And they were all amazed!

At a photo op today, George W. Bush spoke about the upcoming election in Iraq:

And it’s time for those people to vote and I am looking forward to it.

It’s one of those moments in history where a lot of people will be amazed that a society has been transformed so quickly from one of tyranny and torture and mass graves to one in which people actually are allowed to express themselves at the ballot.

Also today, Medact (an organization of health professionals that exists to highlight and take action on the health consequences of war, poverty and environmental degradation) released a report, “Enduring Effects of War: Health in Iraq 2004," that concludes:

It is estimated that 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.  Violence accounted for most of these deaths, particularly air strikes by coalition forces.  The risk of death from violence in the 18 months after the invasion was 58 times higher than in the 15 months before it, while the risk of death from all causes was 2.5 times higher.  No starker proof is required of the disastrous effects of war, even a supposedly short and contained one, on innocent people.  The 2003 war exacerbated the threats to health posed by the damage inflicted by previous wars, tyranny and sanctions.  It not only created the conditions for further health decline, but also damaged the ability of Iraqi society to reverse it.

The report offers the following details:

Water and sanitation: Sanitation facilities, most already non-operational, were looted throughout Iraq during and after the 2003 war.  Half the sewage treatment plants are now working but nearly 500,000 tons of raw sewage and partially treated sewage are discharged daily into the rivers.  Less than half the population in rural areas has direct access to piped potable water.

Nutrition and food security: Damage to the infrstructure that sustains food security has been sustained during the conflict and subsequent periods of neglect, and it continues to be a major concern.  One in four people are still highly dependent on public food distribution system, which in any case does not provide adequate food for the poorest households, who cannot afford to supplement the deficiencies through market purchases.

Crumbling facilities: Offical estimates suggest that 12% of hospitals were damaged and 7% looted in 2003; more than a third of the facilities that provided family planning services destroyed; and about 15% of community child care units closed.  These are likely to be underestimates.  The two main public health laboratories in Bafhdad and Basra were looted and destroyed.  Two of the three rehabilitation hospitals in Baghdad were looted to the extent that they had to close, and the main psychiatric hospital was looted an patients abused, raped and turned loose.  Four of the seven central supply warehouses were looted.  Most hospitals have chronic problems with sewage and garbage disposal, water and power supply and lack of drugs and equipment.  A rapid assessment showed that a third of the hospitals and half the health centres surveyed needed urgent and extensive rehabilitation.

Shortage of drugs, equipment and supplies: After the war there were no antibiotics, insulin and chemotherapeutic drugs at any public hospital or health center in the southern governorate… There is widespread suspicion of criminal involvement in the distribution of pharmaceutical supplies.  Pharmaceuticals are allegedly diverted from the warehouses and appear on the market in neighboring countries.  Supply trucks are intercepted before they reach their destination.

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