Is the Reconstruction of Iraq Failing?

[Makalakumu]

Upnorth, sorry to correct, but this site claims the 2004 population to be over 27 million.

Sir, Kaith was referring to US statistics, so I provided the total US population. The rates for the events that are referenced, when held in this light, are incredibly low in the US. The casualty rate in Iraq is MUCH higher then anything we can generate using US statistics. These rates show us that serving as a soldier in Iraq is by far more dangerous then a typical day in the US.

upnorthkyosa

 

[Flatlander]

Oh, Upnorth, sorry, man! I totally misread your post. I thought you were claiming the Iraqi population to be at 150,000, hence my immediate desire to correct you (and surprise at such a loony figure). I just can't read. Again, my apologies. You meant 150,000 American soldiers. Yeah, I'm dumb.

ETA - Dan will suffice. Sir is way too much. :asian:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Ok, I did some 'crunching' on casulties. I've posted that info in the "1,000 and climbing' thread.

:asian:

 

[Phoenix44]

You mention dozens of cities controled by insurgents. Please Name them.

For starters:

Tal Afar
Sadr City
Fallujah
Ramadi


About the comparison to highway deaths: Tragic though they may be, they are accidents. No one intentionally put people into this situation--especially not on a series of lies. No one blames Bush for highway deaths. (And no offense, but the comparison between traffic fatality and military casualties is a direct quote from Rush Limbaugh. I doubt that was who you wanted to sound like.)

 

[hardheadjarhead]

This is a straightforward report that gives a clear indication of the scope of human misery in this conflict.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6021654/

Suicide car bombing, US forces fighting insurgents, US soldiers indicted for murder, innocents killed in the cross fire.



Regards,


Steve

 

[PeachMonkey]

More actual data on the failure of Iraq's reconstruction:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50259-2004Sep25?language=printer

Some highlights:

-- Attacks against US troops, Iraqi security forces, and private contractors are occurring at the rate of 70 per day, up from 40-50 daily in the weeks preceding the handover of authority to the Iraqi interim government (a handover that was expedited by the Bush Administration to DECREASE insurgency, natch)

-- Attacks range from complex ambushes to children throwing molotov cocktails (events that, to my knowledge, do not happen anywhere in the United States)

-- Every major city in Iraq (except for Kurdish-controlled strongholds) is suffering, including areas in the Shiite south that had observed relative peace in recent months

"In number and scope, the attacks compiled in the Kroll reports suggest a broad and intensifying campaign of insurgent violence that contrasts sharply with assessments by Bush administration officials and Iraq's interim prime minister that the instability is contained to small pockets of the country."

In particular, recent statements by Prime Minister Allawi and the Bush Administration are unequivocally shown to be outright lies.

 

[PeachMonkey]

More fun information about our failure in Iraq:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...7sep27,1,2359615.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Bush Administration officials are quietly giving up on any hope of building a Western-style democracy in Iraq.

"Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said administration officials have told him privately that they have lowered their expectations. "They've definitely recalibrated their goals," he said. "One of them told me: 'When we went in there, I thought we would build American-style democracy. Hell, I'd be happy with Romanian-style democracy now.' "

I'm certainly glad that we've spent upwards of $285 billion dollars, and thousands of American and Iraqi lives, to bring Romania to Iraq.

More interesting data: apparently, despite US predictions that Iraq could quickly pump up to 6 million barrels of oil daily, the country will struggle even to pump 2.8 million/daily by the end of the year. Attacks on the oil infrstructure have put the oil program over $1 billion in the hole.

Oh, and of the $18.2 billion allocated for Iraqi reconstruction, only $1.2 billion has been disbursed, and so much of that money has gone to foreign firms that the Iraqis have only seen *half* of that figure.

 

[PeachMonkey]

More data about how Bush Administration and Allawi claims about the state of Iraq are completely false.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5240190

 

[michaeledward]

This just in ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6590045/

WASHINGTON - A third or more of the government property Halliburton Co. was paid to manage for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq could not be located by auditors, investigative reports to Congress show.

I especially liked this quote.

Company spokeswoman Cathy Gist said Friday that KBR recently conducted a "wall-to-wall" review of all property it is managing for the Pentagon in war zones including Iraq and Afghanistan and produced results far better than Bowen's findings.
"We are pleased to report that this total inventory review confirmed 99.4 percent accountability of all property," she said. "The facts show that KBR has adequately managed property for this mission by aggressively monitoring its property management functions -- above and beyond what is required."

What is interesting is that most production facilities in the world struggle to reach 95% accountability for inventory under the most ideal circumstances. In a war-time environment (oops sorry - post major combat operations environment), a statistic of 99.4% accountability is miraculous.

Anyone familiar with methods of Production and Inventory Control would recognize Ms. Gist's quote as one of the 47.5% of statistics that are made up on the spot.

 

[rmcrobertson]

But it is important to remember that this IN NO WAY resembles the 99 & 44/100% of the vote that old Uncle Joe Stalin used to receive.

That's just 10 ration points for a BIG, BIG, half ounce BAR!!! (Well, ten for Ersatz chocolate. Fifty for real.)