Friday, September 14, 2007

No Bullet Dodged In Iraq, Except WMD

At the time of "Mission Accomplished" (the "first 100 days of freedom", as the State Department called it), we all thought we'd dodged the bullets of a massive refugee crisis and the epidemics that usually accompany them, as well as the misery of urban warfare (one of the possible reasons the timeline of the war was 'rushed' along) and WMD.

Now it appears that the Coalition of the Willing will face all three of these:
1. There has been a refugee crisis - for sure, it's no the fault of the USA, but America has a role
2. Now there is an epidemic - it's not related to occupation, per se, but it could be serious
3. We've certainly had our share of urban warfare

that leaves only WMD.


All evidence suggests that [cholera] transmission is still circulating. It is unclear what caused the outbreak, but initial investigation show some evidence that, in Sulemaniya, polluted water that residents were forced to rely on due to a shortage of drinking water may have been to blame. In Kirkuk, cracked water pipes allowed contamination by sewage, and because of the close geographic proximity the outbreak spread to Erbil, Dr. Mekki said

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