A FAUXVIAN FOCUS ON SOME NON-STOP NUMBERS

In the recent days, the news and the numbers have been all about the Catholic Church and alas . . . the war in Iraq. Regarding the church, here are the numbers that count: 11,000, 4,400, 50, 2 and an all-important one. They relate, sadly, to the sex scandals which Pope Benedict has shown determination to face and it goes like this: 11,000 victims, 4,400 priests who were culpable, 50 years the time period over which this went unchecked and 2 as in two billion dollars in payments and settlements by the Church. And the 1, that’s one big hope and benefit of the doubt which must be given to the Pope who has been forthright enough to meet some victims face to face and to commit to changing the cannons involving the churches intent to reduce tolerance and increase punishment for such inexcusable conduct. Again, this is one benefit of the doubt we would hope all people of good will want proven worthy.
Now on Iraq, the numbers are numbing and are not all that worthy of hope and there are many of them. They are (drum roll): 31, 300,000, 320,000, 30,000, 19 and 12 and also 27, 104, 1,600, 700, 2, 6, 35 and maybe 100 . . . These figures have to do with the personal cost of the war: 31 is the percent of soldiers who return from Iraq and Afghanistan with some mental disorder, 300,000 suffer PTSD, 320,000 have suffered traumatic brain injury, and 30,000 have been the victims of physical wounds. To continue, 12% of the troops after one tour show combat stress and for those who’ve been sent for two tours, the number rises to 19 percent, and as the Rand Report, our source material (hope Mssrs. Bush and McCain take some time to actually read up on this) informs that only 50% of returning soldiers dare to ask for help and by the Army’s own admission, at best half (they claim) get the help they so desperately need.
Now we like to be a fun Faux but these numbers cry out, they are of a human toll and there are more, which have to do with an ongoing involvement in Iraq, namely the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. There are 27 buildings, covering 104 acres, offices for 1,600 people at a construction cost of (so far) over 700 million dollars. The number 2 as in two billion dollars is again relevant because that is the supposed cost to operate the complex each year, when it opens, that is. Six is the number of months construction has been delayed, and wait, they forgot to build a place for General Petraeus and his staff, which will cost another 35 million dollars.
Bye the bye, since diplomats (as in ours) are refusing to volunteer to serve in Iraq, the government may have to order some there, because it’s obvious with such a “city within a city” (in the words of NBC’s Brian Williams) we’re going to be there a long, long time, but less than 100 years, right?
Fauxvians, we thank you for your indulgence if you could follow, at all, this rather lengthy nomenclature. If it made you ache and you just wanted to put your head in your hands, fair enough, so many who’ve heroically served there, now wish they had that option.