BBC: U.S. kids eat rats & ketchup soup

This is obviously Obama's fault!  If only he would take away their health care, WIC, food stamps, make Bush's tax cuts permanent, abolish the EPA, and lower the corporate tax rate, the resulting wealth would trickle down to these hungry kids and fill their rumbling tummies.

Poor America: 'Some kids are making ketchup soup'

February 13, 2012 | BBC 

URL:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_9695000/9695217.stm

BBC-ABC Iraq poll: Surge failing; attacks on U.S. justified

The Sunni tribes and militias are supposedly America's buddies now. They're helping expel al Qaeda, they're signing up for the police and military, etc. Yet we're told that Shia militias remain a problem.

But interestingly, 93% of Iraq's Sunnis approve of attacks on U.S. troops, vs. 50% of Shias.

With friends like that, who needs enemies like al Qaeda!



US surge has failed - Iraqi poll
BBCNews.com | September 11, 2007

About 70% of Iraqis believe security has deteriorated in the area covered by the US military "surge" of the past six months, an opinion poll suggests.

The survey for the BBC, ABC News and NHK of more than 2,000 people across Iraq also suggests that nearly 60% see attacks on US-led forces as justified.

This rises to 93% among Sunni Muslims compared with 50% for Shia.

The findings come as the top US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, prepares to address Congress.

He and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are due to testify about the effects of the surge and the current situation in Iraq.

The poll suggests that the overall mood in Iraq is as negative as it has been since the US-led invasion in 2003, says BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs.

The poll was conducted by D3 Systems and KA Research in more than 450 neighbourhoods across all 18 provinces of Iraq in August, and has a margin of error of + or - 2.5%.

It was commissioned jointly by the BBC, ABC and Japan's NHK.

Divided nation

It is the fourth such poll in which BBC News has been involved, with previous ones conducted in February 2004, November 2005 and February 2007.

It was commissioned with the specific purpose of assessing the effects of the surge as well as tracking longer term trends in Iraq.

Between 67% and 70% of the Iraqis polled believe the surge has hampered conditions for political dialogue, reconstruction and economic development, according to the August 2007 findings.

Only 29% think things will get better in the next year, compared to 64% two years ago.

The number of people wanting coalition forces to leave immediately rose since February's poll but more than half - 53% - still said they should stay until security improved.

The survey reveals two great divides, our correspondent notes.

First, there is the one between relative optimism registered in November 2005 and the gloom of this year's two polls.

In between, there was the deadly bombing of the Shia mosque in Samarra, which unleashed a bitter and deadly sectarianism.

The other great divide is the one now revealed between the Sunni and Shia communities.

While 88% of Sunnis say things are going badly in their lives, 54% of Shia think they are going well.

'Good for Baghdad'

Iraq analyst Dr Toby Dodge pointed to the fact that so many Iraqis saw no improvement to their safety since the US deployed an extra 30,000 troops this year, bringing their number up to nearly 170,000.

"I think that's a damning critique and an indication of the pessimism and the violence on the ground," he told the BBC's Radio Five Live.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki insisted on Monday that the surge had had a positive effect in the capital, Baghdad, at least.

Violence had dropped 75%, he told the Iraqi parliament, without giving figures.

At the same time, he warned that Iraqi forces were not ready to take over security from the US military which had, he said, "helped... in a great way in fighting terrorism".

Oxfam: 1/3 of Iraqis 'need urgent aid'

By any quality of life metric, Iraqis are worse off thanks to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. How anybody can continue to sincerely justify the occupation is beyond my understanding. It's bad for America's interests, and it's definitely bad for Iraqis.


Like they say , if you're not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem. Withdrawal is a no-brainer.

One-Third of Iraqis 'need urgent aid'
30 July 2007 | BBCNews.com

Nearly a third of the population of Iraq is in need of immediate emergency aid, according to a new report from Oxfam and a coalition of Iraqi NGOs.

The report said the government was failing to provide basics such as food and shelter for eight million people.

It warned of a humanitarian crisis that had escalated since the 2003 invasion.

Meanwhile, the US agency overseeing reconstruction in Iraq said economic mismanagement and corruption were equivalent to "a second insurgency".

Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction Stuart Bowen was appointed by the US Congress to audit how billions of dollars of US money is being and has been spent.

In a BBC interview, he described corruption as "an enemy of democracy" and said that it could not be allowed to continue at current levels.

"We have performed 95 audits that have found instances of programmatic weakness and waste, and we've got 57 ongoing cases right now, criminal cases, looking at fraud."

Last year, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government only spent 22% of its budget on vital rebuilding projects, while spending 99% of the allocation for salaries, he said.

The inspector general also described a process of transferring control of projects to the Iraqi government as troubling, and found cancellations, delays and costs that outstripped budgets.

He said "a pathway towards potential prosperity" could be found only if oil production was brought up to optimal levels, and security and corruption effectively managed.

'Ruined by war'

The Iraqi parliament is about to take the whole of August off as a holiday despite the problems and the Oxfam report highlighting the plight of many Iraqis.

The BBC's Nicholas Witchell in Baghdad says the report by the UK-based charity and the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) makes alarming reading.

The survey recognises that armed conflict is the greatest problem facing Iraqis, but finds a population "increasingly threatened by disease and malnutrition".

It suggests that 70% of Iraq's 26.5m population are without adequate water supplies, compared to 50% prior to the invasion. Only 20% have access to effective sanitation.

Nearly 30% of children are malnourished, a sharp increase on the situation four years ago. Some 15% of Iraqis regularly cannot afford to eat.

The report also said 92% of Iraq's children suffered from learning problems.

It found that more than two million people have been displaced inside the country, while a further two million have fled to neighbouring countries. Many are living in dire poverty.

"Basic services, ruined by years of war and sanctions, cannot meet the needs of the Iraqi people," the director of Oxfam International, Jeremy Hobbs, said.

Mr Hobbs said that despite the violence, the Iraqi government and the international community could do more to meet people's needs.

On Thursday, an international conference in Jordan pledged to help the refugees with their difficulties. Oxfam has not operated in Iraq since 2003 for security reasons.

Bolton gets b--ch slapped by BBC panel, audience

I watched this twice on BBC last weekend, because this British guy Tony Benn was pummeling Bolton so hard, every word ringing true (with the audience piling on), and all Bolton could do was make wisecracks, like that Benn proved "the American Revolution was a good idea."

It's too bad we don't have any honest, forthright critics in America anymore, not like Tony Benn. After 4 years of f--- ups and false promises, it's still not "safe" in America to criticize the Iraq War, without having your patriotism, your loyalty, or your courage questioned. It's unreal!

Now watch this and enjoy. It'll make you feel good, like the whole world isn't yet insane:


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17404.htm