Bottom line.... They want us out. Sounds like a democratic decision to me. ____________________________________________________________ Poll: Iraqis back attacks on U.S. troops By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer Thu Sep 28, 2:05 PM ET WASHINGTON - About six in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and slightly more than that want their government to ask U.S. troops to leave within a year, according to a poll in that country. ADVERTISEMENT The Iraqis also have negative views of Osama bin Laden, according to the early September poll of 1,150. The poll, done for University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, found: _Almost four in five Iraqis say the U.S. military force in Iraq provokes more violence than it prevents. _About 61 percent approved of the attacks â up from 47 percent in January. A solid majority of Shiite and Sunni Arabs approved of the attacks, according to the poll. The increase came mostly among Shiite Iraqis. _An overwhelmingly negative opinion of terror chief bin Laden and more than half, 57 percent, disapproving of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. _Three-fourths say they think the United States plans to keep military bases in Iraq permanently. _A majority of Iraqis, 72 percent, say they think Iraq will be one state five years from now. Shiite Iraqis were most likely to feel that way, though a majority of Sunnis and Kurds also believed that would be the case. The PIPA poll, which included an oversample of 150 Sunni Iraqis, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The State Department, meanwhile, has also conducted its own poll, something it does periodically, spokesman Sean McCormack said. The State Department poll found that two-thirds of Iraqis in Baghdad favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces, according to The Washington Post. McCormack declined to discuss details of the department's Iraq poll. "What I hear from government representatives and other anecdotal evidence that you hear from Iraqis that is collected by embassy personnel and military personnel is that Iraqis do appreciate our presence there," he said. "They do understand the reasons for it, they do understand that we don't want to or we don't intend to be there indefinitely." Iraqi officials have said Iraq's security was improving and expanding throughout the country, and most U.S. troops might be able to leave eventually. Last week, Iraqi President Jalal Talibani told the United Nations that coalition forces should remain in Iraq until Iraqi security forces are "capable of putting an end to terrorism and maintaining stability and security."
Who cares what they think? The only reason we should be risking our troops' lives is that it somehow protects our vital interests. If our presence there is necessary for that purpose, then their objections are relevant only in that it would indicate we need to use more force in securing the country. If being there doesn't advance our vital interests, then we should be planning to leave, even if they beg us to stay.
Ya, who cares what they think! Who do they think they are? Damn, they act like they own the place....
I wasn't taking a position one way or the other on that question. My point was that our vital interests should be our guiding light, not public opinion polls of foreigners. I thought at the time we went into Iraq that there were good arguments either way. In retrospect it looks like the arguments against going in were better. Perhaps more inspired leadership could have turned Saddam back into being an ally of the US against islamist fanaticism. Now we are there, and it seems clear to me that we can't pull out and leave a power vacuum that will likely be occupied by Iran or al qaeda. The argument that we are there to "steal" their oil is ludicrous, but we can't ignore the fact that Iraq does have enormous oil reserves that could fund terrorist/jihadist activities for decades to come. Certainly one of our major objectives must be to prevent that from happening.
"My point was that our vital interests should be our guiding light." And that is exactly what is wrong with America, spearheaded by the republiklan party. There was a time when our guiding light was Christ, who did not look upon people according to geographic lines, but rather as all being children of God. There was a time when principles mattered. Now the guiding light is capitalism and self centeredness.
They want us to leave within a year....we should leave by Monday. They have demonstrated they are incapable of peaceful living. They are split into two groups, as all Muslims appear to be. They're either hell bent on killing each other, or they stand aside and watch it happen without making any effort to stop the killing. They weren't worth the first American life lost, let alone thousands. I'd happily pay 10 bucks a gallon for gas while watching the entire mideast go up in flames. Fuck'em!