Well, until Bushco decides to target these "ungrateful insurgents" who should be throwing flowers and kissing our feet.
Originally posted by: Proletariat
Originally posted by: conjur
01/06/06 AP: Hundreds protest unemployment in Iraq
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=4327866
A riot outside Baghdad has left two dead and dozens injured. Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Nasiriyah (nah-sih-REE'-uh) yesterday to protest the state of unemployment in Iraq.
Yeah, so much has improved.
To be fair there has always been high unemployment in Iraq.
Just now they can actually protest about it without fear of retaliation.
What was it before under Saddam? Certainly not the 70% it hit back in 2004.Originally posted by: Proletariat
To be fair there has always been high unemployment in Iraq.Originally posted by: conjur
01/06/06 AP: Hundreds protest unemployment in Iraq
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=4327866
Yeah, so much has improved.A riot outside Baghdad has left two dead and dozens injured. Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Nasiriyah (nah-sih-REE'-uh) yesterday to protest the state of unemployment in Iraq.
Just now they can actually protest about it without fear of retaliation.
Zeese: How has the occupation affected employment in Iraq and how have employment decision effected reconstruction?
Unemployment has risen dramatically since the occupation. There are an estimated five million Iraqis who are unemployed . The current unemployment rate is 60% of the total population, compared to 30% before the war . This rapid increase in unemployment is largely the result of the CPA's "de-Ba'athification" campaign, meaning the decision to disband Iraq's military and dismantle much of Iraq's state bureaucracy. This put 750,000 people out of work . The destruction and looting of factories, the inability to find spare parts needed to fix them, the general lawlessness, and the lack of electricity and fuel resulted in additional closure of factories adding to the number of unemployed. This high level of unemployment fueled the insurgency by putting many angry young men on the street.
U.S. reconstruction policy - importing contractors rather than hiring Iraqis fuels economic problems in Iraq. Fewer than 25,000 Iraqis are working on projects in the U.S. reconstruction efforts. In fact the Bush administration concedes that less than one percen t of Iraq's workforce of seven million is currently involved in the reconstruction process. Most of Iraq's reconstruction has been contracted out to American companies, rather than Iraqi or regional companies . This practice helps to maintain Iraq's high unemployment rate. Obviously, this has a disastrous impact on Iraq's economy.
To make matters worse, the work to date has proceeded far too slowly, AND it is extremely expensive, but of substandard quality. After 24 months of occupation hundreds of government buildings are still destroyed. We Iraqis see NO visible sign of ongoing work on these buildings. Local contractors and government contracting companies are capable and qualified to do the reconstruction work. Money for these reconstruction projects is available. As of June 22, 2004 the CPA had used "less than 2 percent of the reconstruction money lawmakers provided. The funds were meant to finance everything from training Iraqi police to starting small businesses to rebuilding the country's electric, water, health, and oil production facilities."
The need is there, the manpower is there, the material is there, and the money is there. However, the will and the decision to start the reconstruction AND hence reduce the unemployment are, regrettably, not there. Unemployment will continue to be above 50% until and unless meaningful and honest efforts are made to carry out the reconstruction.
Originally posted by: sandorski
Originally posted by: palehorse74
Originally posted by: 1EZduzit
Yeah, when we find that bomb, you'll volunteer to guard it so nobody can disarm it right. LMAO.
If you don't let me fight terrorism, I'll terrorize you. DUHHHHH!
you know that is not what I meant with the bomb comment. I was making the point that too many people have forgotten the real reasons we are at war, and that is why they cant comprehend that it may take 50 more years to end it.
forget all of the propoganda for one second, and it all comes down to two things:
1) making the Greater Middle East better in every way.
2) Killing every last terrorist who wishes that America be destroyed.
3) Making the US more secure and more financially stable.
very worthy missions if you ask me.
ps: ok, im really leaving this time...
Those "real" reasons came long after the first dozen or so "real" reasons. WMD, Mushroom Clouds, African Uranium, Aluminium Tubes, links to Al Queda, Attack Drones!, stockpiles around Tikrit. All just vapour, yet all "real" reasons that started the war.
that does nothing to discredit the fact that each of those reasons is the truth NOW. Quit living in the past and using old reasons to argue against the war. Instead, step back and realize that we are in it up to our necks now, for the very reasons I listed above, and figure out how to make all 3 of them happen.
