Update from Bahgdad Burning blog - not looking good

[fizzana]

We also heard that one of the assistant deans of the college of engineering in Baghdad University was assassinated recently. It's terrible news and the subject has been on my mind a lot lately. I don't know why no one focuses on this topic in the news. It's like Iraq is suffering from intellectual hemorrhaging. Professors and scientists are being assassinated right and left- decent intelligent people who are necessary for the future of Iraq. Other scientists are being detained by the Americans and questioned about- of all things- Al-Qaeda.

<snip>

And it doesn't stop with the scientists. Doctors are also being assassinated by some mysterious group. It started during the summer and has been continuing since then. Iraq has some of the finest doctors in the region. Since June, we've heard of at least 15 who were killed in cold blood. The stories are similar- a car pulls up to the clinic or office, a group of men in black step down and the doctor is gunned down- sometimes in front of the patients and sometimes all alone, after hours. One doctor was shot brutally in his house, in front of his family. There was a rumor that Badir's Brigade (the SCIRI militia led by Al-Hakeem) had a list out of 72 doctors that had to be killed for one reason or another. They include Sunni, Shi'a and Christian doctors.

Scientists, professors and doctors who aren't detained or assassinated all seem to be looking for a way out. It seems like everyone you talk to is keeping their eyes open for a job opportunity outside of the country. It depresses me. When I hear someone talking about how they intend to leave to Dubai or Lebanon or London, I want to beg them to stay… a part of me wants to scream, "But we need you here! You belong here!" Another more rational part of me knows that some of them have no options. Many have lost their jobs and don't know how to feed their families. Others just can't stand the constant worrying about their children or spouse. Many of the female doctors and scientists want to leave because it's no longer safe for women to work like before. For some, the option is becoming a housewife or leaving abroad to look for the security to work.

Whatever the reason, the brains are slowly seeping out of Iraq. It's no longer a place for learning or studying or working… it's a place for wealthy contractors looking to get wealthier, extremists, thieves (of all ranks and origins) and troops…

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

The last paragraph says it all. Saddam Hussein started destroying Iraq and the U.S. is finishing the job.

[DrWeird]

1. "Saddam Hussein started destroying Iraq."

The U.S. started Saddam Hussein. What in Iraq isn't the fault of the U.S.? You can't get rid of the weed without pulling the roots. You can't make the world a better and safer place when these people can roam freely.

[fizzana]

2. Valid point

however, what Hussein did, with or without the prompting and acquiescence of the U.S. is and was inexcusable.

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Before the crusade began, John Bolton made the argument that some

people in Iraq had the intellectual capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction, and therefore the country should be invaded.

His assertion was and remains today the most irrefutable, once one accepts the premise that intellectual capacity in countries with large Muslim populations constitutes an imminent threat to US business interests.

The crusaders are efforting to reduce that threat, and not without success. "Intensive interrogations" are especially effective in neutralizing this particular menace.

[nomaco-10]

4. Heartbreaking to read.....

Scientists, professors and doctors being assasinated and detained. Iraq is in a downward spiral that they may never recover from. What the US hasn't destroyed the terrorists we created from our occupation will finish off any hopes the Iraqi people may have ever had. I'm sure most there are feeling pretty hopeless at this point. When the transfer of power does come, the civil war will begin in full scale ernest.

I find myself just shaking my head in disbelief and disgust at the horror we have unleashed on their country. bush* has opened up a Pandora's box that may reak havoc on the rest of the world for decades and maybe even centuries to come. The religion of Islam has stood for milleniums and our fledling country is less than three hundred years old. You need only read the history books to know that nation building and imperialism are doomed endeavors.

[fizzana]

5. Whatever little expectation I had that Iraq might somehow

stumble into becoming a better place once the U.S. gets out of the way has gone. This first hand report clearly suggests that Iraq is on a one way ticket to becoming another Haiti only worse because it will become Al Qaeda's new home base.