PUGalicious
12-13-2005, 05:41 AM
From The Independent (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article332812.ece):
From Shock and Awe to a country torn between insurrection and democracy
It has been the strangest war. A thousand days ago, on 20 March 2003, the US and British armies started a campaign which ended a few weeks later with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It seemed so easy. President George Bush announced that the war was over. The American mission had been accomplished. Months passed before Washington and London realised that the war had not finished. In fact it was only just beginning. Of the 18,000 US servicemen killed or wounded in Iraq, 94 per cent have been killed or wounded since the fall of Baghdad.
There is no sign that the election for the 275-member Iraqi parliament this Thursday will end the fighting. The Sunni Arabs, the core of the insurrection, will vote for the first time, but there is no talk of a ceasefire. A leaflet issued by one resistance group in Baghdad yesterday encouraged its followers to vote but warned: "The fighting will continue with the infidels and their followers." [continued (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article332812.ece)]
The war in numbers: From WMD to the victims
$204.4 billion The cost to the US of the war so far. The UK's bill up until March 2005 was £3.1 billion
2,339 Allied troops killed
98 UK troops killed
30,000 Estimated Iraqi civilian deaths
0 Number of WMDs found
8 percent of Iraqi children suffering acute malnutrition
$35,819m World Bank estimated cost of reconstruction
53,470 Iraqi insurgents killed
67 percent Iraqis who feel less secure because of occupation
$343 Average monthly salary for an Iraqi soldier. Average monthly salary for an American soldier in Iraq: $4,160.75
66 journalists killed in Iraq. Journalists killed during Vietnam war: 63
5 foreign civilians kidnapped per month
47 percent Iraqis who never have enough electricity
20 casualties per month from unexploded mines
20 percent Inflation rate 2005
25-40 percent Estimated unemployment rate, Nov 2005
251 Foreigners kidnapped
70 percent of Iraqi's whose sewage system rarely works
183,000 British and American troops are still in action in Iraq. There are 162,000 US troops and 8,000 British with 13,000 from other nations
90 Daily attacks by insurgents in Nov '05. In Jun '03: 8
82 percent Iraqis who are "strongly opposed" to presence of coalition troops
15,955 US troops wounded in action
From Shock and Awe to a country torn between insurrection and democracy
It has been the strangest war. A thousand days ago, on 20 March 2003, the US and British armies started a campaign which ended a few weeks later with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It seemed so easy. President George Bush announced that the war was over. The American mission had been accomplished. Months passed before Washington and London realised that the war had not finished. In fact it was only just beginning. Of the 18,000 US servicemen killed or wounded in Iraq, 94 per cent have been killed or wounded since the fall of Baghdad.
There is no sign that the election for the 275-member Iraqi parliament this Thursday will end the fighting. The Sunni Arabs, the core of the insurrection, will vote for the first time, but there is no talk of a ceasefire. A leaflet issued by one resistance group in Baghdad yesterday encouraged its followers to vote but warned: "The fighting will continue with the infidels and their followers." [continued (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article332812.ece)]
The war in numbers: From WMD to the victims
$204.4 billion The cost to the US of the war so far. The UK's bill up until March 2005 was £3.1 billion
2,339 Allied troops killed
98 UK troops killed
30,000 Estimated Iraqi civilian deaths
0 Number of WMDs found
8 percent of Iraqi children suffering acute malnutrition
$35,819m World Bank estimated cost of reconstruction
53,470 Iraqi insurgents killed
67 percent Iraqis who feel less secure because of occupation
$343 Average monthly salary for an Iraqi soldier. Average monthly salary for an American soldier in Iraq: $4,160.75
66 journalists killed in Iraq. Journalists killed during Vietnam war: 63
5 foreign civilians kidnapped per month
47 percent Iraqis who never have enough electricity
20 casualties per month from unexploded mines
20 percent Inflation rate 2005
25-40 percent Estimated unemployment rate, Nov 2005
251 Foreigners kidnapped
70 percent of Iraqi's whose sewage system rarely works
183,000 British and American troops are still in action in Iraq. There are 162,000 US troops and 8,000 British with 13,000 from other nations
90 Daily attacks by insurgents in Nov '05. In Jun '03: 8
82 percent Iraqis who are "strongly opposed" to presence of coalition troops
15,955 US troops wounded in action