I originally intended this post to be a simple report on a new survey of the Iraqi population, as reported by Jeff Weintraub.
Although some people still try to pretend otherwise, it has long been clear that in 2002-2003 most Iraqis (unlike most non-Iraqi Arabs, most Europeans, and many others) favored the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein & his regime, however ambivalently. Non-Iraqi Arabs, in particular, wanted Iraqis to sacrifice themselves to the last Iraqi for Saddam, but Iraqis overwhelmingly felt otherwise.
They have now said this again. In a poll conducted in January for WorldPublicOpinion.org by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, Iraqis were asked, among other things
The results at face value are encouraging.
Asked, “Thinking about any hardships you might have suffered since the US-Britain invasion, do you personally think that ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it or not?” 77% say it was worth it, while 22% say it was not.
Overall, 64% of Iraqis say that Iraq is heading in the right direction, while just 36% say it is heading in the wrong direction. This represents a sharp upward movement from when the International Republican Institute asked this question in November 2005 and just 49% said that Iraq was headed in the right direction and 36% said the wrong direction.
Ah, but then this caught my attention:
Sunnis, though, are overwhelmingly pessimistic. A remarkable 93% say the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Jeff comments: “To some extent, reactions of this sort are unsurprising for a formerly dominant minority that has suddenly lost its ruling position and fears for its future security.”
And it struck me. The American Democrats and to some extent the liberal media outlets are America’s non-violent Sunnis. In this case, they were in the majority for decades — either in literal government power or holding a monopoly on the news. And any poll since the year 2000 shows that Democrats (sans the first 8 or so months after 9/11) are repeatedly more pessimistic and thinking our country is moving in the wrong direction.
So the next time you see Ted, Barbara, Hillary, or Howard on TV ranting and raving… feel sorry for them. After all, their spiritual leader is on trial in Iraq for crimes against humanity and they too apparently long for his return to power. I only judge based on their words and deeds as leaders of the American Democrat/Sunni Party. Prove me wrong.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
America’s non-violent Sunnis?
Errrr, Bruce, don’t be so sure. Check those recent Democratic convictions for vote-related vandalism and attacks…
And if America doesn’t cave in and go liberal soon, I predict we’ll be seeing Democratic “militia movements”, hah hah. But OK, that’s a future development…
Now let’s have a bit of Fun With Math on the Iraq surveys.
77% of Iraqis say ousting Saddam was worth it, while 22% say it was not.
And Sunnis are about 20-22% of the population. Hmm, any connection? Well, 93% of Sunnis claimed that a liberated Iraq is headed in the wrong direction… do ya think?…
Overall, it says, 64% of Iraqis think the country is headed in the right direction. OK. Now factor out the pessimistic Sunnis (93% times 20% equals 18 points), and it’s more like 78% of (non-Saddamite) Iraqis who think Iraq is headed in the right direction…
So does this make the GOP the Shia? As represented by such thugs as Al Sadr?
You left out of your little story that the same poll also showed that half of the Iraqi citizens approved of attacks on American forces.
You might read the article I reference below. Is it a metaphor for what GOP majority rule is doing to our country?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/10/AR2006021001910.html
#4 GrampaGryph, rather than you just being another tool of the Washington Post (do liberals ever THINK for themselves??) why don’t YOU check out the source’s analysis of the polling:
http://www.pipa.org/
But I did like reading your link to see something akin to colonial America’s own Minuteman Militia sprouting up in Iraq…
from the WaPo article Gramps gave us:
“With nowhere else to turn, Tobji residents intent on stopping the escalating violence are relying on one another. In recent weeks, both Sunnis and Shiites have contributed manpower to an 80-member neighborhood citizens force that patrols the streets alongside the Iraqi army, manning checkpoints and alerting soldiers to suspicious outsiders. Neighbors have started collecting money to pay a small salary to the volunteers, who call themselves “the guardians.””
Hmmm, if RR were alive, he’d rightly call them Freedom Fighters and he’d correctly identify them as being a direct result of America’s liberation of Iraq.
GG, you are such a Blame America Firster it must hurt you to see our troops accomplishing their mission, W’s vision for Iraq coming to fruition, and Saddam reduced to courtroom antics ala Johnny Cochrane.
It just must HURT like Hell for you and your liberal buds.
to answer your question: no, and a better analogy is the GOP is the American Taliban.
the GOP has become the anti-privacy party…the one telling women what they can and can’t do with their bodies, the one telling people who they can and can’t marry, the one telling people when and how they can die and the one that advocates warrantless spying on its citizens. the GOP is a filthy party full of human garbage.
And GrampaGryph, just to nail shut that policy coffin you’ve built for yourself… there’s a logical reason why Iraqis think the US-led forces should suffer attacks… it’s because the Iraqis want the US to leave when things settle down and don’t think the US will unless the troops are attacked and harassed… here’s PIPA’s top analyst laying it out:
PIPA Director Steven Kull comments, “It appears that support for attacks on US-led forces may not always be prompted by a desire for the US to leave Iraq immediately but rather to put pressure on the US to leave eventually—something most Iraqis perceive the US as having no intention of doing.”
at http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/home_related/165.php?nid=&id=&pnt=165&lb=hmpg
So GrampaGryph, maybe that’s why your fellow Democrats are intent on harassing everything W does or every advance of the GOP… like the Iraqis, you team wants to make governance and leadership comport a high price so discouragement will occur and you can take the field when that happens.
Seems like the Democrats are more like the Sunnis than we thought. Just Do No.
