The immediately previous posting relating to the Israelis counselling the Americans not to attack Iraq was probably prescient - although the Israelis doubtlessly had their own agenda - but the consequences of the Iraq War have been horrendous.
Agency France Presse [reproduced on Common Dreams] puts the human devastation and dislocation caused by the Iraqi War into graphic context:
More than four million Iraqis have fled their homes because of sectarian violence, the largest population movement in the Middle East since Palestinians left the new state of Israel, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
“An estimated 4.2 million Iraqis have been uprooted from their homes, with the monthly rate of displacement climbing to over 60,000 people compared to 50,000 previously,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.
More than two million Iraqis are displaced within their own country, with around half being uprooted following the February 2006 Samarra bombings, seen as the catalyst for the latest wave of sectarian conflict, the UNHCR said.
“Many are barely surviving in makeshift camps, inaccessible to aid workers for security reasons,” Pagonis warned.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in sectarian conflict between Shiites and Sunnis, and Pagonis said many families were “choosing to leave ethnically mixed areas before they are forced to do so.”
More than 1.4 million have crossed into neighbouring Syria with between 500,000 and 750,000 heading into Jordan, the UNHCR said.
The UNHCR and UN children’s agency UNICEF have jointly appealed for help in paying for the education of 155,000 Iraqi refugee children, putting forward a figure of 129 million dollars to get them into schools for the 2007-2008 academic years.
This would allow 100,000 to go to school in Syria, 50,000 in Jordan, 2,000 in Egypt, 1,500 in Lebanon and 1,500 in other regional countries."
One can only wonder what the leaders of the Coalition of the Willing think of all of this - especially given the Christian values they espouse and repeated claim to have brought justice and freedom to Iraq and Iraqis.
Agency France Presse [reproduced on Common Dreams] puts the human devastation and dislocation caused by the Iraqi War into graphic context:
More than four million Iraqis have fled their homes because of sectarian violence, the largest population movement in the Middle East since Palestinians left the new state of Israel, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
“An estimated 4.2 million Iraqis have been uprooted from their homes, with the monthly rate of displacement climbing to over 60,000 people compared to 50,000 previously,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.
More than two million Iraqis are displaced within their own country, with around half being uprooted following the February 2006 Samarra bombings, seen as the catalyst for the latest wave of sectarian conflict, the UNHCR said.
“Many are barely surviving in makeshift camps, inaccessible to aid workers for security reasons,” Pagonis warned.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in sectarian conflict between Shiites and Sunnis, and Pagonis said many families were “choosing to leave ethnically mixed areas before they are forced to do so.”
More than 1.4 million have crossed into neighbouring Syria with between 500,000 and 750,000 heading into Jordan, the UNHCR said.
The UNHCR and UN children’s agency UNICEF have jointly appealed for help in paying for the education of 155,000 Iraqi refugee children, putting forward a figure of 129 million dollars to get them into schools for the 2007-2008 academic years.
This would allow 100,000 to go to school in Syria, 50,000 in Jordan, 2,000 in Egypt, 1,500 in Lebanon and 1,500 in other regional countries."
One can only wonder what the leaders of the Coalition of the Willing think of all of this - especially given the Christian values they espouse and repeated claim to have brought justice and freedom to Iraq and Iraqis.
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