In the last week I had the pleasure of interviewing an outspoken and intelligent anti-war activist living in Baghdad, Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar. We will be publishing his interview in the next week. As we were exchanging emails one very basic point became evident: the people in Iraq are clearly worse off today than they were under Saddam. They are worse off economically, they are worse off politically and they are less safe and secure.

Regarding day-to-day life, food continues to be in short supply, electricity, even in Baghdad is often only available for two hours at a time, petrol prices have increased ten times and there are lines waiting for the limited supply, the sanitation system and sewage system isn't operating, the health care system is in shambles and most of the destruction wrought by the U.S. invasion has not been repaired.

Unemployment has doubled to 60 percent as Iraqi's watch U.S. contractors do work they should be doing as part of the U.S. corporate invasion of Iraq. Through our puppet government we've taken over the oil industry and through Paul Bremer's decrees U.S. corporations are taking over virtually all aspects of the Iraq economy. And, the insurgency puts many Iraqi's at risk adding to the risks created by the U.S. military. But, there are more newspapers!

On the political side, the Iraqis are dealing with a government that is a puppet of the United States. The government has been falsely legitimized by a phony election - phony for a variety of reasons (see the election section of Iraq War Facts) - and the same prison Iraq used to torture people the U.S. has used to torture people - Ghazwan calls is "Abu Gulag." Random searches by soldiers at checkpoints and of homes include reports of soldiers stealing from Iraqis. As John Massey a veteran formerly stationed in Iraq reports in an interview with Democracy Rising, U.S. forces kill civilians. And, Iraqis see the construction of the long-term military bases, known as "enduring bases," and realize that the U.S. has no plans of leaving anytime soon.

In Vietnam the ironic statement of the war was the U.S. destroyed villages to save them. That irony has become the U.S. policy in Iraq - destroy a country to save it - unfortunately saving it does not necessarily making things better for Iraqis. It seems to only mean making it better for U.S. corporations and ensuring that the U.S. military has a base of operations in the Middle East.

Sadly, not only are the people of Iraq worse off - but so are we - less wealthy, less secure, more than 1,500 soldiers dead and many thousands seriously injured and less respected in the world - the Iraq War - two for one - the people of both countries worse off then before the war began.

Does the U.S. public know Iraqis are worse off today than before our invasion two years ago? I don't think they do. It is certainly not highlighted in the U.S. media. I'm confident that if they did the end of the U.S. military and corporate occupation would be coming more quickly.