To those that say the surge is working?

Question

why do seven in 10 Iraqis believe the U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad and Anbar province has made security worse in those areas and nearly half want coalition forces to leave immediately.

Fewer than one-quarter of Iraqis report that things in Iraq are going well, down from 35 percent in a similar poll released in March.

According to this latest poll, in key areas - security and the conditions for political dialogue, reconstruction and economic development - between 67 and 70% of Iraqis, or more than two-thirds, say the surge has made things worse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6986993.stm

Answer 1

They say it because they experience the reality every day.They are best to judge the situation on the ground.
Also the pro war crowd should really reflect.they often make comparisons to WW2 and how long US troops stayed in Europe.People in Europe did welcome American British and Russian soldiers after the Nazi occupation.There was no insurgency.In Iraq Fifty-seven percent of Iraqis now call attacks on coalition forces "acceptable," up six points from last winter and more than three times its level (17 percent) in February 2004. Since March, acceptability of such attacks has risen by 15 points among Shiites (from 35 percent to 50 percent), while remaining near-unanimous among Sunnis (93 percent.

You can't liberate people who see you as the occupier.American soldiers are becoming less popular every day while they risk their lives for people who don't want them there or so they're told.The real reason America is in Iraq is far more cynical of course but for those honest conservatives,I have no idea how big that group is,who really think this is about nation building and bringing freedom and Democracy the will of the Iraqi people should count

Answer 2

Oops, you forgot part of your article:

Sixty-two per cent of Iraqis still say Iraq should have a unified central government, and 98% say it would be a bad thing for the country to separate along sectarian lines.

And, given the images of violence and chaos emerging from Iraq, the fact that 40% of the people still say things are going well or quite well in their lives could be viewed quite positively. The figure has not changed since February.

I guess that doesn't support your argument? Also, these are polled people living in Iraq, a country devastated by sectarian conflict and acts of terror, of course your going to get bad poll results and of course the people will blame America. The fact that these people don't think the surge is helping doesn't mean the surge isn't helping. It might not be helping each individual person, but the purpose is to provide security against a sneaky enemy that engages purely in guerrilla acts of terror. Incidents have gone down, but only slightly, but still that is an indiciation it is working.

Answer 3

Perhaps the 7 out of 10 are the people going around shooting and killing everybody. If you ask the same question in gang controlled section of most inner cities of the USA, a large number of people would want the police gone so they could commit crimes unabated.

Answer 4

the following is a reapplication of the overused neocon rationalization used to explain why Petraeus and the military leaders are qualified to have an opinion on the success/failure of the situation in Iraq....

"well, maybe if those Iraqi's were actually over there in Iraq in the field they would be more qualified to have an opinion"

something tells me they will not be using the "over there" argument in response to this question....

Answer 5

Ah polls. I love polls.
We should run our lives, our country, our military, our foreign policy and our personal habits according to polls even though, in the last three elections, the polls got it wrong.

Answer 6

there is no buildup. YES, there are more soldiers IN COUNTRY. However the number IN THEATER is the EXACT SAME, at only 30,000

In other words, there is not 1 extra patrol on the roads. Maybe just a different face now and then. It allows soldiers sitting back at base to get a extra hour a day of rest.

In Country - In Theater
2003 March 175,000 - 175,000
April 92,000 - 83,000
May 142,500 - 30,000
June 146,250 - 30,000
July 148,750 - 30,000
August 142,500 - 30,000
September 130,000 - 30,000
October 137,500 - 30,000
November 130,000 - 30,000
December 122,500 - 30,000
2004 January 125,000 - 30,000
February 108,000 - 30,000
March 117,500 - 30,000
April 130,000 - 30,000
May 140,000 - 30,000
June 142,500 - 30,000
July 137,500 - 30,000
August 145,000 - 30,000
September 130,000 - 30,000
October 136,000 - 30,000
November 142,500 - 30,000
December 153,000 - 30,000
2005 January 150,000 - 30,000
February 145,000 - 30,000
March 138,500 - 30,000
April 138,000 - 30,000
May 138,000 - 30,000
June 138,000 - 30,000
July 138,000 - 30,000
August 138,000 - 30,000
September 145,000 - 30,000
October 155,000 - 30,000
November 160,000 - 30,000
December 160,000 - 30,000
2006 January 155,000 - 30,000
February 138,000 - 30,000
March 138,000 - 30,000
April 138,000 - 30,000
May 133,000 - 35,000
June 127,000 - 35,000
July 127,000 - 35,000
August 138,000 - 35,000
September 138,000- 35,000
October 138,000 - 35,000
November 152,000 - 35,000
December 140,000 - 35,000
2007 January 132,000 - 30,000
February 137,000 - 30,000
March 142,000 - 30,000
April 150,000 - 30,000
May 155,000 - 30,000
June 162,000 - 30,000

As yo ucan see, increase of soldiers in country has nothing to do with total In theater. There are months when there are more soldiers, and less in theare. And months when the numbers in country are lower, yet there are higher in theater. The surge will ultimately keep the exact same number of solders involved in operation on the ground. MAYBE a thousand more which is virtually useless in a country of some 25 million.

Answer 7

maybe its time for
mooselemms to stop killing moosleemms
do you think they have any responsibility at all in this matter ?

Answer 8

the troop build up in IRAQ is not working...It is just killing more & more innocent amercians soldiers lifes....God bless them for defending our country in this bullsh*t war that is going on...