From Reuters
Forty-five percent of Iraqis believe attacks on U.S. and British troops are justified, according to a secret poll said to have been commissioned by British defense leaders and cited by The Sunday Telegraph.
Data from “The Telegraph”
• Forty-five per cent of Iraqis believe attacks against British and American troops are justified — rising to 65 per cent in the British-controlled Maysan province;
• 82 per cent are “strongly opposed” to the presence of coalition troops;
• less than one per cent of the population believes coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security;
• 67 per cent of Iraqis feel less secure because of the occupation;
• 43 per cent of Iraqis believe conditions for peace and stability have worsened;
• 72 per cent do not have confidence in the multi-national forces.
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Naturally they did not post the polling questions.
Did they ask the Iraqis if coalition forces should leave immediately? Everyone wants the coalition to leave, including the coalition, but timing and circumstance do play a role.
In any case, why is there a necessary link between ‘hearts and minds’ and the success of the mission? Perhaps many Iraqis don’t know what is good for them? The reason I say that is because some Iraqis are strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up other Iraqis. That doesn’t seem like a constructive solution for anyone involved.
If I was an Iraqi, I would be pissed at just about everyone.
That being said, Saddam is gone, elections have been held, and a constitutional referendum has been held…
Time will tell.
Interesting link re: the attack in Ramadi
82 percent of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the occupation, yet the incompetent fools at the helm say their presence is essential to the success of Iraq.
Iraq is a failed state.
And the monsters that created this mess must now be held accountable. So sad because even if those bastards go to jail it won’t make an ounce of a difference to Iraqis inside Iraq who are not benefitting from the presence of troops I like to call the occupation.
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Charles– “timing and circumstance do play a role”
How about immediately and saying sorry on the way out.
“why is there a necessary link between ‘hearts and minds’ and the success”
And perhaps the rebelliousness of the Iraqis was due to the immediate alienation of them from the start of the war.
“some Iraqis are strapping bombs to themselves and blowing up other Iraqis”
It’s a power grab.
“Saddam is gone, elections have been held, and a constitutional referendum has been held”
Yay! Time to go home now.
Liminal– “And the monsters that created this mess”
To be read “the Bush regime”.
Do you want to pull out because you don’t give a shit about them? Or because you think they will be better off?
What do you think would happen if we pulled out immediately?
As far as I understand it, the coalition is actively disengaging from major cities already. The media doesn’t seem to be covering that.
We disengage city by city, eventually pull back to bases entirely, and then finally pull out. The cushion of time we provide by staying allows the Iraqi government to establish itself.
Then we leave, say we are sorry, and hope for the best.
Attacks against journalists…
It was probably just a case of mistaken identity. The freedom fighters would NEVER target journalists. Maybe it was an undercover US operation?
Nothin to see here folks… Please move right along now…
2,000 US TROOPS DEAD IN IRAQ: ONE SURVIVOR TELLS HIS STORY
I went to fight in Iraq to get revenge for 9/11… I found out Bush had led us into a war that was immoral and totally wrong
From Ryan Parry in Kansas City, Missouri
BRAVE Tomas Young saw it as his patriotic duty to join the Army three days after 9/11.
Tomas, 25, wanted revenge on the terrorists who murdered nearly 2,750 people in the Twin Towers.
But on his first mission in Iraq — and before he had fired a single bullet in anger — he was left paralysed from the chest down after being shot in an ambush.
Now his anguish at never being able to walk again has turned to anger that he and thousands of others are being sent to fight an immoral war for George Bush.
As America this week mourned its 2000th victim of the war, Tomas said: “I joined the Army to exact some sort of retribution on what happened to us, whether it be going to find Osama bin Laden or to get al-Qaeda.
“I joined to get back for what happened. Nothing more, nothing less. But so far there have been 2,000 dead American soldiers and some 100,000 dead Iraqi civilians.
“That’s certainly a lot more than we lost on September 11. What has happened in Iraq is wrong.”
Tomas, now confined to a wheelchair, is bitter that his Government’s lies got him to enrol.
And he is frustrated Mr Bush will not listen to the American public and withdraw the troops.
He said: “From the start I didn’t see a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but when Bush first said, ‘Weapons of mass destruction’, I bought into that a bit.
