New poll shows that 6 in 10 Iraqi's support attacks on US military

[headsplice]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Yeah, whether you agree with the premise of altering Iraq's government, or not, it's pretty hard to deny Bush and Rumsfeld screwed the pooch on this mission. Clearly not thought through and planned properly.

DING! Bruce wins a prize! Unfortunately, this in the Intarwebnetutronicle, so all you get is a smiley:

[Flint]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Speaks for itself.

:::red flags go up::: All citizens are advised to comply with this auto-conclusion!

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by Flint

:::red flags go up::: All citizens are advised to comply with this auto-conclusion!

Does your sarcasm indicate that you support the contrary proposition: that it *doesn't* speak for itself?

[Flint]

I'm sure you'll be glad to tell me what I should think it means.

It is perfectly legal and normal to attack an invading, occupying, force in your country. Especially when your nation was not attacking or threatening that nation.
It is what we would do.
What is weird is how we are acting so surprised and upset by it.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

It is what we would do.

In the rejected script for Invasion USA we all just peacefully welcomed the Communist invaders...

[tw]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

I don't think so. The Shia south would be closely allied with Iran. Maybe to the point where Iran would protect the south from any Sunni aggression. Why do you think the Iranians would be pissed?

Iraqi Shia are said in American spin to be allied with Iranians. But reality says Iraqi Shia - especially in and not limited to the Iran Iraq war - don't have such loyalties. This is a classic case of separating American political spin from history that says otherwise. Iraqi Shia are allies only with Iran when it served to harm Saddam. Otherwise they want nothing from Iranians who they do not trust.

Iranians have similar Kurdish problems found in Turkey and Iraq. Iranians are not as violent in their response but also do not like the idea of an independent Kurdistan. Of course an independent Kurdistan in Iraq would have some advantages to Iran. But any independent Kurdistan that would cause problems on Iran's frontier concerns Iranians.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by tw

But reality says...

Read "But tw says..."

[Undertoad]

Interesting post about the poll numbers, from Iraqi blogger Iraq the Model.

The magnitude of pressure and misinformation the people here are subject to from the media is a factor that cannot be ignored. Since April 2003 and till now virtually all the media kept describing the US presence as a force of occupation even when the legal status of the forces ceased to be so long time ago.

For over three years, the media kept focusing on the mistakes and shortcomings of the US military and US administration in what I can only describe as force-feeding hatred to the Iraqi people.

It's not only the media, there are also our politicians. A good deal of the political class here is guilty of treason; some betrayed the US after posing as allies and friends while some betrayed the people by dragging them to an absolutely unnecessary confrontation with the US military. Both types have been trying to convince the people that America is responsible for instability and chaos in Iraq.

The behavior of Iraq's neighbors, Arab league, UN and the anti-war crowds in America and Europe has had a no better influence than the media or our irrational politicians and clerics.

What do you expect the attitude of the common Iraqi to be when he watches, hears or reads about the fairly wide anti-war movement in the west?

When there are Americans who say America is wrong or say the war isn't for a just cause and when Americans say the US presence in Iraq is bad, and when that is the only side of the image the media focuses on, it becomes an invitation for Iraqis to resist this presence and there's no doubt many will answer the invitation whether with words or violent action since they will get the impression that they're legitimately resisting something bad.

We have little in our culture about compromise or working-out-our-differences-peacefully. Radical solutions often seem more tempting to the ordinary, less educated people.

When everyone, and I mean everyone, keeps telling them America is their enemy, the common reaction would certainly involve violent means of expression…yes, that's our common way in showing our disagreement with others in this part of the world.

It sucks, it's backward and it's savage but it's the fact and it will not change overnight, such changes happen slowly.

We should not expect pleasing answers from confused people, living in extremely difficult conditions, subjected to extreme emotional, physical and psychological stress and being misguided and misinformed by biased media and corrupt leaders.

