17,000 Shops have closed / gone out of business in Baghdad. Is that the BUSH Small Business incentive????

FOR STAY THE COURSE DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ????

Would a exit plan help???

Hey how about any plan???

It couldn't be because the Insurgents keep blowing people up could it.... What else has been going on...
Through September 2005, over 2,800 schools have been rehabilitated, and 45 constructed.
Internet access and computers have been installed at the Ministry of Education and in all 21 Directorates of Education. To improve planning and resource management, official baseline data has been gathered and an Education Management Information System (EMIS) is being developed.
Over 47,500 secondary school teachers and administrators nationwide have received training.
At 10 Iraqi universities, 23 specialist libraries, 23 computer laboratories, 20 specialist science labs, and 17 auditoriums or classrooms have been rehabilitated and equipped. These efforts have benefited approximately 50,000 university students in colleges of law, engineering, medicine, archeology, and agriculture. In addition, books and electronic resources have been provided to university libraries.
immunization of 98 percent of children 1-3 years (3.62 million children) against measles, mumps, and rubella. As a result, there has been a 90 percent reduction in laboratory confirmed cases of measles between 2004 and 2005.
Vaccinated 3.2 million children under five and 700,000 pregnant women, with UNICEF and WHO.
Renovated 110 facilities and equipped 600 centers with basic clinical and lab equipment.
Sewage treatment plants have been rehabilitated, expanding access to sewage treatment to over 4.4 million urban Iraqis, processing 339.7 million gallons daily. Over 4 million Iraqis who had no clean drinking water in 2002 now have safe, potable water piped to their homes following efforts to refurbish and expand 19 water treatment plants in five cities. Providing clean water and efficient sewage treatment has greatly improved sanitation and contributed to a decrease in waterborne disease. Plant-level operations and maintenance (O&M) training are being provided at major water and wastewater plants nationwide to ensure that these plants remain functioning. By December of 2006, USAID and implementing partners will restore water treatment service to 8.1 million Iraqis, and sewerage treatment service to 8.8 million.
2002, Baghdad had access to electricity 24 hours a day; the rest of Iraq was limited to 3-6 hours of electricity daily. Currently, all 18 governorates receive roughly 13 hours of electricity daily on average, an incredible improvement for a country emerging from decades of conflict and neglect. USAID programs have added over 1,200 MW of new or rehabilitated generation capacity to the national grid, increasing availability to over 4 million Iraqis. Access to electricity 鈥?powering hospitals, machinery, and homes ..
The list of accomplishment s go on and on... So why not establish a goal and get off the short bus..

you are a dumb a s s

Oh no much like anything Bush does, you just take it and apply the opposite.
No child left behind
Clean skies act
Friendly Forest Act

You get the point eh?

you are a dumb a s s

"You critters will live in a democratic country, if I have to kill ya all"..........." Now quit yer snivlin,and get to pumpin that there oil"

Bush failed at every business he ever started, why not? He was successful as a Male Cheerleader, but I guess there's not much demand for that when you're 60 years old.

Dumb ***. How about the terrorists bombing the small shops or setting of car bombs in front of the shops.Do you watch the news? DUMB ***.

17,000? where are your sources for this figure?

and How many have opened in its place. Iraq has a very fast growing economy.

Hehe the more I read the more I realized how ironic the names appointed to government policy are. If you want to know what a policy does just look at the name and consider the opposite.

No Child Left Behind - that's the policy that leave children behind.
The Patriot Act - that's the policy that strips citizens of their rights. It allows you to be American by taking away what it means to be American. What you don't have you can't lose, thanks I feel much more secure now.
Any economic policy you can name - Strangles who ever the policy is designed to address. Here it is the problem of small business. Very bad thing, small business, because it will empower those who become successful.
Democracy Promotion - Removing influence and opportunities of empowerment of the average citizen.

If you think I may just be jaded then my retort is you don't read enough honest books. A few to get you started:

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
Armed Madhouse By Greg Palast
The Bush Agenda by Antonia Juhasz
Anything Chomsky including his linguistic books although they may not educate you as to politics
Static By Amy Goodman and also check out Democracy Now whenever you get the opportunity.
Happy New Years and remember ignorance ain't bliss.

That is about the same rate of buisness failure for NYC over a 3 year period.... Sounds about right... under the circumstances,