Casualties to rise if US prolong stay in Iraq: ex-Pak FM
IRNA
Islamabad, Nov 6, IRNA -- A former Pakistani foreign minister Gohar Ayub on Thursday cautioned that casualties` ratio would go further up if US prolonged stay in Iraq. "What we can foresee and media reports indicate is that with passage of time, US difficulties in Iraq will mount, pushing the country to even more instability," he remarked during an interview with IRNA here. He lamented that the woes of Iraqi men, women and children would also compound as already little attention was being given to medical cover and social services. "Seeing the war-ravaged country becoming more and more insecure, aid agencies will also pack up, leaving poor Iraqis to face harder times," he said referring to a helicopter downing in Fallujah. In the incident, at least US 15 security personnel were killed. Gohar pointed out the industrial and agriculture sector stood damaged due to US-led operation. Similarly, he continued, majority of the government buildings in Baghdad was also destroyed during bombardment of this city. He said the unilateral war had pushed Iraq back to the "primitive times" as people in Baghdad, Tikrit and other cities, had barely anything to eat and wear and the non-availability of medicines and other surgical equipment was hitting the patients hard. The Iraq war, he replied to a question, had badly hurt the United States` credibility as a law-abiding nation and also the popularity graph of President George W Bush also plunged from 85 percent to 52 percent. The analyst painted a bleak picture for Bush in the presidential election next year, saying Americans were totally upset over the fake story about presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq and this could prevent them from voting for him again. "Daily reports of US soldiers` casualties in various parts of Iraq is also sagging Bush`s chances in the elections and Americans` confidence in his leadership," he maintained. To another question, the analyst believed that as a damage control, the United States would have to not only kick off massive reconstruction but also take measures to ensure availability of basic needs to Iraqis. According to Gohar, America and Britain had overestimated acceptability ratio of the Iraq`s exiled leadership back home and also made little efforts to mitigate sufferings of people after the operation was over. "The real worry for American experts is not the national economy, which is recovering, but Bush`s possible defeat in the next year`s elections," he contended. Due to these two fundamental reasons, he concluded, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were facing sharp criticism at home and abroad. MHA/TSH/212 End
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