While the shocking casualties and personal misery from the Sumatra quake/tsunami mount, elsewhere the grief and tragedy from a man-made disaster has not ended because it is out of our news cycle:
Refugees trickle back to Falluja
Falluja residents have been returning to their homes for a second day since US and Iraqi forces began allowing people back into the devastated city....By nightfall, fewer than 500 people had returned to be horrified by the devastation they had seen.
For some reason this seemed to surprise the US authorities in the segment I heard on NPR Thursday evening, discussing this. After all,
The government says it has set up water tanks for them in the city, and will give each returning resident $100.
Moreover,
Many of those who have inspected their homes say they do not intend to stay.
"I saw the city and Andalus destroyed," resident Ali Mahmoud told Reuters news agency on Friday.
"My house is completely destroyed. There is nothing left for me to stay for."
Inside Falluja: 'Nothing to come back to'
The acting director of the General Hospital in Fallujah speaks about what he saw:
"I was there, inside the city - about 60% to 70% of the homes and buildings are completely crushed and damaged, and not ready to inhabit at the moment."
This is not, however, the worst of it by any means - speaking of a colleague from the hospital whose house was burned:
"...When he went to his neighbours' home, he found a relative of his was dead and a dog had eaten the meat off him.
I think we will see many things like this, because the US forces have cleared the dead people from the streets, but not from inside the homes.
But some have no choice.
Many civilians who fled Falluja have said they are desperate to return.
Many have been camping out in winter temperatures in tents, or staying in schools and other public buildings.
As Dr. Isawi reports,
"...one man, who has only a room to live in, has told me he will stay on because he has been living in very bad conditions outside Falluja.
He told me he will bring other members of his family and will live there - he cannot do otherwise."
But someday they will be grateful to us for liberating them. (You would, if you were in their situation, right?)
Despite this tragedy, the terrorists will not win. The Iraqis will have elections, and they will move towards becoming a stable democratic nation. The world will be changed for the better, and the families of the brave men and women who answered the call of duty will know that those who died did not give their lives in vain.
David Joyce, Marblehead, MA, USA
Or, as I was told over the holiday, it's all part of God's ineffable plan, even if all we can see is the tragedy right now...just have faith!
(Sorry so brief - I don't have the strength right now to write more.)
