Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is called State of Despair (Iraqi Refugees) - Dateline 09/05/07 - SBS Australia.

From ABC in the USA:

Report: Iraq Violence Leading to Abortions, Drug Abuse Among Civilians

June 19, 2007 2:31 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Pregnant Iraqi women who have been forced from their homes by worsening violence are obtaining illegal abortions because they are unable to get medical care for themselves and their unborn, according to a new report by a national humanitarian group.

A record number of Iraqis — most of them women and children — are fleeing their homes to escape the bloodshed of sectarian violence and anti-U.S. attacks, according to a new report by the Iraqi Red Crescent organization, the largest aid group operating in Iraq.

Mr Rood, of course, should also have mentioned the violence of ‘pro-U.S. attacks‘ by US, British etc. armed forces and mercenaries here.

Will the religious Right in the USA, who rail against voluntary, medical abortions all over the world, raise their voices against these forced, illegal, unsafe abortions, and the terrible circumstances causing them?

To the extent that they are George W. Bush supporters, they very probably will look the other way.

As this happens in George W. Bush’s brave new Iraq. Invaded officially because of Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction … err … they did not exist.

Because of supposed links between secularist Saddam Hussein, and 9/11 … err, these did not exist either.

Err … to bring democracy and human rights to Iraq … However, Bush has managed to ‘improve’ even on Saddam Hussein’s terrible record in this; with widespread torture and an estimated over 600,000 dead.

Err … to improve the economic circumstances of the Iraqi people: electricity, over four years after Bush’s invasion, is still very much worse than under Saddam Hussein. And the only things being constructed are even more jails than under Saddam Hussein; Berlin style walls; and the huge new US colonial governor’s mansion embassy in Baghdad, being built by slave labour.

Err … how about Iraqi women? Very much worse off than before Bush’s invasion; including those unsafe abortions.

The ABC article continues:

Health care is inadequate and difficult to access for those people, according to the IRC report.

“Pregnant women, infants and children are unable to get…required medical care,” states the report, which was translated from Arabic, “and criminal abortion became [sic] the norms.”

Rape, theft and drug addiction have also become “commonplace” among the displaced, who live in government buildings, at relatives’ homes, tents, or squat in abandoned homes or makeshift huts on empty land, according to the report, which was first noted on the Iraq news site Iraqslogger.com. …

The number of “internally displaced persons” — refugees who leave their homes but remain in the country — has quadrupled since January, the group found.

“Hurrah” for George W. Bush’s ‘’surge” escalation in Iraq … Bush is considering extending the tour of duty for US soldiers in Iraq …

More than 1.8 million Iraqis have fled the country entirely, according to the United Nations.

The report by Iraqi Red Crescent, which says its personnel reach every village in Iraq, comes on the heels of a May report from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which warned of the “immense suffering” caused by the ongoing conflict.

“Shootings, bombings, abductions, murders, military operations and other forms of violence are forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and seek safety elsewhere in Iraq or in neighbouring countries,” the group said, noting that food is scarce in some regions, and power shortages are worsening.

“The outlook is bleak,” the Red Cross noted, and “likely to worsen.”

Talking about Iraq; from Associated Press:

Wife of US soldier missing in Iraq faces deportation to Dominican Republic, attorney says

Released : Wednesday, June 20, 2007 1:43 AM

BOSTON-The wife of a U.S. soldier missing in Iraq could face deportation, her lawyer told a television station.

Still talking about Iraq: filming bombing scenes is censored.

Iraqi women refugees in prostitution: here.