Big News; Small Exposure

This is an interesting little titbit about a dam in Iraq, tucked away at the end of an article about the Blackwater mercenaries being granted immunity by the Bush junta:

In a separate development, the US congressional investigator into billions of dollars allocated for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, today published a report that said a $27m (£13.5m) US effort to help Iraq repair the Mosul dam, "has yet to yield significant improvements".

There was a danger, he said, that the dam could burst, flooding large parts of Iraq, including Baghdad, with the risk of hundreds of millions being killed [my emphasis].

The US army corps of engineers assessment is that Mosul could end up under 65ft of water and Baghdad 15ft.

Surely this should be FRONT PAGE NEWS??????

Why the hell is the story of the possible demise of hundreds of thousands more Iraqis, hidden away in a barely related story?

Is the fact that the bastard mercenaries of Blackwater may get away with murdering 17 more Iraqi citizens, more important than the possible death of a million or more?

What they appear to be saying is that the money superficially allocated for 'reconstruction' has done another disappearing act, whilst the Mosul dam remains in a critical condition. If the dam bursts, then it has the potential to match or exceed the 1 million plus Iraqis already dead as a result of the invasion and occupation. FFS, how many BILLIONS have the spent on bombs destroying and killing in the last four years? A tiny fraction of that would ensure the safety of millions. The combined population of the two cities was estimated to be around 10 million in 2005.