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Iraq, We Must Know All the Facts!

            After weeks of fighting against Saddam Hussein's regime, our country will begin rebuilding the Iraqi economy with the help of the United Nations.  Since 1991, the U.N. began sanctioning Iraq progressively in order to alleviate the human suffering as result of Hussein's regime.[1] According to Bob Davis and Hugh Pope of the Wall Street Journal, "the trouble is [that] Washington doesn't know exactly what it's trying to rebuild."[2]  To report an accurate economy, all the ways in which goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed, by both businesses and individuals must be readily available in order to accomplish this task.  However, if these numbers are not available, the next best thing we can base our results on is life expectancy. It is a shame that "…even life expectancy is a mystery: many Iraqi families don't report deaths because they would have to turn in the food-ration cards of the deceased."  "Iraq is a gross violator of human rights."[3]There are countless numbers of Iraqis that have died by the hand of their own ruler; the exact number of deaths will remain a mystery.

The Iraqi government has not released any current information that provides accurate and/or pertinent information regarding business and consumer behavior. On the other hand, since the information regarding life expectancy is also unreliable, we are at a loss when it comes time to determine Iraq's economy. If the United Nations and the United States plan to rebuild Iraq, we must have all the facts that are going to help us do it!