IRAQ
Strike Two

This morning, President Bush will make the second of three planned
speeches on Iraq prior to the December 15 elections -- part of what the
Associated Press deems a "public relations campaign" meant to "shore up
slumping public support for the war." His address today will focus on
reconstruction and Iraq's economy. But rather than reassuring Americans
that he recognizes the reality of the challenges we face in Iraq, he
plans to tout purported economic progress and "to highlight rebuilding
of electrical plants, schools, hospitals and businesses." President
Bush is ignoring the big picture. Iraq's reconstruction -- a behemoth
effort on par with the post-World War II Marshall Plan -- is simply not
achieving its goals. Iraq's economy remains weak and beset by
unemployment; basic necessities like potable water and sewage treatment
are scarce; and there remains little evidence that the Bush
administration is prepared to shift course to reverse these trends.

ECONOMIC WOES: President Bush is expected to point today to Iraq's per
capita gross domestic product, which "rose to $942 in 2004 and is
expected to rise to more than $1,000 this year," as a sign of the
country's economic progress. But as Brookings Institution scholar
Michael O'Hanlon argues, "Growing GDP is good for those with access to
the twin golden rivers flowing through Iraq - not the Tigris and
Euphrates, but oil revenue and foreign aid. The rest of the economy is,
on the whole, weak." Unemployment rates hover near 40 percent, meaning
"the insurgency will always find fresh recruits," in Sen. Joseph
Biden's (D-DE) words. And as "the money runs out on the $30 billion
American-financed reconstruction of Iraq, the officials in charge
cannot say how many planned projects they will complete, and there is
no clear source for the hundreds of millions of dollars a year needed
to operate the projects that have been finished." Moreover, serious
challenges remain: "In its September World Economic Outlook, the IMF
also notes that Iraq's new government 'faces daunting medium-term
challenges, including advancing the reconstruction of the country's
infrastructure, reducing macroeconomic instability and developing the
institutions that can support a market-based economy.'"

INFRASTRUCTURE WOES: U.S. goals for electricity and oil infrastructure
reconstruction have not been met. State Department figures show that
power generation, "currently at 4,600 megawatts, has only recently
exceeded the prewar level of 4,400 megawatts. That's still shy of the
6,000 megawatt objective stated by the Coalition Provisional Authority
in September 2003." Most Iraqis continue to have only intermittent
access to electricity, and typically "for just half the day." Daily oil
production in Iraq is currently around 2.14 million barrels -- not only
"less than the average 2.5 million barrels before the 2003 Iraq War,"
but down to the lowest levels in a decade, according to the
London-based Center for Global Energy. "The sluggish production is due
to pipeline attacks by insurgents, poor infrastructure, and lack of
refineries."

WHITE HOUSE WILL NOT KEEP PROMISES TO IRAQIS: Last month, Stuart Bowen,
the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, reported that
the "administration promises to use $18 billion Congress allocated to
rebuild water, electricity, health and oil networks to prewar levels or
better are running into cold reality. 'We are going to provide
something less than that,' he said." This position is reflected in last
week's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." In what the Washington
Post called "a striking rollback from an earlier, more optimistic
position, the [strategy] says Iraq has the 'potential' to become
prosperous and self-sustaining -- without specifying a time frame."
(This contradicts statements by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D.
Wolfowitz is 2003 that Iraq's oil revenues "could bring between $50 and
$100 billion over the course of the next two or three years. ... We're
dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction,
and relatively soon.") These are the harsh facts faced by millions of
ordinary Iraqis "who are trying to live a more normal life with the
curse of Saddam Hussein taken away, but with a terrible disappointment
of the expectations that the removal of Saddam Hussein generated have
not been lived up to."

