Iraqi Standard of Living Down?

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nbcrusader

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Howard Dean Says Iraqis Worse Off Now

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean said Sunday that the standard of living for Iraqis is a "whole lot worse" since Saddam Hussein's removal from power in last year's American-led invasion.

"You can say that it's great that Saddam is gone and I'm sure that a lot of Iraqis feel it is great that Saddam is gone," said the former Vermont governor, an unflinching critic of the war against Iraq. "But a lot of them gave their lives. And their living standard is a whole lot worse now than it was before."

I guess torture is a lot harder to find these days.....
 
What exactly does he mean? I'm certainly no expert on their living conditions, but where does he get his information? He doesn't elaborate :hmm:

I liked Dean at first, and I do think he's very good at managing budgets (remember that People article I posted :D), on health care, and other issues. I do admire someone who will speak out against the tide, but there have to be facts to back it up.

However I am sure there are many Iraqi people who are still suffering in several ways..economically, emotionally, and in many other ways.
 
There have been infrastructure problems, like a water crisis in Basra. People have been getting screwed in the Basra area for eons, though. The people are Shia Moslems who got screwed by Saddam's Sunni alliance. A whole slew of them became refugees under Saddam, escaped to other countries and lived in hellish refugee camps, and one of them became a U.S. citizen two weeks ago. I just read about his citizenship ceremony. I liked Dean at first too, but I think he's a little undisciplined with his rhetoric. It's true that the torturers are no longer being hired, but they aren't wanted. I think they may want vote counters for their elections now.
 
i tell ya...as a staunch democrat...i have never disliked a democrat as much as howard dean...but i agree that there are certain aspects in iraq that are much worse.
 
BonoVoxSupastar,

"Well percentage wise, he's right."

Would you care to eleborate on how the Shia population(which is 60% of the population) of Iraq had been living conditions under Saddam than they did now?

If Dean would take some time out and take a look at what over 100,000 US troops have been doing over the past year in Iraq, he would realize how absurd his comment was. Area's of Iraq that have not had running water or electricity in over 30 years are getting it again. Humanitarian supplies once denied the Shia population now flows freely to them. Schools and Hospitals are being built. Roads, power plants are being fixed.

Iraq in total has more electricity throughout the country than any time of the past 15 years and its only going to improve. Billions and Billions of US dollars in aid is on the way.

Considering medium sized and large countries in the Middle East with populations over 10 million, 20 years from now, Iraq will be the wealthiest of them.
 
Right now during this transition period there is no infastructure, power outages are an everyday occurance, still no running water in many areas, little police force, and growing guerilla threat. Yes many suffered under Saddam but now the whole population is being effected. It was poor planning. Yes we all know this is a transition period that will take awhile but it should have been handled better.
 
BonoVoxSupastar,

"Right now during this transition period there is no infastructure, power outages are an everyday occurance, still no running water in many areas, little police force, and growing guerilla threat."

This idea that there is NO infastructure is false. Most of the country did not HAVE POWER while Saddam was President. Only the Sunni Area's had full power. Many of the area's that do not have running water have never had running water. Most area's of Iraq are secure except the Sunni Triangle.

Not only do media sources show these facts, but US troops including my best friend who spent 8 months in the country last year can testify to it as well.


"Yes many suffered under Saddam but now the whole population is being effected."

Nearly one million Iraqi's were killed or are missing from the years Saddam was in power. It is incorrect to say that now the whole population is now being effected by some sudden drop in the standard of living because that is in fact not the case. ONLY THE SUNNI population area's around Baghdad have experienced a drop in Standard of living, but that is because they are not able to hoard and use up all the humanitarian and energy supplies that Saddam would reward them while robbing and starving the majority of the country.

"It was poor planning. Yes we all know this is a transition period that will take awhile but it should have been handled better."

Rebuilding infrastructur and getting humanitarian supplies to people who had been denied it for years under Saddam is an example of poor planning?

The fact is that most of the problems found in most parts of the country in regards to power and other humanitarian needs have been a fact of life for the past 30 years. Its going to take a lot more than a few months to fix it.
 
There have been reports of water shortages in Basra. But Basra has been getting screwed for years because the people are Shia Moslems. Some of these people were in such bad shape that they fled to Saudi Arabia, where it's equally hellish to be Shia because they are illegal in Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, but there is a refugee camp in their East Province. Now the Sunnis are acting up because elections will probably cost them their privileged political status. These leaders are pissed. It's an internal problem, with unresolved ancient hatreds and sectarian disputes all over. Basically the Sunnis are being a pain in the ass of the Shias, and the Shias don't like it. I wish they'd stop suicide bombing each others' mosques. This is what's hurting Iraq, :censored: like this. :censored: :censored: :censored:
 
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