''Beyond the Green Zone: Eyewitness Account!!''

Seattle super-Deaniac Dina Lydia posted this on Kos last week. It's a report of Robin Fasano's recent talk sponsored by the West Seattle DFA. Slice of Iraqi life: "Robin said she believes the situation has "spiraled downward" over the past two years: She mentioned the lack of security and accountability. Due to the destruction of infrastructure and lack of basic maintenance, most areas have insufficient electricity, clean running water, telephone or postal service, according to Robin. When she was there, she saw no rebuilding going on, except for satellite dishes and new office furniture in the Baghdad police station. Robin cited a report released in Feb. 2005 by Amnesty International that stated that women today in Iraq are no better off than they were under the dictatorship of Saddam. Under Saddam, women had access to education and health care, and could inherit property. Now the lack of security has many women afraid to leave their homes and, in fact, girls' attendance in school has declined." Earlier this month, I was in the audience when pediatrician Dr. Jahan Hassan from Basra spoke of the struggling condition of her own hospital, and the growing proportion of severe birth defects suffered by the population there. Both reports were similarly distressing."