Help me debunk this please

[jor_mama]

I remember seeing a number of threads in response to this 'truth' before, and I am finally going to just debunk it and ask the person to look at some of the FACTS regarding Iraq. Was there a web address somewhere that debunked it? I can argue till I'm blue in the face that this stuff is malarky, but I'd rather have some evidence.

Thanks ...

http://www.hangtownmarines.org/EventHistory/General/GoodNewsFromIraq.htm




From the Commanding Officer at MWSS-171 to his Marines.

Marines and Sailors:

As we approach the end of the year I think it is important to share a few thoughts about what you've accomplished directly, in some cases, and indirectly in many others. I am speaking about what the Bush Administration and each of you have contributed by wearing the uniform, because the fact that you wear the uniform contributes 100% to the capability of the nation to send a few onto the field to execute national policy. As you read about these achievements you are a part of, I would call your attention to two things:

1. This is good news that hasn't been fit to print or report on TV.

2. It is much easier to point out the errors a man makes when he makes the tough decisions, rarely is the positive as aggressively pursued.

Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1st ...

· The first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty.

· Over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.

· Nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning.

· The Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.

· On Monday, October 6th power generation hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding the prewar average.

· All 22 universities and 43 technical institutes and colleges are open, as are nearly all primary and secondary schools.

· By October 1st, Coalition Forces had rehabed over 1,500 schools - 500 more than scheduled.

· Teachers earn from 12 to 25 times their former salaries.

· All 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.

· Doctors salaries are at least eight times what they were under Saddam.

· Pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700 tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons.

· The Coalition has helped administer over 22 million vaccinations to Iraq's children.

· A coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of Iraq's 27,000 kilometers of weed-choked canals which now irrigate tens of thousands of farms. This project has created jobs for more than 100,000 Iraqi men and women.

· We have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services and over two-thirds of the potable water production.

· There are 4,900 full-service telephone connections. We expect 50,000 by year-end.

· The wheels of commerce are turning. From bicycles to satellite dishes to cars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all major cities and towns.

· 95% of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time customers are opening accounts daily.

· Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses.

· The central bank is fully independent.

· Iraq has one of the worlds most growth-oriented investment and banking laws.

· Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.

· Satellite TV dishes are legal.

· Foreign journalists aren't on 10-day visas paying mandatory and extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for "minders" and other government spies.

· There is no Ministry of Information.

· There are more than 170 newspapers.

· You can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner.

· Foreign journalists (and everyone else) are free to come and go.

· A nation that had not one single element - legislative, judicial or executive - of a representative government, now does.

· In Baghdad alone residents have selected 88 advisory councils. Baghdad's first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when the city council elected its new chairman.

· Today in Iraq chambers of commerce, business, school and professional organizations are electing their leaders all over the country. 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in Iraq's history, run the day-to-day business of government.

· The Iraqi government regularly participates in international events.

· Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference Summit.

· The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening over 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.

· Shia religious festivals that were all but banned, aren't.

· For the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shiites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th Imam.

· The Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.

· Uday and Queasy are dead - and no longer feeding innocent Iraqis to the zoo lions, raping the young daughters of local leaders to force cooperation, torturing Iraq's soccer players for losing games, or murdering critics.

· Children aren't imprisoned or murdered when their parents disagree with the government.

· Political opponents aren't imprisoned, tortured, executed, maimed, or are forced to watch their families die for disagreeing with Saddam.

· Millions of long-suffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.

· Saudis will hold municipal elections.

· Qatar is reforming education to give more choices to parents.

· Jordan is accelerating market economic reforms.

· The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an Iranian – a Muslim woman who speaks out with courage for human rights, for democracy and/or peace.

· Saddam is gone.

· Iraq is free.

· President Bush has not faltered or failed.

Yet, little or none of this information has been published by the Press Corps that prides itself on bringing you all the news that's important.

Iraq under US lead control has come further in six months than Germany did in seven years or Japan did in nine years following WWII. Military deaths from fanatic Nazi's and Japanese numbered in the thousands and continued for over three years after WWII victory was declared.

