Outside the Bubble: Iraq's Med Crisis

Even now, when polls show the public has turned against the war, the mainstream media in this country seem to be embubbled -- still listening to the officials returning from their Green Zone dog-and-pony shows, while ignoring the reality of life in the other 99% of the country. Evidence: this story from UK's Independent, delineating the size of the exodus of doctors and nurses. The source is an Oxfam report, pretty reputable as sources about Iraq life are concerned. The piece appeared in last Saturday's Indy, and I've waited to see the American coverage. I'm still waiting. A Google News check today shows the story surfacing in Germany and Belfast, Northern Ireland, but nowhere in the US. Some of the numbers in the Oxfam report, like the child malnutrtion rate and the percentage of the country's population in what Oxfam describes as "absolute poverty", are eye-opening, to say the least. But wait, here's a Senator just back from the Green Zone. He should know.

Comments

[biglabowskii]

Harry,

Provided you a link as to where I got the figures. Point being is this link was from Progressives providing the info then and they were blaming us for those deaths as well, just like you are blaming us for all of them now.

I think your argument now has more merit, by the way since this was a pre-emptive move by our president. Even though the deaths you are talking about now are not committed by our military, arguments such as yours point to the fact that no matter who is doing the killing, it all points back to that decision. A valid point and argument.

But using that same argument, and the prior history I showed you, you could argue the opposite that the number of deaths have decreased due to this ill planned ill executed war. Not that I would do that, just saying you could.

Either way, impressed that you took the time to respond.

Thanks

[Nolafugee]

"You could argue the opposite" that the deaths this Iraq war have decreased when compared to the crusades as well.
Check my link in my comment to you above. It was an absolute synchronicity that I landed on the very same Progressive News site, as I had yet to follow Your link, and was really just trying to add to what Harry said about owning those deaths & misery. I was looking for links to Donald Rumsfeld's direct facilitation of Saddham"s poison gas attacks and googled: Donald Rumsfeld Poison Gas Sales Iraq. You should bookmark that site. I sure as hell did.
You will find that it seems the only time our own country's death tax in Iraq idled was when Saddham bought from the Soviets.

[LiberalLibertarian]

Actually, through our routine use of Depleted Uranium (considered a WMD itself in international accords, although no one ever talks about that) and the reliance on air strikes, we have killed MANY Iraqi civilians filed under the lovely euphemism "collateral damage". Plus, because it can be so hard to tell an insurgent from a civilian, the military and press routinely call anyone killed by us as an insurgent, regardless of who they actually might be. As more and more stories come out about the routine and callus treatment soldiers give to the Iraqi population (as happens in all wars), it becomes harder to pretend that we are not directly responsible for the many deaths.

If a gun is found in the house, or there is an adult male in the house, they are automatically deemed an insurgent or AL Qaeda. WE are directly responsible for many of the deaths over there, and are indirectly but no less culpable for the rest. 10 years from now when we are no longer in the middle of war hysteria and have better access to war records, I suspect that it will be found that we have directly killed upwards of a million in Iraq. Of course the public health crisis we precipitated will kill hundreds of thousonds more no matter when we leave. It is a travesty beyond measure.

There are lots of articles about this, here is one...
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/24/1424/ Is the US using cluster bombs?

[tca]

Megan Greenwell of the Washington Post covered the Oxfam report on July 30.

Peter Rothberg of The Nation wrote the following words on July 31.

"Four million Iraqis--15 percent--cannot buy enough to eat.

70 percent are without adequate water supplies, compared to 50 percent in 2003.

28 percent of children are malnourished, compared to 19 percent before the invasion.

92 percent of Iraqi children suffer learning problems.

43 percent of Iraqis live in "absolute poverty," earning less than one dollar a day.

More than two million people have been displaced inside Iraq.

A further two million Iraqis have become refugees, mainly in Syria and Jordan."

[researcher]

Americans don’t give a hoot for Iraqis dead or wounded or displaced or without food or water.

Americans are already putting the blame on the Iraqis and not on the imperialistic illegal invasion.

only gravel has the courage to tell it like it is: imperialism.

and what per cent age of Americans will vote for him. Maybe two per cent?

we are a warmongering nation. our brand of capitalism had to come to this. it is called profits. Wars make corporate profits

[Indiana]

I wonder if there will ever be an Oxfam report about the effects of Bush's inattention to New Orleans after the flood on her people.

[biglabowskii]

So Harry are you saying it was better before the war?

http://www.commondreams.org/views/102300-103.htm

50000 children and 1500000 people a year dieing was better?

Not saying it is going so great now but it would be nice if progressives like yourself would make up your minds.

I would say the coverage for things like this is about the same now as it was then, but that is just my opinion, which is meaningless to all but myself. Just as yours should be as meaningless to all but yourself.

It will be interesting to see what people such as yourself are focusing on 8 years from now that will make you forget you said such things as this when you look back just as progressives seems to forget what they were screaming about with Iraq prior to the War.

This is not to say the the war was right, but I guess you would rather have the 150k deaths/year run rate to continue as it was going then. That was sooo much better amd the UN was doing sooo much about it.

Time and memories are fleeting I guess.

