9 ms·

> More relevantly for us, Iran is 3.5 times larger than Iraq and roughly twice the population. Worth noting that at the time of invasion of Iraq they had about

> More relevantly for us, Iran is 3.5 times larger than Iraq and roughly twice the population. Worth noting that at the time of invasion of Iraq they had about 25 million people per gemeni. They now have about 46 mil people per wikipedia. All else equal, we are comparing 25 mil to 93 mil and not half of 93 mil to 93 mil.

3eb7988a1663 6mo ago
Excellent catch. I also used this as an opportunity to reference the now archived[0] CIA Factbook[1] which does put the 2003 Iraq population at 25 million. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47114530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47114530 [1] https://worldfactbookarchive.org/archive/2003/IZ https://worldfactbookarchive.org/archive/2003/IZ
aa-jv 6mo ago
[flagged]
- macintux 6mo ago
  I'd be curious about a citation for the "lose half of their babies" statement. This review of the data & papers has some grim numbers, but nothing remotely that dramatic. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7903104/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7903104/
  - MomsAVoxell 6mo ago
    From over a decade ago .. its still happening: https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004166 https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004166 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-iq/dv/d-iq20121018_02_/d-iq20121018_02_en.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773049224000035 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277304922... But of course, it depends who you ask. American institutions cannot be trusted, obviously.
    - macintux 6mo ago
      Your first link is the same as mine. Nothing in any of the links seems to support the assertion that “Even still today mothers in Baghdad lose half of their babies to deformities caused by the US' criminal use of depleted uranium” I have no doubt that what happened, and is still happening, is tragic. I do doubt that statement.
      - aa-jv 6mo ago
        I agree with the OP, American sources are untrustworthy on this matter. Do you read Arabic?
        macintux 6mo ago
        I'm not disputing that American sources are untrustworthy. I'm not disputing that the situation is bad. I don't read Arabic, but I'd be happy to look at a citation with assistance: if 50% of babies in Baghdad are dying, someone would be reporting on it.
        MomsAVoxell 6mo ago
        Second link: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-iq/dv/d-iq20121018_02_/d-iq20121018_02_en.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/... Maybe you didn’t read it.
        macintux 6mo ago
        Right, 15 years ago in a recently heavily bombarded city 50% of children were born with defects, according to one study. Terrible even if off by an order of magnitude. Nothing in that document, or anything else I've found, supports the claim that today in Baghdad half of all children are dying from birth defects. Things were bad. Are still bad. But throwing around inaccurate numbers does not help matters.
        6mo ago
yogthos 6mo ago
Also don't forget that Iran is far more technologically advanced than Iraq was. Iraqis had 70s tech, while Iran has stuff like hypersonic missiles that even the US can't produce right now.

3eb7988a1663 6mo ago

Excellent catch. I also used this as an opportunity to reference the now archived[0] CIA Factbook[1] which does put the 2003 Iraq population at 25 million. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47114530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47114530 [1] https://worldfactbookarchive.org/archive/2003/IZ https://worldfactbookarchive.org/archive/2003/IZ

aa-jv 6mo ago

[flagged]

macintux 6mo ago
I'd be curious about a citation for the "lose half of their babies" statement. This review of the data & papers has some grim numbers, but nothing remotely that dramatic. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7903104/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7903104/
- MomsAVoxell 6mo ago
  From over a decade ago .. its still happening: https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004166 https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004166 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-iq/dv/d-iq20121018_02_/d-iq20121018_02_en.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773049224000035 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277304922... But of course, it depends who you ask. American institutions cannot be trusted, obviously.
  - macintux 6mo ago
    Your first link is the same as mine. Nothing in any of the links seems to support the assertion that “Even still today mothers in Baghdad lose half of their babies to deformities caused by the US' criminal use of depleted uranium” I have no doubt that what happened, and is still happening, is tragic. I do doubt that statement.
    - aa-jv 6mo ago
      I agree with the OP, American sources are untrustworthy on this matter. Do you read Arabic?
      - macintux 6mo ago
        I'm not disputing that American sources are untrustworthy. I'm not disputing that the situation is bad. I don't read Arabic, but I'd be happy to look at a citation with assistance: if 50% of babies in Baghdad are dying, someone would be reporting on it.
        MomsAVoxell 6mo ago
        Second link: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-iq/dv/d-iq20121018_02_/d-iq20121018_02_en.pdf https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/... Maybe you didn’t read it.
        macintux 6mo ago
        Right, 15 years ago in a recently heavily bombarded city 50% of children were born with defects, according to one study. Terrible even if off by an order of magnitude. Nothing in that document, or anything else I've found, supports the claim that today in Baghdad half of all children are dying from birth defects. Things were bad. Are still bad. But throwing around inaccurate numbers does not help matters.
        6mo ago

yogthos 6mo ago

Also don't forget that Iran is far more technologically advanced than Iraq was. Iraqis had 70s tech, while Iran has stuff like hypersonic missiles that even the US can't produce right now.