I was reading the article that was linked to on a diary on the recommended list by Richard Cranium. About 3/4 of the way through the article are a couple of paragraphs about the United States holding up delivery of chlorine that the Iraqis need due to a cholera outbreak. Now, cholera is a real shitty disease and dehydration is a real life-threatening possibility.
The important part of the article is this:
Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, said a shipment of chlorine had crossed the border from Jordan after concerns were raised about shortages of the chemical needed to prevent an outbreak of cholera from spreading.
Officials said earlier that as much as 100,000 tons of chlorine was being held up at the border for fear it would be hijacked and used in explosives. Several chlorine truck bombs blamed on suspected Sunni insurgents earlier this year killed scores of people.
Naeem al-Qabi, the deputy chief of Baghdad's municipal council, said warehouses in the capital were preparing to accept the chlorine, which would help purify water supplies.
"There is some administrative work needed to be done and it will be finished very soon," al-Qabi said.
Iraq now has a total of 1,652 confirmed cases of cholera after three new cases were confirmed in Salahuddin province, according to an update on the World Health Organization's Web site on Sunday. Earlier, cholera was confirmed in the provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Tamim and Irbil, as well as a case each in Baghdad and in Basra.
"As the weather cools and becomes more favorable for transmission, the organism is expected to spread to other provinces," the WHO's country office in Iraq said on its Web site.
Cholera is endemic to Iraq, with about 30 cases registered each year. The last major outbreak was in 1999, when 20 cases were discovered in one day.
Now, here is my problem. We, the U.S. Military, Blackwater and the other "Security Contractors", can ensure safe delivery of guns & ammo and fuel to our troops. But it is not in our capability to guard cylinders of chlorine that could be used to help stop needless suffering and death of Iraqi citizens. THIS IS A CRIME.
I guess helping the poor, innocent Iraqi's to have a better life is just a line of crap.
Can you imagine the 1st Sergeant or Lt. on the ground who has to explain to the Iraqis that someone up the chain of command is too scared that we cannot guarantee shipment of much needed chlorine so they are going to have to wait. And shit runny diarrhea, vomit and generally feel like, well, ya get what I mean.