Iraq Living Conditions Tragic - Report

[Contrary1]

Imagine that, we aren't hearing the truth from the White House.

I do have to wonder about one thing though. All those "feel good" stories we get from the troops over there about how much better the Iraqi people are now...are they lying, are they following orders to put a happy face on it, or are the military commanders steering them toward urban areas, so they don't see it?

"...The report estimates the number of Iraqis who have died since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 somewhere between 18,000 and 29,000. Of those deaths, 12 percent were children under 18 years of age, meaning that between 2,100 and 3,500 children have been killed in the war thus far, according to ILCS data.

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In some areas of the country, acute malnourishment reaches 17 percent and stunting reaches 26 percent, the report says. Both infant and child mortality rates appear to have been steadily increasing over the past 15 years. At present, 32 babies out of every 1,000 born alive die before reaching their first birthday.

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The infant mortality and malnutrition findings make clear that ''the suffering of children due to war and conflict in Iraq is not limited to those directly wounded or killed by military activities,'' the report says. For example, researchers found that diarrhoea killed two out of every 10 children before the 1991 Gulf War and four in 10 after the war.

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Some 47 percent of urban households but only three percent of rural ones have a sewage connection. More than 80 percent of urban households are able to reach secondary schools, health centres, pharmacies, and police stations within 30 minutes while only 60 percent of urban households can reach a pharmacy or police station in that time.

More...http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=28665