UN Secretary General to BBC

MSNBC reports that Annan has said what would have seemed unthinkable:  That Iraqis have it worse now than they did under Saddam.

 

Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corp., Annan agreed that the average Iraqi's life is worse now than it was under Saddam Hussein and called the situation in the country "extremely dangerous."

"Given the level of violence, the level of killing and bitterness and the way that forces are arranged against each other, a few years ago, when we had the strife in Lebanon and other places, we called that a civil war; this is much worse," Annan said.

Regarding whether life is worse than under Saddam, Annan said,

"If I were an average Iraqi obviously I would make the same comparison, that they had a dictator who was brutal but they had their streets, they could go out, their kids could go to school and come back home without a mother or father worrying, 'Am I going to see my child again?'" he said.

"And the Iraqi government has not been able to bring the violence under control. The society needs security and a secure environment for it to get on — without security not much can be done — not recovery or reconstruction," Annan added.

I would never have believed it before the war.  I knew the war was wrong on many levels, but would never have believed that the US occupation would make for a situation worse than Saddam.

I believe it now.

GP