Robert,
2/3 of the country is rebuilding. A good deal of the damage was not caused by US action. Neglect, sabotage, and other actions contributed to the damage.
Interestingly enough, the roadside bombing clip I saw showed some roads in pretty decent repair, with traffic flowing. Repairs and modernization continue on water/electric/etc.
While a few months out of date, this makes for an interesting read:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/iraq.html
Oh, and this just in:
Official: Iraq Oil Fields Resume Exports
09.21.2004, 10:27 AM
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2004/09/21/ap1553475.html
Exports from Iraq's northern oilfields are back to normal after a spate of attacks earlier this month crippled the main pipeline carrying Iraqi crude to Turkey, the state-run Northern Oil Co. said Tuesday.
Repairs were completed and oil began flowing through the line to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on Tuesday, a senior company official said on condition of anonymity.
Iraq was pumping an average of 400,000 barrels of crude a day through Turkey before a series of sabotage attacks earlier this month.
By using substitute lines, the pumping rate was brought back to 250,000 barrels a day last week.
With the main line repaired, the country is now ready to start pumping 600,000 barrels day, the official said. However, some analysts question Iraq's ability to reach such targets.
Insurgents waging a 17-month campaign here have repeatedly targeted Iraq's crucial oil infrastructure in a bid to undermine the U.S.-backed interim authorities.
With crude oil selling above $40 a barrel, the frequent sabotage has cost Iraq more than $2 billion, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has said.
Also "current production is averaging 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of which two million bpd were coming from southern oil fields."
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=404344
As to the bombing, stop making it sound like they are being carpet bombed back into the stone age. The attacks are being done with precision weapons, that take out -a- building in most cases. This is happening in a -few- locations, in cities that are Sunni strongholds, at the -request- of the Iraqi government.
As to the Kurds, they have always wanted that, and now see the chance. Negotiations are ongoing.
As to Unemployment:
Unemployment Levels
Prewar: 60 percent
Oct. 2003: 70 percent
Current: 25 percent to 30 percent
(Source: CPA)
More than 55,000 Iraqis are employed by contractors, at an average wage of $4 to $5 per day, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
CPA's Explanation of Drop in Unemployment: The "about 70 percent" figure that the CPA gave ABCNEWS in November was not an official figure, but an estimate based on consultations with Iraqi economic officials. It was never a concrete figure. Since then, experts say they have had the advantage of time on the ground to help gauge more accurately the employment picture. Our own view is that this remains a very rough estimate.
$5 a day sounds real bad..until you factor in that gas sells for 35 cents a gallon. (Unless you're a US based gouger who sells for $3 a gallon)
The Iraqi police and military now numbers in the tens of thousands. They are the ones currently doing the bulk of the fighting.
As to that unexploded ordinance, my god Robert, you are right. I mean, just the other day I saw this footage of these kids playing catch with hand grenades in the burnt out hulk of a Bradley. I mean, it's everywhere. NOT!
Robert, it's a combat zone. Of course there are unexploded shells. They still find them all over Europe and the Pacific. Just recently they found 1 of over 100! 'lost' atomic bombs off the US coast, missing for 45+ years.
As to the beheadings...so what?
Let them kill 1 guy a day. It still means that the other 25,000+ foreign workers in the country are working, earning a very high wage, and making progress. Yes, it's a crime, but we lose more than that a day to car accidents in any major city here. Outside of the shock value, it is a meaningless statistic.
As to what I argue for...remember, I argued for the napalming of Columbia to stop the cocaine cartels.
Robert, argue with facts, not the sensationalized sound bytes from Fox or CNN or some ultra-whatever campus rag where the editors think it's all about oil or otherwise haven't yet adapted to the real world and being apart from 'mommy'. Your post is lacking any quantifiable evidence, and is the same sort of 'scare em' sensationalism that I expect from my local news rag, or the Bush Administration. Apologies if this is rude, but I tire of having my intelligence insulted.
