What would Iraq be like right now (Feb 05) if the U.S. had not invaded it?

[bobweaver]

[Sandpiper]

1. They'd be dying of starvation instead of American bullets

But at least they'd still have electricity and running water.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

2. Still under tyranny like it is now.

Only at least it would be a relatively stable tyranny. There wouldn't be bombs dropping and they would still have their infrastructure. Not great, but better than it is now under US occupation.

[d_b]

3. Hmm. I dunno

But they probably would've nuked us by now.

....:spank:

[misanthrope]

4. A different kind of suckiness...

...than the suckiness they presently have, and certainly not at all like the suckiness it will have in a few years, but it would suck nonetheless.

[tuvor]

5. I don't know about Iraq, but America would be just as threatened.

Which of course, is to say, not at all.

There is nothing noble about this coup.

[theresistance]

6. By the sounds of a lot of people in Iraq

doing a lot better. There would be more electricity, nowhere near the destruction, an extra 100 000 people would be around (or at least tens of thousands of people), so many people would not have been maimed...the list could go on.

[FreedomAngel82]

7. Well from my following of everything

they'd have clean running water, electricity, children wouldn't be orphaned, people wouldn't be maimed, they wouldn't be scared and frightened for their lives every milisecond of the day.

[thebigidea]

8. gosh, I wonder how many posts before we're all branded Saddamlovers

blah blah gassed his own people blah blah torture blah blah rape rooms blah blah freedom blah blah.

I love how Republicans only seem to care about dead Iraqis if Saddam Hussein had a hand in it. Otherwise, they're collateral damage...

(oh yeah, and even if Hussein had a hand in their deaths, the concern only comes decades after their cooperation with him and after several excuses for their war collapse.)

[LibDemAlways]

10. Excellent response and you nailed a repuke talking

point I keep running into.

Repuke: Isn't it wonderful that we've freed the Iraqis from a murderous dictator who gassed his own people?

Me: How did we "free" the Iraqis? We invaded their country, bombed the shit out of them, killed many thousands of them, and destroyed their infrastructure. We continue to occupy their country, and people on both sides are still being killed and maimed every day. Tell me again how we've improved their lives?

Repuke: Isn't it wonderful that we've freed the Iraqis from.....

[daleo]

9. I can think of one boy who would still have two arms.

Not to mention 100 thousand or so living people who are now dead. There would be a lot less American blood in the sand and roadsides of Iraq as well.

[joe1991]

11. The thing of it is...

Leaving aside the ulterior motives of this administration:
You can turn a city dump into a park if you spend enough money,
....but could that money have been spent wiser?

What is it, 50,000 people every day die from starvation?
and about 8,000 from aids? 3,000 from Malaria?

Jeebus, those billions and billions could have been spent SO much better.