During a superb line of questioning today, Senator Menendez (D-NJ) ran through a damning laundry list of how our invasion and subsequent reconstruction billions have actually worsened the plight of average Iraqis.

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Some of Menendez's figures are downright infuriating. This is what $25 billion has gotten us:

• 43% of population lives in absolute poverty
• prior to war 19% of children suffered malnutrition; today 28%
• last year 75% elementary-aged kids went to school; now 30%
• prior to war 50% lacked access to clean water; now 70%
• only 50 of 142 primary health care centes are open to public

Ambassador Crocker's response is exactly what you would expect:

"Security conditions made it difficult to bring projects to closure in a timely fashion."

What a tangled web we weave.