Patrick Cockburn says Situation in Iraq could not be worse:
I have been visiting Iraq since 1978, but for the first time, I am becoming convinced that the country will not survive...Now even GOP Congressmen are supporting calls for an Iraq withdrawal:
More than a week ago, I was in the northern city of Mosul, protected by 3,000 Kurdish soldiers, but even so it was considered too dangerous to send out patrols in daytime...
In March alone, the U.S. military said 1,313 people were killed in sectarian attacks. Many bodies, buried in pits or thrown in the rivers, are never found.
The real figure is probably twice as high. All over the country people are on the move as Sunnis and Shiites flee each other's areas...
Bush and Blair have for the past three years continually understated the gravity of what is taking place. It has been frustrating as a journalist to hear them claim that much of Iraq is peaceful when we could not prove them wrong without being killed or kidnapped. The capture of Saddam in 2003, the handover of sovereignty in 2004, the elections and new constitution in 2005 have all been oversold to the outside world as signs of progress...
Three years ago, when Saddam's statue was toppled, Iraqis were promised their lives would get better. Instead Iraq has become the most dangerous place in the world.
Last week, Republican Congressmen Ron Paul (Texas), Walter Jones (N.C.), and Wayne Gilchrest (Md.) declared their support for a bipartisan resolution demanding the full House debate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The resolution's sponsor, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), joined his colleagues to explain the purpose and status of House Joint Resolution 55. To watch a video of the press conference, click here. To urge your representative to support H.J.Res. 55 and open discussion of America's endgame in Iraq, click here.
