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avenescent posted this as a comment to an earlier post of mine recently, but subsequently deleted it. It comes from Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine website (but I couldn't find the article on there), and I thought some of the questions were pretty interesting. The most interesting ones to me are related to defense spending and its relative amounts compared to what the UN predicts would be necessary for eradicating famine around the world. I've long thought that the surest way to bring about the regime changes and new democratic systems that Bush claims to want would be to ensure that all of Iraq's citizens were well-fed and sheltered. I can only assume that truly effective humanitarian work in Iraq and other countries would actually go much farther than war would, to achieve their stated objectives.
avenescent posted this as a comment to an earlier post of mine recently, but subsequently deleted it. It comes from Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine website (but I couldn't find the article on there), and I thought some of the questions were pretty interesting. The most interesting ones to me are related to defense spending and its relative amounts compared to what the UN predicts would be necessary for eradicating famine around the world. I've long thought that the surest way to bring about the regime changes and new democratic systems that Bush claims to want would be to ensure that all of Iraq's citizens were well-fed and sheltered. I can only assume that truly effective humanitarian work in Iraq and other countries would actually go much farther than war would, to achieve their stated objectives.Do you know enough to justify going to war with Iraq?
Q: What percentage of the world's population does the U.S. have?
A: 6%
Q: What percentage of the world's wealth does the U.S. have?
A: 50%
Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves?
A: Saudi Arabia
Q: Which country has the second largest oil reserves?
A: Iraq
Q: How much is spent on military budgets a year worldwide?
A: $900+ billion
Q: How much of this is spent by the U.S.?
A: 50%
Q: What percent of US military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according to the UN?
A: 10% (that's about$40 billion, the amount of funding initially requested to fund our retaliatory attack on Afghanistan. Current US Expenditure on military is $437 billion annually).
Q: How many people have died in wars since World War II?
A: 86 million
Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and biological weapons?
A: Since the early 1980's.
Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical & biological weapons on their own?
A: No, the materials and technology were supplied by the US government, along with Britain and private corporations.
Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill using gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988?
A: 5,000
Q: How many western countries condemned this action at the time?
A: 0
Q: How many gallons of agent Orange did America use in Vietnam?
A: 17 million.
Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and September 11th terrorist attack?
A: No
Q: What is the estimated number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War?
A: 35,000
Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the western forces during the Gulf War ?
A: 0
Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were buried alive by U.S. tanks with ploughs mounted on the front?
A: 6,000
Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War?
A: 40 tons
Q: What according to the UN was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994?
A: 700%
Q: How much of Iraq's military capacity did America claim it had destroyed in 1991?
A: 80%
Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self defense?
A: No
Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted in the event of an attack on Iraq in 2002/3?
A: 10,000
Q: What percentage of these will be children?
A:Over 50%
Q: How many years has the U.S. engaged in air strikes on Iraq?
A: 11 years
Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped on Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999?
A: 20 million
Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661 introduced, imposing strict sanctions on Iraq's imports and exports?
A: 12 years
Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died by October 1999 as a result of UN sanctions?
A: 1.5 million
Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to have died due to sanctions since 1997?
A: 750,000
Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq?
A: No
Q: How many inspections were there in November and December 1998?
A: 300
Q: How many of these inspections had problems?
A: 5
Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to the Ba'ath Party HQ?
A: Yes
Q: Who said that by December 1998, "Iraq had in fact, been disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern history."
A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief.
Q: In 1998 how much of Iraq's post 1991 capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction did the UN weapons inspectors claim to have discovered and dismantled?
A: 90%
Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons inspectors back in ?
A: Yes
Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992?
A: Over 65
Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990?
A: 30+
Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons?
A: 8
Q: How many nuclear warheads has Iraq got?
A: 0
Q: How many nuclear warheads has US got?
A: Over 10,000
Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons?
A: The US
Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have?
A: Over 400
--Charles Sheketoff, Executive Director Oregon Center for Public Policy PO Box 7, Silverton, OR 97381
