Signs of change evident at Iraqi school

[Barrett808]

Signs of change evident at Iraqi school
By THOMAS WAGNER and BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writers
Published Monday, May 30th, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Ten years ago, the Al-Thakafa al-Arabia elementary school had broken windows, a shortage of textbooks, and kids whose extracurricular activity was begging on the streets. Pro-Saddam Hussein slogans adorned the walls.

Today it's still a squalid place with filthy toilets and crumbling walls, but at least the teachers have chalk and erasers supplied by the government, and the kids have pencils, notebooks and satchels.

As Iraq battles its insurgency and lurches toward democracy, many judge its future by the strength of its security forces and new government. But another powerful measure is the optimism of the children at schools such as Al-Thakafa in one of Baghdad's poorest areas.

(more)

http://www.islandpacket.com/24hour/special_reports/iraq/story/2438231p-10746700c.html

[merwin]

1. Chalk and erasers do a lot of good when the children are shot

or exploded outside of the school.

Yay freedom.

[Roland99]

16. No kidding.Wasn't there an article about a college as worst place in Iraq?

Something about the professor upset about 13 students being out. 10 had been detained and three had been killed.

[FloridaPat]

2. Wasn't Bechtel given billions of bucks to fix the schools? I heard

they did a lousy job. Must be true. Or maybe they didn't get to these schools and need more billions.

[are_we_united_yet]

7. Cut them some slack ...

Chalk and erasers are expensive.

[killbotfactory]

3. I bet erasers and chalk were banned by our sanctions...

It's dual-use technology, you see. :sarcasm:

[knowbody0]

10. no pencils because of the sanctions....lead

[Adrian Luca]

13. Umm...Pencils

Pencils don't contain lead. They contain graphite.

[daleo]

15. Graphite is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.

Thus, it can be considered dual use.

[uppityperson]

4. Wow, chalk and pencils!! Good job!!

That was well worth all the cost in money, lives, hatred. Next up, invade Iran and fix their toilets. See, we're lurnin all the time.
:sarcasm:

[lumpy]

5. Being in a bad mood

I think this is just a bunch of crap. I'd like to hear it from an Iraqi on the street. Since free speech is a part of freedom let's hear from some Iraqis who have to live under a totally broken society.

[bemildred]

6. What a crock.

Today, the words "Saddam" and "Baath" have been painted out of the slogans and a new one says: "Yes to Muqtada al-Sadr, our Muslim cleric and leader."

---

Ten years ago, the streets were generally safe and clean. Today, widespread attacks and kidnappings make travel very risky. Many streets are strewn with garbage and sometimes the burning wreckage of a suicide car bomb.

---

"I think the Americans came here for our oil, the oil that Saddam refused to give them," said Hussein Abdul Amir, 11. "When I see U.S. soldiers, I run because I'm afraid they will shoot me."

[Robbien]

8. Wait a minute, previous propaganda kept saying how we painted

and cleaned up all the schools. Over and over again we heard how we made all the schools all nice and clean and freshly painted.

Now the propaganda is saying the schools are all run down and dirty, but hey they have new chalk!

We need new propaganda pushers. These guys stink.

[daleo]

9. "Chalk one up" to the propaganda experts. n/t

[Frederik]

11. "English, a language that is mandatory beginning in the fifth grade"

The neocon idea of destroying a society in order to build it up again from scratch in accordance with the ideology of the University of Chicago Business School at work here?

[DELUSIONAL]

14. Forcing the language of the conqueror upon the population

has long been used by occupation forces.

And it pisses me off that this is being done in my name as an American.

Why oh why -- can't we have a parallel group -- standing up for those of us who did NOT vote for the filth now holding the white house, Senate and Congress hostage??

There is no option but to get the hell out of Iraq -- and let the NGOs help restart Iraq.

[amandabeech]

17. It seems that Kurdish would be a much better second language

for Iraqi Arabic speakers. It might help Iraqis in the future to understand each other better. I think that they're getting a good understanding of the U.S. without mandatory English.

[Postman]

12. And it only cost 100 Gazillion Billion dollars, what a deal !!

n/t