Iraq: another bloody year

The mayhem unleashed by Messrs Blair and Bush when they so carelessly invaded Iraq in 2003 continues. Last year was the worst for six years, with at least 7,818 civilians and 1,050 members of the security forces killed according to the United Nations.

Since April, there has been a surge in sectarian violence following a deadly crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in Hawija. Sunni militants stepped up attacks across the country, while Shia groups launched reprisals.

Since the US-UK invasion, Al-Qaeda has emerged as a major force in Iraq, and the black flags of their allies are reported to be flying over two cities in the west of the country, Ramadi and Fallujah, showing they are still in control of parts of them.

December alone saw at least 661 civilians killed, plus 98 members of the security services, and tensions have increased this week with the arrest of a prominent Sunni MP.

*Just had news that my A Disastrous History of the World is going to be translated into Romanian. It has already appeared in Spanish and Estonian.

Afghanistan and Iraq - continuing carnage

As the sabre-rattling directed at Iran grows louder and louder, reminders arrive from both Iraq and Afghanistan about how big a mess we still have to clear up in those places.

A series of bombs across Iraq in the last two days have killed at least 13 people, including seven near a police station in the northern city of Ramadi. Last month saw 393 civilian deaths in the country – the highest total for more than a year.

Meanwhile, in southern Afghanistan, at least 30 people lost their lives when a bus hit a landmine as it travelled from Nimroz to Kandahar City. A UN report said that last month was the worst of the year for civilian deaths in Afghanistan too. Up to the end of August, 1,500 had been killed so far this year – an increase of more than 350 on the same period in 2008.

See also my blog of Sept 2.