Instead of shouting the words "lies" and "pawns" and "cronies," why dont you try planning for 30 more years of war instead. Because THAT is what is coming, and it is our reality. Quit ignoring that and dwelling on mistatements made 3 years ago.
Pulling out now, or anytime soon, will make all 2500+ deaths pointless. You will essentially be ruining everything good that we have accomplished, and you will have made MY efforts wasted.
I cannot and will not accept that, and I'm getting damn sick of people who think they have half a clue forcing their agenda into the limelight. I have a clue. I know the truth. I've seen it first hand for more than 10 years, and I've studied it for twice that long.
If YOU force us to withdraw too soon, then YOU will be to blame for every catastrophe that follows. Can YOU live with that?
I am assisting in building something great and amazing in the middle east while YOU just want ME to cut and run because the price of oil is interfering with your pot and beer budget.
(My use of "YOU" is for anyone and everyone who is lobbying and arguing for us to pull out of the middle east now. If that is YOU, then think long and hard about YOUR role in the DESTRUCTION of the middle-east.)
G'day.
Originally posted by: conjur
I wouldn't call 54% a "vast majority".
Originally posted by: umbrella39
Originally posted by: Aimster
Dying.
This is good news.
Before I used to read about 1-5 dying every several days. Now I don't see anything on the front page.
Hi anti-Bush people. Welcome to my thread
When first American soldier died over there it is too many.
Originally posted by: Condor
Which side are you on?
Originally posted by: palehorse74
But if the numbers went the other way, you damn sure would!Originally posted by: conjur
I wouldn't call 54% a "vast majority".
ya gotta love liberal hipocracy!
Originally posted by: Condor
Which side are you on?
Report: Lt. Gen. Sanchez To Step Down By Year?s End
Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the American commander in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, will be stepping down by year?s end. One Army general told the Times General Sanchez?s departure is related to the Bush administration?s reluctance to nominate him for another position because of his link to Abu Ghraib. The general said: "It's a question of simply not being able to get by Senate confirmation," and that nominating General Sanchez for a new job would "stir up too much political bad news in an election year."
Bush Meets Former Secretaries of Defense, State on Iraq
Meanwhile, President Bush met with a group of former secretaries of state and defense to discuss his Iraq policy. The group included Bush?s first Secretary of State, Colin Powell, whose former aides have recently gone public with scathing criticism of the Bush administration. Powell reportedly stayed silent throughout the meeting.
Originally posted by: judasmachine
I'm checking the Names of the Dead thread and every few days there are about 3 to 5 names added. Maybe I'm not checking it often enough but there are still kids dying over there, many of them.
4 of them added the day before yesterday. That's 4 brothers, sons, cousins, best friends, uncles, fathers, and husbands. These brave kids probably just don't get the front page anymore. Even the Amarillo Globe News which is heavily conservative doesn't print them on front page anymore, sometimes they don't print them at all, unless they are from the area, then they get the front page with a picture. They had a funeral here the other day for about the 8th kid to die from my area.
BAGHDAD -- Suicide bombers yesterday killed 125 civilians and five U.S. soldiers in a series of attack, escalating the violence while political factions worked to forge a coalition government.
The stark surge in post-election violence produced familiar but heartrending images on a day that was the fourth deadliest since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A woman and an infant girl in a bright red jumpsuit lay in a pool of blood, their faces covered by a sheet as men ferried the wounded in pushcarts in Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad. Ball bearings packed in the explosives lay scattered on the bare earth next to Shi'a Islam's holiest shrine in Iraq.
After the devastating attack in Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of the capital, police recruits got back in line to continue the screening process, said Marine Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool. They were apparently desperate for a relatively well-paying job in the impoverished area.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi'a, denounced the violence as an attempt to derail the political process at a time when progress was being made toward a broad-based government that would include the Sunni Arabs and thus possibly weaken the insurgency.
