Obama Iraq Speech To Signal Shift To Afghan Focus

Many Americans [like flossophy] want to believe that the US improved conditions for the Iraqis by invading their country and ousting Saddam Hussein.



Here are statistics on how human misery has spread across the country in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion:



Iraq has between 25 & 50 percent unemployment, a dysfunctional parliament, rampant disease, epidemic mental illness, & sprawling slums. The killing of innocent people has become part of daily life.



What a havoc the US has wreaked in Iraq [& is wreaking in Afghanistan].



A recently published report [State of the World’s Cities, 2010-2011] with statistics on the status of cities around the world & their demographics - http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=2917.



Slum dwellers: Those living in urban centers without one of the following -- Durable structures to protect them from climate, sufficient living area, sufficient access to water, access to sanitation facilities, & freedom from eviction.



Prior to 2003 & the US invasion of Iraq, the percentage of the urban population living in slums in Iraq hovered just below 20 percent.



Today, it's 53 percent: 11 million of the 19 million total urban dwellers are slum dwellers. In the past decade, most countries have made progress toward reducing slum dwellers. But Iraq [& the US] has gone rapidly & dangerously in the opposite direction.



http://www.consortiumnews.com/2010/082310b.html



This should give pause about what's going to happen here in the US as our economy worsens & more of us become 'slum dwellers'.
About Iraq
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost