At the height of the debate in the UN Security Council over actions to be taken against Iraq I included a War in Iraq Q & A in the OnlineWomen bulletin. I forgot who authored this Q & A but I recall that it was also featured in Conrado De Quiros' column in the Inquirer. It became one of the most popular and controversial items in the e-bulletin.
Take the War in Iraq Q & A
Q: What percentage of the world's population does the United States have?
A: Six percent
Q: What percentage of the world's wealth does the United States have?
A: 50 percent
Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves?
A: Saudi Arabia
Q: Which country has the second largest oil reserves?
A: Iraq
Q: How much is spent on military budgets a year worldwide?
A: 900+ billion dollars
Q: How much of this is spent by the United States?
A: 50 percent
Q: What percent of US military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according to the United Nations?
A: 10 percent (that's about 40 billion dollars, the amount of funding initially requested to fund the US retaliatory attack on Afghanistan).
Q: How many people have died in wars since World War II?
A: 86 million
Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and biological weapons?
A: Since the early 1980s.
Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical and biological weapons on its own?
A: No, the materials and technology were supplied by the US government, along with Britain and private corporations.
Q: Did the US government condemn the Iraqi use of gas warfare against Iran?
A: No
Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill using gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988?
A: 5,000
Q: How many Western countries condemned this action at the time?
A: 0
Q: How many gallons of Agent Orange did America use in Vietnam?
A: 17 million.
Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and Sept. 11 terrorist attack?
A: No
Q: What is the estimated number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War?
A: 35,000
Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the Western forces during the Gulf War?
A: 0
Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were buried alive by US tanks with ploughs mounted on the front?
A: 6,000
Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War?
A: 40 tons
Q: What according to the UN was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994?
A: 700 percent
Q: How much of Iraq's military capacity did America claim it had destroyed in 1991?
A: 80 percent
Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self-defense?
A: No
Q: Does Iraq present more of a threat to world peace now than 10 years ago?
A: No
Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted in the event of an attack on Iraq in 2002/3?
A: 10,000
Q: What percentage of these will be children?
A: Over 50 percent
Q: How many years has the US engaged in air strikes on Iraq?
A: 11 years
Q: Were the United States and the United Kingdom at war with Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: No
Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped on Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: 20 million
Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661 introduced, imposing strict sanctions on Iraq's imports and exports?
A: 12 years
Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in 1989 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 38
Q: What was the estimated child death rate in Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 131 (that's an increase of 345 percent)
Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died by October 1999 as a result of UN sanctions?
A: 1.5 million
Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to have died due to sanctions since 1997?
A: 750,000
Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq?
A: No
Q: How many inspections were there in November and December 1998?
A: 300
Q: How many of these inspections had problems?
A: 5
Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to the Ba'ath Party HQ?
A: Yes
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
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 percent
Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons inspectors back in?
A: Yes
Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992?
A: Over 65
Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990?
A: 30+
Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons?
A: 8
Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got?
A: 0
Q: How many nuclear warheads has the United States got?
A: Over 10,000
Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons?
A: The United States
Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?
A: Over 400
Q: Who said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"?
A: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Three years after the invasion there is still no sign of weapons of mass destruction as alleged by Bush and his cohorts (Cheney, Rice, and his puppets in Congress). Documents revealed that Saddam Hussein, who is undeniably a tyrant, has no connections to Osama bin Laden. Al-Qaeda only made its presence in Iraq after the invasion where it has recruited frustrated and patriotic Iraqis. Clearly, the American people and the whole civilized world were tricked into this war by this Bible-wielding, cowboy hat-wearing Texan. Today, scores of people are being killed in Iraq everyday. The coutry is in utter chaos. Various tribes and religious groups are killing each other. Sunnis vs. the Shiites. Iraqis vs. the occupying forces. The worst part is, there seems to be no end in sight. It is time that the US withdraw its forces from Iraq.If you think that the US should pull out from Iraq now then join activist/actress Susan Sarandon, the award-winning playwright Eve Ensler and thousands of other women from all around the globe in calling the attention of the Bush administration. Sign the women's call for peace. Men are most welcome to sign as well. They hope to gather a minimum of 100,000 signatures by International Women's Day on March 8, 2006, when US and Iraqi women will deliver these signatures to leaders in Washington DC and women around the world will deliver them to US embassies.
Freedom is for everyone.
(Photo from WhyWeHateBush.com)
3 comments:
Interesting Q&A.
I haven't found the other version yet, the one that supports the continuous occupation. I'm sure it exists.
this is what i dont get about Bush. He could have just planted evidence to show that Iraq had nuclear weapons. America, too, has nuclear weapons he could've just shipped one (Middle East is a two day point for FedEx).
He could've kept saying that Iraq and Al qaeda were connected just by principle. Is Iraq a threat to the US? Of course it is, they're harboring Al qaeda... we just havent found them yet. Hell we cant find Osama, much more the others.
should the US start pulling out of Iraq? YES! But not before we loot Iraq of every possible resource that will help our super-power-country breed more Wallmarts, McDonalds, and Starbucks at the expense of our 20 yr old patriots and their longing mothers.
One of the main reasons Dubya insisted on this war is to bring 'democracy' to the peoples of Iraq. Three years hence, what the Iraqis have are ethno-sectarian division, repression of women's rights, rise of radicalism and fundamentalism and non-stop wave of violence. Hussein's Iraq is way better than Dubya's Iraq.
Post a Comment