The "truth" about the situation in Iraq?

Well, you guys, I wanted to share this e-mail with you all.

My father sent this to me the other day... And in no way am I a Bushie, I just thought this was interesting enough to share. The only thing that I see good about this e-mail is, hopefully, it is truthful and the Iraqi people are reaping some kind of benefits from our intrusion. Check it out, and let me know what you think... aaand, DO NOT BITE MY HEAD OFF, I AM JUST SHARING SOMETHING I RECEIVED IN MY E-MAIL.

The views and opinions expressed below do not necessarily reflect my views and opinions of the situation in Iraq. Now that the disclaimer is through...
Here it is.

Subject: Thr truth about the situation in Iraq.

George W. Herndon, III
Contract Specialist
DeCA-CICDS
804-734-8020
FAX: 804-734-8669



AFTER YOU THINK ABOUT IT FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard, serving in Iraq:
As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two-week leave back home. And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that your paper/TV is putting out.)
* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur.
* The port of Hum Qatar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.
* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.
* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.
* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever
* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
* An interim constitution has been signed.
* Girls are allowed to attend school.
* Textbooks that don't mention Sadism are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.
Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about, but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.
Ray Reynolds, SFr
Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion

 

Interesting figures... But I do wonder how much of it is true. And I still wonder who will be running Iraq.

 

Meaningless - lies and propaganda. For example, alarm bells should start ringing when you hear the claim that "girls are allowed to attend school". This is perfectly true, although.... girls were allowed to attend school under Saddam. This was not an Islamic theocracy like the Taliban. Pure Bush propaganda.

There's an interesting dissection of this piece of propaganda here, which debunks most of its claims:
http://www.orwelliantimes.com/2004/04/26.html

 

It's safe to assume that such emails are sneaky propoganda and/or total bullshit. Never get your news from forwarded messages like that.

 

Certainly you don't trust everything our media says, though?

As someone who is studying to be a journalist, even I don't necessarily trust everything that I read in the paper or see on the t.v. news. They are taught to sensationalize to sell papers / get ratings, that's what journalism is mostly about now-a-days, not spreading the truth, like it used to be. I'm not saying this e-mail is true, I was saying IF it is true, (If and only If) then there's at least some good news.

 

Given that the media (including such oft assailed supposedly "liberal" bastions like the NYT or Washington Post) devoted the bulk of their reporting throughout the past three years of this administration simply regurtitating bogus claims from admin officials without so much as checking the facts prior to publication (only to be forced to print reversals, apologies and retractions when everything the "fringe" press has reported all along indeed was shown to be correct, Id say any details of the glaring fraud this entire "export of democracy" has been are more in line with the truth than anything remotely approving of the admins policies.

Right wing pundits and Faux News ideologues continue to spew misinformation and outright lies to drown out any meaningful and rightful public scrutiny of this cabal of reinstated criminals, but the international community is not so insulated. Its time Americans wake up, turn off Bill O'Reilly, Hannity and any other lying right wing pundit and start acknowledging that they have been lied to and betrayed by a government which loves its personal profits more than its nation.

A truly patriotic government wouldnt have had to cloak its entire range of policies in the sorts of spin and lies that this one has. Especially one which claimed it would "unify the nation" and "restore integrity to the office of President". What they have delivered instead is a nation all the more divided by hate-filled polemic, rumours, lies and illegal war of aggression and an increasingly unaccountable Presidency shrouded in secrecy and "executive priviledge".

Time to put an end to the right of any President to decide what the public should and should not know and a mandate for full transparency and a restoration of the checks and balances proscribed by our Constitution and systematically dismantled by this administration.

 

Hmm, interesting... Makes me wonder whether we know the truth about anything in this world at all.

That's honestly one of the problems in this country, is the ongoing battle between the left and right. I don't think that either side is properly protrayed, and the few nuts that are either far left or far right are the ones that grab the spotlight the most. I, personally, take the middle road approach... to be truly fair and balanced (Fox News, eat your heart out... LOL! ).

I feel that our media tends to be very left minded, which should not be the case. Journalism should reflect a truly unbiased view of the world, and present all of the facts, not simply choose the facts that sell papers / get ratings / influence public approval. A lot of times (and it really is true, I swear!), an editor will pick and choose what facts should be told based on what will have the greatest public impact. This sensationalism taints the news we regularly receive and accept as total truth. And I think we all know that even a half-truth is just a lie.

