Quality of Life Deemed Poor in Iraq

[maddezmom]

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago



BAGHDAD, Iraq - More than two years after Saddam Hussein's fall, 85 percent of Iraqis complain of frequent power outages, only 54 percent have access to clean water and almost a quarter of Iraqi children suffer from chronic malnutrition, a U.N.-Iraqi survey revealed Thursday.


"The survey, in a nutshell, depicts a rather tragic situation of the quality of life," said Iraq's new planning minister, Barham Saleh.

Although Saleh blamed years of wars, economic mismanagement and repressive policies under Saddam, conditions worsened after the U.S. invasion in 2003, and insurgents now are doing their best to tear down the economy, averaging 70 attacks a day at the start of May.

The U.S. reconstruction effort also has drawn criticism. Last week, government investigators said U.S. civilian authorities in Iraq cannot properly account for nearly $100 million promised for projects in south-central Iraq.

But for all the challenges, the U.N. secretary-general's deputy special representative in Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, said the situation could be much worse.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050512/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_living_standards

[htuttle]

1. Yeah. I hear property values are down, too

:eyes:

[lebkuchen]

15. Ya reckon?

[Double T]

2. 300 Billiion US Taxpayer Dollars yields a poor quality of life in Iraq....

and just think, NONE of it was really necessary!!!!!!

[Sabriel]

4. It's yielding a poorer one here, too

Just ask students in schools affected by massive budget cuts and people without health coverage.

[killbotfactory]

3. welcome to Dick Cheney's Iraq

[Straight Shooter]

5. "The situation could be much worse."

Give it time.

[Robbien]

6. Surprisingly this is an AP report

and even more surprising is that Yahoo picked it up and printed it.

What do you want to bet that network and cable news will touch it.

[killbotfactory]

9. Everyone knows they are much better off without Saddam

:eyes:

[daleo]

7. At least they can now vote in pretend elections.

Just like people in more advanced democracies (well, some anyway).

[warrens]

8. The quality of death ain't so great either. Now, the QUANTITY is excellent

[BiggJawn]

10. wow...Just like here in MURKA!

Freedom's on the March(tm), after all....

[yellowcanine]

11. Kind of like saying "Comfort Level of Hell Judged to be Low" . What other

understatements can we come up with to match that headline?

[yellowcanine]

12. Mrs. Lincoln says her evening at Ford's Theater was "unpleasant."

[killbotfactory]

13. hope limited in jewish ghetto

[Kurovski]

21. "Gay couples find marriage difficult."

[Triana]

14. The quality of life is poor everywhere bu$h has been...

...doing his dirty work isn't it? The US, Iraq...Afghanistan...

[Barrett808]

16. But Iraq is better off w/o Saddam, Right?

I sometimes take the position that Iraq and the world were safer with Saddam in place. Makes for interesting discussion.

[Frederik]

32. That position

is clearly the true one.

[Moderator]

17. kick to combine

[UpInArms]

18. CNN: Report paints grim picture of Iraqi life

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/05/12/iraq.livingsurvey/index.html

(CNN) -- In the wake of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country still struggles with high unemployment, inconsistent utility services and widespread poverty, a joint survey from the Iraqi government and United Nations indicates.

Released Thursday, the report from Iraq's Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation and the U.N. Development Program in Iraq surveyed nearly 22,000 households in the country's 18 provinces during 2004.

<snip>

The survey estimated that the minimum number of war-related deaths ranges from 18,000 to 29,000 and is probably higher.

The report said the survey didn't attempt to count entire families who died and therefore underestimates the total number of people killed.

...more...

[shrike]

19. And the sun will rise in the morning

And Dick Cheney will sneer, and * will smirk, by noon Friday.

[americanstranger]

20. 'The situation could be much worse?'

Yeah - if Bush was their president, I guess.

-as

[Robworld]

22. How come the "liberal media" doesn't report all the good stories from Iraq?

http://www.dumdumgoestothecircus.com/
small update

[Darranar]

23. The Iraqis are so much better off now, aren't they? n/t

[Moderator]

24. kick to combine

[Algorem]

25. U.N. survey finds Iraqi dissatisfaction

Bassem Mroue
Associated Press

Baghdad, Iraq- More than two years after Saddam Hussein's fall, 85 percent of Iraqis complain of frequent power failures, only 54 percent have access to clean water, and almost a quarter of Iraqi children suffer from chronic malnutrition, a U.N.-Iraqi survey revealed Thursday.

"The survey, in a nutshell, depicts a rather tragic situation of the quality of life," said Iraq's new planning minister, Barham Saleh.

Although Saleh blamed years of wars, economic mismanagement and repressive policies under Saddam, conditions worsened after the U.S. invasion in 2003, and insurgents now are doing their best to tear down the economy, averaging 70 attacks a day at the start of May.

The U.S. reconstruction effort also has drawn criticism. Last week, government investigators said U.S. civilian authorities in Iraq cannot properly account for nearly $100 million promised for projects in south-central Iraq...

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1115981758120610.xml&coll=2

[shoelace414]

26. You know what they need over there?

Fox news to tell them how great they have it.

[SHRED]

27. Yep

It works over here.
:sarcasm:

[Justice]

28. The situation will improve with Bolton at the UN

since I am quite sure the UN won't be doing any more surveys measuring dissatisfaction!

[flordehinojos]

29. one more reason why bush wants bolton at the UN: BOLTON WILL BE BUSH'S

SILENCE ENFORCER IN CHIEF.

[Frederik]

30. Oh holy crap

It wasn't exactly paradise under UN sanctions and Saddam's iron fist, but now it's clearly worse by several orders of magnitude. And no improvement in sight either.

At least Saddam made sure children weren't malnourished and people had electricity and water. This is such an enormous tragedy and the fuckers responsible for this bear such an enormous responsibility on their shoulders for which they'll probably never have to pay a dime.

"U.S. civilian authorities in Iraq cannot properly account for nearly $100 million promised for projects in south-central Iraq"

Thieves belong in jail.

[meganmonkey]

31. My initial reaction to these stories is usually "Well, DUH!!!!"

with one of these :eyes:

But really, it is great to see these headlines. Over and over and over again. The US NEEDS to see these headlines. Eventually maybe it will override the rhetoric, the 'freedom is on the march' shit that is brainwashing half of this country.

[bleedingheart]

33. NO...really? color me suprised...

[struggle4progress]

34. yah? ya think so? eom

[progressivebydesign]

35. No shit, Sherlock. Glad the MSM is reporting these vital new details.

We fucking destroyed their country. And.. we can count OUR quality of life as another victim of this war. How many schools, social agencies, fire departments, community clinics, etc., have been destroyed in our country by the staggering debt to pay for this godforsaken war?

[bling bling]

36. Almost half the country still does not have access to clean water?

I'll bet 90% of Americans don't know this. I wish we had a media network in this country that was more than the equivolent of Entertainment Tonight. This little blip about the suffering of Iraqui's is a dot in comparison to the attention the media gave to the Terri Shaivo circus or the Scott Peterson circus or the Michael Jackson circus.