I've no doubt there are good things going on in Iraq, but this letter seems like a typical e-mail hoax, I've found a couple of sites that dispute the points, but nothing definitive about whether it really is a hoax, wouldn't you want to verify the info before you accept it as truth?
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But it's interesting that the average American knows so little about these matters and yet has such firm opinions. Here's an extreme example, sent to me by one of my right-wing fans. It's a "letter from a soldier." You can read the whole thing here. But here are some claims putatively made by Ray Reynolds, SFC, of the Iowa National Guard:
-Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
-Over 400,000 kids have up to date immunizations.
-Over 1500 schools have been renovated and ridded of the weapons that were stored there so education can occur.
-The port of Umm Qasr was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from ships faster.
-School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
-The country had it's first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
-The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
-100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed compared to 35% before the war.
-Elections are taking place in every major city and city councils are in place.
-Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
-Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
-Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
-Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.
-Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
-Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
-An interim constitution has been signed.
-Girls are allowed to attend school for the first time ever in Iraq.
-Text books that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.
Of course, anyone can have fun with this. Girls could, of course, attend school in Iraq before the war (the person who sent this to me knew this one and must have removed the "for the first time" part -- or someone in the chain that sent it to him did). Every major city in Iraq had sewer and water lines before the war -- as does every major city. Iraqis knew how to wash their hands before the Americans came. Some of them even knew how to do brain surgery, which requires extensive hand-washing. Telephones were working before the war; now, many aren't. There's no way a soldier could know of his own knowledge that "100%" of hospitals in the whole country are fully staffed and open, or that 35% were before. Either he made it up or someone fed it to him. In any case, I imagine that thd 35% is not even close to being accurate -- if anything, it's more likely that hospitals are closed now, because of security problems or deliberate actions by the coalition. Plenty of kids had up-to-date immunizations under Saddam. An Iraqi history textbook that doesn't mention Saddam is leaving out a hell of a lot. RTI, the North Carolina company that is bringing "democracy" to Iraq, often prefers to appoint councils rather than having them elected. And so on.
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It's possible that a real SFC in Iraq wrote this, it's even possible that his view of Iraqi public opinion is correct, but just about every objectively verifiable statement is dead-wrong. The oil export figure, for example, is off by a factor of almost 100.
Now, I'm biased, I suppose, being an opponent of the Iraq War. But, as to the inaccuracies: The CPA itself says electricity is just barely above prewar levels, far from double. Cite: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/GoodMorningAmerica/Iraq_anniversary_electricity_040314.html
The letter was surely written last month before the Iraqi civil defense and police forces he speaks so highly of, deserted or even went over to the other side in Fallujah. (cite: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0711FA395C0C7A8CDDAD0894DC404482)
The idea Iraqis had to be told to wash their hands before eating is preposterous: it's in the Koran. [cite omitted]
Girls *already* attended school in Iraq and the secular Baath-imposed culture was relatively free in matters of women's employment and public dress. This sort of sexism was not one of Saddam's many faults. The author has confused Iraq with Taliban Afghanistan. (In his defense, so did George W. Bush.)
Telephone service has not even been restored to subscribers who lost service from damage during the war last year or because of infrastructure decay before that. The idea that 400,000 NEW subscribers have service seems extremely unlikely. [USG Cite: http://www.usaid.gov/press/factsheets/2004/fs040226.html , as of late February 2004]
The US Government puts out a weekly newsletter of "Accomplishments to Date" in Iraq. (Most recent: http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/updates/apr04/iraq_fs28_042004.pdf ). The water system has been "repaired" and delivery has been "improved" but there is no mention of even one person getting water for the first time, much less 4.5 MM.
As you can see here [ cite http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3148997.stm ] estimates for oil export were less than 1.2 Million barrels/day in mid-August 2003. The 2 billion figure is sheerest fantasy.
I guess these B.S. numbers are more fun than dealing with five more US soldiers dead yesterday.
drlaz at attglobal dot net
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