“However, when that reason became more and more bulls**t I started to fall off the bandwagon.
“It became clear they didn’t have any strong connection and that’s when I started to snap.”
THE young Army specialist is contemptuous of his President’s attempts to justify the conflict.
“Bush kept coming up with reason after reason that was proving to be wrong,” Tomas said. “It reminded me of when I was naughty as a kid.
“Mom would find out my first excuse wasn’t true, so I’d make up a second and third until I would finally admit what I’d done and take my whupping.”
His opposition to the war hardened soon after he was sent to Iraq with the 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry regiment in March 2004.
The soldier, of Kansas City, Missouri, recalled: “I was saying, ‘See these oil fires? This is why we’re here, guys. We’re not defending freedom’. I realised my reasons for joining were being twisted.”
The day that would alter his life forever came on April 4.
He and his colleagues were sent to guard a rescue mission in Baghdad’s Sadr City district.
He found himself one of 25 troops crammed into a truck meant to hold 18. Tomas said: “The truck was beaten up.
“It was supposed to have a canvas cover and armour on the sides. It didn’t have either.
“Space was so tight that I had my legs folded and was lying on my back so more people could get in.
“I was meant to have my M16 aiming off the side but I couldn’t get enough room to pivot it around and shoot if I needed to.”
Although the rescue mission went smoothly, his truck later came under attack from rooftop snipers armed with AK47s.
Tomas said: “They opened fire and myself and three or four others got shot. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.”
HE was hit under the shoulder blade and the bullet severed his spinal cord, paralysing him instantly.
“I went numb,” he recalled. “I dropped my M16 and my fingertips were tingling. It was like a shock through my body. I went rigid.
“I remember looking at my hands and trying to will them to grab my M16, but couldn’t get them to move. I tried to yell but all I could get out was a horse-whisper.”
A second shot tore into his knee. He scarcely felt it.
Tomas was eventually airlifted to hospitals in Kuwait, Germany and, finally, Washington DC.
He was constantly sedated and recalls little. But he remembers the emotional moment he came round and saw his mother, Cathy Smith.
“I’m a mommy’s boy,” he admitted. “I don’t care how tough you are, when you see your mom after what I’ve been through you start to cry.”
Last Saturday, Staff Sgt George Alexander, 34, became the 2,000th US soldier killed in the conflict.
He had been hit by a roadside bomb in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, five days earlier.
The death was viewed as a grim landmark by America’s growing anti-war movement.
Now Tomas is determined to ensure it is one of the last.
He is a member of the Iraq Veterans Against the War movement and recently joined leading activist Cindy Sheehan at a demo outside Mr Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. Her son Casey, 24, was killed in Baghdad on the same day Tomas was hit.
Tomas and wife Brie, 24, are now trying to look to the future and are thinking of having IVF treatment to start a family.
But he remains angry about the way the war changed his life. And he called on Mr Bush to stop others suffering in the same way.
“I’d probably be a little bitter even if the war was just,” he confessed. “But the fact that I’m in this situation, compounded with the fact we went to an immoral war, makes it harder to accept.
“Bush led us into something that was wrong. He now needs to lead us out.”
Charles– “Do you want to pull out because you don’t give a shit about them? Or because you think they will be better off?”
There are many reasons I want an immediate disengagement. First and foremost, this war is a criminal act based on deception and intended to serve the purpose of enriching Bush cronies.
Additionally, this war has weakened US security, caused immeasurable damage to the US economy, driven the nation deeply into debt, trashed the reputation of the nation in the eyes of the world, aided Bush in subverting the political process in America, killed 2000+ of my brothers in arms needlessly, killed untold hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, wasted massive fortunes which would have better served to replace the US’ petroleum infrastructure, created tens of thousands of new enemies worldwide… shit… how long should I go on? Bush and his conspirators has fucked the nation real hard right up the ass. I can’t fathom why you are still supporting it. You have the zealousness and willful ignorance of a cult member. Snap out of it.
“What do you think would happen if we pulled out immediately?”
You mean after the party? I think the UN will step in and provide any and all assistance needed (funded by the US) in order to stand up Iraq as an independant nation free from the shackles of US intervention.
“Maybe it was an undercover US operation?”
You act like this government is not capable of such skullduggery. Right. We are a shining example of liberty for the world to see. What a crock.