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‘The Human Cost of War in Iraq’
A new report by the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) provides the most comprehensive evidence to date that a U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq will trigger the collapse of Iraq’s public health and food distribution system, leading to a humanitarian crisis that far exceeds the capacity of the United Nations and relief agencies. CESR’s research team, which visited Iraq from January 17-30, included six experts in food security and nutrition, public health infrastructure, primary and public healthcare, and emergency and curative medicine. In addition to field surveys and interviews, the team obtained confidential UN documents on humanitarian conditions and emergency planning for war in Iraq.
CESR has now released three of these “strictly confidential” UN planning documents. They warn of a “humanitarian emergency of exceptional scale and magnitude” based on the expected collapse of Iraq’s civilian infrastructure following attacks on Iraq’s electricity and transportation systems.
One document, the Integrated Humanitarian Contingency Plan for Iraq and Neighboring Countries, estimates that “in the event of a crisis, 30 percent of children under five would be at risk of death from malnutrition. As the United States tries to pressure the world into backing a new war against Iraq, it is essential that people everywhere unite in raising their voices to say, No to War!
“The Human Cost of War in Iraq,” the report issued by the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), can be accessed at: www.cesr.org/iraq
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