How the United States and Iraq have changed since 2003

Kansas City Star ^

[Deut28]

The on-line article (linked) did not include a graphic on the left hand side of page A-10 in the Sunday, March 19th edition. I've listed below a summary of that piece that is not available on-line.

Iraq War: Then & Now

Status of Reonstruction: - Potable water: 50% of Iraqis had access before the war, 32% now.

- Electric power: Baghdad, with one fifth of Iraq's 25 million people, had power for 16 to 24 hours a day before the war, just under 4 hours now.

- Crude oil production: Prewar peak was 2.5 million barrels a day, now 1.84 million.

- Unemployment: Estimates ranged from 50-50% in June 2003, now 28-40%.

[Deut28]

Here's my beef. I have grudgingly accepted that the Star will editorialize all major stories, but when it comes to misrepresenting and downplaying the accomplishments of those who died serving our nation, I refuse to let myself consider accepting the slander.

Cursory examination of information from the DoD (or even liberal outlets like Brookings) show that the Star has published numbers that don't reflect reality. Please respond to this list with further accomplishments of our troops, and corrections of the Star's horrid reporting on this subject.

And if you live in the Star's coverage area, please write the Star (letters@kcstar.com) with your thoughts and information.

[RexBeach]

Where did the "Kansas City Star" get all of these numbers?

[MNJohnnie]

So what is your response to the "Facts" present here?

[andyandval]

-Dictators: 1 before the war. 0 after.

[dirtboy]

- Electric power: Baghdad, with one fifth of Iraq's 25 million people, had power for 16 to 24 hours a day before the war, just under 4 hours now.

Notice how they focus on Baghdad here. Under Saddam, power from the rest of the country was siphoned off to give Baghdad more power. Now the power distribution is more equitable.

[Deut28]

Here's an article from the DoD on the three year mark in Iraq that details some of the accomplishments.

Progress Continues

Some of the noted accomplishments include:

- Twenty-six nations are currently supporting operations in Iraq. In all, 35 countries have contributed to the effort there, U.S. Embassy officials in Iraq said.

- In three years Iraqi security forces have gone from zero to 240,000, an undertaking led by Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq.

- Of 110 forward operating bases operated by coalition forces at the start of 2005, 33 have now been transferred to Iraqis or closed, according to U.S. Embassy and Multinational Force Iraq reports.

- Today, two Iraqi army divisions, 10 Iraqi brigades, and 43 Iraqi battalions control areas. Independently operating Iraqi forces routinely account for more than 25 percent of total operations conducted in Iraq, U.S. officials said.

- In response to the need for military medicine arising from a violent insurgency, Iraq's armed forces have trained 458 medics and more than 3,000 combat lifesavers, Multinational Force Iraq officials said. Eight new medical clinics have opened, and another three are nearing completion, and a world-class prosthetic clinic managed by Iraqi army personnel provides state-of-the-art prostheses and rehabilitation to both military and civilian amputees.

- Electrical service throughout Iraq has increased from four to eight hours a day in March 2003 to 12 hours per day in 2006, despite an increase in demand and attacks on the infrastructure and distribution network, U.S. Embassy officials said.

- An additional 1.25 million people now have access to potable water that didn't have it under Saddam's regime, and an additional 9.1 million people have access to sewerage facilities, officials said.

- Iraq's oil production is back at pre-war levels, running at 2.3 million barrels per day.

- And school building and renovation using Iraqi and donor funding continues, with 628 new schools currently under construction and 13 more completed between May and October 2005.

- In the same period, more than 260 school renovations were completed, and another 266 renovation projects are ongoing.

- More than 3,400 schools have been rehabilitated since 2003, U.S. Embassy officials said.

- More and more Iraqis are reporting insurgent activity to coalition officials. Iraqis are increasingly using tip lines, and more than 1,000 calls were received in February, U.S. Embassy officials in Baghdad said.

Please honor the sacrifice of our troops by calling out the Star for their deplorable reporting on this subject!

You can e-mail them at letters@kcstar.com

[el_texicano]

Humph!!! They don't call it the "Red Star" here for nothing. More fish wrap, bird cage liner.

[Just mythoughts]

I canceled my "tar" subscription after they endorsed the 'widow Carnahan'.... They are liberal ...

