"One of the World's Great Man-Made Disasters is Taking Place"

[donsu]

http://www.counterpunch.com/patrick02032007.html

Iraqis on the Run


Iraq is experiencing the biggest exodus in the Middle East
since Palestinians were forced to flee in 1948 upon the creation of Israel. "We were forced to leave our house six months ago and since then we have moved more than eight times," said Abu Mustafa, a 56-year-old man from Baghdad. "Sectarian violence has now even reached the displacement camps but we are tired of running away. Sometimes I have asked myself if it is not better to die than to live like a Bedouin all my life."

Iraqis are on the run inside and outside the country. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said 50,000 Iraqis a month are abandoning their homes. Stephanie Jaquemet, regional representative of the UNHCR, said that two million Iraqis have fled abroad and another 1.5-2 million are displaced within the country - many of them from before the fall of Saddam Hussein.

-snip-

Only Syria has formally recognised a need for temporary protection for Iraqis. Others, including the US and UK, are loath to admit that one of the world's great man-made disasters is taking place. The UNHCR thinks every Iraqi should qualify as a refugee because of the extraordinary level of violence in the country. "This is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world," Kenneth Bacon, president of Refugees International told the US Senate Judiciary Committee.

-snip-

For Sunni there is no real place of safety in Iraq. In Baghdad they are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas. Cities like Ramadi and Fallujah are partly ruined and very dangerous. Mohammed Sahib Ali, 48, a government employee, was forced out of the al-Hurriyah area by Shia militiamen. A Sunni, he took refuge in a school in Salah ad-Din province. "We are dying here," said Ali. "Not enough food, not enough medicines. I can't go to work and my three sons can't attend their classes. We don't know what to do."
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"We are dying here," "We don't know what to do."

I'm so ashamed of america

we know what to do - we just haven't done it yet. will we ever?

[hwmnbn]

1. We've killed that country......

The buzzards are just fighting over the remains.

[gordianot]

2. It only a matter of time before we need to take in Iraqi refugees.

Those who collaborated with the invader Americans.

[Silence Dogood]

4. You mean at the Bush warehousing facility?

the encampment sites remain manned but unoccupied.

[gordianot]

6. Possibly for some who know too much, the 75 cent solution is cheaper.

Others have had their pockets well lined they will probably remain free.

The warehousing facilities are for who become too upset when the results of the 2008 election occurs or become vocal when the 2008 election is cancelled. The Constitutional crisis is coming.

[Silence Dogood]

10. When do you think

It will hit? Before or after the election?
I'm buying foodstuffs for storage now.
As I've been told to be prepared.

[censorshipsux]

3. Bush and Cheney should be imprisioned. I am ashamed of Congress for NOT...

...bringing out the Articles of Impeachment NOW!

[gordianot]

8. Congress avoids the rabid dog at their own peril, they will be bitten.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Gregorian]

5. Our comfort is someone elses discomfort.

If we were to pay the actual price for living the modern lifestyle, we couldn't afford it. In these numbers, and to this extent.

There isn't much else to say. Well, except that when reality tries to show you the way, and you resist, then the consequences are greater. Such as war, and global warming.

[indepat]

7. Stick around: that more man-made disasters are in the offing should be evident to all

but the blind and wholly ignorant.