One of Murtha’s original arguments for wanting us to phase the troops out of
Iraq was due to a poll that showed many Iraqi’s favored attacks aimed at our
troops. Today a new poll has been released reaffirming that argument:
A new poll found that nearly half of Iraqis approve of attacks on
U.S.-led forces, and most favor setting a timetable for American troops to
leave.The poll also found that 80 percent of Iraqis think the United States
plans to maintain permanent bases in the country even if the newly elected
Iraqi government asks American forces to leave. Researchers found a link
between support for attacks and the belief among Iraqis that the United
States intends to keep a permanent military presence in the country.At the same time, the poll found that many Iraqis think that some outside
military forces are required to keep Iraq stable until the new government
can field adequate security forces on its own. Only 39 percent of Iraqis
surveyed thought that Iraqi police and army forces were strong enough to
deal with the security challenges on their own, while 59 percent thought
Iraq still needed the help of military forces from other countries.Seventy percent of Iraqis favor setting a timetable for U.S. forces to
withdraw, with half of those favoring a withdrawal within six months and the
other half favoring a withdrawal over two years.“Iraqis are demanding a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, and most believe
that the U.S. has no plans to leave even if the new government asks them
to,” said Steven Kull, the director of the Program on International Policy
Attitudes at the University of Maryland, which conducted the poll. “This
appears to be leading some to even support attacks on U.S.-led troops, even
though many feel they also continue to need the presence of U.S. troops
awhile longer.”“If you put it all together, it’s clear there is a center of gravity, not
towards immediate withdrawal, but for the U.S. to be there in a way that
affirms their intent to withdraw eventually,” he said. “There is real
consensus on that point.”
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It is simple – American’s don’t want us in Iraq and Iraqi’s don’t want us in
Iraq. The only ones who seem to want us there are the war mongers of the Bush
administration. How can we say we support a free and democratic Iraq when we
won’t even honor their own wishes and desires?