The poll shows that despite the horrendous personal security problems only 26% of the country preferred life under the previous regime of Saddam Hussein, with almost half (49%) preferring life under the current political system. As one may expect, it is the Sunnis who are most likely to back the previous regime (51%) with the Shias (66%) preferring the current arrangements.First off, since most Kurds are Sunni, it would have been more helpful to survey based on Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, and Kurds, rather than by religion and then separately by Arab or Kurd. It is tought to figure out how they overlap.
Regardless, an interesting poll result is this:
Nationally a small majority (53%) feels that the security situation in Iraq will get better in the immediate weeks following a withdrawal of the MNF. A quarter (26%) believes the situation will deteriorate with the remainder predicting no change or answering "Don't know."
It is in the South where people most strongly believe that the withdrawal of the MNF will see the security situation improve. By a ratio of nearly seven to one the Shia dominated South feels that the situation will get "a great deal/little better" (69%) rather than "worse" (10%). In the Sunni North however opinion is more evenly divided – 46% feel it will get better and 37% feel it will get worse.
Given that in the south the people aren't the victims of violence, but mostly only hear about Sunni-Shia violence in the central region, I bet that those Shias are reflecting the view that if Americans just got out of the way, the Shias could kill or expel the Sunni Arabs and end their terror campaign the traditional way of dealing with insurrection. My guess is that's what they define as our withdrawal leading to the situation "improving."
In support of this theory, note that only 8% in the Shia south feel that Iraq is in a state of civil war and that 75% of those in the Shia south feel today's government is better than life under Saddam.
Yet as a nation gripped by violence, there is naturally plenty of bad news to emphasize. And this article sure does serve up a heaping helping of despair to fuel a retreat:
The optimism that helped sustain Iraqis during the first few years of the war has dissolved into widespread fear, anger and distress amid unrelenting violence, a survey found.
And on the way home I had to listen really closely to realize that NPR's report was about this poll. They stated that the poll said a majority of Iraqis thought Iraq under Saddam was better.
Given that most violence is restricted to the areas around Baghdad plus Anbar, one wonders about this poll result (from the poll, not the dreadful article):
While 63 percent said they felt very safe in their neighborhoods in late 2005, only 26 percent feel that way now.
Fighting has not spread to the rest of Iraq. Is this reduced feeling of safety driven by reading and watching reports of violence in other areas of Iraq? Is this linked to the view by southern Shias that things would improve if our troops left? Makes sense to me.
Still, remember that for all the stress of the current times, darned few Iraqis pine for those kite-flying days of legend. Heck, according to the poll, 54% of those surveyed in Baghdad--the focal point of terrorism in Iraq--think things are better now than under Saddam.
So I guess the calls for us to just surrender Iraq to the enemy have been met by a resounding rebuke of "Nuts!" by the Iraqis themselves, despite the very real price they are paying to fight those jihadi, Baathist, and Persian-directed killers who would destroy all they hope to achieve.
UPDATE: Indeed, the Iraqis who see our "invasion" as the liberation it was from a despot who enjoyed killing his many enemies and even more numerous imagined enemies, do not wish to surrender to the killers no matter what are Congressonal leaders want them to do:
No doubt people who follow the news as it is being reported in the West get the impression that we’re fighting a lost war, and I feel that there won’t be a day when our struggle to live a normal life and what we achieve in this path will make headlines that run above those of death.
You look around in Baghdad now and see hundreds of men working in the streets to pick up garbage; to plant flowers and paint the blast walls in joyful colors. Many of Baghdad’s squares are becoming green and clean. The picture isn’t perfect, but it’s a clear attempt to beat violence and ease pain through giving the spring a chance to shine.
Nights in Baghdad now are far from quiet, but the sounds cause less anxiety for me than they did before. I recognize the rumble of armor and thump of guns and they assure me that the gangs and militias do not dominate the night as they once did.
When Arabs or westerners ask me about the situation and I answer that hope remains and that we’re looking forward to a better future most would say ‘Are you living in this world?’ I answer, ‘Yes, it’s you who live in the parallel world the media built for you with images of only death and destruction’.
If it surprised some of them that a poll found Iraqis optimistic, then I’m surprised that someone finally bothered to ask Iraqis how they feel.
Just as free birds would never return to the cage, we don’t want to return to the days of the tyrant. Birds do not care that beasts roam outside and would not feel nostalgic for a home or meal mixed with humiliation.
All that a free bird cares about is to spread wings and fly as it pleases.
Many on the Left drone on about "doing something" about the death in Darfur. Yet they only support doing something in the magical sense of imagining that we could stop the slaughter in Darfur without American soldiers and Marines fighting, killing, and dying to defeat the evil thugs who kill for fun and profit. I know this because our Marines and soldiers are on the ground every day in Iraq fighting the Mesopotamian branch of the evil killers and the same Left that implores the President to do something about the killers in Darfur don't want us to do anything to stop the killers in Iraq.
Don't abandon Iraqis who want a free Iraq. We are building a free ally that even now is standing with us. Those who say Iraqis are doing enough are fools. They are fighting, dying, and suffering to defeat the evil thugs who know no boundaries for killing decent people and a promising future.
CORRECTION: The NPR report was not the same British poll but another poll by ABC. While more pessimistic in tone, NPR did not ignore the more positive opinions noted in the original subject of this post.
CORRECTION: Ah. And the AP article I cited as heaping up despair is about the ABC poll, too. Sorry 'bout that, chief.