IGNORING LINK BETWEEN SECURITY AND RECONSTRUCTION: The "National
Strategy for Victory in Iraq" released last week ignores the direct
link between security and reconstruction. Loathe to acknowledge the
heavy impact of widespread insurgent violence, the White House document
states that "Iraq is struggling to reach its economic potential due
largely to decades of dictatorship and neglect." This is misleading.
After three years and billions of dollars worth of reconstruction
efforts, it is no longer appropriate to lay the blame for Iraq's
economic woes on the imprisoned tyrant. The prime cause of current
reconstruction woes is the Iraq insurgency, which is not being
countered effectively by the president's current military strategy.
Stuart Bowen's report noted that "more than a quarter of all
reconstruction funds had been spent on security costs to protect
contractors, hundreds of whom have died in Iraq." And as long as Bush
administration refuses to shift our military strategy, both Iraq's
economy and security will suffer. As the International Crisis Group has
pointed out, "Economic hardship and violence (political and criminal)
feed on each other: heightened popular dissatisfaction and unemployment
swell insurgent ranks and the growing insurgency further hampers
development. Without genuine reconstruction and a sustained recovery
plan, any political success will be short-lived."

wrote in message
oups.com...
IRAQ

snip

Kevin, once again congratulations on yet another well written editorial.
Although I disagree with your assumptions, conclusions and theories the
piece was very well written and did not contain the words idiot or stupid
even once. It also was free of vulgar language and personal insults.

Nice job Kevin! Keep it up. ;0(

*JimH* wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
IRAQ

snip

Kevin, once again congratulations on yet another well written editorial.
Although I disagree with your assumptions, conclusions and theories the
piece was very well written and did not contain the words idiot or stupid
even once. It also was free of vulgar language and personal insults.

Nice job Kevin! Keep it up. ;0(

I'm not Kevin, idiot.

*JimH* wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
IRAQ

snip

Kevin, once again congratulations on yet another well written editorial.
Although I disagree with your assumptions, conclusions and theories the
piece was very well written and did not contain the words idiot or stupid
even once. It also was free of vulgar language and personal insults.

Nice job Kevin! Keep it up. ;0(

By the way, when are YOU going to stop the personal insults? Again,
your childish nature is showing. You think it quite all right for
someone that is in your circle jerk to lie about others, use vulgar
language, personal insults, bring someone's mother into a discussion,
etc. But when it happens to you, you cry like a baby. Why is it that
YOU, Jim, could pose a question to me in a manner that would make
someone think that you know something about a certain behavior, and
then when I do the EXACT same thing to you, you whine, and cry and
threaten to sue? Why is that Jim?

Kevin,
Did JimH make a personal insult by calling you by the name you use on your
email? If so, why did you bother to use that name in your email?


wrote in message
ups.com...

*JimH* wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
IRAQ

snip

Kevin, once again congratulations on yet another well written editorial.
Although I disagree with your assumptions, conclusions and theories the
piece was very well written and did not contain the words idiot or stupid
even once. It also was free of vulgar language and personal insults.

Nice job Kevin! Keep it up. ;0(

By the way, when are YOU going to stop the personal insults? Again,
your childish nature is showing. You think it quite all right for
someone that is in your circle jerk to lie about others, use vulgar
language, personal insults, bring someone's mother into a discussion,
etc. But when it happens to you, you cry like a baby. Why is it that
YOU, Jim, could pose a question to me in a manner that would make
someone think that you know something about a certain behavior, and
then when I do the EXACT same thing to you, you whine, and cry and
threaten to sue? Why is that Jim?

Harry,
I have to admit, this is one of your better insult post. It should real
creativity, instead of just high school insults.

Keep up the good work.


"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
wrote:
IRAQ
Strike Two

This morning, President Bush will make the second of three planned
speeches on Iraq prior to the December 15 elections

Hey, if we've made so much progress there, how come Bush's supporters in
this newsgroup aren't signing up for civilian rebuilding jobs over there?

I can see them now:

NOYB working as a dentist in one of the torture prisons, drilling holes in
prisoner teeth without benefit of anesthetics...

Fritz lecturing Muslim women that removing their chador and roosari in
public is a "liebral" sin, punishable their choice of being pelted with
stones or having sex with him. (Survey says, 101% chose stoning)...

Smithers repeatedly insulting ayatollahs as they continue to remove his
skin...

The Rev. JimH trying to convert Iraqis to fundie Christianity, with the
promise that he's got 72 former virgins lined up as soon as their open
sores heal...

Robbins...hmmm...Robbins running a database program that counts how many
times he screams as a hot wire is inserted into what's left of his
penis...by US Marines insulted by his claim that he's one of them...

