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targeted Iraq's sanitation works, bombing out their sewage systems leading to contamination of drinking water with human waste. As of 2007 there were 5000 cases of cholera in the Northern regions according to Patrick Cockburn of the online journal "Counter Punch." The suddenness of the outbreak and lack of medicine has already forced 60,000 Kurds out of their homes, even in areas where there as been little to no fighting. In the regions of Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk, 42% of the populations have no access to clean drinking water due to sewage.

According to an article by Stephen Gowans, the US command knowingly violated "Article 54 of the Geneva Convention which prohibits any country from undermining objects indispensable to the survival of (another country's) civilian population." According to Gowans, the Pentagon was well aware of the dangers that would be caused by destroying the country's water supply.

If one reviews US involvement in Iraq dating back to the early 1990s, starting with our sanctions on Saddam Hussein's Government, through today, you would see a body count of over 2 million, roughly half of which are children under the age of 18. In fact, the death toll, until recently, was headed towards that of the Congo under British and Dutch rule.

But while the great red, white and blue, along with the insurgents, have turned Iraq into a massive grave yard, most villages have now organized their own militias in reaction to the bloodshed caused by the so-called terrorists. This is the story of Najaf where the local "Mehdi Army" forced out the death squads targeting the villagers. Listening to CNN, however, one would think that the City was rapt awaiting the new great Conquistador of the west. But we here in the US are little more than babes in the wilderness, with no idea what is going around us. So when the US started their massive and sorely unnecessary bombing raid on Najaf, those who paid the heaviest price were the hundreds of innocent locals that were killed.

And finally, let us not forget about Al Sadr's call for a cease fire in the middle of 2007, just prior to the US surge of troops. The rate of violence went down remarkably before the increase of our presence a year go. But all these facts mean little to John McCain who still believes we had a chance to get some sort of victory in Vietnam.

Until next time

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