53 Interesting Facts (bologna alert)

One of those silly email forwards | Who knows? | Who knows?

[sparkomatic]

53 questions and answers about Iraq and the US, you can't find them on CNN

Al-Jazeerah, 2/19/03*

- Here's some information worth knowing that you'll ever get on CNN. Do you know enough to justify going to war with Iraq ? Take the War on Iraq IQ Test:

1. Q: What percentage of the world's population does the U.S. have?
A: 6%
2. Q: What percentage of the world's wealth does the U.S. have?
A: 50%
3. Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves?
A: Saudi Arabia
4. Q: Which country has the second largest oil reserves?
A: Iraq
5. Q: How much is spent on military budgets a year worldwide?
A: $900+ billion
6. Q: How much of this is spent by the U.S. ?
A:50%
7. Q: What percent of US military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according the UN?
A: 10% (that's about $40 billion, the amount of funding initially requested to fund our retaliatory attack on Afghanistan ).
8. Q: How many people have died in wars since World War II?
A: 86 million
9. Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and biological weapons?
A: Since the early 1980's.
10. Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical and biological weapons on their own?
A: No, the materials and technology were supplied by the US government, along with Britain and private corporations.
11. Q: Did the US government condemn the Iraqi use of gas warfare against Iran ?
A: No
12. Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill using gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988?
A: 5,000
13. Q: How many western countries condemned this action at the time?
A:0
14. Q: How many gallons of Agent Orange did America use in Vietnam ?
A: 17 million.
15. Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and September 11th terrorist attack?
A: No
16. Q: What is the estimated number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War?
A: 35,000
17. Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the western forces during the Gulf War ?
A: 0
18. Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were buried alive by U.S. tanks with ploughs mounted on the front?
A: 6,000
19. Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War?
A: 40 tons
20. Q: What according to the UN was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994?
A: 700%
21. Q: How much of Iraq 's military capacity did America claim it had destroyed in 1991?
A: 80%
22. Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self defense?
A: No
23. Q: Does Iraq present more of a threat to world peace now than 10 years ago?
A: No
24. Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted in the event of an attack on Iraq in 2002/3?
A: 10,000
25. Q: What percentage of these will be children?
A:Over 50%
26. Q: How many years has the U.S. engaged in air strikes on Iraq ?
A: 11 years
27. Q: Was the U.S and the UK at war with Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: No
28. Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped on Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: 20 million
29. Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661 introduced, imposing strict sanctions on Iraq 's imports and exports?
A: 12 years
30. Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in 1989 (per 1,000 births)?

A: 38 31. Q: What was the estimated child death rate in Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 131 (that's an increase of 345%)
32. Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died by October 1999 as a result of UN sanctions?
A: 1.5 million
33. Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to have died due to sanctions since 1997?
A: 750,000
34. Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq ?
A: No
35. Q: How many inspections were there in November and December 1998?

A:300 36. Q: How many of these inspections had problems?
A:5
37. Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to the Ba'ath Party HQ?
A: Yes
38. Q: Who said that by December 1998, Iraq had in fact, been disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern history.
A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief.
39. Q: In 1998 how much of Iraq's post 1991 capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction did the UN weapons inspectors claim to have discovered and dismantled?
A: 90%
40. Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons inspectors back in?
A: Yes
41. Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992?
A: Over 65
42. Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990?
A: 30+
43. Q: How much does the U.S. fund Israel a year?
A: $5 billion
44. Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons?
A: 8
45. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Iraq have?
A: 0
46. Q: How many nuclear warheads does US have?
A: over 10,000
47. Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons?
A: the US
48. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?
A:Over 400
49. Q: Has Israel ever allowed UN weapons inspections?
A: No
50. Q: What percentage of the Palestinian territories are controlled by Israeli settlements?
A: 42%
51. Q: Is Israel illegally occupying Palestinian land?
A: Yes
52. Q: Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S. ?
A: ?
53. Q: Who said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"?
A: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

* Al-Jazeerah received it by email without an author's name mentioned.

[hellinahandcart]

There are over 5 billion people in the world. Do they mean to tell me that 8 bucks will provide me the essentials of life?

Socialist math.

Check this out. Apparently the Iraqis get a wheelbarrow full of food rations for "only twelve cents a month". Oy, the markup we capitalists must endure!

And yet there's so much food in free countries...

Remember Somalia? We threw food and money at that hellhole with both hands, and the gangs took control of the distibution. Thugs, communists, and all liberal sociaL engineers have an vested interest in making sure people literally cannot LIVE without them.

You could take ALL of America's wealth away and people would still be starving in the same numbers. That's they way these people work.

