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| Iraq |
| US Obligated to Help with Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq |
| 2007-04-26 |
| But without any troops to protect the aid workers, right, Nancy? With more than 850,000 people displaced and on the move within its borders, Iraq is in the midst of a major refugee crisis and the United States has an obligation to help resolve it, the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization said yesterday. "We have an emergency crisis right now, and the United States has a moral obligation to lead the world and address this issue right now," Said Hakki told editors and reporters at The Washington Times. "I have children dying of cancer, not because they have cancer, but because they cannot get treatment." In Washington this week to meet the "relevant people in the Bush administration," Dr. Hakki said he was not lobbying for additional U.S. taxpayer-funded aid, but rather for the United States to use its "good offices" to persuade some of Iraq's wealthy neighbors to step up and help. "We have a budget of $66 million," said Dr. Hakki. "That is about 10 percent of what we need." |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #7 First, the "wealthy neighbors" are tapped out - kinda costly supporting all those jihadis and such who are committing such savage crimes in Iraq. Second, NGOs aren't in Iraq due to the security situation (well, not the major relief-oriented ones, anyway), and that ain't gonna change. If the comments were directed at countering US sentiment about quick withdrawal, that's fine. Otherwise they are rather infuriating - when the US has shouldered all the difficult responsibilities nearly alone (kudos to our Coalition partners, who deserve great credit) for years, to come tsk-tsking us about doing more - sheesh. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-04-26 11:50 |
| #6 We have probably made it clear to the NGOs working in Iraq that if we leave, they are boned. So it is their best interests to actively lobby that we stay. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-26 10:30 |
| #5 We keep hearing the message from leading Iraqis that it would be disastrous were the US to actually pull out of Iraq in the foreseeable future. Dr. Hakki is approaching it from a different angle than, say, Prime Minister Maliki or the head of the Kurdish police force, but the bottom line is the same: "Please don't desert us!" |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-26 08:31 |
| #4 Here's my contribution: Quit acting like savages. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-04-26 08:17 |
| #3 I am obligated to put my boot so far up your ass that you damn teeth will crack, Ms. Hakki. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-04-26 08:14 |
| #2 I thought we had to leave, with all speed. Make up your minds. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-04-26 08:11 |
| #1 The UN was obligated to assist in the enforcement of its resolutions. The only reason the UN is concerned is that there's no more money to steal. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-04-26 08:10 |