Re: Sleight of Hand

dm_callier wrote:
On Nov 26, 12:08 pm, "Nate" <nsaptaemcscpn...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<D...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <Wurm...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
messagenews:5e7d62840ef0baeed4dd9094ceeb5775@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



All this right wing hoopla conveniently ignores the Baby Ruth
floating in the punch bowl: 2007, the year of the surge, has
seen the largest annual toll of U.S. troop deaths (854) in the
history of this woebegone war, and we have the rest of November
and December left to go.
Well, all right, not everybody in the administration has ignored
this. Colonel Steven Boylan, General David Petraeus's personal
public affairs officer, says, "We knew going into this that with
the new strategy there was a potential for more casualties." In
other words, we knew more troops were going to die so it's okay
that they did. See how neat that works?
Did I miss something in social studies? Don't people die when you wage war?
Were we supposed to have a deathless war with Iraq?

Nate

We did wage a nearly "deathless" (at least on our side) war in
Iraq...it's the occupation that is costting so much in lives, money,
and world opinion. There was a reason Bush One didn't drive all the
way to Bagdhad, a reason that then SecDef *** Cheney counseled
against the folly of invasion...you do the math...

You seem to be ignoring the fact that 1991 was before Bin Laden had Al Qaeda units well organized and trained.

For how many years should we have continued our pre-invasion policy before we intervened?

http://www.casi.org.uk/info/panelrep.html#III.Assessment%20of%20the%20humanitarian%20situation

18. As mentioned by UNFPA, the maternal mortality rate increased from 50/100.000 live births in 1989 to 117/100.000 in 1997. The under-five child mortality rate increased from 30.2/1000 live births to 97.2/1000 during the same period. Although figures for infant deaths are based on estimates that may involve a margin of error, the trend is one of sharp increases. The Population Division of DESA calculates that the infant mortality rate rose from 64/1.000 births in 1990 to 129/1.000 in 1995 (the latest Human Development Report sets the average infant mortality rate for Least Developed Countries at 109/1.000). Low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kg) rose from 4% in 1990 to around a quarter of registered births in 1997, due mainly to maternal malnutrition. UNFPA and other sources such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies believe that as many as 70% of Iraqi women are suffering from anemia.

19. The dietary energy supply had fallen from 3.120 to 1.093 kilo calories per capita/per day by 1994-95. The prevalence of malnutrition in Iraqi children under five almost doubled from 1991 to 1996 (from 12% to 23%). Acute malnutrition in Center/South rose from 3% to 11% for the same age bracket. Results of a nutritional status survey conducted on 15.000 children under 5 years of age in April 1997 indicated that almost the whole young child population was affected by a shift in their nutritional status towards malnutrition (Nutritional Status Survey of Infants in Iraq, UNICEF November 7 1998). WFP indicates that according to estimates for July 1995, average shop prices of essential commodities stood at 850 times the July 1990 level.

20. In addition to the scarcity of resources, malnutrition problems also seem to stem from the massive deterioration in basic infrastructure, in particular in the water-supply and waste disposal systems. The most vulnerable groups have been the hardest hit, especially children under five years of age who are being exposed to unhygienic conditions, particularly in urban centers. The WFP estimates that access to potable water is currently 50% of the 1990 level in urban areas and only 33% in rural areas. The absence of basic health education is leading to inappropriate infant and child care and breastfeeding practices. One briefing pointed to the Government's responsibility in the promotion of an ill-advised decline in breastfeeding.

21. Since 1991, hospitals and health centers have remained without repair and maintenance. The functional capacity of the health care system has degraded further by shortages of water and power supply, lack of transportation and the collapse of the telecommunications system. Communicable diseases, such as water borne diseases and malaria, which had been under control, came back as an epidemic in 1993 and have now become part of the endemic pattern of the precarious health situation, according to WHO.

22. School enrollment for all ages (6-23) has declined to 53%. According to a field survey conducted in 1993, as quoted by UNESCO, in Central and Southern governorates 83% of school buildings needed rehabilitation, with 8.613 out of 10.334 schools having suffered serious damages. The same source indicated that some schools with a planned capacity of 700 pupils actually have 4500 enrolled in them. Substantive progress in reducing adult and female illiteracy has ceased and regressed to mid-1980 levels, according to UNICEF. The rising number of street children and children who work can be explained, in part, as a result of increasing rates of school drop-outs and repetition, as more families are forced to rely on children to secure household incomes. Figures provided by UNESCO indicate that drop-outs in elementary schools increased from 95.692 in 1990 to 131.658 in 1999.

23. The accelerating decline of the power sector has had acute consequences for the humanitarian situation. The total remaining installed capacity today is about 7.500 mw, but inadequate maintenance and poor operating conditions have reduced the power actually generated to about half that figure at 3.500 mw. UNDP analysis points out that aging equipment and the continuing effects of war damage have caused deterioration at nearly every level. In spite of a general decline in economic activity, demand currently exceeds supply by at least 1.000 mw, particularly during the peak summer load. Power shortages have consequently worsened to up to 6 hours a day since July 1998.

24. The shortage of electricity has been particularly visible in some parts of the Northern region, where this failure has adversely affected the water supply and health services. Two hydropower stations at Dokan and Derbendikhan, which together have a 649 mw capacity, constitute the only source of power for the Northern governorates. Military hostilities have taken a toll on the transmission system on a countrywide basis. The distribution system has also deteriorated due to poor maintenance and overloading. Almost all automatic control, most remote control and many of the protection devices are malfunctioning.
*************
Contrary to all the claims the Bush-haters make about conditions in Iraq, the infrastructure was in a shambles long before we invaded.
LZ
.

Loading