Millions Dead, Displaced .. US Slaughtering Innocent Iraqis .. Humanitarian Crisis

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-07-30-voa58.cfm

Aid Group Warns of Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq

By Michael Bowman

Washington

30 July 2007

At the start of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, President Bush

declared to the Iraqi people that help was "on the way" in the form

of food, medicine and other aid. Four years later, a major international

relief organization is warning of a major humanitarian crisis in Iraq

brought about by hunger and inadequate clean drinking water. VOA's Michael

Bowman has details from Washington.

In a report released Monday, the international aid organization, Oxfam,

reports that malnutrition, lack of drinking water and the number of

internally displaced people are greater today in Iraq than before the 2003

invasion. Raymond Offenheiser is president of the U.S. chapter of Oxfam,

which is headquartered in London.

"Currently there are some eight million Iraqis who are in need of emergency

aid," said Offenheiser. "Two million of those are refugees who have

actually fled the country, and there are another two million internally

displaced people, mostly women and children. And then there are another

four million Iraqis who are in a position of not having enough to eat, not

having access to clean water, and lacking access to health care facilities

and services."

Offenheiser adds that while suicide bombings and sectarian violence

dominate the international news coverage of Iraq, there is an untold story

of suffering, particularly in Iraq's more remote regions, that deserves the

world's attention.

Before Saddam Hussein was toppled, Oxfam warned of dire humanitarian

consequences in the aftermath of an invasion, and Offenheiser says that,

sadly, many predictions have come true. Where to put the blame? Offenheiser

says international funding for reconstruction projects in Iraq far exceeds

direct humanitarian assistance.

But he says primary responsibility for the well-being of Iraq's people lies

with Iraqi officials. With that in mind, he has several suggestions for the

government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"It could increase emergency cash [given] to widows and their children from

$100 to $200 per month, and this same kind of payment system could also be

extended to other vulnerable populations," said Offenheiser.

"It could update the food distribution system so that displaced people can

receive food rations. It could decentralize the aid distribution system and

give power and resources to local authorities to store and distribute

emergency supplies to the local aid agencies that deliver them to

citizens," he added.

Meanwhile, the U.S. office that monitors reconstruction projects in Iraq

says progress is being hampered by terrorist activity, rampant corruption

and political instability. The Office of the Special Inspector General for

Iraq Reconstruction says many projects are not being carried out properly,

with numerous cases of fraud, waste and abuse under investigation.

Among the projects that have suffered are efforts to overhaul and upgrade

Iraq's electric power capacity. Oxfam did not comment on the inspector

general's report, but Raymond Offenheiser notes that a lack of reliable

power makes it virtually impossible to pump clean water or refrigerate

perishable food, thereby adding to Iraq's humanitarian challenges.

Requests for comment from White House as well as Pentagon officials were

not answered in time for this report.