With the two-day death toll from attacks reaching 183, Iraq's main Shi'a religious party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, issued a veiled threat to Sunnis supporting the insurgency that its patience was wearing thin.
But in a chord struck yesterday by several politicians, the party also condemned policies it said were imposed by the U.S.-led coalition that were hampering Iraqi security forces' counterterrorism work. The Americans have increased their oversight of Shi'a-dominated security forces following widespread charges of abuse -- especially of Sunni Arab detainees.
"Not allowing these two ministries to do their job means exposing helpless Iraqis to ruthless terrorists," SCIRI said. "They should know that the patience of our people will not last for a long time with these sectarian dirty crimes."
The warning to Sunnis carried the possibility of using militias like the Badr Brigade, the former military wing of SCIRI, to exact vengeance against Sunni supporters of insurgents.
Hadi al-A'meri, the secretary general of the Badr Brigade, also blamed the attacks on the U.S.-led coalition. "Why are they putting obstacles in the way of the work of the Interior Ministry?" he asked.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was appalled by the attacks. "This terror aims simply to kill innocent Iraqis and provoke further conflict between them," the embassy said.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, the main Sunni coalition that is negotiating with Shi'as and Kurds over a coalition government after the Dec. 15 election, denounced the violence but blamed Iraq's leaders for allowing it to happen.
"This government has not only failed to end violence, but it has become an accomplice in the cycle of violence by adopting sectarian policies and by weakening the state and strengthening militia groups," said Izzat al-Shahbandar, a senior official with the Sunni coalition.
The three main attacks yesterday all took place within an hour's time. The death toll -- the largest single-day total since Sept. 14, when 162 died -- included five American soldiers killed by a roadside bomb.
The American convoy was south of Karbala when it was attacked about 10 a.m., though it had been conducting a mission unrelated to the suicide attack in the Shi'a holy city, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said. At least 2,188 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.
Only 15 minutes after the attack on the convoy, a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with ball bearings detonated his explosives on a busy pedestrian path about 100 feet from the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala. The attack killed 63 and wounded 120, Karbala police spokesman Rahman Meshawi said.
Mohammed Saheb, who was wounded in the head, said he travels to the shrine every Thursday in advance of Friday prayers -- as many pilgrims do.
"I never thought that such a crime could happen near this holy site," Saheb said. "The terrorists spare no place from their ugly deeds. This is a criminal act against faithful pilgrims. The terrorists are targeting the Shi'as."
A toy vendor said he lost consciousness after the blast.
The bombing brought back memories of the deadliest civilian attack in Iraq since the war began. On March 2, 2004, coordinated blasts from suicide bombers, mortars and planted explosives exploded near shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing at least 181 people. Since then, however, Karbala had been relatively free of violence.
There apparently had been warnings of another attack.
A would-be suicide car bomber arrested on Tuesday before he could explode his vehicle told Karbala police a number of suicide bombers were in the city, said a police commander who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. He refused to say if any others had been arrested.
prove it. prove that he lied. I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.Originally posted by: BBond
but it won't change the absolute fact that George W. Bush lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and the world
Originally posted by: ntdz
...? Who said it was? Certainly not me.
The evidence is out there in many, many areas. We could post actual transcripts of things said and you'd still dismiss it.Originally posted by: palehorse74
prove it. prove that he lied. I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.Originally posted by: BBond
but it won't change the absolute fact that George W. Bush lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and the world
I'll be over here waiting for your proof... as I've been waiting for the entire 3 years you pinkos have been spouting that line of total and complete BS.
GL!
/me grabs popcorn to munch on while he reads the inevitable "But we dont need proof...blah blah" nonsense that will no doubt be coming shortly...
Originally posted by: palehorse74
The goal in Iraq and Afghanistan is to democratize the middle east and Central Asia; and thus bring them out of the 7th century. Is it possible? I guess we'll have to wait and see. The point is that the overall intentions are worthy of respect, and it's therefore worth the effort to actually WAIT and see!
ban me? Ok, I editted it so as not to hurt your feelings again. I hope that will suffice.Originally posted by: conjur
The evidence is out there in many, many areas. We could post actual transcripts of things said and you'd still dismiss it.Originally posted by: palehorse74
prove it. prove that he lied. I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.Originally posted by: BBond
but it won't change the absolute fact that George W. Bush lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and the world
I'll be over here waiting for your proof... as I've been waiting for the entire 3 years you pinkos have been spouting that line of total and complete BS.
