Above, Iraqi children fill jugs from a water truck.
Last week, a Times editorial admonished bottled water drinkers to switch over to regular old tap water in light of the costs and unfavorable environmental effects of the bottled water industry: the oil and energy used to make the plastic bottles plus the huge amount of oil used to transport water, which is heavy, over long distances (often from the Alps or Fiji to American convenient stores and restaurants). All this, when our tap water is perfectly healthy and drinkable.
While we fumble around with this issue, Iraqis aren't so lucky: clean potable water is a precious and scarce commodity in today’s Iraq. IraqSlogger reports,
Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps in Iraq are facing shortages of water, especially clean drinking water, and the situation is being exploited by unscrupulous militants, local NGO's say. “We have been informed that in some displacement camps near Baqouba, Najaf and Missan, families have been taking water from nearby open sewage drains, using cloths to filter it, and then drinking it without boiling it,” said Fatah Ahmed, a spokesman for the Iraq Aid Association (IAA).
Militants who bring clean water to the camps have bullied the IDP’s into providing them with money, favors, and even sex, in exchange for the water. An Oxfam International report recently stated that 70 percent of Iraqis do not have adequate water supplies, which is up from 50 percent in 2003.
Audio began playing any time I opened up this blog, so frustrating!
maintaining a healthy weight can be tricky because it revolves around genetics and some other factors“