being tough. They have allowed Bush to take an attack that had nothing to do with military, which instead was a failure at other levels....and talk it up into a war against a country that never was a threat.

They went along with him instead of standing up.

It is a legacy that will be with us for a long time.

[midnight]

21. All I can seem to say when I see this horrid situation is-

BRING THEM HOME-NOW........

[burrowowl]

22. Dying of thirst is horrible!

And Katrina all those people not getting water. What is wrong with Bu$hCo, they are simply evil!

[ClayZ]

23. Mercy! Where is the mercy?

K and R

[irislake]

34. Don't forget when Clinton was president

Madeleine Allbright said the sanctions imposed were "worth" the deaths of five million Iraqi children. They have been suffering for a long time now. From Bush senior's war on Iraq to the present there has been quite a bit of suffering inflicted on the oil rich Iraqis.

[madfloridian]

41. Well, remember who did not oppose the Iraq invasion.

Remember who said he hoped Iraq would be worth it and said he had defended Bush "against the left."

Wanting Iraq "to have been worth it."

[Screwfly]

24. Good God,

it's like Bush is trying to make a really life analog to the Dead Kennedy song Holiday In Cambodia.

Well youll work harder
With a gun in your back
For a bowl of rice a day
Slave for soldiers
Till you starve
Then your head is skewered on a stake

[Usrename]

25. Sen. Hillary Clinton has a solution!

Her approach is to threaten to cut off aid to the Iraqi government. No, she hasn't threatened Halliburton or Blackwater, just the Iraqis.


From the transcript of the AFL-CIO candidates forum:

MR. OLBERMANN: Thank you, Senator Biden.

Senator Clinton, what do we do in that hypothetical?

SEN. CLINTON: Well, I have a three-point plan to get out of Iraq, starting with redeploying our troops, but doing it responsibly and carefully, because as many of the veterans in this audience know, taking troops out can be just as dangerous as bringing them in. And we’ve got to get out of Iraq smarter than we got in.

Secondly, we’ve got to put more pressure on the Iraqi government, including withholding aid from them if they don’t begin to stabilize the country themselves. And thirdly, we need an intensive diplomatic effort, regionally and internationally.

But if it is a possibility that al Qaeda would stay in Iraq, I think we need to stay focused on trying to keep them on the run, as we currently are doing in Al Anbar province.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/us/politics/07demsfor...


Heaven help us now, and let us please have a candidate that isn't just as damaged as the current occupants of the Whitehouse.

[CGowen]

26. Rove resigns and expects Hillary to be the candidate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[dysfunctional press]

28. pretty soon, they'll be ready to work for slave wages...

and then we can lay a little american industry on them.

(seeing as the chinese have been getting a little "uppity" lately...)

[Usrename]

29. No, pretty soon we'll hand 'em all a bar of soap..

and march them into the showers.

[Theres-a]

44. Did you see this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[malaise]

30. This is an international disgrace

Imperialism gone mad.

[lonestarnot]

31. Terrible.

[LeftishBrit]

35. Horrible...

Anyone with a brain and a heart could have guessed what would happen.

[demoleft]

37. ...and then one links to BBC and reads "US launches new offensive in Iraq"...

...and knows there's no stopping.

"US forces in Iraq have launched a new offensive against both Shia and Sunni insurgents, the US military has said.
Operation Phantom Strike was being staged throughout Iraq, specifically targeting al-Qaeda-linked militants and also Iranian-backed groups, it said
...
The so-called national unity government has effectively disintegrated, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Baghdad."

BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6944543.stm

[madfloridian]

39. How tragic. They are starving, and we launch more attacks.

I feel sick inside. It is hardly mentioned on news here anymore. Like that place called Iraq doesn't exist.

[demoleft]

40. In fact I like that you post images. It helps get in touch with reality. n/t

[madfloridian]

47. I think it would mean so much if any of our politicians would acknowledge..

that what we have done is a terrible thing. But they won't. It is just not talked about much at all on our media here, demoleft. They concentrate on natural disasters, fallen bridges, and everything else. Iraq is seldom mentioned.

[Martin Eden]

38. Purple fingers are more important than food, water, shelter

We LIBERATED 'em, dammit, and gave them the vote!

Ungrateful whiney bastards.

[1776Forever]

42. This is what 1 Trillion Can Buy! How do you measure this misery?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/business/17leonhardt....

Economix
What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy

By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: January 17, 2007

The human mind isn’t very well equipped to make sense of a figure like $1.2 trillion. We don’t deal with a trillion of anything in our daily lives, and so when we come across such a big number, it is hard to distinguish it from any other big number. Millions, billions, a trillion — they all start to sound the same.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is not what we should stand for and the hypocrites will pay someday!

[Zenlitened]

43. Horrifying. And it was done in our name...

[KiraBS]

45. BBC reported this when Gordon Brown was visiting Bush...

N/T

[LynnTheDem]

46. To forever be remembered as what was done in AMERICA'S NAME

More America's shame.

Still "wonder why they hate us", rightwingnut MFers???

Yeah probably, since rightwingnut MFers are too fucking stupid to understand.