U.S. military study finds high majorities of Iraqis in all groups want US out now!

December sociological study by U.S. military finds high majorities of Iraqis in all ethnic groups blame their troubles on U.S., want U.S. troops to leave now. Military and Washington Post try to put the best Orwellian spin on it (see article), say this is good news because all Iraqis at least have a point that unites them. (!)

It's obvious, it's axiomatic: U.S. force destroyed their nation. U.S. force is still destroying their nation. They have every right to oppose U.S. force. The U.S. government is responsible for the "civil war," which it has actively promoted by arming all sides in the conflict, by promoting death squads and terror attacks. The invasion was a crime against humanity, conducted for criminal reasons by a criminal organization that created the pretext by selling outrageous lies to the American people. The occupation remains a crime. The U.S. is not there to help. The only good thing the U.S. can do for Iraq now is withdraw immediately and put the hundreds of billions the war costs into reparations.

Out now.

Hardly an interpretative challenge but the WP gives a try at obfuscation.



All Iraqi Groups Blame U.S. Invasion for Discord, Study Shows

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 19, 2007; A14


Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of "occupying forces" as the key to national reconciliation, according to focus groups conducted for the U.S. military last month.

That is good news, according to a military analysis of the results. At the very least, analysts optimistically concluded, the findings indicate that Iraqis hold some "shared beliefs" that may eventually allow them to surmount the divisions that have led to a civil war.

Conducting the focus groups, in 19 separate sessions organized by outside contractors in five cities, is among the ways in which Multi-National Force-Iraq assesses conditions in the country beyond counting insurgent attacks, casualties and weapons caches. The command, led by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, devotes more time and resources than any other government or independent entity to measuring various matters, including electricity, satisfaction with trash collection and what Iraqis think it will take for them to get along.

The results are analyzed and presented to Petraeus as part of the daily Battle Update Assessment or BUA (pronounced boo-ah). Some of the news has been unarguably good, including the sharply reduced number of roadside bombings and attacks on civilians. But bad news is often presented with a bright side, such as the focus-group results and a November poll, which found that 25 percent of Baghdad residents were satisfied with their local government and that 15 percent said they had enough fuel for heating and cooking.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/18/AR2007121802262_pf.html

"the current strife in Iraq seems to have totally eclipsed any agonies or grievances many Iraqis would have incurred from the past regime."

It's tough to out-oppress Saddam, but when Americans put their minds to something... :crazy:

What's up, has the fight gone out of this place?

The Myth of Sectarian Violence in Iraq
By Dahr Jamail, International Socialist Review. Posted January 8, 2008.

The policy is divide to rule.


If the U.S. leaves Iraq, the violent sectarianism between the Sunni and Shia will worsen. This is what Republicans and Democrats alike will have us believe. This key piece of rhetoric is used to justify the continuance of the occupation of Iraq.

This propaganda, like others of its ilk, gains ground, substance, and reality due largely to the ignorance of those ingesting it. The snow job by the corporate media on the issue of sectarianism in Iraq has ensured that the public buys into the line that the Sunni and Shia will dice one another up into little pieces if the occupation ends.

...

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/73103/

K&R

Apparently dead, subsumed by the practical in some figurehead of convenience (who won't end the war).

up to a year ago.

It seems the effect of a Democratic victory on a platform rejecting the Iraq war was, as these things go in our "democracy", actually the legitimation of the war or the end of the antiwar effort as an "issue."

The Iraqis want the Americans to leave now!

:wtf:

I know I'm a pain in the ass but never has there been a story like this without a big echo on this board.