Early in October I wrote of yet one more injustice being suffered by the people of Iraq - cholera. It might seem like a "little" thing compared to the horrors of war, but think about it. Have you ever had diarrhea? Cholera is much, much, much worse than that, but in order to put one's self in the shoes of a six-year-old who's dying of cholera, that's probably as close as one can get to imagining it.
Baghdad is now the source of 79% of new cholera cases. As many as 101 new cases have been reported there in the past three weeks. These are mostly among children who are lacking clean water.
Many people dismiss the significance of cholera as "one of those diseases that have always existed in other places" but the fact that cholera is so greatly on the rise in Iraq is definitely significant. It speaks to how the war is being (has been) handled by the occupying forces - the lack of planning - the disregard for the quality of life and life itself for the Iraqi people.
With the rainy season about to start, the UN has at least expressed concern with regard to this issue. But not nearly enough is being done.
This is one more piece of evidence (as if we needed it) that the seige and occupation of Iraq was so very wrong.