GL!
/me grabs popcorn to munch on while he reads the inevitable "But we dont need proof...blah blah" nonsense that will no doubt be coming shortly...
"pinkos"?
Motion for permaban for this complete loser?
Originally posted by: palehorse74
prove it. prove that he lied. I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.Originally posted by: BBond
but it won't change the absolute fact that George W. Bush lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and the world
I'll be over here waiting for your proof... as I've been waiting for the entire 3 years you folks have been spouting that line of total and complete BS.
GL!
/me grabs popcorn to munch on while he reads the inevitable "But we dont need proof...blah blah" nonsense that will no doubt be coming shortly...
For those of us who arrived in English class a little late, there's no such beast as an unintentional lie. Lying is by definition the willful telling of an untruth. If it's not intentional, it isn't a lie.Originally posted by: palehorse74
I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.
Originally posted by: conjur
The evidence is out there in many, many areas. We could post actual transcripts of things said and you'd still dismiss it.Originally posted by: palehorse74
prove it. prove that he lied. I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.Originally posted by: BBond
but it won't change the absolute fact that George W. Bush lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and the world
I'll be over here waiting for your proof... as I've been waiting for the entire 3 years you pinkos have been spouting that line of total and complete BS.
GL!
/me grabs popcorn to munch on while he reads the inevitable "But we dont need proof...blah blah" nonsense that will no doubt be coming shortly...
"pinkos"?
Motion for permaban for this complete loser?
Originally posted by: shira
For those of us who arrived in English class a little late, there's no such beast as an unintentional lie. Lying is by definition the willful telling of an untruth. If it's not intentional, it isn't a lie.Originally posted by: palehorse74
I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.
From Dictionary.com:
lie: To present false information with the intention of deceiving.
Originally posted by: homercles337
Originally posted by: palehorse74
The goal in Iraq and Afghanistan is to democratize the middle east and Central Asia; and thus bring them out of the 7th century. Is it possible? I guess we'll have to wait and see. The point is that the overall intentions are worthy of respect, and it's therefore worth the effort to actually WAIT and see!
Wait. What lie was BushCo trumping during the build up to invade Iraq? Was it democracy in the ME? Uh, nope. Youre nothing more than a sheep that relishes blind support of lies.
One thing Freepers like you keep ignoring (or just plain don't know as you all come here in waves every other month or so) is that I was FOR this war back in 2003. It wasn't until I started doing research on my own that I found out about the PNAC and the stranglehold it has on US foreign policy, esp. since the Propagandist took office in Jan. 2001.Originally posted by: palehorse74
ban me? Ok, I editted it so as not to hurt your feelings again. I hope that will suffice.Originally posted by: conjur
The evidence is out there in many, many areas. We could post actual transcripts of things said and you'd still dismiss it.Originally posted by: palehorse74
prove it. prove that he lied. I want audio, video, or paper proof that the President of the United states intentionally lied to everyone.Originally posted by: BBond
but it won't change the absolute fact that George W. Bush lied to the American people, the U.S. Congress, and the world
I'll be over here waiting for your proof... as I've been waiting for the entire 3 years you pinkos have been spouting that line of total and complete BS.
GL!
/me grabs popcorn to munch on while he reads the inevitable "But we dont need proof...blah blah" nonsense that will no doubt be coming shortly...
"pinkos"?
Motion for permaban for this complete loser?
But more importantly, now YOU have lied. There are no actual transcripts, and there is absolutely NO PROOF that The President lied to the world. For 3 years your lot has been saying so, but in that 3 years, no one shred of actual proof has surfaced. Not one single administration official has stepped forward to tell the world that they witnissed such a conspiracy. nada.. nothing..zip.
Btw, like babe ruth, I called your shot! Way to go!