As for regurgitating information given by officials, I think our press probably did know that there would have to be apologies made for misinformation, making our gov't look even worse than it already did (like they need help, or something). I'm not saying our gov't is not responsible for lies and injustices, but I do definitely believe that the press tries to put them in the worst light possible, in some cases, stretching the truth to make things seem worse than they are. It's all about the ratings, baby!

 

Are you guys really so blind to think this is fake? Come on! American takes care of the nations it invades. Don't be stupid.

 

I certainly agree that there probably has been a lot of great things over in Iraq during the US occupancy, however I don't buy the overall sentiment that they want us there. My best friends brother is in Bagdad and from what I've heard through that correspondence is that the anger towards the US for being there continues to get worse and worse everyday.

 

ok. this is probably a bush admin thing. ok there was a news report in nashville tn. and the sation was fake, the newreporter was fake, and the truth about what it was talkin about was fake. i dont remember what is was though. so i could see this admin. doing something like the email to spread lyes. who thinks we should send bush the vggie tales epsiode about lying?

 

Anyone care to link me to information otherwise? Passing it off as Bushite propoganda bullshit is great, but can you prove it's false? I'm not saying it's true, but at the same time I think Bush haters are overlooking the fact that Iraq probably is a better place now, and just repeating "no WMD were found, so Bush is a fascist nazi."

 

LickHERish, it's amazing to listen to somebody who buys into all the bullshit that comes out of your mouth. You're not by chance Michael Moores gay lover are you??? The mere sight of Michael Moore makes me want to fucking puke!

 

And I say your site is bullshit propoganda.

 

Niraj Aryal and danip, please consider making your points without attacking people. I didn't say I *BELIEVED* anyone, but I can listen without being judgemental. And simply calling someone's website bullshit is outright rude. Now if you had said WHY you guys disagree, that would be different. I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass, I'm just trying to avoid the train wreck that "Possible draft?" had, with people all pissed off at each other. We are supposed to be brothers and sisters around here, or at least that's the impression I got of this forum. Let me know if I'm wrong!

I agree with MaxPower, Iraq probably is reaping some kind of benefit from our unfortunate occupation, and the ones listed are certainly feaseable for us to accomplish. But what I am afraid of is, what happens when we fix all of this stuff and turn power back over to Iraq? We could end up a Hussein-wannabe in power with a country that is fully operational and functioning twice as well as it did before we occupied it. Any thoughts?

 

I do Iraq will see some benefits to Saddam being out of office. But I wonder what will happen in Iraq. I hope that the first "elected" government isn't a puppet regime - the U.S. have a lot of influence on Iraq in the future.

 

I remember looking at some polls several months ago, and the largest portion of the Iraqi people were calling for an Iraqi government with a "strongman leader". Further below that was a Theocracy, and even lower then that was a Democratic type government. So obviously theres going to be a fair amount of authoritarianism in whatever government is finally elected. But its still anyones guess who exactly this leader is supposed to be and what type of government they will run.

The thing about Iraq though is it still retains alot of its old tribal identities, and has never really operated with any strong sense of nationalism. Theres just so many opposing viewpoints and social groups, if there was an election it would be hard for any one candidate to stand out above the rest. Even Al Sadr, supposively now a national hero, is only enjoying 2% of popular support as an election candidate. This was the reason why Iraq was always run by an oligarchy in the past, because it really was impossible for anything other then a small portion of the population to unite itself together and form some sort of governing body. This could all change though.

My guess is in the end it will have to be some sort of democratically elected, secular, strongman leader. Not necessarily a dictator, but someone with the ability and strength to unite people across tribal lines and religous identities. Of course where do you find someone like that who isnt hated by the majority of the Iraqi people? And of course there is no one. But sooner or later someone is going to rise above the others. And as far as a puppet governmet goes, I really don't think we'll see one. Maybe I'm just naive, but I really do believe that the US wants to make Iraq a sovereign nation, and in the end I think the Iraqi people will have the ultimate say.

 

And I'd also wager, that in the end, this whole thing is going to be a major embarassment.

 

Before a Saddam-type gains power though, I'd have to say there would first be a civil war or two involving the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. Since they all more or less occupy different sections of Iraq, it would't be unrealistic to think that the same thing that happened to India after the British left could happen to Iraq when we leave.

 

One fact i can disagree with, taken from the Guardian on 16th of June

The electricity supply in Iraq is currently 4000Mwh, under Saddam it was 6000Mwh.

If thats a doubling of supply then my maths is dodgy.

The article also said that fewer people had access to safe water but i cant find any statistics related to it.

 

Maybe 4000 Mwh were being spent on Saddam's palaces. All those personal porno/torture movie theaters must have accounted for a lot of Iraq's electricity.