Football

Steve Clemons: What Will the Blowback from Iraq Look Like in the Decades to Come?

He links to Secrecy News:

"The humanitarian crisis many feared would take place in March 2003 as a result of the war in Iraq appears to be unfolding," says a new report from the Congressional Research Service.

"It is estimated that in total (including those displaced prior to the war) there may be two million Iraqi refugees who have fled to Jordan, Syria, and other neighboring states, and approximately two million Iraqis who have been displaced within Iraq itself." See "Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis?," (pdf) March 23, 2007.

Two million refugees on top of what death and destruction has already been given. It's something that makes you wonder about people who so breezily and lustfully cheer this war and the far too many who support even wider war. They seem to view it - exactly - as a game, with them simply as audience members.

Go to the links, and to the pdf. There's much more. Like this:

Overall living standards have declined sharply. Direct personal threats, abductions, assassinations, and death threats are commonplace. Many middle class Iraqis with the means to leave have already done so. Religious belief, political or tribal affiliation, or association with U.S. forces or Iraqi authorities all can make someone a target for violence. Dissplacement can be the result of sectarian conflict and general armed violence, local criminal activity, coalition military operations, and fighting among militias and insurgents, all of which have contributed to decreased security and an atmosphere of generalized fear for many ordinary Iraqis.

Throw out the beer cup and the hot dog wrappers, find the car, and go home? Not quite. As Clemons finishes:

We will be paying compounding costs for Iraq a long time.

It's too bad we can't figure out a way to make President Bush and his Rasputinesque Vice President Dick Cheney bear the burden and consequences of this for all time.

The fact is that others will have to clean up this terrible situation, and all of us will pay for it.