Friday, July 15, 2005

"One Person Dies Every Hour"

There aren't enough caskets for the Iraqi dead, reports Cihan News Agency (Turkey).

(via News Dissector)"

Coffin makers are unable to keep up with the demand for caskets in Iraq where tens of people die every day due to the continual armed attacks and bombings.

While casket prices increased due to the ever increasing demand, it is impossible to find caskets for the bodies of the poor and homeless. The price of a coffin varies from between $35 and $50 in Bagdat (Baghdad), in a city where one person dies every hour. Caskets have become a major necessity of the country due to the increasing number of deaths. Although around 10 or 15 caskets are constructed per day, they are still not able to supply enough caskets to keep up with demands, say coffin makers. One of them, Abbas Hussein, said: 'Not everyone in Baghdad has the money to buy a coffin. People have difficulty earning their living, how will they find money for a coffin? Poor people bury their relatives using the coffins that individuals have donated to the mosques.'

A Swiss international studies group has claimed that 39,000 of the 100,000 civilian deaths that have occurred are the result of the bombings in Iraq.

Add this to the latest Associated Press poll:
6. When it comes to handling the situation in Iraq, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?

_Approve, 40 percent (41)

_Disapprove, 59 percent (56)

_Mixed feelings, 1 percent (2)

_Not sure, percent (1)


But hey, at least he didn't have consensual sex with a White House intern. He'd have to be impeached for that.