The ongoing chaos in Iraq has obscured another startling reality:
Two in three children in Iraq have simply stopped going to school, according to a government report.
Iraq’s Ministry of Education says attendance rates for the new school year, which started Sep. 20, are at an all-time low.
Statistics released by the ministry in October showed that a mere 30 percent of Iraq’s 3.5 million students are currently attending classes. This compares to roughly 75 percent of students who were attending classes the previous year, according to the Britain-based NGO Save the Children.
Just before the U.S.-led invasion in spring 2003, school attendance was nearly 100 percent.
Of course, Bush may well be moving towards the “successful” model of Vietnam.