Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April 28, 2007

Ramzy Baroud: Stealing from the Poor and Giving to the Rich

Ramzy Baroud: Stealing from the Poor and Giving to the Rich Locating Dartmouth House, where Hans von Sponeck, former UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq was scheduled to speak in London 18 April, was a challenge. Yet having been lost for an hour in the ever-confusing and expanding city of London was the least of my concerns the moment I slipped quietly into the lecture hall. His statements were shocking, as were his many statistics: Iraq was simply and shamelessly robbed blind during the period of US-championed UN sanctions. Sadly, the robbery and mismanagement continue to this day, but now the figures are much more staggering.

Baghdad residents find little security

Baghdad residents find little security "We are calling it the traffic-jam plan rather than the security plan, because traffic jams are the only things that have increased," said Isam Jasim of Sadr City, an impoverished Shiite district where U.S. and Iraqi troops established a presence in early March. Now, entering the massive neighborhood from central Baghdad requires going through one of three checkpoints, the roads to which are usually jammed with cars, taxis and minivans caught in bottlenecks.