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The Catastrophe In Iraq
excerpts from testimony to the World Tribunal On Iraq, from Dahr Jamail. June 25, 2005
The security situation is horrendous. The violence only continues to escalate.
Since the new Iraqi so-called government was sworn in two months ago, well over 1,000 Iraqis and over 165 US soldiers have died in the violence. These numbers will continue to escalate as the failed occupation grinds on. As the heavy-handed tactics of the US military persist, the Iraqi resistance continues to grow in its number and lethality.
Ongoing gasoline shortages plague Iraqis who sometimes wait 2 days to fill their cars. Electricity remains in short supply, as does potable water. Cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases are rampant even in the capital city as lack of reconstruction continues to plague Iraq’s infrastructure. Raw sewage is common across throughout Iraq.
With 70% unemployment, a growing resistance and an infrastructure in shambles, the future for Iraq remains bleak as long as the failed occupation persists. While the Bush Administration continues to disregard calls for a timetable for withdrawal, Iraqis continue to suffer and die with little hope for their future. With each passing day, the catastrophe in Iraq resembles the US debacle in Vietnam more and more.
Dr. Wamid Omar Nadhmi, a senior political scientist at Baghdad University who was invited to this tribunal, told me last winter, “It will take Iraqis something like a quarter of a century to rebuild their country, to heal their wounds, to reform their society, to bring about some sort of national reconciliation, democracy and tolerance of each other. But that process will not begin until the US occupation of Iraq ends.”
And it is now exceedingly clear that the only way the Bush Administration will withdraw the US military from Iraq in order for Iraqis to have true sovereignty is if they are forced to do so.
You have been reading excerpts from Dahr Jamail's testimony before the culimnating session of the World Tribunal On Iraq. You can read the entire testimony here: dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000257.php
excerpts from testimony to the World Tribunal On Iraq, from Dahr Jamail. June 25, 2005
The security situation is horrendous. The violence only continues to escalate.
Since the new Iraqi so-called government was sworn in two months ago, well over 1,000 Iraqis and over 165 US soldiers have died in the violence. These numbers will continue to escalate as the failed occupation grinds on. As the heavy-handed tactics of the US military persist, the Iraqi resistance continues to grow in its number and lethality.
Ongoing gasoline shortages plague Iraqis who sometimes wait 2 days to fill their cars. Electricity remains in short supply, as does potable water. Cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases are rampant even in the capital city as lack of reconstruction continues to plague Iraq’s infrastructure. Raw sewage is common across throughout Iraq.
With 70% unemployment, a growing resistance and an infrastructure in shambles, the future for Iraq remains bleak as long as the failed occupation persists. While the Bush Administration continues to disregard calls for a timetable for withdrawal, Iraqis continue to suffer and die with little hope for their future. With each passing day, the catastrophe in Iraq resembles the US debacle in Vietnam more and more.
Dr. Wamid Omar Nadhmi, a senior political scientist at Baghdad University who was invited to this tribunal, told me last winter, “It will take Iraqis something like a quarter of a century to rebuild their country, to heal their wounds, to reform their society, to bring about some sort of national reconciliation, democracy and tolerance of each other. But that process will not begin until the US occupation of Iraq ends.”
And it is now exceedingly clear that the only way the Bush Administration will withdraw the US military from Iraq in order for Iraqis to have true sovereignty is if they are forced to do so.
You have been reading excerpts from Dahr Jamail's testimony before the culimnating session of the World Tribunal On Iraq. You can read the entire testimony here: dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000257.php
