IRAQ: Disastrous and Shocking Official Statistics by Sabah al-Baghdadi Translated and adapted by Khalil Nakhleh http://kanaanonline.org/ebulletin-en/ The following official governmental statistics, up to December 2008, show the disastrous conditions prevalent in Iraq since the American invasion and oc cu pation of that country. 1. One million widowed Iraqi women (according to Iraqi Ministry of Women Affairs). 2. Four million orphaned Iraqi children (according to estimates by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning). 3. Two and a half million (2,500,000) Iraqis killed (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Forensic Medicine). 4. 800,000 Iraqis have disappeared in secret holding places connected with the different ruling parties (according to registered complaints at the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior). 5. 340,000 Iraqi prisoners, detained without charge, in U.S. army prisons, the prisons of the Iraqi government, and the prisons in the Kurdistan District (according to Iraqi, Arab, international and UN human rights organizations and agencies). US oc cu pying forces admit officially that the number of Iraqi detainees in their prisons is about 120,000. 6. Four and a half million (4,500,000) Iraqis are refugees outside Iraq (according to statistics of those seeking passports (category C) from the General Directorate of Passports. 7. Two and a half million (2,500,000) Iraqis are refugees inside Iraq (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Refugees). 8. 76,000 registered Iraqi cases of AIDS; this number did not exceed 114 cases before the invasion and oc cu pation of Iraq (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health). 9. Frightening spread of the use of addictive drugs imported from Iran , 10. Three out of every four marriages end up in divorce since the invasion and oc cu pation of Iraq (according to Iraqi Ministry of Health). 11. More than 40% of the Iraqi people are under the poverty line (according to the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights). I believe, however, that the actual percentage is much higher, and surpasses 55%. 12. Decline in the level and quality of basic and tertiary education, according to statements made by officials in UNESCO, which led this organization to refuse to recognize university degrees issued by Iraqi tertiary institutions (universities and colleges). This is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s happening in “their new democratic Iraq ”, since the American invasion and oc cu pation of the country. ::::: The article appeared originally in Arabic in www.kanaanonline.org, no. 1973, on 30 July 2009. Sabahal-Baghdadi is an independent Iraqi journalist and researcher; he may be reached at [email protected]. Translated and adapted by Dr. Khalil Nakhleh: Dr. Khalil Nakhleh is an independent Palestinian researcher and development consultant; he may be reached at [email protected]. ____________ * To visit Kana’an Online (KOL) website, go to www.kanaanonline.org. * For articles from the year 2001 through 2008, please visit Kana’an Online website at: http://www.kanaanonline.org/ebulletin.php * Please write to us or send your contributions to: [email protected]. * To subscribe to our mailing list, please send a blank e-mail message to [email protected]. * To unsubscribe from our mailing list, please send a blank e-mail message to [email protected].
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