Iraq perspective

It's not ALL bad news here. Of course, you have to put the $3.4 billion in completed construction projects in the context that we've spent $350 billion total. And a fair amount of what has been built has been later blown up by the bad guys. But it's not like NOTHING positive has been done, as some DUers appear to believe.

Other good news? Ummmm. The western tribes are fighting a mini civil war with the Sunni religious extremists. Does that count?

Construction Rollup: Project Starts, Completions

Gulf Region Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division completed 17 reconstruction projects and began two new projects during the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 1, 2006.

Two of the completed projects are the $1.9 million Uruk Highway Patrol Station in Muthanna Province and the $615,000 Ramadi Provincial Iraqi Patrol Station renovation in Al Anbar Province.

The Uruk project (pictured) provides life support facilities to approximately 160 employees, including sleeping and showering quarters, a kitchen and dining area, as well as operations and administrative rooms.

The Ramadi project included demolition and debris removal, electrical maintenance and repairs, and force protection fortification to include guard towers.

“Rule of law and a representative court system are the cornerstones on which democracy and a prosperous economy are built,” said Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, commander of the Gulf Region Division. “GRD is committed to working with our Iraqi partners to focus on reconstruction and essential services projects to help build a brighter future for Iraq.”

More than 95 percent of the Gulf Region Division’s Security and Justice projects – which include border posts, points of entry and police facilities - are completed.

At the transfer of sovereignty in June 2004, there were just 200 projects started. As of Nov. 24, 2006, the Department of Defense has 3,455 total planned projects representing a construction cost of $6.79B.
• 692 are under construction at a construction cost of $2.61B.
• 2,620 have been completed at a construction cost of $3.38B.
• 143 more projects are planned.

The results of these efforts have improved the quality of life for all Iraqis:

• Due to added capacity and normal operation and maintenances of systems, electrical generation is at 4,570 megawatts, serving approximately 372,000 homes with an end goal of 6,000 MW and 450,000 homes served.

• Potable water is at 422k m3/day with 2.1 million people affected with an end goal of 1,136k m3/day and an end goal of 5.2 million. Crude oil production is at 2.5 million barrels per day with an end goal of 3 million BPD.

Throughout Iraq, U.S. government ongoing projects contribute to the ever improving quality of life and economic stability – helping provide the foundation for the country to build upon as it overcomes a generation of neglect.

Note: Contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division by calling 540-665-5339 or emailing cegrd.pao@tac01.usace.army.mil for more information on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq, or visit our Web site at www.grd.usace.army.mil.

Americans' Iraq Views Sink
To New Lows, Poll Finds

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116491281226737123-UxNyjjCtsKU17HX_651OUXQIUq0_20071205.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

And with headlines like this is going to be a hard sell here and to the US citizens all is going well:

U.N. says 3,709 Iraqi civilians killed in October
http://www.kbcitv.com/news/national/4719776.html

30 Iraqis, six US soldiers killed
http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=12/6/2006§ion_id=26&newsid=45824&spcl=no

Iraqi speaker admits failure to establish strong Iraqi state
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=931115

52 bodies found around Baghdad, plus 7 in Mosul
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04370581.htm

Other than maybe some Freepers who are living in a cave. Heck, even Bush admits things are screwed up, while remaining optimistic about the chance for unscrewing.

I've just seen some DUers who think NOTHING positive is happening in Iraq. Overall, sure, it's a freakin' disaster. But I read a lot of posts that say there's no progress at all. There is SOME; whether it portends a good outcome for the eventual state of the place is another issue.

If four or five steps are being taken backward for each forward step taken, it is hard to claim the thing is advancing: as a whole, it moves backwards.

"Learn from the mistakes of others: you won't live long enough to make them all yourself."

Geez, that doesn't sound like a fiscally sharp way of doing business.

But hey, it's all about the dough-re-mi. This article is instructive, in a horrific kind of way: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1230040.php/Census_finds_100000_contractors_in_Iraq

Census finds 100,000 contractors in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPI) -- A U.S. military census finds that private government contractors in Iraq now employ about 100,000 people.

That means the number of contractors is coming close to the number of U.S. soldiers, The Washington Post reported. The figure includes U.S. and Iraqi nationals and citizens of other countries but does not include the employees of subcontractors. ...The military`s previous top estimate was 25,000 contractors. During the Gulf War in 1991, the military employed fewer than 10,000 contractors.

More than 600 contractors have been killed.

The contractors fill a variety of jobs, from food service to interrogating prisoners. About 700 of DynCorp International`s 1,500 employees in the country are involved in training Iraqi police officers, while most of Blackwater USA`s 1,000 contractors are involved in security, the newspaper said.