Right or wrong the one thing we can say for sure for the future that is fixed, is that Saddam will no longer be able to kill his people at this rate. They may kill each other it seems, but it won't be him.
HARRY RESPONDS: I can't vouch for your Saddam-era figures, but what I can say is that we didn't own those deaths. We own these.

[Scurvybro]

Hey Dumbass --

Did you even read the story you provided in the link? The whole point of it was that these deaths were the cause of sanctions that deprived the population of medicine and other supplies, not Saddam. No one tries to claim that Saddam was a nice guy or wasn't responsible for massacres. I don't know why this is so hard for you to believe, but by all objective accounts, the country is in much worse shape now than before the war.

Or does an hour's worth of electricity and running water a day represent improvement to you? Oh yeah: They also got to enjoy their nifty purple fingers a while back. That makes it all worthwhile.

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

scurvybro, thank you. i thought that maybe i was the only one that read it! excellent comment and perfect use of the term "hey dumbass". keep up the good work!

[SmootyBooty]

The winner and champion-stupidest post of the week!

[Nolafugee]

Whoa! Were You also born with a Silver Foot in your mouth? Even I feel embarrassed by the size of your, era'ahem..­.shoe. Harry's right, except that we also own the deaths of those Iranians and Kurds that Saddham gassed.
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0802-01.htm
I mean...tha­t was then. This is now, And will we have even more hell to pay the Reaper tomorrow?

[neoconjob]

HARRY RESPONDS: I can't vouch for your Saddam-era figures, but what I can say is that we didn't own those deaths. We own these.

---

is this what they meant about the "Ownership Society"?

[indypete]

Sure, Saddam was an asshole but as far as I can gather, cheney-bush have a much higher body count than he did.

[Nolafugee]

It would be interesting to study the various mortality rates during different US Presidencies. Where would our feckless leader stand in that ranking I wonder.

[Clavis]

Now, now, Harry -- if you dispute the Conventional Beltway Wisdom, you'll be regarded as not Serious! Don't you want to be a Serious and frequent talk-show guest, like William Kristol? Surely he's a reliable and honest commentator!

The news media is about as worthless as it can get. Turn it over; it's done.

[gsuescum]

What they call news these days really makes me sick. Just about the only news I watch these days is the BBC.

Why don't some of our anti-war Democratic Senators/R­epresentat­ives point these things out and make them news?

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Harry, that's because our media's paychecks are signed by the same people who finance the inhuman trash that lives in the white house at present.

[andyg]

So the Iraq freedom fighers are killing doctors and nurses.

[davidly]

It also seems that even a couple of Democratic candidates believe that the latest mainstream media surge will make a difference and are suddenly touting a "more reasonable approach" to withdraw. Let's face it; we got bases there folks.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Harry,

Another cause?

Thanks for picking this up.

If New Orleans is America's Atlantis, I would suggest Iraq is America's Ahabian Whale.

(Note to Sarge, thanks for the wake-up call.)

[antispin]

Nevermind the million dead Iraqis and the millions of Iragi emigres (refugees) in Syria and Jordan: a little walk around Stockholm or Oslo will reveal what more compassionate and less guilty governments have done to ease the pain of these people. I think something like 700 Iraqis have been allowed to emigrate to the U.S.. Give us a few of your wealthy, English speaking Sunnis...a­s long as they are not now nor never have been a member of the Republican Guard.

Greg Palast documents "America's Atlantis" here:
http://www.gregpalast.com/index.php

[Nolafugee]

Aaawwww, man, that was such a good book but ok. I wonder if our feckless leader has read it? You know, Carly says the Presidente is Quite the well read everyaleman.

[altohone]

Shhhhh... the neocons and DLC dems are trying to sell the "progress" of the "surge working".

Advertising the flaws in their propaganda spin may undermine their efforts to maintain the occupation.

How can Hillary keep 60,000 troops in Iraq if the blogosphere keeps popping the bubbles of their fake reality?

Truth and facts are unwelcome!
It's un-American, defeatist, unpatriotic.
The establishment wants to stay in Iraq.
How dare you point out the emporer has no clothes?

[gaby]

Thats because the d.c, beltway is the wests answer to the emerald city lets try a naming contest how about the blood red ruby city. your turn,

[Novista]

What about the puce puke palace?

[dotmafia]

You want to end this war?

Start by consistently and continually showing the American public the daily effects of it on the Iraqi population.

Without censure.

Show the blown-up bodies.

Show the dead and wounded children.

Show the grieving families of the dead and wounded.

Anyone who criticizes this as blatantly indecent, should question the decency of what America has forced upon the Iraqi civilians.

I recently went to the Dominican Republic on vacation and was shocked to see 2-3 minutes of news footage of up-close dead bodies from a car accident. This is routine there. It is done to try and make people drive better by showing them the consequences of bad driving.

If the American public was truly exposed to the realities of what their government and politicians subject the peoples of other nations to, they would not be so quick to send their sons and daughters off to war, and they would think twice about the decency of their own morals and "Christian values".

The American mass media is party to this illegal, cruel and unjust war. Shame, shame, shame on them.
_

[NoContest]

It's a lot easier to become a doctor in Iraq and hundreds of other countries than it is in America, that;s why costs are high. What do they call it, barriers to entry.