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Because I wholly believe that numbers are meaningless without some form of reference, and that when numbers are cited they are generally used in such a way as to support the author (in this case the Harper's Article), here is some related info on child mortality and death in the United States. The numbers come from the 2000 report from the CDC on the leading causes of death ( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_16.pdf )
Child death ( age 1 to 4 ) : 4,979
Pre and PostNatal Infant Mortality : 28,035
U.S. Population 288M (Census 2000 estimate)
Iraqi Population: 24M (July 2002 CIA estimate)
For more info on Infant Mortality rates, you can have a gander at the CIA report on such matters ( http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2091.html )
In the interest of fairness, it should be noted that Iraq's rate (57.61/1000 live births) is not the worst in the region, or even in the world, nor is it the best. Many arab countries have higher rates, and the rates in some African countries are quite large.
As for the Obesity comment, from the 10 minutes I spent looking around, obesity is on the rise everywhere. Two figures I did find though were that in the U.K. 66% of men and 50% of women are overweight or obese, while in Egypt the numbers were 70% of women and 50% of men. China weighs in with the lowest rate: only 2 to 3 percent. While these figures do not necessarily give lie to the Quiz Answer provided below, it does highlight that although the U.S. and Britain may be the leaders in obesity, They are certainly not alone.
I'll conclude with the disclaimer that I am not trying to support or refute the statements mad by Ms. Perrine, I am merely trying to provide more information on the matter, so that readers of the list can form their own opinions.
-Aaron Schneider, Moscow Resident
Sally Perrine <sperrine@potlatch.com> wrote:
I couldn’t agree more with the recent postings by Bob Hoffman and Sharon Sullivan re the Iraqi situation. With this topic in mind I’d like to suggest that you read an article in the November 2002 issue of Harper’s magazine, Cool War by Joy Gordon, about the effects of U.S. and U.N. economic sanctions. I found particularly startling the data on child mortality. Since the program began, 500,000 children under the age of five have died – and by 1999 a full 13% of all Iraqi children were dead before their fifth birthday! If our compassion is not big enough to include these kids and their families, it doesn’t amount to much!
Quick quiz: Which 2 countries are most likely to have residents who are obese? Answer: The U.S and Britain.Sally Perrine
(Incidentally, many thanks for all the responses to the NOT IN OUR NAME newspaper submission. We got over 500 signatures within a little over a week and very generous pledges to help pay for the ad. It should be in next weekend’s Daily News.)