2/3 of Americans want US to withdraw from Iraq

[Sauron]

Another Bush failure in a long series of failures.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1002801550

Gallup: Almost Two-Thirds Want Iraq Withdrawal

By E&P Staff

Published: July 07, 2006 11:25 AM ET

NEW YORK A new Gallup poll finds that roughly 2 in 3 Americans urge a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, with 31% wanting this to start immediately.

Gallup's director, Frank Newport, sums up the results today: "Taken together, it is perhaps fair to say that a significant majority of Americans would like the United States to either withdraw troops from Iraq or make specific plans to do so, although there is no majority demand that troops be withdrawn immediately."

The poll was unusual in that rather than give respondents a list of options, it allowed them to respond in their own words. Gallup then grouped the varied responses and labelled them with a common theme.

Results showed that almost 1 in 3 want to "pull the troops out and come home," as soon as possible. About the same number seem to wish for a gradual pullout. The remaining one-third back the present course or want to "finish what we started."

[Sock Puppet]

It's the Incredible Shrinking Mandate!

[Plant Woman]

As much as I am against this war and have been from the beginning. I am torn about just pulling out and watching the same thing happen in Iraq as what happened when the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan a couple of decades ago. What a mess we have made that we need to clean up before we leave.

It's good to see so many feel the same way.

[Ari]

I think we should finish what we started, which would include setting plans to actually finish what we have started. It doesn't need to be a specific date, just more evidence we are pushing for the iraqi government to take over.
I'm afraid we are going to stay until everything is perfect, and given the inherent turmoil in that area, may never actually happen.

[Clutch Munny]

I think the evidence is now so overwhelming that further involvement will not amount to "cleaning up", but will involve more in the way of US casualties, brutalization of Iraqi citizens, and the appropriation of Iraqi resources (among other bad stuff), that getting out now is the best of the bad options.

Really the same reasoning for opposing the invasion in the first place: not because the dethroning of Hussein couldn't have been done with a chance of a positive outcome, but because the primary interests and the competence of those in charge practically guaranteed a horrible outcome.

[BDS]

I knew from the very start that we should have just invaded Greneda again!

[godfry n. glad]

There was a reason why the elder Bush did not take out Saddam. There was also a reason why he counselled his son to not take out Saddam. We need to remove ourselves as quickly as possible from Iraq. It is forming up to be another civil war, where both sides resent our presence. We are just sitting ducks in a barrel.

Plus, because of this travesty of international relations, the search for the real terrorists has taken a back seat to the aggrandation of the Bushits for doing something stupid which should never have been done in any case.

[Sauron]

Originally Posted by BDS

I knew from the very start that we should have just invaded Greneda again!

You say tomah-to, I say tomay-to,
You say Grenay-da, I say Grenah-da,
Let's call the whole thing off.

[cappuccino]

[Petra]

This actually makes me fucking angry. The majority of Americans were keen as mustard to kick some Arab ass. They thought Iraq would be a walk in the park. Many thousand Iraqis have been killed, and they are now looking at Saddam being replaced by Islamic fundamentalists. The new boss[es] may well be much, much worse that the old boss. The US fucked up at every corner, to US citizen accolades and war cries. Enough to keep Bush in power for a second term. But now that things aren't going so well for the US after such a long time of screaming "let's get 'em!", all those war hawks have had a change of heart. Fuck them. Fuck the fucking US.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Sauron

You say tomah-to, I say tomay-to,
You say Grenay-da, I say Grenah-da,
Let's call the whole thing off.

[Sock Puppet]

Originally Posted by pepperspray

This actually makes me fucking angry. The majority of Americans were keen as mustard to kick some Arab ass.

I'm not convinced the majority of Americans were so dead-set on invading Iraq. My comment on the Incredible Shrinking Mandate was just sarcasm; Bush never had a mandate to begin with. It must look that way from the outside, but our Presidential election process is seriously fucked up, such that the outcome does not necessarily reflect the will of the majority. Part of the reason for that is our disgracefully shitty voter turnout, but that's another rant. There's a reason why Bush's inaugural limo was pelted with eggs.

I've spoken with a lot of folks who voted for Bush but now despise him, because of the WMD lies. I never believed him, but a lot of more or less reasonable people did.

[Plant Woman]

Not all of us felt that way, Pepperspray, in fact many of us were told to shut up or leave. I remember feeling a bit worried about speaking out in public, or get my ass kicked. Many of us were protesting, but we were basically shouted down.

It was deja vu of the 60s all over again.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Plant Woman

Not all of us felt that way, Pepperspray, in fact many of us were told to shut up or leave. I remember feeling a bit worried about speaking out in public, or get my ass kicked. Many of us were protesting, but we were basically shouted down.

Yeah, I know. I remember all the fights, and many US citizens were against the war for good reason - WMD's or not - and those citizens I feel great friendship for.

