Just some more food for thought, forwarded to me by someone in a position to get these things first hand, and for whom it wouldn’t be politic to speak her own mind in a public forum. The author starts off by offering some facts against the current political rhetoric, but fails to allow that by presenting these facts without referrence he’s really only offering more rhetoric. That said, he makes some interesting points. As I said, food for thought:
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March 10, 2003
Some facts to go with all the war rhetoric
1. Q: What percentage of the world’s population does the U.S. have?
A: 6%
2. Q: What percentage of the world’s wealth does the U.S. have?
A: 50%
3. Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves?
A: Saudi Arabia
4. Q: Which country has the second largest oil reserves?
A: Iraq
5. Q: How much is spent on military budgets a year worldwide?
A: $900+ billion
6. Q: How much of this is spent by the U.S.?
A: 50%
7. Q: What percent of US military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according to the UN?
A: 10% (that’s about $40 billion, the amount of funding initially requested to fund the US retaliatory attack on Afghanistan).
8. Q: How many people have died in wars since World War II?
A: 86 million
9. Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and biological weapons?
A: Since the early 1980’s.
10. Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical & biological weapons on their own?
A: No, the materials and technology were supplied by the US government, along with Britain and private corporations.
11. Q: Did the US government condemn the Iraqi use of gas warfare against Iran?
A: No
12. Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill using gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988?
A: 5,000
13. Q: How many western countries condemned this action at the time?
A: 0
14. Q: How many gallons of agent Orange did America use in Vietnam?
A: 17 million.
15. Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and September 11th terrorist attack?
A: No
16. Q: What is the estimated number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War?
A: 35,000
17. Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the western forces during the Gulf War ?
A: 0
18. Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were buried alive by U.S. tanks with ploughs mounted on the front?
A: 6,000
19. Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War?
A: 40 tons
20. Q: What according to the UN was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994?
A: 700%
21. Q: How much of Iraq’s military capacity did America claim it had destroyed in 1991?
A: 80%
22. Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self defense?
A: No
23. Q: Does Iraq present more of a threat to world peace now than 10 years ago?
A: No
24. Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted in the event of an attack on Iraq in 2002/3?
A: 10,000
25. Q: What percentage of these will be children?
A: Over 50%
26. Q: How many years has the U.S. engaged in air strikes on Iraq?
A: 11 years
27. Q: Were the U.S and the UK at war with Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: No
28. Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped on Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: 20 million
29. Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661 introduced, imposing strict sanctions on Iraq’s imports and exports?
A: 12 years
30. Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in 1989 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 38
31. Q: What was the estimated child death rate in Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 131 (that’s an increase of 345%)
32. Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died by October 1999 as a result of UN sanctions?
A: 1.5 million
33. Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to have died due to sanctions since 1997?
A: 750,000
34. Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq?
A: No
35. Q: How many inspections were there in November and December 1998?
A: 300
36. Q: How many of these inspections had problems?
A: 5
37. Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to the Ba’ath Party HQ?
A: Yes
38. Q: Who said that by December 1998, “Iraq had in fact, been disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern history.”
A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief
39. Q: In 1998 how much of Iraq’s post 1991 capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction did the UN weapons inspectors claim to have discovered and dismantled?
A: 90%
40. Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons inspectors back in ?
A: Yes
41. Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992?
A: Over 65
42. Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990?
A: 30+
44. Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons?
A: 8
45. Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got?
A: 0
46. Q: How many nuclear warheads has US got?
A: over 10,000
47. Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons?
A: the US
48. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?
A: Over 400
50. Q: Who said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”?
A: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Charles Sheketoff, Executive Director Oregon Center for Public Policy
PO Box 7, Silverton, OR 97381
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must ..return..here..to post..
*wanders off rubbing eyes and ponders, “What source did I hear different answers to some of those questions?”…
COMMENT:
I am back. While I didn’t find the information I was looking for, (Other than when Saddam came to power : 1979), I did find this very interesting bit of writing. It is a little lengthy but worthwhile. An excellent five minute history of Iraq and the States.
It starts off painting an innocent picture of Saddam but ends up making the US look dumb, and we like it when that happens. Check out the date too…interesting.
So take five and go here for Part one and here for Part two.
I’ve seen that somewhere before. Thanks.
I researched this and found out that Chuck made it all up. I posted another comment, but liberals don’t like opposing views and censor them!
vi- you’re a clown who couldn’t research his way out of a box of cereal. What source did you consult? Brainwashed Digest? Go away and salvage what hopelessly misguided dignity you have left. There’s room for you in Louisiana.
I found your post to be quite interesting. I wanted to remind you that were you living in Iraq, you would not have the freedom to express your disdain for your President(you would most likely be executed). Saddam Hussein does not respect the life, let alone the human rights, of his own people. They have been brutally tortured, raped, and killed under the hands of their own government. Yet you see a problem with America giving these people the same rights that you enjoy everyday?
I don’t make assumptions about the military’s plans like you because I am not part of the Security Cabinet which by your assumptions you must be. I tend to trust our President and our leaders and I also remember what happened on September 11th(and I am curious to know how you know Iraq had nothing to do with it?)
Send your post to the people of Umm Quasr who were cheering the arrival of American troops, for their liberation from evil had finally come…see what they have to think of your work.
The great thing about our country is that you have every right to express your opinion, the people of Iraq will soon be able to enjoy the freedom we all take for granted. God bless our troops.
Thoughtfully posted, and I fully appreciate that. Thanks for taking the time.
That said, I do say again that I fully agree Saddam needs to be ousted. He’s been dictator in that country for 23 years though, and using terrorism, much less 9/11 as justification for getting him out at this particular time is pretty weak, in my opinion. Same with the alleged weapons of mass destruction. Don’t you think if there were any they would have been used sometime in the past couple weeks?
There’s just no proof Saddam had anything to do with 9/11, Matt. And the terrorists aren’t in Iraq. Just a lot of oil conveniently behind a ruthless dictator. That’s all we know for sure.