I get reports from the International Monetary Fund. They just sent one about Iraq which tells the story of why this country won't be a democracy any time soon. Among the problems they face are malnutrition, endemic cholera, malaria, and other diseases; high unemployment (over 50% according to Baghdad University ), a high rate of illiteracy and a very high number of the population who have not completed even an elementary education, especially among rural women, (high even compared to their neighboring countries); 2/3 of the people report prolonged power outages, in many cases, a complete lack of water and sanitation services, a total lack of solid waste disposal plants, the burning of human waste, and heavy pollution from these and the burning of oil products and car emissions, plus insufficient medical help to treat the diseases caused by these conditions. 

As if that weren't enough, the oil prices for their domestic consumption are subsidized by their government and they have to import more expensive oil and oil products from their neighbors to sell at subsidized prices for their own domestic consumption. But, they also sell oil products abroad and let's guess to whom they sell them! These are the fruits of the policies which our government has pursued. These factors, combined with the tribal divisions and daily insurgent attacks of which we're all aware, do not provide the conditions needed to establish a democracy. 

What a massive hoax has been perpetrated on the American people regarding the reasons for this war from beginning to end! The sad thing is the amount of treasure we have squandered in doing this and the numbers of Americans and Iraqis who have been killed and maimed in the process. We need to get out of there yesterday. Peace Now!