Wow, a lot of info has been posted, maybe too much to comment on in detail.
Infose,
I appreciated your post. All I can say is that having worked in China for a few years that place is a dynamo. You hear many negative comments in the media, such as their housing bubble will collapse, cities with no inhabitants, corruption, high debt levels etc. But IMO if they ever do get into trouble they can react quickly enough to head it off. They are not hamstrung by democratic processes.
Our buildings, both the design center (300+ engineers) and the big factories, were supplied almost free of charge by the government. We only had to employ and train the locals, which benefits China in the end.
Trickle down economics seemed to be working. Almost all engineers were from the provinces and send cash back home. Over the time I was there the carpark gradually filled up as more of the engineers could afford to buy cars (we take cars for granted don't we). But I won't waffle on any more.
Andylgo,
Yes, that number of Iraqis killed is horrendous, and it was almost never mentioned during the conflict. All we had in the mainstream media was the counting of US and local guys killed together will all the funerals and tears. Nobody shed a tear for the enemy combatants! Yet here we all are living the good life as though it never happened.
/rant off.
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