I did not hear one mention of Clintons one year war in the Balkans by any of these pundits alll day yesterday.

[Democracy In Iraq]

I hear there's also a lot less purple ink than there was prior to the invasion.

[Deut28]

RexBeach -- They didn't cite any specific numbers, but at the bottom of the panel they noted none other than the Associated Press. I would presume other papers nationally ran this ridiculous piece as well.

[oldleft]

Good point. Under Saddam about 15% of the country was well taken care of while 85% lived as slaves or worse. A lot of people in this country think it would be great to leave the 85% to get killed again because then the 15% will give us TV pictures that make us feel warm and fuzzy.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

There's no question a brutal dictator can make things run efficiently. The Star seems to be celebrating this.

[Piquaboy]

They just pulled them out of thin air like the rest of the rats do.

[Mo1]

Notice how they focus on Baghdad here.

I'm starting to think they don't realize there is more to Iraq then just Baghdad

[Fenris6]

Micheal Yon has good info on this stuff. Lots of out of context and misuse of these statistics. Just one example: electricity supply is haphazard b/c thousands of Iraqi's are connecting to the grid for the first time, with new stuff like washer/dryers and satellite dishes.

The MSM is distorting the facts on the ground to give the Left political traction.

[Allegra]

Where did the "Kansas City Star" get all of these numbers?

My best guess is that they just made them up.

The electricity output and unemployment rates they cite don't match up to what I see.

The electricity does still go off in Baghdad, but their hour count is a gross exaggeration.

And the MSM had better get their facts coordinated. CNN was actually reporting on an improving economy and job market in Iraq just last night. CNN! (Yes, my jaw dropped...) The numbers I hear don't match up to the KC Star's numbers.

[flushed with pride]

The Star is now and has always been the 'boot licking lackeys' of the Democrat party bosses. If the commissars at the DNC send out a talking points memo to all of their adjunct offices (newspaper editor's offices), the editors perform their usual reverential duty and recut the memo as an investigative news piece. Nothing new.

[dirtboy]

Prewar peak was 2.5 million barrels a day, now 1.84 million.

This has been repeated so often in the media that it now carries the imprint of truth. However, this is the reality:

So the prewar peak of 2.5 million barrels happened in 2000 - and declined steadily since. Although this graph does not extend into 2002-2003, I have seen nothing that Saddam's oil production immediately before the invasion was anywhere near 2.5 million barrels. So 1.86 million barrels could be an improvement over the production shortly before the invasion.

[D-Chivas]

Cursory examination of information from the DoD (or even liberal outlets like Brookings) show that the Star has published numbers that don't reflect reality. Please respond to this list with further accomplishments of our troops, and corrections of the Star's horrid reporting on this subject. And if you live in the Star's coverage area, please write the Star (letters@kcstar.com) with your thoughts and information.

How about just not buying that rag anymore?

[Deut28]

Allow me to stand upon the soap box for a minute.

It's real easy to become outraged by this kind of reporting, and it's dangerously easy to let it drive you crazy on a daily basis. But this crosses the line by tarnishing the sacrifice of our troops.

Please take 10 minutes out of your Freep time today to actually let the Star (or your local media outlet) know that you will not stand for this by pointing out all that has been accomplished as a result of our soldier's sacrifices.

Our soldiers have given infinitely more, and asked for nothing in return. Please honor them by ensuring that the fruits of their sacrifice don't go unrecognized.

Again, here's how to contact the KC Star: letters@kcstar.com

I'm off my soapbox now.

Here's another wonderful piece from our Corps of Engineers on the accomplishments in Iraq

Excerpts:

- Ninety-two (92) major projects were completed in calendar year 2005 and an additional 900+ MW of electricity added to the national grid … along with eight new substations … for improved reliability and national control.

- Over 1,400 electrical towers and 8,600 kilometers of transmission lines have been installed (enough conductor to cover the distance from Washington, DC to San Francisco and back).

- During calendar year 2005, 102 water projects were completed—adding 151,473 cubic meters of water per day, 30,600 hectares of irrigated area, and 107 potable water systems for the people of Iraq.

It's not just the media's responsibility to accurately recognize the accomplishments of our nation.