We are hearing of Israel creating 60,000 refugees in Gaza, what about 2 million in Iraq? What about Afghanistan? What about Darfur? 35 million ...

We are hearing of Israel creating 60,000 refugees in Gaza, what about 2 million in Iraq? What about Afghanistan? What about Darfur? 35 million around the world?
A year ago I discussed the 2 million permanent nomads Bush created in his Iraq success and the numbers would get worse as the "success spread throughout the middle east!

Well, it is spreading! A year ago I pointed out: The International Committee of the Red Cross, in a report titled "Iraq: No Let-up in the Humanitarian Crisis," writes, "Despite limited improvements in security in some areas, armed violence is still having a disastrous impact. Civilians continue to be killed in the hostilities. "The injured often do not receive adequate medical care. Millions of people have been forced to rely on insufficient supplies of poor-quality water as water and sewage systems suffer from a lack of maintenance and a shortage of engineers."
Both Amnesty and the Red Cross slam the Iraqi government for failing to grapple with the critical needs of their populations. The two reports cite a litany of concerns, including severe widespread poverty, a lack of food and water, and broken families left to scrounge for whatever they can find to get by. Both reports describe a situation that shows no sign of clear improvement. Many women "have been forced to wear Islamic dress or targeted for abduction, rape or killing. That is not to speak of the more than 2 million permanent nomads because of Bush's success.

Millions of Iraqis still don’t have clean water and medical care, thousands are jobless, the government is still dragging its feet on important reforms like an oil sharing law. That was a year ago and I have not heard of any substantial change in the situation Bush created to get in the middle east with the promise of spreading the situation throughout the entire middle east!

Today I woke to hear warnings of a growing refugee crisis in Gaza because of Israel but I first want to say I think it is because of Hamas. According to the United Nations, about 30,000 people are living in schools it sponsors and an estimated 60,000 have fled to the houses of relatives. The figures still represent a small part of Gaza’s 1.5 million population but have doubled in the past four days, United Nations officials said, raising concerns about the humanitarian impact of a broader war. While Israel is being criticized Hamas is being commended by Palestine in essence for killing its own people needlessly and creating these refugees!UN warning of Gaza refugees

I was remembering that Tens of thousands of Afghan people have fled their homes in central and southern Afghanistan since the resurgence of the Taliban and the associated flare-up in fighting began in 2006 and it is worsening daily. I never hear them mentioned!

I thought of the Tens of thousands of people who have been killed in Sudan's Darfur region. Over 240,000 have fled across the border to Chad. Millions more are homeless. Most are women and children, terrified while the fighting continues.

It made me revisit something I have discussed in the past and the growing refugee crisis around the world as we seek "peace" I am reminded that Nearly 35 million people around the world are uprooted from their homes and communities by persecution and armed conflict.

* God forbid! I would never minimize killing one person, uprooting one person, starting any conflict. Man around the world must learn to live with what they have or we are screwed. You know what that means! In this instance I merely want to point out we have a growing crisis around the world that will get much worse and focusing on Israel "agree with it or not" and the 60,000 refugees in Gaza is commendable but is inconsequential to the rapidly growing numbers around the world as the world fights to gain a foot in a world that very likely will not be able to support them at the very least!

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com