Originally posted by Ping
http://www.childinfo.org/cmr/revis/db2.htm
2001 Infant MR 105
2001 Under 5 MR 133
Tragic yes. But I invite you to look at the figures to see they are by no means the worst.
The trend from the 1960's showed that Iraq would have been in the 30's for MR if the Gulf war had not happened.
Be honest. This coming war is not for humanitarian reasons. It is merely to give the public a moral handle to grasp onto.
Sierra Leonne alone has an under 5 MR of 316.
Besides these I think I counted 9 countries that were over 200.
Count how many are 150 and higher. 26 countries.
What are you saying? I think the figures show clearly the relationship between Saddam and CMR In Iraq. As you say, Iraq was in a very positive trend until 91, then the very positive trend switched to a very bad trend. Those rates will continue the way the are now as long as Saddam is in power, because he priortizes his WMD-program over his own population. He needs to go. Period. Everyone will benefit from that, we because it will be one less threat. Iraqis because they wont have to live under the opression of a mad dictator.
Same with N Korea, another mad dictator that prioritizes his WMDs ahead of his population. Another one that needs to go.
BUT Iraq and N Korea can prosper. They have the natural resources for that. All we need to do is remove the insane dictators. The same cannot be said about Sierra Leone for example.