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
Sep 24, 2007
An epidemic of cholera has already infected 7000 people in northern Iraq. It is spreading quickly into neighboring provinces through the unsanitary and decrepit water system, and has already reached Baghdad.
Cholera is not a contagious disease that spreads from one person to another. Rather, people contract cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the bacteria. As a result of the war, almost 3 out of 4 people in Iraq have no drinkable water, and raw sewage runs through whole communities–conditions ripe for cholera to become an epidemic.
People with mild cases who get intensive health care can usually fight off the infection. But this barbaric war, made worse by the surge, has made it difficult, if not impossible, to get such care.
This is not a natural disaster. In the 1980’s, Iraq had a medical system much better than most in the Middle East. But this was before the 1990’s decade of U.S. sanctions and bombing, followed by the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation, all of which has reduced Iraq’s infrastructure and water and health systems to a shambles.
This epidemic is a U.S. government-made disaster.
One more reason the U.S. should get out of Iraq now!