THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ, ELEVENTH THREAD

Bush is pushing a funny kind of democracy on Iraq; it's our way, or ....

Yaman Mohammad, a 15-year-old Sunni, said any deal between the Iraqi and US governments was bound to be unfair. “This is a negotiation of the weak and the strong. The Americans already control things and they will make sure they continue to do so.

“The Americans are here as occupiers and I am certain they want to remain here as occupiers. No independent Iraqi government can accept that, and no real Iraqi government would agree that American soldiers can arrest Iraqis.”

Yaman, who studies at Hurriya High School in Baghdad’s Palestine Street, said he was against any deal that kept US troops on the ground in Iraq

“All the time these things happen, Iraq is not a real state. If an agreement is signed, it will just be an Iraqi seal on the occupation. We will not recognise it as legal.”

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080614/FOREIGN/934348083/1011/NEWS

The plight of Iraqi refugees is now worse than ever, with millions struggling to survive in desperate conditions and with little hope of finding sanctuary.


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Many governments have attempted to justify their hardline stance by citing supposed improvements in the security situation in Iraq. But after a marked decline, the level of violence is rising again. The numbers killed each month fell from 1,800 in August 2007 to 541 in January 2008. However, in March and April alone, more than 2,000 people, mostly civilians, died during clashes between US and Iraqi government forces and the Shia militia Mehdi Army.

The Iraqi diaspora is now one of the largest in modern times, with more than two million people fleeing abroad. But the ferocious strife and the breakdown in law and order have led to another wave of about 2.7 million fleeing their homes but unable to escape the country. Many of these have moved to Baghdad, putting further strain on a shattered infrastructure and adding to the city's sectarian tensions. The situation in terms of numbers and conditions for the displaced people has deteriorated dramatically in the past two years, Amnesty claims.



http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraqi-refugee-crisis-grows-as-west-turns-its-back-847473.html

"We were engaged to be married after the end of the war," Hussam Abdulla, a 28-year-old engineer from Baghdad told IPS.
"We thought the war would not last more than a month, and so we planned our marriage for May 2003.
But everything went wrong.
I was detained for two years, and my fiancée's family had to flee to Egypt because her father was a senior army officer whose life was threatened first by occupation forces and later by death squads."

Abdulla's engagement never led to marriage.

http://www.antiwar.com/ips/fadhily.php?articleid=12993

Indeed. ICAN set a target for "the murders of non-murderers by murdurers" of something like 30 a month. He seems to believe we have met that goal, so we can all decree victory and come home.
I wish it were that easy. We will still be there for years.

At Least 51 Dead in Baghdad Bombing

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?hp

Quote:

At Least 51 Dead in Baghdad Bombing

Well, this day's goal of only 30 dead is shot, I guess.

Cycloptichorn

ican, Don't set your goals too low; 30 per day equals 900/month. You sure about that?