Agencies fear human disaster in Iraq

Humanitarian agencies always throw up the red flags when a military assault looks imminent, so it comes as no surprise that they're doing so in regards to the Iraqi situation, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Citing the UN's own calculations, Mark Bartolini, the Middle East director of the International Rescue Committee, warns, "You're likely to see more deaths from people who fled and died of very basic diseases like water-borne diseases than are actually killed in the initial attacks."

Another aid worker, Robert Yallop of CARE Australia, is quoted in the SMH story as expressing concern over the effects of an assault on an already weakened Iraqi population: "high levels of malnutrition following years of sanctions had left nearly a quarter of children under five malnourished and highly vulnerable to disease. Also the majority of Iraqis were highly dependent on government food rations, most of which were imported. Disruption of those supplies could have devastating consequences."

We're led to believe that news about the devastating effects of sanctions on Iraq is merely Saddamite propaganda. The UN doesn't think so, nor do the relief agencies.