'3-19-07: A good overview of the mess Bush has made in Iraq. A misguided invasion, an illegal occupation, thousands of lives lost, and billions of dollars spent -- and this is the result. Note that domestic terrorism was non-existent in Iraq before the invasion. Nor was it a breeding ground for terrorism. Bush created these situations.
A recent ABC poll used 458 sampling sites with more than 2000 responses. It had a response rate of 62%, higher than polls of Americans. The unbiased selection process was excellent. Here are the results:
Only 42% say life is better now than under Saddam, and 80% have experienced attacks.
You feel safe in your neighborhood:
11/05: 63%, Today: 26%
Your life is going well:
11/05: 71%, Today: 39%
It is acceptable to attack Americans:
2004: 17%, Today: 51% (Sunnis: 94%!!!)
Yes, a MAJORITY of people we've allegedly "liberated" say that it is okay to attack the "liberators"! And 94% of Sunnis say that it is okay to do so.
In all 13 categories of everyday basic needs, a majority said that things are "quite bad" or "very bad," although a majority thinks there will be improvement.
Who to blame for violence:
40% say Bush or Coalition forces, only 18% blamed al Qaeda
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Things that were not mentioned in this report:
1) Last year, ABC's Martha Raddatz did a similar report from Iraq. She asked random people on the street if there lives have improved because of the war. NOT ONE PERSON said yes.
2) Polls have shown that a majority of Iraqis are against the troop surge. If it's their country, and they are against the surge, what right does Bush have to impose his troops onto a sovriegn nation? Indeed, polls have shown that Americans are also against the surge (as are Britons). In other words, Bush is defying the majority of people in the countries most affected by his actions. So much for democracy! Bush is the closest thing to a dictator the US has ever known.
Bush loves to claim that N Korea and Iran are defying "the international community." What a hypocrite. At least those two countries are not defying its own people. On the other hand, Bush is ignoring both the international and American majorities. And those countries don't claim to be "a beacon of democracy," a title given to the US by Condoleeza Rice. Again, hypocrisy.
3) Before the invasion, an
Time International (or was it CNN?) online poll found that over 80% thought that Bush was a greater threat to world peace than Saddam Hussein. Since the West has more Internet access than Islamic countries, we can't blame the results on xenophobic Muslims. Note that these results came BEFORE the prison abuses, domestic Iraqi violence, and absence of WMDs. Yes, even when the world thought that Hussein had WMDs, they still thought Bush was a greater threat!'