Given that some 650,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S.-British invasion, it's little wonder that some two million Iraqis have decided to flee their homes and become refugees; and the loss of its middle class is further undermining whatever slim chance Iraq might have had to reestablish some semblance of a normal economy. Little wonder that Kofi Annan said that Iraq is now worse off than under Saddam. Well, our puppet regime in Iraq thinks it may have come up with a way to "solve" at least part of the problem.
As the Washington Post reports:
Iraq is hemorrhaging doctors as violence racks the nation. To stem the flow, the Iraqi government has recently taken a cue from Saddam Hussein: Medical schools are once again forbidden to issue diplomas and transcripts to new graduates.
Brilliant. Just make it impossible for doctors to work abroad, and most will have little choice but to remain.
It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were better before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Electricity in Baghdad was more reliable; sectarian hostility was rare; Iraq was safe -- except for the many victims of Hussein's tyranny. But rarely has the government embraced a policy that so harshly evokes the era of dictatorship. To some students and doctors, the diploma decision, like Iraq's crumbling medical system, provides clear proof of the government's helplessness and the nation's decline.
Yes, we've not only made things worse than under Saddam, but the "government" we're sacrificing lives to support is now actually emulating Saddam's methods! And the medical students and doctors have little recourse.
Although the medical association says it will dispute the diploma decision, doctors and students said they plan no public protest, fearing it could get them killed.
What are we fighting for?