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To: marc chatman who wrote (40403)	3/19/1999 12:08:00 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

I agree Marc. But it is the kind of thing the bears could use for negative spin.

To: marc chatman who wrote (40403)	3/19/1999 12:13:00 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Some perspective on the Iraq "threat"and why it is not realistic to expect the international community to support restictions on their oil sales. Simply put, oil revenues are a matter of life and death for the people of that nation. ______________________________________________________________________ March 18, 1999 IRAQ'S CHILLING ECONOMIC STATISTICS Iraq's total GDP has fallen to just $5.7 billion, or $247 per capita, according to estimates by the well-respected Economist Intelligence Unit in The Economist's newly published annual supplement "The World in 1999." Just prior to the Gulf War, Iraq's GDP was more than ten times higher--around $60 billion. Last year the Economist Intelligence Unit estimated Iraqi GDP at $30.4 billion, or $1,300 per capita. This year's figure represents both a further precipitous decline, and more accurate estimates. To put this in perspective, Jordan, Iraq's tiny neighbor has a GDP of $8.6 billion. With an estimated per capita GDP of only $247, Iraq, once one of the most developed countries in the Middle East, is now poorer than many countries in sub-saharan Africa. Just this evening I had the opportunity to attend a talk by former UN humanitarian relief coordinator for Iraq, Denis Halliday. Halliday noted that Iraq's recurring annual budget needs for health, food and essential services, is $12-15 billion. With the Oil-for-Food program, which Halliday ran for thirteen months, Iraq gets barely $4 billion. With a total GDP of $5.7 billion Iraq's economy is worth about the same as four B-1 bombers. It is worth about half of Bill Gates. The entire Iraqi economy amounts to just 2% (two percent) of the annual United States DEFENSE budget of $265 billion. The increase in the US defense budget proposed for next year by the Clinton Administration ($12 billion) is more than twice the entire GDP of Iraq. Just exactly what kind of threat can Iraq present? You do the math.