Northern Iraq hit by major cholera outbreak: minister (8 dead so far: 4000 cases)

[rodeodance]

Source: reuters




Northern Iraq hit by major cholera outbreak: minister

By Sherko Raouf 2 hours, 43 minutes ago

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Health officials in northern Iraq are treating nearly 4,000 suspected cases of cholera and eight people have died so far, the health minister for Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said on Wednesday.
...........

Othman said Kurdistan had declared a state of emergency to prevent the spread of the acute intestinal infection, which is caught through contaminated water or food.

"The epidemic could move to other northern provinces and even to Baghdad," he warned.

In Geneva, the WHO said it was aware of two outbreaks -- one in the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniya and the other in Kirkuk, a province abutting Kurdistan with a large Kurdish population.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070829/hl_nm/iraq_cholera_dc_1

[aquart]

1. Oh, look. We found another way to kill Iraqis.

Is there no end to our creative diligence?

[libodem]

10. My cynical mind went exactly where yours went

I'm thinking Biological Weapons of mass distruction...just poison the poor Kurds. God Almighty is there no end to suffering we have visited on this country? Bush can burn in hell.

[FloridaJudy]

18. We don't need biological weapons

Just screw up the water supply in 110+ degree heat and those nasty water-borne diseases we haven't seen in this country for over a century will come calling. I'm just surprised they haven't had an outbreak of typhoid as well.

Oh, and with no water to wash clothes, I expect typhus will join the crew any time now.

My God, how much more can that poor country endure?

[aquart]

20. Oh, that much effort is hardly necessary.

Destroy the infrastructure, poison the river with corpses, so that sewage is everywhere and there is nothing fresh and clean to drink...disease is as opportunistic as Halliburton.

[NMDemDist2]

2. I am suprised it's taken this long

sadly, disease and death follow when basic infrastructure breaks down :cry:

[Botany]

8. Cholera has been happening almost right after our invasion

.... before the war Iraq had little if any Cholera but with the destruction of
the water & sewage systems it is now all over the country.

[Botany]

3. No clean water = Cholera

More people died of Cholera in the U.S. Civil War than of bullets.
The number of dead from this unneeded war will be staggering.

[librechik]

14. it was only a matter of time, given conditions on the ground

SURGE IS WORKING!!!

[Beetwasher]

4. But Now They Have Elections!

Yeesh, what a bunch of whiners! It's the price of freedom! :sarcasm:

[dipsydoodle]

5. It's what happens

when you completely fuck up someone's water supply.

[Amonester]

6. Liberate them my a**!

How many Kurds got "gazzed" by Saddam? More than 4000?

Darth Cheneyourself must be dancing joyfully...

[Spazito]

7. It was only a matter of time before this began, imo

The living conditions, lack of clean water, lack of electricity, etc, that have been reported certainly pointed to an environment ripe for cholera outbreaks/epidemic.

More deaths to be laid at the feet of the bush cabal for the illegal invasion/occupation of a sovereign country.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. It's a tribute to what's left of their healthcare system

that there have been only 8 deaths with 4000+ cases. Cholera is extremely lethal, and .05% fatality is much better that I would have ever expected.

[Javaman]

11. And god knows what else...

poor sanitation brings on a host of problems besides waterborne disease.

[angryxyouth]

12. Hey KBR; Give us our money back.

[Doctor_J]

13. We can start adding these to the body count

it will NOT be an unsubstantial number by the end.

[FVZA_Colonel]

15. Perhaps I'm just a bit naive, but to hear the phrase "cholera epidemic" in this day and age,

anywhere in the world, is just shocking. I thought this was supposed to be one of those diseases that just wasn't a threat anymore?

[burrowowl]

16. Not surprising

Dirty water is a MAJOR CAUSE and the U$ of A has really screwed up the water supply and sewage since the Gulf War, which is a WAR CRIME!

[slipslidingaway]

19. Who will hold them accountable? Who will tell the truth?

:cry:

Iraq Faces Massive U.S. Missile Barrage
Plan Calls For Firing Up To 800 Cruise Missiles In First 2 Days Of War

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/24/eveningnews/main537928.shtml

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2003

"The battle plan is based on a concept developed at the National Defense University. It's called "Shock and Awe" and it focuses on the psychological destruction of the enemy's will to fight rather than the physical destruction of his military forces...

"You're sitting in Baghdad and all of a sudden you're the general and 30 of your division headquarters have been wiped out. You also take the city down. By that I mean you get rid of their power, water. In 2,3,4,5 days they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted," Ullman tells Martin...

If Shock and Awe works, there won't be a ground war.

Not everybody in the Bush Administration thinks Shock and Awe will work. One senior official called it a bunch of bull, but confirmed it is the concept on which the war plan is based."



The Secret Behind the Sanctions
How the U.S. Intentionally Destroyed Iraq's Water Supply

http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0808-07.htm

"Over the last two years, I've discovered documents of the Defense Intelligence Agency proving beyond a doubt that, contrary to the Geneva Convention, the U.S. government intentionally used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country's water supply after the Gulf War. The United States knew the cost that civilian Iraqis, mostly children, would pay, and it went ahead anyway...

No one can say that the United States didn't know what it was doing."

[Olney Blue]

17. Oh no. The suffering in Iraq must be overwhelming.