Originally posted by macyuhoo:
The Bush administration misled the American people into a disastrous war on the false pretense that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction intended for use against the US.

Extremists from among the Sunni population are conducting a murderous campaign against Shiites, blaming them for the Shiite-dominated puppet regime in Baghdad. Shiite militias, many operating from within the US-trained and equipped Iraqi security forces, have retaliated by indiscriminately slaughtering Sunnis. Over 50 percent of the population lives on less than $US1 per day. At least four million are assessed as being “food insecure”—meaning they live on the verge of starvation. An estimated 28 percent of Iraqi children suffer from malnutrition and 10 percent are suffering from chronic disease or illness. Iraq now has the highest mortality rate for children under five in the Middle East.

The daily threat of death or injury, combined with the social catastrophe facing the Iraqi people, has caused at least two million to flee the country. An estimated 1.9 million Iraqis are considered to be internally displaced, forced from their homes by violence or poverty. The majority of those who have left the country are people who had some financial means. Close to 40 percent of Iraq’s middle class—university - educated professionals such as doctors, teachers, engineers and managers — is believed to have gone into exile, rather than continue to risk their lives in Iraq’s cities and towns. Iraqis now make the largest number of asylum applications in the world.

Close to 40,000 more Iraqis enter Syria each month. Dardari told the BBC: “This influx has had a negative effect on the Syrian economy and has increased the pressure on national resources.” More than 75,000 Iraqi children are enrolled in Syrian schools. The Syrian government estimates that providing medical care and education to the refugees is costing one billion dollars per year.

The government of Jordan appealed for financial aid as well. Iraqi refugees have swollen the country’s population by more than 10 percent. Large numbers have overstayed their temporary visitor visas and live in constant fear of deportation. The Jordanian regime has become increasingly punitive as the flow of refugees has heightened economic pressures. Many have exhausted their resources and are sinking inexorably into poverty. Iraqis aged between 20 and 40 have now been banned from entering the country. Others who are allowed to enter have to prove they have sufficient money to support themselves. A 12-month work permit, for those who can get one, costs $225 — an amount equal to a month’s pay for many jobs and out of reach for many refugees.

The Bush administration, which is responsible for creating this humanitarian disaster, has made no response to the Syrian and Jordanian appeals for aid. Over the past four years, the US has resettled just 466 Iraqi refugees.

quote:

Originally posted by macyuhoo:
The Bush administration misled the American people into a disastrous war on the false pretense that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction intended for use against the US.

Americans now wonder why the world hates them (us) so? Why US foreign policy — and therefore American diplomats who represent that policy — is scorned for being arrogant, stupid and as stupid as the policy is arrogant? No wonder that, as an opinion piece in a recent issue of Time Magazine observed, someone like Hugo Chavez whom Bush hates so much, is overwhelmingly loved in his country Venezuela (see column of Peter Beinart in Time issue of May 21). And the reason too, that, as that piece suggests, US-sponsored democracies are failing.

Your statement is yet more liberal b-u-l-l-sh-i-t. Can you really believe what a liberal toilet paper like Time Magazine has to say. Chavez is a dictator who needs to be exterminated. If the country loves him then why the mass protests over his silencing of the opposition TV stations? When are you f-u-c-k-i-n-g liberal donkeys ever going to wake up..........if you continue to have the Jimmy carter appeasement mentality then this country is doomed.....you can't appease the islamic terrorists, you have to exterminate them...........you get peace through strength

Correction: Islam is another word for a ** h*le

Correction: SonofMichael is another word for a**h*le

Hey Paddy, don't pad the history. Chavez is a nationalist and he's among the few who has the B A L L S to stand up against Bush and his warriors. Unable to defeat Chavez last election, US-CIA in cahoot with his political opponents are now using the TV station incident to cause unrest and chaos in that country with the sole intention of ousting Chavez. How many foreign leaders duly elected by their citizens who were ousted just because US didn't want them? They're working on Chavez now. Chavez is as tough as Castro.

quote:

Originally posted by Paddy:

quote:

Originally posted by macyuhoo:
The Bush administration misled the American people into a disastrous war on the false pretense that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction intended for use against the US.

Americans now wonder why the world hates them (us) so? Why US foreign policy — and therefore American diplomats who represent that policy — is scorned for being arrogant, stupid and as stupid as the policy is arrogant? No wonder that, as an opinion piece in a recent issue of Time Magazine observed, someone like Hugo Chavez whom Bush hates so much, is overwhelmingly loved in his country Venezuela (see column of Peter Beinart in Time issue of May 21). And the reason too, that, as that piece suggests, US-sponsored democracies are failing.

Your statement is yet more liberal b-u-l-l-sh-i-t. Can you really believe what a liberal toilet paper like Time Magazine has to say. Chavez is a dictator who needs to be exterminated. If the country loves him then why the mass protests over his silencing of the opposition TV stations? When are you f-u-c-k-i-n-g liberal donkeys ever going to wake up..........if you continue to have the Jimmy carter appeasement mentality then this country is doomed.....you can't appease the islamic terrorists, you have to exterminate them...........you get peace through strength