Jackoff...jacking off. What else?

John Herring driving a bright yellow jet fuel truck from the refineries to
the Baghdad airport, and almost making it until the payload of an RPG
passes through one ear, rattles around, and exits by the other ear,
leaving him no more empty-headed than previously so that he can wave the
"Bush 2008" Flag.

"Lord Reginald Smithers" Ask me about my driveway leading up to my manor.
wrote in message ...
Harry,
I have to admit, this is one of your better insult post. It SHOWED real
creativity, instead of just high school insults.

Keep up the good work.


"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
wrote:
IRAQ
Strike Two

This morning, President Bush will make the second of three planned
speeches on Iraq prior to the December 15 elections

Hey, if we've made so much progress there, how come Bush's supporters in
this newsgroup aren't signing up for civilian rebuilding jobs over there?

I can see them now:

NOYB working as a dentist in one of the torture prisons, drilling holes
in prisoner teeth without benefit of anesthetics...

Fritz lecturing Muslim women that removing their chador and roosari in
public is a "liebral" sin, punishable their choice of being pelted with
stones or having sex with him. (Survey says, 101% chose stoning)...

Smithers repeatedly insulting ayatollahs as they continue to remove his
skin...

The Rev. JimH trying to convert Iraqis to fundie Christianity, with the
promise that he's got 72 former virgins lined up as soon as their open
sores heal...

Robbins...hmmm...Robbins running a database program that counts how many
times he screams as a hot wire is inserted into what's left of his
penis...by US Marines insulted by his claim that he's one of them...

Jackoff...jacking off. What else?

John Herring driving a bright yellow jet fuel truck from the refineries
to the Baghdad airport, and almost making it until the payload of an RPG
passes through one ear, rattles around, and exits by the other ear,
leaving him no more empty-headed than previously so that he can wave the
"Bush 2008" Flag.

Lord Reginald Smithers wrote:
Kevin,
Did JimH make a personal insult by calling you by the name you use on your
email? If so, why did you bother to use that name in your email?

I'm not Kevin, you dolt. And I don't use that name in my email. Got it?

wrote in message
ups.com...

*JimH* wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
IRAQ

snip

Kevin, once again congratulations on yet another well written editorial.
Although I disagree with your assumptions, conclusions and theories the
piece was very well written and did not contain the words idiot or stupid
even once. It also was free of vulgar language and personal insults.

Nice job Kevin! Keep it up. ;-(

By the way, when are YOU going to stop the personal insults? Again,
your childish nature is showing. You think it quite all right for
someone that is in your circle jerk to lie about others, use vulgar
language, personal insults, bring someone's mother into a discussion,
etc.

Cite a few examples Kevin. I would especially like to see the vulgar
language ones.

So when is your next op ed to be published here?

*JimH* wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...

*JimH* wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
IRAQ

snip

Kevin, once again congratulations on yet another well written editorial.
Although I disagree with your assumptions, conclusions and theories the
piece was very well written and did not contain the words idiot or stupid
even once. It also was free of vulgar language and personal insults.

Nice job Kevin! Keep it up. ;-(

By the way, when are YOU going to stop the personal insults? Again,
your childish nature is showing. You think it quite all right for
someone that is in your circle jerk to lie about others, use vulgar
language, personal insults, bring someone's mother into a discussion,
etc.

Cite a few examples Kevin. I would especially like to see the vulgar
language ones.

So when is your next op ed to be published here?

Are you denying that you've posted lies about me?? Really?
Are you denying that you've positioned questions to me, that when
someone else reads them, they would tend to think that you had some
evidence of something afoul, and then when I do EXACTLY the same thing,
you cry like a baby, and threaten to take legal action? Are you denying
that?
Are you denying that Fritz uses fould language, and personal insults,
and you don't ever say a thing about it. But if someone that isn't in
your circle jerk club does it, you cry foul? Are you denying that?
Are you denying that months ago, you said terrible, untrue, things
about my mother here? Are you denying that?

What it boils down to is your childish position that you and your
buddies can do it, but when it comes back to bite you in the ass, you
whine and cry about it. Grow up. I can give examples of any and all of
the above proving that you are incredibly one sided.