[hellinahandcart]

Forgot to include the link:

Iraq's Celebrated Ration System to Be Tested in Event of War

[buccaneer81]

Anyone know what the US spends in foreign aid each year? I'm sure it's not 40 billion, but I think it's over $10 billion

Not even close! We're offering Turkey $26 billion for the use of it's bases for our troops. That's almost two years of NASA's budget.

[Mr. Bird]

Not even close! We're offering Turkey $26 billion for the use of it's bases for our troops

First of all, that's not foreign aid, it's bribery, but I digress. The total U.S. foreign aid appropriation for '02 was approximately $15 billion. That's not nearly enough to validate the people who think all of their tax money is going to foreign countries, but that doesn't stop them from chicken-littling the issue to death.

[ncpastor]

Here's the process: first start with a premise you want to "prove." Next make up a bunch of sh*t that "proves" your point. Finally, sit back smugly and gloat.

[wjcsux]

If Socialists controlled the Atlantic Ocean, there would be a shortage of salt water.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the western forces during the Gulf War ? A: 0

Bullshite.

These service members are not actually buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but are memorialized there. Memorials are erected when there are no identifiable remains for an individual whose death has been substantiated. Should remains be recovered at a later date, the deceased will be buried in a new location and the memorial stone will be interred with the coffin.

Air Force Capt. Jorge Artega	Memorial Headstone #512
Navy AMSAN Allen Scott Carter	Memorial Headstone #534
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Barry Thomas Cooke	Memorial Headstone #515
Air Force AMS3 James Edward Crockford Jr.	Memorial Headstone #516
Marine Capt. William David Cronin Jr.	Memorial Headstone #518
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Scott Speicher	Memorial Headstone #517
Navy Lt.jg. David Albert Warne	Memorial Headstone #519
Navy Lt. Robert Dwyer	Memorial Headstone #513
Navy Lt. James H. Love	Memorial Headstone #514

 

The following Gulf War dead have been buried at Arlington National Cemetery:

NAME	BURIAL DATE	BURIAL SITE
Air Force Capt. Thomas Clifford Bland Jr.	May 20, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7713
Army Lt. Col. David Allen Douthit	May 10, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7714
Air Force Capt. Dixon L. Walters	April 18, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7715
Navy AKC Richard P. Swanson	April 12, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7716
Navy Lt. Patrick K. Connor	April 11, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7717
Marine Lance Cpl. Kip A. Poremba	March 28, 1991	Section 1, Grave 440-F
Army Capt. Joseph. G. Kime III	March 26, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7718
Army Spec. Tommy Don Butler	March 19, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7719
Marine Lance Cpl. James Reyes Lang	March 12, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7720
Sgt. 1st Class William Thomas Butts	March 12, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7721
Army Maj. Marie Therese Rossi	March 11, 1991	Section 8, Grave 9872
Army Pfc. Robert L. Daugherty	March 8, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7722
Army Pfc. Timothy A. Shaw	March 7, 1991	Section 8, Grave 9871
Marine Lance Cpl. Troy L. Gregory	March 4, 1991	Section 60, Grave 7723
Army Sgt. Maj. Patrick R. Hurley	Feb. 28, 1991	Section 32, Grave 513
Capt. Jonathan R. Edwards	Feb. 15, 1991	Section 69, Grave 1239

[buccaneer81]

First of all, that's not foreign aid, it's bribery

IMHO all foreign aid is bribery, whether the recipient be a dictator or the general population. "Hearts and Minds" all that bulls**t, you know.

[Maigrey]

self ping for tonight

[PatrioticAmerican]

Written by a jealous UN commie. They act as though North America has riches and we are just hogging them all. They never think that the American people create their wealth, their food, and their products. To them, wheat just grows on every street corner, and clothes grow on bushes.

[tang-soo]

bttt

[Sloth]

22. Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self defense?

A: No

Yeah, aside from that whole invading Kuwait thing, and firing Scud missiles on non-combatant Israelis during the Gulf War.

38. Q: Who said that by December 1998, Iraq had in fact, been disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern history.

A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief.

Q: Which former UNSCOM chief uses the Internet to lure underage girls for sexual liasons? A: Scott Ritter

[jiggyboy]

I'll try a few:

20. Q: What according to the UN was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994?
A: 700%

Probably because there were more doctors there immediately after the war to make proper diagnoses.


30. Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in 1989 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 38
31. Q: What was the estimated child death rate in Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000 births)?
A: 131 (that's an increase of 345%)

Whoops, selective use of statistics here. It had been on a steady increase ever since Saddam took over in 1978, when Iraq's economy compared favorably with Portugal's. He also conveniently ignores the fact that this is a result of Saddam putting all of his oil-for-food money into WMD and palaces instead of civilian basics.


A couple of the rest (U.S. is only country to go nuclear) are too simple to bother with.