the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Aug 20, 2007
On July 30, several organizations published a report denouncing the living conditions of the Iraqi population. The Iraqi population is considerably worse off than it was before the U.S. invasion.
The Iraqi people are being massacred. In July alone, 1,652 civilians were killed, a terrible number. The reality is undoubtedly a much higher number killed. Forty-three% of the Iraqi population lives in great poverty. Four million “need food and medicine,” according to the July report. Two million are refugees inside Iraq itself, forced to leave their homes to escape the violence of the civil war. More than two million other Iraqis are refugees in the neighboring countries of Syria and Jordan.
Almost three fourths of the population has no drinkable water. Homes still connected to the electricity grid get only two hours of power a day. Infant malnutrition, which was 19% in 2003, has now reached 28%. Access to schooling has declined so much that several hundred thousand children have no education at all.
Iraq has become a country without jobs, where over half of all men and women are no longer paid for their work. Forty% of professionals–engineers, teachers and medical personnel–have left Iraq.
This war has already killed more than 650,000 Iraqi people. The U.S. claimed it was getting rid of the Iraqi dictator in 2003. Now the Iraqi people face spreading chaos and merciless rival armed bands. What U.S. imperialism has brought the Iraqi people is the civilization of the cemetery.