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Then and Now - what the MSM is not reporting from Iraq

Hat tip to A Western Heart for this excellent review of the latest UN report with a bit of pesky fact checking thrown in for good measure:

Iraq, before and after
The United Nations have completed "the most detailed survey yet" of life in post-war Iraq, and despite the media's best efforts to paint Iraq as Quagmire Central, the information contained in the survey (while not definitely accurate, of course), is encouraging. Firstly, let's compare the UN's study with the Lancet's debunked study:

UN: 21,600 households surveyed, between 18,000 and 29,000 deaths, probably 24,000, all 18 provinces.
Lancet: 808 household surveyed, between 8,000 and 194,000 deaths, probably 98,000, plus deaths in Fallujah, plus the death rate of the previous time period, only 11 provinces surveyed.

Of course, this means the left will still use the far wilder statistical dartboard that is the Lancet survey, but let's just say that by using a 26.7 times larger survey size, we'll get a slightly more accurate answer. And of course, this is the UN, but considering the death toll is around what I estimate it to be, and the survey appears to be comprehensive, so we'll compare it with pre-war Iraq and other estimates.

Leigh then goes on to list some of the United Nations Reports statistics and follow them up with what life was like when Saddam was running things:

Deaths: 24,000 Iraqis in first year since 2003 invasion
Saddam's reign has an estimated death toll of 1.26 million with 4.54 million refugees created, according to the State Department's figures. Saddam's rule was from 1979-2003, so in 24 years, his average yearly death toll was 52,500, with over 189,000 refugees.

Unemployment: 10.5%, or 18.4% when including those who had given up looking
This compares very favourably to pre-war Iraq, where the unemployment rate was 50-60%. However, don't expect the lefties to stop quoting 70% figures any time soon. On another note, at 10.5%, that puts the unemployment below Germany, and only 1.5% higher than the EU average.

Women: 47 per cent illiterate
This is down from 55 per cent in 2002. The literacy rate for young people is higher than the literacy rate for any other age group except 25-34, showing good hope for the future but a backwards progression during Saddam's later years.

A good dose of reality for those that don't know what is going on over there - lots more numbers at the website... Posted by DaveH at May 13, 2005 10:01 PM