in this file photo taken on Monday, May 20, 2013, an Iraqi woman passes by the scene of a car bomb attack in the Kamaliyah neighborhood, a predominantly Shiite area of eastern Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo: AP)
Jun 01, 2013
Iraq violence broke another sad record in May, with at least 1,000 people killed in ongoing political and sectarian violence during the month.
With the previous month of April nearly as bad, the warnings that Iraq is already fighting an undeclared civil war are given new credence with each passing day that carries news of a bombing or masss killing.
As Reutersreports:
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in the last two months as al Qaeda and Sunni Islamist insurgents, invigorated by the Sunni-led revolt in Syria and by Sunni discontent at home, seek to revive the kind of all-out inter-communal conflict that killed tens of thousands five years ago.
"That is a sad record," Martin Kobler, the U.N. envoy in Baghdad, said in a statement. "Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop this intolerable bloodshed."
Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki later met leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide in Baghdad to try to broker talks on the crisis, which previous negotiations have failed to solve.
The renewed bloodletting reflects worsening tensions between Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and the Sunni minority, seething with resentment at their treatment since Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and later hanged.
As journalist John Pilger recently wrote, the US and UK have walked away from the crimes of its invasion and war in Iraq, but Iraqis "don't have that choice."
The "mess" left by George Bush and Tony Blair in Iraq is a sectarian war... [but] Bush has retreated back into his Mickey Mouse "presidential library and museum" and Tony Blair into his jackdaw travels and his money.
Their "mess" is a crime of epic proportions, wrote [Hans von Sponeck, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations and senior UN humanitarian official in Iraq], referring to the Iraqi ministry of social affairs' estimate of 4.5 million children who have lost one or both parents. "This means a horrific 14% of Iraq's population are orphans," he wrote. "An estimated one million families are headed by women, most of them widows". [...] In Iraq the catastrophe ignited by Britain has brought violence and abuse into millions of homes.
__________________________________
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Iraq violence broke another sad record in May, with at least 1,000 people killed in ongoing political and sectarian violence during the month.
With the previous month of April nearly as bad, the warnings that Iraq is already fighting an undeclared civil war are given new credence with each passing day that carries news of a bombing or masss killing.
As Reutersreports:
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in the last two months as al Qaeda and Sunni Islamist insurgents, invigorated by the Sunni-led revolt in Syria and by Sunni discontent at home, seek to revive the kind of all-out inter-communal conflict that killed tens of thousands five years ago.
"That is a sad record," Martin Kobler, the U.N. envoy in Baghdad, said in a statement. "Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop this intolerable bloodshed."
Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki later met leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide in Baghdad to try to broker talks on the crisis, which previous negotiations have failed to solve.
The renewed bloodletting reflects worsening tensions between Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and the Sunni minority, seething with resentment at their treatment since Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and later hanged.
As journalist John Pilger recently wrote, the US and UK have walked away from the crimes of its invasion and war in Iraq, but Iraqis "don't have that choice."
The "mess" left by George Bush and Tony Blair in Iraq is a sectarian war... [but] Bush has retreated back into his Mickey Mouse "presidential library and museum" and Tony Blair into his jackdaw travels and his money.
Their "mess" is a crime of epic proportions, wrote [Hans von Sponeck, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations and senior UN humanitarian official in Iraq], referring to the Iraqi ministry of social affairs' estimate of 4.5 million children who have lost one or both parents. "This means a horrific 14% of Iraq's population are orphans," he wrote. "An estimated one million families are headed by women, most of them widows". [...] In Iraq the catastrophe ignited by Britain has brought violence and abuse into millions of homes.
__________________________________
Iraq violence broke another sad record in May, with at least 1,000 people killed in ongoing political and sectarian violence during the month.
With the previous month of April nearly as bad, the warnings that Iraq is already fighting an undeclared civil war are given new credence with each passing day that carries news of a bombing or masss killing.
As Reutersreports:
Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in the last two months as al Qaeda and Sunni Islamist insurgents, invigorated by the Sunni-led revolt in Syria and by Sunni discontent at home, seek to revive the kind of all-out inter-communal conflict that killed tens of thousands five years ago.
"That is a sad record," Martin Kobler, the U.N. envoy in Baghdad, said in a statement. "Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop this intolerable bloodshed."
Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki later met leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide in Baghdad to try to broker talks on the crisis, which previous negotiations have failed to solve.
The renewed bloodletting reflects worsening tensions between Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and the Sunni minority, seething with resentment at their treatment since Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and later hanged.
As journalist John Pilger recently wrote, the US and UK have walked away from the crimes of its invasion and war in Iraq, but Iraqis "don't have that choice."
The "mess" left by George Bush and Tony Blair in Iraq is a sectarian war... [but] Bush has retreated back into his Mickey Mouse "presidential library and museum" and Tony Blair into his jackdaw travels and his money.
Their "mess" is a crime of epic proportions, wrote [Hans von Sponeck, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations and senior UN humanitarian official in Iraq], referring to the Iraqi ministry of social affairs' estimate of 4.5 million children who have lost one or both parents. "This means a horrific 14% of Iraq's population are orphans," he wrote. "An estimated one million families are headed by women, most of them widows". [...] In Iraq the catastrophe ignited by Britain has brought violence and abuse into millions of homes.
__________________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.