Kellogg, Brown and Root, one of the largest and most controversial contractors, employs 50,000 people and subcontractors in Iraq.

Hard to believe, I know. ;)

Hey buddy:hi: use search and check out some other nuggets of wisdom .:silly:

We`ve had an in depth discussion here about the invasion of Iraq and ensuing disaster, highlighted by the perspective of some whose family members have served or are now serving there and by many who have served at other times. I`ve followed these discussions and the results of a gazillion hours of collective research with great interest.

If another government invaded the United States and tore down out statues, imposed curfews, set roadblocks, changed our currency, brought in at least 100,000 private "contractors", dropped White Phosphorus, lugged some of us off in secret torture planes, bombed our houses and churches, watched while the Smithsonian was emptied, raided our houses, paid "journalists" to spread propaganda, controlled our water and electricity, employed armed mercenaries, took over our prisons, built bases and an umpteen-acre embassy and set up a hand-picked puppet government, would I focus on a new school they built in Hoboken, New Jersey or a waste treatment plant in Boise, Idaho? No.

I`ve asked myself how on earth an entire country could have been whipped into a nationalistic frenzy based on lies told by an AWOL chickenhawk, his five-deferment VP and members of the Project for the New American Century. I`ve reminded myself that Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th and concluded this is the gravest mistake in American foreign policy history, in spite of the "bright future" we plan for Iraq. Thousands of Americans and Iraqis will have no bright future. They`re dead.

The president of the United States and his VP (armed with Iraqi oilfield maps) decided early on they could take full advantage of the horror we experienced on September 11th and turn our fear to a lust for revenge, even if it meant going after the wrong person. There is nothing we can build in Iraq that will mitigate the damage we`ve done to our nation`s honor.

I wouldn't call Maliki a hand-picked puppet. If he's anybody's puppet, it's Iran. The government was elected in an internationally sanctioned and certified vote, and it is dysfunctional largely BECAUSE of that, not despite it, because a lot of influential Iraqis have no interest in power sharing. And we're rapidly turning over bases and facilities to that government (e.g. Abu Ghraib prison, which is empty now and controlled by the Iraqis).

OK, fine, the invasion and aftermath were wrong and incompetently executed. Whaddayagonna do now? At least we're doing SOMETHING worthwhile. Personally, I think we ought to get the heck out as quickly as possible, but we might as well build a water plant or two while we're here.

nothing we Americans can do now to change that by building anything, they'll just blow it up as I am sure we would also if the tables was turned. The Iraqi people will have nothing to do with anything that has a usa stamp remotely connected with it as I wouldn't blame them. We have to get the hell out and stop dictating what needs to be done cause come hell or high water they aren't going to hear it anyway, not now. The UN is the body to take over and start making it right for the Iraqi and only time will lessen they're hatred for us, not anything we do. And I can't blame them for it either

I work with them and read translations of their media every day. What you're saying is true of some Iraqis, but only a fraction. Most Iraqis just want a strong government to kill all these SOBs who are committing mass murder.

Seriously, they'd take Saddamism back without Saddam, as long as there's no payback for what happened. Most Iraqis Shiites want to sit on the sidelines until the Maliki government wins, and they want them to quit pussy-footing around and start slaughtering anybody who LOOKs like a Sunni insurgent. Sunnis, naturally, have a different perspective, but most of them are perfectly willing to put up with a majority Shiite government if it stops the fighting.

We're a cause of much of the violence, but by no means the majority of it. This place was a civil war being held in check by a strong secret police before we blew it up, just like the Balkans before Tito died. Or think of it like the American Revolution, where the Patriots had the support of about one-third of the population. Take that percentage and divide by the ethnic makeup of the country and you'll arrive at your "Iraqi people" who are united in a desire to fight the U.S. Maybe a sixth of the population; probably not even that after four years of futile, senseless killing.

The U.N.? Oh, please. The U.N. can hand out food to people who have quit fighting; they can't police any place where there's a real dispute because a) they won't send troops and b) the troops they send won't fight. See southern Lebanon, Darfur, etc., etc. They certainly have their place -- Haiti, Cambodia and East Timor are good examples -- but they won't be able to deploy blue helmets in Iraq for decades, if ever.

will be blown up tomorrow. Nothing we do there is worthwhile. You do know about the DEPLETED URANIUM


Please watch this
What is a water plant going to do for these people?

http://www.bushflash.com/pl_lo.html

Expected.

Jah bless.