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Welcome to the musings and notes of a Cadillac, Michigan based writer named Micah Holmquist, who is bothered by his own sarcasm. Please send him email at micahth@chartermi.net. Holmquist's full archives are listed here.
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Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution) Aljazeera.Net English Blogs that for one reason or another Holmquist would like to read on at least something of a regular basis (always in development) Thivai Abhor |
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Notes -Some doctors in Iraq who had previously publicly blamed sanctions on Iraq for the worsening health conditions in Iraq are now saying it was primarily the fault of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, reports Matthew McAllester of Newsday. The story really doesn't say much most, if not all, readers of this blog didn't already no. Saddam used deaths for propaganda purposes and spent money palaces and his military that could have been used to benefit the Iraqi people. I did find this paragraph interesting: All the evidence indicates that the spike in children's deaths was tragically real - roughly, a doubling of the mortality rate during the 1990s, according to humanitarian organizations. But the reason has been fiercely argued, and the new accounts by Iraqi doctors and parents will alter the debate.So the conditions started in the 1990s, which either indicates that Saddam became a much more vicious dictator when or sometime after eight turned to nine or that there was somehow outside factor that lead to what happened. And, as arrogant as this sounds, none of what any of the doctors are quoted as saying by McAlleser "will alter the debate" as they don't make any points that haven't previously been made or provide any evidence that qualitatively supports or discredits any of the relevant arguments. And I can't help but laugh at disgust with the fact that no mention of the military damage that was done to Iraq over the last little less than 13 years is brought up. -" Evidence is mounting to suggest that between 5,000 and 10,000 Iraqi civilians may have died during the recent war, according to researchers involved in independent surveys of the country," Peter Ford writes in Thursday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor. "Such a range would make the Iraq war the deadliest campaign for noncombatants that US forces have fought since Vietnam." None of the numbers discussed are definite and Ford uses some low end estimates of civilian casualties from other conflicts involving the U.S. since Vietnam, but it is still an interesting story. -"The American occupation authority in Iraq, apparently preserving the prewar distinction between Kurdish-controlled northern areas and the rest of the country, will allow Kurdish fighters to keep their assault rifles and heavy weapons, but require Shiite Muslim and other militias to surrender theirs, according to a draft directive," Patrick E. Tyler of The New York Times writes in a May 23 story. -"Angry Afghan demonstrators hurled stones at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Saturday to protest this week's shooting deaths of three Afghan soldiers by U.S. Marines outside the heavily guarded compound," the AP reported today. -"The Pentagon has proposed a policy of regime change in Iran, after reports that al-Qaida leaders are coordinating terrorist attacks from Iran," write Julian Borger and Dan De Luce in today's edition of The Guardian. "The Pentagon plan would involve overt means, such as anti-government broadcasts transmitted to Iran, and covert means, possibly including support for the Iraq-based armed opposition movement Mojahedin Khalq (MEK), even though it is designated a terrorist group by the state department." -Microdoc News' "Dynamics of a Blogosphere Story" has some interesting findings but would be improved dramatically if they include their full findings in raw form. (Thanks to Rayne for the link.) -Today's Boondocks is hilarious as is this entry by Matt Welch. |