After all this pressure and suffering, 40% of Iraqis still view America as their friend…now really, you can't find that in many countries that America did not fire a single bullet at especially in the Middle East.

There are 40% of Iraqis who view American soldiers (not only American people) as friends and in my opinion this should be considered a good foundation for building a much better relationship.

Some improvement in performance combined with removing some of the sources of negative influence can make the numbers change drastically.

[tw]

From the New York Times of 9 Oct 2006:

Men in Uniforms Kill Iraqi Vice President’s Brother
Men wearing military police uniforms broke into the house of the brother of Iraq’s Sunni vice president on Monday, chased him onto a neighbor’s roof and shot him in the head, killing him, Iraqi authorities and witnesses said.

Amir al-Hashemi was the third sibling of Iraq’s vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, to be killed since spring. His death underscored just how deeply Baghdad has sunk into lawlessness, particularly in its religiously mixed neighborhoods, and was reminiscent of the politically motivated assassinations that have plagued Iraq since the American invasion.

George Jr declares that Iraq is getting better when US intelligence agencies say otherwise. Three years ago, Americans were attacked 1000 times every month - after 'so called' liberation. Today attacks on Americans are one every 15 minutes. American intelligence estimates say this will be more frequent next year. So why does George Jr lie to America? Why stop lying when Americans have approved of these lies?

Americans have two choices. Either 500,000 troops in-country now; or get out. Current situation with too few troops will only make Iraq worse. As Colin Powell said, if you break it, then you will have to fix it. As long as Americans are considered the power with too few troops, then Iraq will only get worse. Anbar province cannot be won - this from US military analysis. Stay the course only means more American deaths and an inevitable worse case condition - Iraqi Civil War. Furthermore, this inevitable conclusion was not a surprise even many years ago. Scowcroft, George Sr's close friend, and others who have a history of honesty predicted all this long ago - even informing George Jr:
Good Morning, VietNam

[tw]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Read "But tw says..."

This is MaggieL admitting she cannot contradict reality.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Interesting post about the poll numbers, from Iraqi blogger Iraq the Model.

One blogger's opinion. If one opinion is so important than I guess this one should be given equal importance:

can't bear more anxiety, fear, and sadness. Counting our losses every day. Yesterday we lost our dear family senior; he is my father's uncle. He was shot to death by the American soldiers in his parent's in-law neighborhood. He is 78 years old.he is that kind of person that leaves emptiness.I couldn't sleep last night, neither my parent's, my husband nor my father in law. I wonder if the soldier who shot him and left him in his car ,asked himself about that old man , did he wondered if he was alive or died immediately?.. Did he sleep as a lamb?! Probably he forgot all about it, and had nice dreams….….The soldiers left him dead in his car after they shot him BY MISTAKE , then Iraqi policemen found him , used his cell phone to call one of the his family members.........
more details about the accident ......

We need help to stop the violence, and the disrespect of the humanity. I am giving some of the details about my relative's accident to seek for help, and investigation. On Wednesday afternoon about 5 pm. My dear grand uncle was shot by many American bullets from the right side while he was driving his car (Dark brown" Opel\vectra", model 1991.), in a residential neighborhood, "Al Tairan ". The report of the forensic doctor mentioned that the victim was turning his head toward the left, when he got the first bullet on his neck (that one caused immediate death), the other was in his upper right side of his chest, and the third bullet was on his upper part of his right arm.Such accidents, I mean shooting innocent people, had been repeated to a large extent that turned the appreciation of the Iraqis toward the American liberation from Saddams' regimen to hate or violence or at least suspicious about the intentions of the Americans' coexistence in Iraq …I doubt, there is any Iraqi still trust the Americans' being in their homeland, even the most peaceful optimistic……..

http://youngmammy.blogspot.com/2006/...854749604.html

Yeah... she sounds "liberated".
It is so far past time to get out of this invasion/occupation it is sickening. (Almost as sickening as the fact that we did it in the first place)