Maine Owl

Sections of densely populated area being sacked

Curiously, I am finding that the BBC and the radio program it cosponsors, The World, are the only mainstream outlets reporting this:

Wednesday, 7 May 2008 13:42 UK
Iraq prepares for Baghdad exodus
By Clive Myrie - BBC News, Baghdad

The authorities in Baghdad say they are preparing for an exodus of thousands of people from eastern parts of the city... Two football stadiums are on stand-by to receive residents from two neighbourhoods in the Sadr City area. The government has warned of an imminent push to clear the areas of members of the Mehdi Army, loyal to the anti-American cleric, Moqtada Sadr.

In the last seven weeks around 1,000 people have died, and more than 2,500 others have been injured, most of them civilians....

The story also says that leaflets warning residents to leave have been distributed. It says that the Iraqi operations are "backed by US ground and air support."

I just listened to the report on this on The World, but the audio is not up on the website yet. It's rather nonchalant about the football stadiums where the refugees are supposed to be housed while their neighborhoods and homes are sacked under the gun of U.S. air power.

The militia fighters who keep firing on the Green Zone supposedly have to be rooted out because they are "hiding" among the civilians. This is swill to hide the killing of civilians the U.S. perpetrating. I suspect that the Sadrist militia has very deep support in these neighborhoods. The attack is really an attack on the population as a whole.

The result of U.S.-backed bombardment causing thousands of deaths among a population of millions who had been caged behind barriers and starved, now finally being removed, will be an even wider war. They are daring Iran to get more involved to help this mainly Shiite population.

Of course, fuller reporting on the situation can be found at Raed in the Middle and Al-Ghad. The latter speaks of a recent U.S. bombing of a Sadr City hospital, a war crime under the Geneva Convention. But not surprising following U.S. practices in Fallujah four years ago.