Are the people of Iraq living in better conditions since the US went into Iraq, or worse?

Answer 1

The conditions of iraq today are much worse then under saddam. saddam was a dictator, but there was nowhere near such a high level of daily violence and overall lawlessness that there is today. also the general services that a government provides have taken severe blows from the war and insurgency, and remain under pre-war levels.

from a news story i read today:

"The U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq's Human Rights office warned that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in July and August hit 6,599, a record high number that is far greater than initial estimates had suggested and points to the grave sectarian crisis gripping the country.

It offered a grim assessment across a range of indicators, reporting worrying evidence of torture, unlawful detentions, the growth of sectarian militias and death squads, and a rise in "honor killings" of women.

The United Nations' chief anti-torture expert warned Thursday that torture may now be more widespread than it was under Saddam's regime, with militias, terrorist groups and government forces disregarding rules on the humane treatment of prisoners."


of course things may be better in the future. but the conditions of today are, by nearly all accounts, worse than they were pre-invasion.

lancelot6...: your post is very mistaken.
“No female child was allowed to attend school” – You’re probably confusing Afghanistan with iraq. http://hrw.org/backgrounder/wrd/iraq-women.htm Girls were allowed to go to school under saddam and women were allowed to work.

“1/2 of the country's population had no electricity” – and this is unchanged today. Estimated pre-war electricity production was 3,958 megawatts. As of September 2006, it was 4,250. http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf Not enough to go from 50% to “over 80%.” Do you have a source?

“Thousands of people where killed because of their ethnicity or they talked out against Hussain.” – that’s so much better than today when thousands of people are killed because of their ethnicity or becuase they spoke out against the wrong group. And, if the UN’s human rights office is correct, torture may be even more widespread today than it was under saddam.

“There is a free press.” – even that’s pretty disputable. I have read reports that the US pressures and pays Iraqi media to report American-friendly news reports. I don’t have a source on that, but you can look it up. Its fairly well known.

“You must realize that we are fighting for our lives. They will come here if we are not there.. and it is great that we have allowed MILLIONS to have something closer to what we have.” – no, we are not fighting for our lives in iraq. Its really hard to believe that if we weren’t there Iraqi insurgents would be here in America. Maybe someday millions of Iraqis will have better lives, but the question is if conditions are better now than they were before the invasion. The obviously are not.

“Only people who have NO clue what it is like to live in a suppressed world would not understand how bad they had it and how good it is now.” – Nobody denies that things were bad under Saddam. But it seems like a lot of people deny that things are bad now. I could just as fairly say of you that you have no idea how bad it is to live in the middle of an insurgency. to live in fear of suicide bombings, shootings, kidnappings, etc. Neither is a pretty picture.

“You people who think it is worse now have it way too good. Imagine that you can not do anything without permission. You have to worry about being tortured or killed by your leaders thugs IF you do sometihnig wrong. Your Girl Children have a more then 50/50 chance of being raped by the leadership's thugs.” – and you apparently have no idea of what iraq is like today. You do have to worry about being tortured and killed by militias. Your girl children have a higher chance of being killed today. And your implication that 50% of Iraqi girls were raped is absurd.

“You people forget more then you know. You have no clue how life is outside of the castle of the USA.” – judging from your distortions and total lack of knowledge about any of the relevant facts about iraq, I would say that you are the one without a clue. I have been outside “castle USA” and I have been to an Islamic country (not iraq). I have a pretty good idea of what life is like outside the US. And you know what I’ve found? People all around the world are happy. They are happy with their lives even though they don’t live in the US. Of course they are less happy in dictatorships, but they are also less happy being in the middle of civil wars and insurgencies.

“We know for a fact that the Insurgants come from Iran and Syria.” – not true. Iraqis compose the majority of the insurgency. And not just sunni baathists. Also nationalists, anti-shi’a sunnis, islamists, and al-sadr’s group. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_insurgency#Composition

Now i'm not saying that things will not get better. I'm also not saying that the US should pull out immediately. What I am saying is that thinking things are better on the streets of iraq today than they were in 2000 is mistaken.

Answer 2

Lets see...
Before the war:
No female child was allowed to attend school
1/2 of the country's population had no electricity
you could not talk against your leader.
You could only listen and do what you was told to do or you was killed
Thousands of people where killed because of their ethnicity or they talked out against Hussain.

After the war:
over 80 percent of the population has electricity and running water
All Children goto school
Women are allowed to work
If you dislike your leader they wont kill you.. (Only the terrorist will kill you for supporting the USA)
There is a free press.


Look, you can hate the fact we are there. You must realize that we are fighting for our lives. They will come here if we are not there.. and it is great that we have allowed MILLIONS to have something closer to what we have.

Only people who have NO clue what it is like to live in a suppressed world would not understand how bad they had it and how good it is now.
You people who think it is worse now have it way too good. Imagine that you can not do anything without permission. You have to worry about being tortured or killed by your leaders thugs IF you do sometihnig wrong. Your Girl Children have a more then 50/50 chance of being raped by the leadership's thugs.
You people forget more then you know. You have no clue how life is outside of the castle of the USA.

REMY,
We know for a fact that the Insurgants come from Iran and Syria.
The ones that are in Iraq are from Hussain's old party who are fighting the old hard lined position. (Those are more and more rare. I wonder why)

Answer 3

My brother in-law is from Iraq and he talks to friends and family over there. They say they are worse now, then under Saddam.

With Saddam they had running water and knew they had to shut their mouths and they would be o.k. Now they say people are being blown to bits just for taking a piss.

They say everybody lives in way more fear now then with Saddam. They claim most of the militant attacks are from Iraqi's, not from Al-Qaeda. They are attacking because things are bad and they know the sooner America leaves the better,

Answer 4

I think in some ways worse in some ways better. We are opening hospitals and schools but in very very low quantities and they often get destroyed by friendly fire or terrorists. Unfortunately, it's hard to look at the positives when there's a very weak government that doesn't have the man power to really grab control of the country. In my opinion their lives are harder now, there might be a positive future depending on the next few years towards the next few decades... we'll see.

Answer 5

Honestly I don't know , I don't watch too much news but here's the thing they really don't go into that too much in the general news. Seems like worse more people to join in the fight. The war is not about saving the Iraqi people that is such a load of crap. Its to expand the economy and make nice with the middle east protecting our own interests .

Answer 6

The Kurds are definitely better off, as are the Shia to a somewhat lesser extent.

You'd probably get a few gripes from the Sunnis.

Answer 7

Lol What a big ******* strawman, we hate gays, and abortions and people like you exist, what should we let the economy **** itself cause Mr Conservative goody good tu tu happy land from the 50s said so? JUST CAUSE WE HAVE A LOT DOESNT MEAN WE CANT IMPROVE ON IT ASSHOLE! Communist countries say the exact same ****. That they're brats and they think they have everything, why can't we progress, ITS FREEDOM DIPSHIT FREEDOM!

Answer 8

Well you probably know that the media not always tells you the truth and what we see in the news looks very bad. So, i think the answer is: WORSE

Answer 9

Rape rooms closed, no more public stonings or beheading, no more mass graves (400,000 of them), girls can go to school now and they voted for the first time ever. I'd say it was better.

Answer 10

It's merely changed one tyranny for a thousand.