Large Majority of Iraqis Want Us to Leave
Although there is some rise and fall to the numbers over the last three years, a large majority of Iraqis want the US to leave. Here's the story from Amit R. Paley of The Washington Post:
The article includes some pie graphs for different areas of Iraq. A quick look suggests that the more violent the area, such as Baghdad, the more the local residents want the US to leave. I notice the numbers in Shiite areas are high and it may be that the Shiites want the US to leave since they are the majority and wish to gain full control of the country and won't be able to do so until we leave.
The American people need to decide what our obligations are if a large majority of Iraqis continue to make it clear that they want the US to leave. Shouldn't Bush at least be making it clear that Iraq belongs to the Iraqis? And how long will Maliki last if he ignores the Iraqi people?
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...
The article includes some pie graphs for different areas of Iraq. A quick look suggests that the more violent the area, such as Baghdad, the more the local residents want the US to leave. I notice the numbers in Shiite areas are high and it may be that the Shiites want the US to leave since they are the majority and wish to gain full control of the country and won't be able to do so until we leave.
The American people need to decide what our obligations are if a large majority of Iraqis continue to make it clear that they want the US to leave. Shouldn't Bush at least be making it clear that Iraq belongs to the Iraqis? And how long will Maliki last if he ignores the Iraqi people?
posted by Craig at 1:42 PM
2 Comments:
This could give a whole new meaning to a favorite insisting point, "in the final throes," of that Big Strategic Thinker, Vice President Dick Cheney.
I await Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's statement assuring us the survey really indicates the overwhelming majority of Iraqis want our troops to remain until Baghdad is chosen to host the Winter Olympics.
And how exactly is orderly withdrawal from Iraq "defeat" (as Bush obstinately insists) if that's exactly what the people of Iraq WANT?
Why couldn't this overwhelming desire of Iraqis rightly be seen as the actual basis for the withdrawal of our forces?
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