Learn A Little Arabic

By Indykids Staff

Hello: salaam alaykum

How are you? shlonek (for a boy) shlonitch (for a girl)

School: madrasa

Dog: chelab

Cat: bizuna

Peace: salaam

Iraq Quick Facts

Total area: 437,072 square kilometers, (two times the size of Idaho)

Population: 23.3 million people (about the population of Texas)

Capital: Baghdad

Religions: Muslim 97% (Shi’a 65%, Sunni 35%)

Christian or other 3%

Major languages  and cultural groups: Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian

Major exports: Oil

An Oily Affair

We find petroleum (oil) products in every area of our lives. They are in the gasoline we use to fuel our cars and to heat our homes. Oil is also used to make plastics and lots of other products. Oil products contribute about 40 percent of the energy used in the United States. Currently, most of the oil used by the industrialized nations is imported from the Middle Eastern countries. It is estimated that there are enough crude oil reserves to last the world about another 60 years. More than half of that amount is located in the Middle East in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Iraq.

The US consumes the largest amount of oil in the world and four times the amount of the next largest oil consumer, Japan. But the US has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. Most of our oil goes into cars and trucks. Many top officials of the Bush administration worked for oil companies, including President Bush himself. Chevron oil company once named a tanker after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to thank her for her work to benefit the company.

Sources: Lancet, National Priorities Project, ThinkQuest

The War & Occupation of Iraq

When it started: March 20, 2003 when the US invaded

US troops in Iraq: 140,000

US soldiers killed: 1,911

US soldiers wounded: 14,641

Iraqi civilians killed: 100,000

Cost of war: Taxpayers in the US will pay $204.6 billion for the cost of the war in Iraq, and maybe more.

For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

46,458.805 People Receiving Health Care or

3,545,016 Elementary School Teachers or

1,841,833 Affordable Housing Units or

24,072 New Elementary Schools or

3,525,313 Music and Arts Teachers

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