Many Iraqi voters want Americans to go home

Many Iraqi voters want Americans to go home
By Omar al-Ibadi
Sun Dec 4, 7:49 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Anti-Western feeling is running high ahead of Iraq's election this month and many voters think sending U.S. troops home should be the priority of the next government, an informal survey by Reuters indicated.

Campaigning for the December 15 parliamentary election has not focused much on the U.S.-led occupation, but one finding of a survey of dozens of voters by Reuters was the desire for foreign troops to leave the country.

In the campaign, it has been some Sunni Arab minority parties who, in common with rebel groups from the once-dominant Sunni community, have made foreign troop withdrawal a prime demand.

Other politicians, however, know they need U.S. soldiers to stop the Sunni-led insurgency tipping Iraq into civil war, but many of their constituents think the troops make matters worse.

"The occupation forces should withdraw so that we can feel secure. Every day I feel panic when I go to college due to blasts and random shootings," said Israa Mohammad, a 22-year-old student interviewed on the campus of Baghdad University.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051204/ts_nm/iraq_election_sentiment_dc