Most Iraqis Favor Immediate Pullout

gratefuldawg77 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:04 PM

Quote:

BAGHDAD, Sept. 26 -- A strong majority of Iraqis want U.S.-led military forces to immediately withdraw from the country, saying their swift departure would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers.

In Baghdad, for example, nearly three-quarters of residents polled said they would feel safer if U.S. and other foreign forces left Iraq, with 65 percent of those asked favoring an immediate pullout, according to State Department polling results obtained by The Washington Post.

Another new poll, scheduled to be released on Wednesday by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, found that 71 percent of Iraqis questioned want the Iraqi government to ask foreign forces to depart within a year. By large margins, though, Iraqis believed that the U.S. government would refuse the request, with 77 percent of those polled saying the United States intends keep permanent military bases in the country.

The stark assessments, among the most negative attitudes toward U.S.-led forces since they invaded Iraq in 2003, contrast sharply with views expressed by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Last week at the United Nations, President Jalal Talabani said coalition troops should remain in the country until Iraqi security forces are "capable of putting an end to terrorism and maintaining stability and security."

"Only then will it be possible to talk about a timetable for the withdrawal of the multinational forces from Iraq," he said.

Recent polls show many Iraqis in nearly every part of the country disagree.

"Majorities in all regions except Kurdish areas state that the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) should withdraw immediately, adding that the MNF-I's departure would make them feel safer and decrease violence," concludes the 20-page State Department report, titled "Iraq Civil War Fears Remain High in Sunni and Mixed Areas." The report was based on 1,870 face-to-face interviews conducted from late June to early July.

Guess the Iraqis are standing up (to us). Can we stand down now?

full story here

Still Dizzy · #2 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:17 PM

I heard that today. I wonder about those numbers, and HOW the question was asked.

steve k · #3 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:22 PM

And the President of Iraq just yesterday begged the U.S. and allied forces NOT to leave because he believes at this stage Iraq would be taken over by terrorists if we were to leave.

gratefuldawg77 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Still Dizzy

I heard that today. I wonder about those numbers, and HOW the question was asked.

If you click on the link it explains how the polling was conducted. Seems about as fair as possible given the situation on the ground there.

gratefuldawg77 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve k

And the President of Iraq just yesterday begged the U.S. and allied forces NOT to leave because he believes at this stage Iraq would be taken over by terrorists if we were to leave.

Sometimes, believe it or not, a country's president can be a total idiot and out of touch with his country.

steve k · #6 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:26 PM

Here is that article I spoke about.

US troop presence keeps neighbors from invading Iraq: Talabani
Sep 26 7:12 PM US/Eastern

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that the US military presence in Iraq keeps neighbors from invading his country.
"The American presence has always prevented any kind of foreign invasion to Iraq," Talabani said.

"That's one of the main reasons why we think that we need an American presence, even symbolical, in the country to prevent our neighbors attacking us," he said at a forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington think thank.

Talabani also said Baghdad could not "further tolerate" neighbors' interference in its internal affairs.

"I think that our neighbors must understand that our patience is limited," he said, refusing to single out countries but adding "we mean all of them."

Iraq shares borders with Syria, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Asked if there was concern over aggression from Turkey, Talabani said: "I don't think there is any danger for invasion by Turkey to Iraq."

Iraq has "good relations" with the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and could help Ankara in its conflict with the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), he said.

"We could convince PKK to stop fighting in Turkey," the Iraqi leader said.

Talabani also insisted that Iraq would not spiral down into civil war.

"There would be no civil war. We have problems, we have some kind of extremists who are fighting against each other. They are not representing the whole society," he said.

He also defended the US military presence in Iraq.

"The immediate departure of coalition forces would only unleash the terrorists," Talabani said. "I cannot promise when or how the American presence will completely end in Iraq but I can promise that American soldiers do not fight in vain."

Copyright AFP 2005, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

steve k · #7 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gratefuldawg77

Sometimes, believe it or not, a country's president can be a total idiot and out of touch with his country.

I suppose you know better than he? What qualifications do you have? How many times have you been there? How many troops have you spoken too?

oceanbreeze · #8 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 04:49 PM

If the Iraqi government/country/people could defend themselves, I'm sure the US would be loading the planes to go back stateside as we speak.

gratefuldawg77 · #9 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 05:11 PM

"My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators. . . . I think it will go relatively quickly, . . . [in] weeks rather than months." -- Dick Cheney on NBC's Meet the Press

"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." — Donald Rumsfeld to U.S. troops in Aviano, Italy

"Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended." George Walker Bush Under the banner "Mission Accomplished."

hey, hey- don't everybody attack me at once. I'm just basking in the wisdom of our leaders. According to them, we were supposed to be out about three years ago.

Kix · #10 (**permalink**) 09-27-2006, 05:54 PM

Gee, who would have thought. This sure makes it sound like our troops did a really lousy job over there. Kinda makes it sound like another...

Vietnam.. doesn't it? And that's so troubling, after all the support they've gotten from the media and...... others here.

To this I say.... CAMEL CRAP! It's just more politically induced media hype.

"71 percent of Iraqis questioned"
Translation: We only questioned those we were fairly certain would give us the answers we wanted to get and 71% of them did.

Another clue: "The report was based on 1,870 face-to-face interviews conducted from late June to early July." This means that it would have been impossible to know that the "Majorities in all regions except Kurdish areas" feel one way or the other about anything. There are simply too many regions to cover and not enough face-to-face interviews to account for all of them.

I've done too many face-to-face interviews with troops coming home and even my own son said the Iraqi's he worked with cried when they left.