Cold hard facts about Iraq...

Many will not like them, but that just too bad!

Published on December 22, 2005 By ShadowWar In War on Terror

OK for those of you who say nothing good is coming out of Iraq, your blind deaf and dumb, or our troops are doing nothing and the Iraqi people hate them, your stupid and refuse to listen to those that have been there, here are few facts you may not be aware of, (because you have to look for it since no media will print it), now these numbers are as of June 2005, so some are actually larger like the number of trained and equipped military. So for all you non-believers out there get ready to have your world shattered and open your mind and eyes and read what is really going on.

Ministry of Education
Nearly 25% of the Iraqi population either attends a school of, or is directly employed by, the Ministry of Education. With a budget of $984 million, the ministry oversees more than 20,000 schools, administrative offices, and educational facilities nationwide. The MoED provides the oversight and training needed to support 300,000 teachers in their work with more than 6 million K-12 students.
• As of 15 May 2005, and despite years of neglect by the Saddam regime, an insurgency intent on intimidating teachers and students, and the damage caused by war, 3,105 schools have been renovated and another 950 schools are currently under rehabilitation.
• The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) consists of 21 universities, 46 institutes or colleges within the Community College system, two commissions and two research centers.
• There are two Ministries of Education in the Kurdish region comprised of three universities and nine institutes. They receive no budgetary support from the MHESR. There is a small number of private colleges in Iraq that are not managed by the MHESR.

Ministry of Health
• Healthcare spending is up more than 30 times its prewar levels; more than 3 million children have received life-saving vaccinations.
• Iraq's Ministry of Health (MoH) on 4 September initiated the first polio immunization program in the country since the start of the war to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003, in an effort to protect 4.7 million children from the infectious disease. With support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU), who contributed over US $2.5 million, the Iraqi authorities succeeded in immunizing the vast majority of children in the first three days of the campaign, UNICEF said.

Ministry of Defense
• The Ministry of Defense forces now number 75,820; with 75,110 in the Army, 190 in the Air Force, and 110 in the Navy.
• There are thirty-six (36) Army Combat ‘National’ Battalions and forty-four (44) Iraqi Army Battalions (former National Guard).
• Iraq’s Navy is now operational, with five 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels, and a Marine regiment that defends the territorial waters and oil platforms.
• Iraq’s Air Force has two operational squadrons equipped with two reconnaissance aircraft that operate both day and night, and three US C-130 transport aircraft. Squadron 2 was stood up in April with four UH-1 helicopters and a Squadron of Bell Jet Rangers will be stood up this summer.
• Iraq’s Special Operations Forces now include a superb Counter-Terrorist Force and a Commando Battalion, each of which has conducted dozens of successful operations.
• Iraq’s 1st Mechanized Battalion and 1st Tank Battalion became operational in mid-January and the beginning of May, respectively. Both are operating as Task Force elements conducting route security and traffic control points along with coalition forces.
• Iraq’s two Military Academies reopened in mid-October and a total of 91 graduated from the two pilot courses. Currently, 206 cadets attend Zahko and 299 attend Rustimiyah.

Ministry of Interior
• The Ministry of Interior has over 92,000 trained and equipped members. Of the 92,000, over 61,000 are trained and equipped regular police officers and the other approximately 31,000 are assigned to Police Commando, Public Order, and Mechanized Police Batallions.
• Of the over 35,500 police officers who have been trained in the last seven months, over 13,000 were former police who underwent three-week transition course trianing and over 22,500 were new recruits who underwent eight-week basic training.
• Seven basic police academies are now operational; together, they produce over 3,500 police officers each month from the ten-week course, a course designed to better prepare the police for the challenging environment in which many will serve. Several other regional academies are under construction that will conduct sustainment training.
• Iraq’s National Police Emergency Response Unit is now operational and its elements have conducted operations in Baghdad, Fallujah, and Mosul.
• Iraq’s Third and Fourth Special Border Force Battalions recently completed training and will join the First and Second Battalions as they patrol the Syrian and Jordanian borders in western Anbar Province.
• Thirteen provincial SWAT teams have been trained and equipped, three more are in training, and for more are scheduled to complete training by August 2005.

IRAQI ECONOMY
• Oil revenues from start of January 2004 to June 2004 were estimated to be $8.1 billion. From June to December oil revenues were $9.9 billion totaling around $18.1 billion for the full 2004 year. From January 2005 to May 2005 oil revenues were estimated to be $7.1 billion.
• Iraqi dinar is stable at 1470 dinars to the US dollar because it is a fixed exchange rate; however press reports and observers note that money markets in Iraq do not necessarily adhere to this rate. Currently there are 19 banks trading.
• Established by interim law number 74 dated April 19, 2004, the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened for trading on June 24, 2004.
• Iraq’s National Debt is estimated at between $119 – $135 billion prior to debt forgiveness initiatives, and an expected $50 billion of reparations for war damages.
• Currently, about 161,000 Iraqis are employed under reconstruction efforts, working on schools, clinic, roads and numerous other infrastructure projects.
• There have been 26,785 new Iraqi businesses established.
• The Trade Bank of Iraq has issued Iraq’s first credit/debit cards.

RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
• The Iraq Relief & Reconstruction Fund ($2.5 billion) and supplemental Appropriations ($18.4 billion) have been committed to the re-building of Iraq. As of May 2005, $15.3 billion has been obligated and $7 billion has been disbursed.
• Since June 2004, over 2,500 construction projects have been started. During the same period, over 1,000 projects, valued at $1.3 billion, have been completed.
• $8.7 billion has been focused on providing reliable essential services (electricity, water, transportation, telecommunications, and oil). Over 700 essential service projects are either completed or underway.

Electricity. A total of over 2,000 megawatts of power have been added to the grid (enough to service 5.4M Iraqi homes). Over 1,400 electrical towers and 8,600 kilometers of transmission lines have been installed. After a significant drop, the average daily load of electricity has bounced back to 92,467 MWh, comparable to the level when the transfer of power occurred. Fifty-eight electricity projects have been completed, and more than 100 are still in the works.
• Sixty-five water treatment projects have been completed, with almost 100 still in progress; 21 sewer projects are complete, with 15 still working.
• Health. Construction is underway on 142 new primary health care facilities across Iraq and one has been completed. Under the Accelerated Iraq Reconstruction Program, an additional two facilities are under construction and eight have been completed.
• Health care services are growing: 750 people passed their maternal and child health services training on to more than 2,000 primary healthcare providers.
• Security projects completed: 61 Port of Entry or Border facilities, 82 police stations, 17 academies and branch schools, 96 unit headquarters, and 19 fire stations.
• Telecommunications. Since the transfer of sovereignty, the number of landline communications subscribers has risen from 794,198 to 997,675; Internet subscribers have more than doubled; and cell phone subscribers have jumped from just 488,966 to almost 2.5 million.

Wow sounds like they are just falling apart over there! We better cut and run while they still have a leg to stand on!!!

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