But those who voted Bush in for a second term, those who were all for the war but have changed their minds because they now realise that raping and pillaging that oil rich country is failing - you've no idea the depth of my hatred for those people.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Sock Puppet

I'm not convinced the majority of Americans were so dead-set on invading Iraq. My comment on the Incredible Shrinking Mandate was just sarcasm; Bush never had a mandate to begin with. It must look that way from the outside, but our Presidential election process is seriously fucked up, such that the outcome does not necessarily reflect the will of the majority. Part of the reason for that is our disgracefully shitty voter turnout, but that's another rant. There's a reason why Bush's inaugural limo was pelted with eggs.

I've spoken with a lot of folks who voted for Bush but now despise him, because of the WMD lies. I never believed him, but a lot of more or less reasonable people did.

Shame they couldn't have pelted his limo with bullets.

The US needs some serious election reform. It also needs to grow up and stop following charismatics with empty promises, patriotism, "guns, guts and glory".

But I'll stop now, or I'll start making myself some enemies again.

[godfry n. glad]

Yo, pep...

I was amongst those American citizens asking pointed questions back after we invaded Afghanistan in search of terrorist bases. After the horror stories coming out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, I really thought the toppling of those bastards might help.

But, Iraq was another matter entirely. This was the objective for Bushit and his most venal cronies. We were told by credible sources prior to the invasion that there were NO WMD. They ignored it. We were told that the invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussien would be a calkwalk...I was one of those who agreed that it should be, given the disparity in firepower between the two nations. But then I'd point out that invading a country and occupying a country are two very different things....and I didn't think that we could do an adequate job of the second because of the long-simmering religio-ethnic divisions (Kurds, Sunnis, and Shi'ites) which had been suppressed under the heel of Saddam's Baathist Party and the Imperial Guard.

There is no good reason for the US to be in Iraq. We should never have gone in to Iraq. For that matter, we should never have involved ourselves in the internal politics of Iran, either, but we did that 53 years ago and are still paying dearly for that stupidity. I suspect we shall pay dearly for the mistakes of the New American Century assholes for quite some time to come.

I personally think that George W. Bush and Richard Cheney should both be impeached and stand trial for high crimes and misdemeanors...up to treason. but don't hold yer breath, pep, it ain't gonna happen.

Where's the slut with the blue dress when you need her?

[California Tanker]

With respect, I think the subject title is misleading. I want the US out of Iraq as well, but I do not associate myself with those who think that (a) the war was a bad idea to start with, or (b) that the pullout should be based on factors other than situation on the ground. You will note that the 'immediate pullout' figure listed is just under one third.

NTM

[Ari]

godfry: I agree. I think you should start a "blue dress" fund for Ann Coulter.

I also don't buy for a second that we did it "for the iraqi people" when we have stood by while a number of genocides occured in areas that would be 'easier' to stabilize (at least to prevent mass killings) than Iraq.

[Plant Woman]

The war was a bad idea, and the US had no reason to go in when it did, as there was no WMD to begin with, and as we can see now what a mess we have on our hands.

I remember all the propaganda, the biggest lie told was that it had to do with 9/11. What was even more strange was how people swallowed that lie and the rest. I couldn't believe my ears. The only thing I can say now is it unfolded just as I thought it would. It is a sorry state of affairs that will affect us for years to come.

[godfry n. glad]

Remember...Saddam was our client. We helped him with military equipment and training. We set him up as as strongman in a troubled region. When he thought for himself, and asked US approval, he invaded Kuwait.

We turned on him. He did have weapons of mass destruction, in that lethal gases were used in the Iraq-Iran war and he also used the gases on Iraqi Kurds. Where do you think such an irresponsible leader would obtain such deadly toys? We provided him the toys, and we took them away when he wanted to play by his rules. When Bush was pounding the war drums, there was a very chilling joke going around,"How is he so sure that the Iraqis have WMD?" Answer: "We have the receipts!"

Having provided most of Iraq's military with US military surplus and military suppliers, it should have been quite easy, knowing where things were more important what they had. Plus, they knew from the UN inspectors' reports that there were no WMD. One of the UN inspectors was a former US Marine demolitions expert and, I understand, one of the best in the field. That, I suspect why, at the very last moment, the battlecry changed to one of "liberation" of the Iraqi people.

It was a shell game with rationalizations to go to war.

Or, three card monte.

[D. Scarlatti]

Originally Posted by Plant Woman

I remember all the propaganda, the biggest lie told was that it had to do with 9/11.

To my recollection, the biggest lie was Colin Powell's presentation to the U.N. of the stainless steel tubes machined to within nuclear tolerances. I remember it vividly, and I know that a lot of very informed people found the presentation compelling, if not dispositive.

But it turned out to be another orchestrated farce among many.

[Plant Woman]

Well I was referring to the lie, that Iraq was linked to 9/11, told the American people and how many lapped it up as truth. Maybe I should state it as the "obvious lie."

I don't remember Colin Powell's presentation. It doesn't surprise me though, considering all the lying that's been going on over this war.