War would crush Iraqi cities (and Iraqis, too)

Citing a number of UN sources, Anthony Shadid writes in today's Boston Globe,

A US-led attack on Iraq would probably devastate the country's tattered and already overwhelmed infrastructure, shutting down power to hospitals and water treatment plants, cutting off drinking water almost immediately to millions of residents in Baghdad and possibly elsewhere, and pouring raw sewage into the streets within hours, aid workers and specialists say.

Unlike the eve of the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq's infrastructure was largely intact despite an eight-year war with Iran, the country's water, sewage, and electricity systems today are far more vulnerable, UN reports show. Even without a conflict, those services stand on the brink of collapse, a result of 12 years of sweeping UN sanctions, the aftermath of the Gulf War, and the government's questionable spending priorities, aid workers say.

They warn that the onset of a conflict, regardless of its duration, could create a humanitarian crisis.

''It's going to be horrendous for lots and lots of people,'' said a senior aid official in Baghdad and veteran of several other conflicts. ''People will be far more vulnerable to a future attack than before. They are much weaker, and they have little resilience.''

As this report makes clear, and contrary to what the Ministry of Homeland Propaganda says, Attaq Iraq would not be a war solely against "Saddam".