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-- killings and other human rights abuses by armed groups include kidnappings, torture, bombings, and other attacks;
-- impunity for prison guards, US and Iraqi security forces, and security contractors because no investigations of their crimes occur;
-- violence against women (domestically and on streets), given little or no protection by authorities as explained above;
-- refugees and internally displaced people endure severe hardships as also explained; and
-- similar human rights abuses occur in Kurdistan as in other parts of the country.
Moreover, democracy is non-existant. Rampant corruption is out-of-control. Paul Bremer's 100 orders turned the country into a cutthroat capitalist laboratory. GMO crops infest the country, and the combination of war, pollution and drought wrecked Iraq's ecosystem, drying up fertile farmland and marshes, turning arable land into desert, killing trees and plants, and making a Garden of Eden a wasteland, much perhaps never to be reclaimed.
Last August 31, however, Obama declared an "end to the combat mission in Iraq," outrageously adding: "Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility." In so doing, he exposed his culpability as a war criminal, matching the worst of George Bush and others preceding him.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at Email address removed. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ .
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