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| Subject: Re: Iraquies express their views about the US . | |
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Author: Oropan |
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Date Posted: 10:13:48 03/19/07 Mon In reply to: Bev 's message, "Iraquies express their views about the US ." on 09:26:47 03/19/07 Mon http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1530762.ece March 18, 2007 Iraqis: life is getting better Marie Colvin MOST Iraqis believe life is better for them now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to a British opinion poll published today. The survey of more than 5,000 Iraqis found the majority optimistic despite their suffering in sectarian violence since the American-led invasion four years ago this week. One in four Iraqis has had a family member murdered, says the poll by Opinion Research Business. In Baghdad, the capital, one in four has had a relative kidnapped and one in three said members of their family had fled abroad. But when asked whether they preferred life under Saddam, the dictator who was executed last December, or under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, most replied that things were better for them today. Only 27% think there is a civil war in Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last month. Related Links Resilient Iraqis ask what civil war? Violence slashed as troop surge hits Baghdad By a majority of two to one, Iraqis believe military operations now under way will disarm all militias. More than half say security will improve after a withdrawal of multinational forces. Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said the findings pointed to progress. There is no widespread violence in the four southern provinces and the fact that the picture is more complex than the stereotype usually portrayed is reflected in todays poll, she said. > also before I post the article. Trump said in a >interview that under sadam there were no terrorists >in Iraq that sadam hated them . He also said this war >was the worst mistake the US has ever made in its >history . and that we should declare victory and get >out now. That its a full blown civil war and there is >no use in wasting more US lives or spending more money >in IRaq . > THis it the article about what IRaqies are saying its >a 4 page article i am just posting the first page > > >href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2954716&page=1" >>http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2954716&page=1 > >By GARY LANGER > >March 19, 2007 -- A new national survey paints a >devastating portrait of life in Iraq: widespread >violence, torn lives, displaced families, emotional >damage, collapsing services, an ever starker sectarian >chasm and a draining away of the underlying optimism >that once prevailed. > >Violence is the cause, its reach vast. Eighty percent >of Iraqis report attacks nearby car bombs, snipers, >kidnappings, armed forces fighting each other or >abusing civilians. It's worst by far in the capital of >Baghdad, but by no means confined there. > >The personal toll is enormous. More than half of >Iraqis, 53 percent, have a close friend or relative >who's been hurt or killed in the current violence. One >in six says someone in their own household has been >harmed. Eighty-six percent worry about a loved one >being hurt; two-thirds worry deeply. Huge numbers >limit their daily activities to minimize risk. Seven >in 10 report multiple signs of traumatic stress. > >This is the third poll in Iraq sponsored by ABC News >and media partners in this case USA Today, the BBC >and ARD German TV and the changes are grim. In >November 2005, 63 percent of Iraqis felt very safe in >their neighborhoods. Today just 26 percent say the >same. One in three doesn't feel safe at all. In >Baghdad, home to a fifth of the country's population, >that skyrockets: Eighty-four percent feel entirely >unsafe. > >IMPACT The impact is overwhelming: As violence has >grown, measures of basic well-being have plummeted. In >2005, despite the difficulties in their country, 71 >percent of Iraqis said their own lives were going >well. Today that's been all but halved, to 39 percent. >In 2005, two-thirds expected their lives to improve >over the coming year. Now just 35 percent see better >days ahead. > >Again, the sharpest deterioration is in Baghdad, where >the number of Iraqis who say their own lives are going >well has dropped by 51 points. But it's also down by >26 points in the rest of Iraq. And even outside of >Baghdad, just 32 percent of Iraqis feel "very safe" >where they live, compared with 60 percent a year and a >half ago. > >In an equally dramatic reversal, majorities now give >negative ratings to each of more than a dozen >essential aspects of daily life jobs, schools, power >and fuel supply, medical care and many more. In late >2005, for instance, 54 percent said their power supply >was inadequate or nonexistent; now that's swelled to >88 percent. And in 2005 just 30 percent rated their >economic situation negatively. Today that's more than >doubled, to 64 percent. > >As conditions have sharply worsened, so have >expectations for improvement an especially troubling >result, since hopes for a better future can be the >glue that holds a struggling society together. In 2004 >and 2005 alike, for example, three-quarters of Iraqis >expected improvements in the coming year in their >security, schools, availability of jobs, medical care, >crime protection, clean water and power supply. Today >only about 30 to 45 percent still expect any of these >to get any better. > >The survey's results are deeply distressing from an >American perspective as well: The number of Iraqis who >call it "acceptable" to attack U.S. and coalition >forces, 17 percent in early 2004, has tripled to 51 >percent now, led by near unanimity among Sunni Arabs. >And 78 percent of Iraqis now oppose the presence of >U.S. forces on their soil, though far fewer favor an >immediate pullout. > >PERSECUTION Iraqis face fundamental challenges. >Three-quarters say they lack the freedom to live where >they wish without persecution, or even to move about >safely. In an open-ended question, 48 percent cite >security as the single biggest problem in their lives, >up from 18 percent in 2005. (In some locales that >soars 80 percent in the divided Sunni Arab/Kurdish >city of Kirkuk; nearly as high in Anbar, the center of >Sunni Arab discontent, and in Shiite-dominated Basra, >Iraq's second-largest city.) > >Nationally, 12 percent report that ethnic cleansing >the forced separation of Sunnis and Shiites has >occurred in their neighborhoods. In mixed-population >Baghdad, it's 31 percent. This is not desired: In rare >agreement, 97 percent of Sunni Arabs and Shiites alike >oppose the separation of Iraqis on sectarian lines. > >Nonetheless, one in seven Iraqis overall rising to a >quarter of Sunni Arabs, and more than a third of >Baghdad residents say they themselves have moved >homes in the last year to avoid violence or religious >persecution. > >Given all this, for the first time since the 2003 war, >fewer than half of Iraqis, 42 percent, say life is >better now than it was under Saddam Hussein, whose >security forces are said to have murdered more than a >million Iraqis. > >Forty-two percent think their country is in a civil >war; 24 percent more think one is likely. Barely more >than four in 10 expect a better life for their >children. > >Three in 10 say they'd leave Iraq if they could. > >VIOLENCE The experience of some interviewers working >on this poll tells the tale brutally. While most >carried out their work fairly uneventfully, others >encountered incidents of the violence occurring in the >country. In field notes, they reported witnessing >shootings, bombings, beatings and kidnappings. > >"I saw national guard forces catching some young >people and they beat them violently and put guns to >their heads and took them to an unknown place," said >one. From another: "I saw a bomb exploding against a >police patrol and the burning bodies of policemen." A >third reported, "In front of me, an explosive went off >under an American patrol." > >The survey was conducted by a field staff of 150 >Iraqis in all, including 103 interviewers, >interviewing 2,212 randomly selected respondents at >458 locales across the country from Feb. 25 to March >5. (See related story on how the poll was done.) > >STRIFE and STRESS Such conditions create a >tremendous emotional burden. Anywhere from 72 to 82 >percent of Iraqis report anger about what's happening >in their country, depression, trouble sleeping and >difficulty concentrating on their usual activities >all potential indicators of traumatic stress. > >Continued [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |