In Continuing Dire Straits
It's pretty dreadful reading about the continual state of internecine warfare within Iraq, and particularly the barbaric outrages against humanity going on within Baghdad itself, once thought to be safe territory because of the large presence of U.S. troops. That was before the new government of Iraq and its U.S. allies realized they had the potential for all-out civil war on their hands.That was away back when it was thought that Saddam Hussein's loyalist Sunnis were in full retreat and no longer posed a threat to the normalization of life within Iraq, post-invasion. When the Sunni insurgents urged on by al Qaeda were flooding across the borders of Jordan and Syria to wreak whatever havoc they could in challenging U.S. troops. That was before the advent of Shia cleric Muqtadr al Sadr's irregulars grew into a formidable opposing militia.
Now the killing and counter-killing, the sectarian bitterness and hate-propelled violence appears unstoppable, with hundreds of civilians dying weekly. Those same civilians trying to pick up their lives and go about their business, anxious and eager for the prospect of true normalization and an end to the ceaseless violence, are targeted relentlessly. Sunni insurgents target Shia shrines and neighbourhoods for revenge relating to previous Shia militias targeting Sunni mosques and civil enclaves.
Hundreds of people die each and every day, and hundreds more are injured, kidnapped and tortured by the opposing militias, and Iraq government troops and those of the U.S. appear incapable of halting the carnage. Those among the population who have the means to do so have been fleeing the country and surging across the borders seeking refuge in neighbouring countries which already are facing problems absorbing the refugees.
After Mustansiriya University in Baghdad was bombed two days ago, the university's assistant president, Fadhil al-Amri explained "No matter what I say to you, it is nothing like what happened. It is terrible. The terrorists are walking the streets in larger numbers than the policemen or the soldiers in the army. They can't do anything. There is no safety in this country."
In the last two months alone 6,376 civilians were killed in Iraq, three-quarters in Baghdad. The UN gives figures of 34,452 to represent the 2006 civilian death toll. How long can this savage lawlessness go on?
Labels: Middle East
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, January 17, 2007
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