Lynn C. Woolsey: “as we enter the sixth year of the seemingly endless occupation of Iraq, the International Committee of the Red Cross…”

“as we enter the sixth year of the seemingly endless occupation of Iraq, the International Committee of the Red Cross published a worrying report about the State of the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. In its entitled ``Iraq: No Let-Up in the Humanitarian Crisis,'' the publication shows just how far we need to go to meet the most basic needs of the Iraqi people. Despite the rosy picture being painted by some in the administration, too many Iraqis are still without health care, clean water, and/or education. And many families have been torn apart by the civil war wracking the country. Family members have gone missing or have been killed. Some have been shipped off to detention centers. Estimates range on how many people, mostly men, have been locked up. According to the Red Cross, ``Tens of thousands of Iraqis, almost all of them men, are currently in detention often far from their homes.'' One camp is situated in the southern part of the country near Basra and is managed by the United States-led multinational forces in Iraq. At the same time, this is the largest detention facility in the country. And there are more than 20,000 inmates in that detention camp. The situation means that many families have lost their breadwinner. The new heads of household, many women and many children, have to cope in a world that seems to be without home or promise for the future. And their day-to-day life is just as bleak.”