The Facts tha the Iraqi Prime Minister didnot Tell the Congress,

We closely watched the speech of the Iraqi prime minister in the congress. Obviously he has chosen phrases and issues that please the congress and make them applause for some time. I am quite sure that most of the congressmen are not aware of the other parts of the scene in Iraq. Some of the gloomy scenes in Iraq are:

1- The Maliky government and his interior and defense ministers are hopeless and have no control of the violence in Iraq. In Baghdad alone an average of 100 people are killed every day for the last seven months. Most of that killing are backed by the militias; among them the militia of Al-Maliky himself. The militias backed by Iran are following and killing former Iraqi pilots and high-ranking officers in a wide mission for revenge . These killings are larger by many orders of magnitude than those seen in massacre of the former regime. Iraqis now fear to travel from a province to an other, and even they fear to go to their jobs. Any innocent Iraqi can be easily killed by; car bombing, militiamen, or even a bad judgment by any one of the USA troops. This is the kind of freedom we are living after the military invasion of Iraq. As regard the freedom of speech, large number of Iraqis have been killed for criticizing the government, the ruling parties or Mr. Bush policies in Iraq. Thousands of Iraqis have been imprisoned by USA troops or the national army and police because they declared opposing views.

2- On the economical side, prices have been risen sharply in comparison with those before the war on Iraq. For example the price of cement has been raised ( by government order) by 6 folds. The prices of fuel (petrol and gas oil) has been raised by 60 folds. The increase in prices of fuel is due to abuses in importing, distribution and smuggling of fuel products. The abuses in this sector are much larger than the alleged abuses in the former oil-food agreements with the UN. It is amazing how the government, which claims to rebuild Iraq, enforces such increases in the basic items for developments ( cement and fuel). Prices for residential houses have increased by 3 folds. The problem has escalated after more than 135,000 families have been forced to flee from their residential areas, by the sectarian violence which has been initiated by Iran and the ruling parties of Al-Maliky and Al-Hakeem, which are backed by Iran.

3- As regards the reconstruction of Iraq; Mr Al-Maliky has asked American companies to invest in certain regions of Iraq. He has specified regions that have suffered in the past and are more stable now. Thus he restricting the investments to the regions of the major ruling parties ( the sheia and Kurds). By doing that he is depriving regions of the Sunnis which he considers as his political opponents. Moreover he forgot the basic principles that investments in any region depend on the natural resources, population and need for the products. It is ironic how the congressmen applaud to such sectarian policy of investment !.

4- In the medical side: Iraqi hospitals have seen very little improvements, and sick people are asked to buy medicine and various medical items that are usually found in any decent hospital. As regard child health the situation is very gloomy. According to the latest, Web-accessible UN and UNICEF data, the "under-5 infant deaths per 1,000 births" in IRAQ vs SYRIA were 200 vs 170 (1953), 50 vs 44 (1990), 125 vs 16 (2004) i.e. infant mortality DECREASED enormously under Saddam regime in 1970’s and 1980’s but INCREASED hugely after 1990 due to Western intervention and the imposed embargo. The post-1990 under-5 infant mortality under war-criminal UK-US sanctions, bombs and occupation totals 1.6 million (90% of them avoidable) ; the post-1990 excess deaths(avoidable mortality) now total 2.2 million. According to the latest UN Population Division data (see: http://esa.un.org/unpp/) and UNICEF data (see: http://www.unicef.org/index.html ), by 1990 “under-5 infant deaths per 1,000 births” reached a MINIMUM of 50 in oil-rich Iraq under Saddam Hussein as compared to 44 in its neighbor, resource-poor Syria (from catastrophic high values of about 170-200 in the immediately post-colonial era). However Western-imposed Sanctions immediately reversed this trend, leading to doubled infant mortality and avoidable mortality for a dozen years; the ultimate US-led invasion and occupation further increased mortality so that by 2004 “under-5 infant deaths per 1,000 births” had reached 125 in UK-US-occupied IRAQ as compared to 16 in SYRIA.

The Prime minister has echoed what Mr Bush used to tell about Iraq, in order to please those who want to be praised for what they have done. I would like to remind you that applause should be given to those who tell the truth, whether it is bitter or sweet, not for those who distort the truth ! .
Mohamed Younis
Mosul / IRAQ