Thank God someone had the sense to raise the Iraqi flag
A public relations coup.
Now, if we could just get past the idea that the civilians in the hospitals that we can't see and the people with no clean drinking water are not casualties of war. These numbers will not be low. How military forces in the area react to these problems will have a big impact on the outcome of the peace.
I read on these boards recently -- I forget who said it -- that looters often accompany the victory party after sports events. Sadly true. But there are no police to restore order in the wake of this "party".
The U.S.-led military has restricted the access of most humanitarian groups to near the border with Kuwait, but one of the first experts to make an assessment as far as Basra said a breakdown of civil society there is a bad sign for the rest of the country.
Iraq's second-biggest city has an acute shortage of drinkable water and signs of dysentery in children, traditional precursors to such killers as cholera and typhoid, said Michael Kochler, deputy Middle East director for the non-profit International Rescue Committee.
Widespread looting -- people have even broken into the municipal water pipelines, ruining them in the process -- and crowds of desperate people have left the town too unstable for relief groups to deliver aid . . . .
Reports of similar situations have been received about other cities. The main reason: The police who had to take loyalty oaths to Saddam's Baath Party have either fled or slipped into civilian clothing.
Fritz, Michael. (AP) "Relief Workers Say Iraq Is Too Unsafe to Help." Intelligencer Journal [Lancaster, PA] 9 Apr. 2003: A5.
1.5 million people live in Basra, folks.
Regards--
Mary Anne