#6 rightiswrong…. is that you Ridor? You gotta get a new act, dude. LOL.
It is Ridor… I just got his quintessential hate mail spew. Welcome, Ridor, to the land of the bigoted, loathsome, Taliban lovin, hearies who persecute deaf gay guys.
Michigan-Matt,
Actually, I thought that the article was a metaphor for the immense polarization that the country had ended up in. Red State-Blue State etc. It used to be possible to “agree to disagree” in this country. No longer. If you don’t worship the ground that Bush walks on you get labled the “blame America” crowd, anti-American, traitor, Surrendercrat, etc.
And for proof of this all anyone has to do is read your statements.
And if you insist on continuing to call me “Grandpa”, I’ll start calling you “Grandson”, since you are implying that we are related. Is that what you wanted? And no, in spite of all your kind words, I still won’t go out with you!
Now that is funny. Spitball militias, maybe?
Interesting thoughts. Losers, in politics, sports, whatever usually lick their wounds, step back and try to figure out where they went wrong. They logically analize what isnt working, make adjustments within the boundraries of their capabilities or principles and come back to fight and possibly win a new match or election. Take the Canadian Tories as a most recent example. But our Liberals in the Democrat party cant bring themselves to realize they are losing, have lost and should admit it, step back and regroup. Instead they whine about the other sides tactics and the refereeing and the “ignorant or misinformed voters”. This isnt a strategy to reverse their losing ways. I as a conservative, chuckle at their thrashing about. They arent even close to winning anything in a long time. Imagine if Republicans can elect an African American Governor in Michigan and Pennsylvania and an African American to the Senate in Maryland. Talk about a political earthquake. How does a prez ticket of Rice/Swann sound? Or Allen /Rice? It’s great to be able to imagine positive American images instead of wallowing in negative misery like our liberal friends.
BTW I was a thirty something during Ronald Reagan’ s “Morning in America”. Back then the Democrat party was filled with hatred for that man too. The things they said about him, his wife were horrible. The MSM wasnt quite as bad as todays but not far off its anti conservative bias. Now as you look back at the grand legacey of the man, they dont like bringing up his accomplishments. I can see the same coming true for George W 10-20 years from now. The die is cast…and the liberals problem is people will remember, how they lined up against freeing women and children in Afganistan and Iraq. A record number of democracies in the world. It’s not going to be easy to change the record after the fact. Liberals were against most of Reagans innitiatiives at the time but I remember. A free Granada, the support for the contras that led to a free Nicaragua, freeing tens of millions in the cold war. Peace thru strenth. Arming western Europe w tactical Nukes, helped the USSR to collapse.I could go on and on. Reagan was beloved in eastern Europe and the collapsed USSR. Seems republican Presidents of recent memory are capable of doing great and noble things. Even Nixon opened the door to China and look 30 yrs later, almost 6 B Chinese freeer than ever. Dems..Clinton and Carter seem small and petty, no?
Its not what actually gets accomplished by America and conservatives. Its that we don’t have the correct outlook on life. The Left loves a failed UN far more than they could ever appreciate (I won’t even pretend love) a successful America.
Its just like hate crimes legislation. Its not that you kill, its what you were thinking when you did it. That is why Saddam can be ignored or even supported by Leftists while Bush and Blair should be hung for war crimes.
I am so thankful the 21st Century is going to do for Progressives what the late 20th did for Communism.
Vince Tn……..#14 I am so thankful the 21st Century is going to do for Progressives what the late 20th did for Communism.
As in “the ashheap of history”. Bravo
Bruce, there are many issues for which you can criticize Senator Hillary Clinton. But on the issue of the War in Iraq it’s not fair to lump her in with the likes of Dean, Boxer and Kennedy. She supported the war resolution and has supported appropriations for the war. While she has become increasingly critical of the administration’s conduct of the war and wants a timetable for reducing U.S. forces, she has not joined those who want to cut and run. You have every right to disagree with her criticisms of the president, but at least be fair and recognize that on this issue she is to the right of Dean, Boxer, Kennedy and others on the far-left.
She’s trying to do what Bill did: Look like a “centrist” while being a raging left-winger, and if she got elected (and she doesn’t have a chance, thank God), she’d do exactly what Bill did. Turn leftist the minute she got in office.
Part of her problem is that she isn’t Bill, and she just can’t keep from opening that fat mouth and spouting socialist nonsense, like “it takes a village.”
Hillary’s “centrism” also seems calculated and deceptive to me.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad she has supported America in the WoT, at least somewhat – and she has kept silent in some of these other issues, for example NSA terrorist surveillance, perhaps because she knows that as President she would have to do the precise same things.
But I think her heart is with her early-career moves where she has sided with cop killers, with full socialization of medicine, etc.
Sometimes the entries here are pretty good, but sometimes they’re the right-wing equivalent of Tourette’s Syndrome. Guess which category this post falls under?
Really, Bruce … Saddam Hussein as the “spiritual leader” of the Democratic party? I don’t believe the US had mass executions under Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton.
Interesting, isn’t it, that not one Democrat was offended, or seems even to care, that Ramsey Clark is defending Hussein.
That is, perhaps, the most telling point of fact about Democrats.
“It used to be possible to “agree to disagree” in this country.”
Depends on who you disagreed with. Back in the 70’s, when I was a liberal, I started noticing that with most conservatives I could disagree and remain friends, but liberals tended to treat disagreement as heresy. The only thing that has changed in the last 3 decades is that the liberals who were once optimistic about their long march through the institutions are now pessimistic…and thus hysterical.