It took the US over four months to clear away the twin tower debris, let alone attempt to build something else in its place.

Now, take into account that Congress fought President Bush on every aspect of his handling of this country's war and the post-war reconstruction; and that they continue to claim on a daily basis on national TV that this conflict has been a failure.

Taking everything into consideration, even the unfortunate loss of our brothers

and sisters in this conflict, do you think anyone else in the world could have accomplished as much as the United States and the Bush Administration in so short a period of time?

These are things worth writing about. Get the word out. Write to someone you think may be able to influence our Congress or the press to tell the story.

Above all, be proud that you are a part of this historical precedent.

God Bless you all. Have a great Holiday!

Semper Fidelis ..."

[Robb]

1. Here's a pretty good one:

http://rantings.shaghaghi.net/archives/001408.html

[bryant69]

6. Thanks for the link.

It looks very detailed and solid.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[LibInternationalist]

2. All of these facts are probably true...

but that doesn't mean that the situation is unequivocally better -- violent crime rates are higher, suicide bombings (which never happened before) have become a relatively common occurrence, unemployment has risen, and I'm sure this list could be continued

All of these facts are probably true, that is, except for the asinine "President Bush has not faltered or failed," and it can be very difficult to measure such qualities as freedom ("Iraq is free")

on edit: it's pretty much a fallacy to measure success solely by the number of _______ built/open/etc. For example, some of the schools may not be functioning adequately, some of the pharmaceuticals distributed may not be reaching the sick, etc.

[nobiz]

3. Why debunk it?

It seems to me that we should applaud our soldiers for doing good work in a difficult situation. None of their accomplishments have anything to do with whether or not we should have gone to Iraq in the first place, and I would guess more than a lot of our soldiers would rather not have gone there.

My argument is with how the Administration got us into Iraq, not with the soldiers.

[trumad]

Why debunk it?

because if you believe things at face value you become a Republican.

[nobiz]

8. Sigh

I don't know what to say. I don't accept things at face value, and I'm pissed off at Bush and his cronies for getting us into this horrible mess. But I do appreciate what our soldiers have been doing over there, and I hope they are successful. If they aren't, that means some of my friends and family members will die. If that makes me a Republican, whatever.

[trumad]

9. sigh back

Dude..welcome to DU..but you gotta know something about us DU'er... We suspect everything that we read in print. BECAUSE when emails like this go around 9 out of 10 times it's pure bunk. Another thing you might want to know about us...We support the troops too... We support them so much we want them home instead of fighting Dubya's war.

Peace

[Robb]

4. You're right! Let's leave the bunk in!

:eyes:

[Drifter]

5. Don't forget ...

Before the war Suicide Bombings were unheard of in Iraq.
Now they seem to be happening on a daily basis.

Cheers
Drifter

[wjittermoss]

7. A number of these things were fully functioning BEFORE we invaded.

No few pharmeceuticals before invasion because US had put sanctions on.
All the schools were open and functioning and before Desert Storm Iraq had one of the highest literacy rates in the ME with women taking part in a thriving system.

Much of the hardship on Iraqis after Desert Storm was a direct result of UN (US-forced) sanctions on the country and not Saddam. (Sorta like Haiti for the past 15 years). Saddam was a brutal dictator but so long as you didn't cross his henchmen, for the most part life was fairly peaceful...certainly not like it is now.

Salaries may be higher but so are the costs for most things. Before Desert Storm and certainly before our invasion, healthcare, education, medicines, businesses were free to all.

We generally see to that we demolish any country that we don't like through sanctions and embargos and then blame the hardship on the country's leader. We are doing this right now with Cuba. Just think what Cuba would be like if our embargos had been lifted over the past 30 years. They care for their people in remarkable ways considering the hardships that we have caused them.

[Viking12]

10. Women aren't doing any better

"As women seek representation in the country's government, a new wave of religious activism is posing a threat to their legal rights as well as their personal safety."

As women seek representation in the country's government, a new wave of religious activism is posing a threat to their legal rights as well as their personal safety