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[casi] BBC overnight report/ Baghdad



Heard just now, from memory:

BBC just now :

Journalists are reporting shops and hospitals are being literally carried
off-

BBC Andrew Gilligan was in one hospital, asked one looter why on earth he
was carrying off incubator and heart monitoring machine.. "He just laughed
and ran off."

This journalist had been on the street and seen a young boy beaten to death
for looting..when the journalist tried to intervene, he was told 'get away
or we'll kill you too'. They didn't even say he was a looter, just 'not from
our area'.

Reporters are amazed that US/UK took over Iraq TV station and are
broadcasting nothing but prepared speeches and US propaganda.

It is an acute emergency and Iraq TV should be used for emergency messages
to the people of Baghdad about the civil emergency taking place and the
measures they should take and not for repeating the Bush speech.

Perle was interviewed tonight and questioned about the accusation that
Baghdad had too few US troops assigned to the city- 25,000 to handle a city
of 7 million people in civil disorder following US bombings.

Perle said "I only have your word here that there is civil disorder- I have
not heard this"

However,

BBC just announced that the US has made a request of the Arabic Service BBC
to announce that the US is requesting Iraqi Baathist civil authorities to
report to work in Baghdad immediately.

BBC has just now  made the announcement in Arabic that  US has just set set
up a center at the Palestine Hotel to process Baghdad state workers,
engineers, civil servants, police etc. to work to restore water, electricity
and order in the city.

There aren't telephones operating, electricity is off, most water is off,
sanitation is disastrous.

UN official said US in violation of Geneva Convention if this situation is
not remedied immediately.

British Major General Julian Thompson:
"Not enough US troops were planned for. US does not train for handling war
aftermath. They really are not interested in peace-keeping at all. They rely
solely on force-training - I don't think peace is ever on their minds."

With Iraqi civil authorities being called to work at last, the problem will
be language. Need for hundreds of interpreters..

[Interesting- Rumsfeld had warned that Saddam would blow up stuff ...he has
not. All the infrastructure damage was done only by US. Iraqis have
noticed. ]

pg




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