Iraq Getting Worse; 11 More Dead Today, Over 300 This Year Alone

very disappointing stuff and it doesnt bode well for the post occupation iraq

its not about them attacking us its more about the lack of order that is there to control these sorts of things.


does anyone think its going to get better once we leave?

 

Didn't I just hear on the news that they are now putting bounties on the heads of these local terrorists? Should have done that a long time ago.

 

It looks like Iraq needs a brutal dictator to maintain order over there. Things are really going to get ugly when we leave.

 

This is really nasty. I wish there was a way to stop it.

 

The worst recent act that could lead to civil war, and possibly a regional conflict involving Turkey and even Iran, is the suicide bombings of the headquarters of the two main Kurdish political groups. The results were devastating... well over 100 dead and hundreds wounded, simultaneously by suicide bombers dressed as Muslim clergy. Top leaders in both groups were killed.

As a result, the Kurds have hardened their determination to get as much independance as they can from Iraq. And Turkey will not let that stand, being fearful of their own Kurdish independance movement, which is numerous and well organized. Ditto with Iran. If the US pulls their troops out of that area anytime in the next few years, all hell will break loose.

We are stuck in a morass now, even if the rest of Iraq "calms down", which looks highly unlikely. What an incredible mess, with this country almost alone to bear the burden. Yet another example of what Otto von Bismark said, "You know where a war begins, but you never know where it ends."

(Which has morphed into modern use as, "War has unintended consequences... never enter into one lightly." and other versions)


Bush has an abysmal foreign policy, which is one of the worst, and possibly the worst, that I can recall by a modern President. We are suffering the "fruits" of that policy now. He threw away the worldwide outpouring of support we gained after 9/11, which enabled us to go into an Afghan War with the goodwill of the vast majority of the world. Where is that goodwill now? Lost in a whirlwind from a war sold with deceit and a contemptuous disregard for garnering the support of our traditional allies, excepting a handfull, Britain chief among them, and suffering it's own political firestorm at home from the way this war was sold to the British public.

 

The most ironic twist - they blame Americans for most of these bombings?


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20040218-0812-iraq-americans.html


Blast shows deep Iraqi mistrust of Americans

By Michael Georgy
REUTERS
8:12 a.m. February 18, 2004

HILLA, Iraq – Iraqis were probably asleep when two explosions hit a Polish-run military base, killing at least 11 people. But that didn't stop them from drawing the shocking conclusion that U.S. planes fired rockets at them.

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.
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In the next bed a bandaged teenage boy who said he lost his hand to a cluster bomb two days ago received treatment for new wounds from the blast.

Doctors checked wounds and relatives of the dead sobbed on the hallway floors as anti-American anger spread to patients who were not even involved in the blast.

"The Americans fired one rocket and then another one which exploded. That's what I heard," said one patient.

Hospital director Mohammed al-Taee sat in his office trying to determine the last name of a woman killed in the blasts.

"There is the official version of what happened and the real version. It was the Americans," said his assistant out loud.

 

Well the Americans are responsible for the bombings. We are the ones who insisted on starting the war.

 

What's the big deal MacBeth!

300 deaths! They're not soldiers are they?

Just some dead Iraqis

Who cares!

Besides we're not supposed to be counting civilians!

 

mc mark beat me to it, but I just have to say... Very misleading thread title, MacBeth. You made it sound like it was white people getting killed. So some Iraqis are dead. So what? They blew up the World Trade Center. Why do you love Saddam?

 

The world we live in gets bleaker and bleaker by the day. I am not a dooms-day prophet but I am really worried. I am worried about what is happening around the world economically and politically. Fear grows bigger and bigger here at home over the economy and our safety. New deadly diseases mutate frequently. Politically, there are potential 'volcanos' waiting to errupt. What do we do?

Often times I wonder about the whole purpose of this life filled with famine, poverty, wars (rumours of wars) and acute corruption in the high and low places. Even the truth is now a thing of privilege. The world we live in now is getting more and more uncertain. I wish all these wars would seize some day soon but I am not naive - they will continue until Rapture and maybe after it.

 

Putting rapture and doomsday prophecies aside, a change is definitely needed.

 

its been like that for the past couple thousand years


things are actually getting a lot better if you check history. if you want to selectly see the bad then thats what you'll see.

 

I don't buy that negative view. You've been watching too much of the 24-hour cable news networks, which make it seem as if the world is ending. Could you imagine if Middle-Earth had a CNN during the War of the Ring?

On CNN tonight:
-Experts say that ringbearer has no chance of reaching Mt. Doom
-Orc attacks increase
-Who is the real Gandalf the White? Is he a positive force for Middle Earth?
-Merri and Pippen first gay marriage amongst hobbits.
- Men of Gondor demand new horse feed entitlement from King Theoden.
It is designed to scare you to keep you watching, be it Fox or CNN or MSNBC. Good news does not bring in ratings. So worry not and have some faith.

 

also, i see this has become a take a potshot thread...

i know this is on a different scale...but has anyone ever thought about comparing this to like gang warfare that is going on in iraq?

i dunno i just have some broken thoughts in my head but if this keeps up it will be like 1800 dead by the end of the year and compare that to like the murder rate in new orleans or something like that. there is like an iraq over there every year.

people seem like they are blaming america for this when in reality who knows if things will get better or worse once we leave. will corruption overtake the iraqi government? will that lead to civil war where many many people could die? is the violence now worth getting rid of saddam for the iraqis? was it worth it for the kurds? why didn't we hear about this kind of outcry about the people being killed before we came? is it just because we are involved now and we could possibly be responsible for the civilian attacks?

i dunno...like i said...i have broken thoughts in my head and i'm not trying to push an argument either way here....just questions i guess.

 

how many people have been saved from disease? how much more understanding is going on in the world? how much more communication is going on?

 

argh i hate no edit...i need to contribute...anyhow

i know a ton of people died in the last century but also a ton of people lived who would not have lived without the amazing advances of the 20th century.