thanks for the link...pretty interesting stuff. looks like once we get the infrastructure back up they will probably have a much more solid opinion of us. it will also be interesting to see how their opinions on why the US invaded change a year or 5 years from now and if they still overwhelmingly believe we invaded for oil and israel.
Oh, and it should be pointed out that this poll cannot be used as a basis for an argument that the Iraqis want us to stay. The poll is based on a small sample in Baghdad. You cannot reasonably expect it to reflect the opinions of the people of Iraq as a whole. In different geographic areas, you have different economic, educational, religious, and ethnic profiles and, I'm sure, a number of other differences. I'm positive that Sunnis and Shi'ites will tend to have different reactions; and ethnic minorities would feel differently as well. And these groups tend to concentrate by geography.
That is Republicanism, boy. I don't care what illiterate Americans think either. The only folks I want voting are people who took the time to understand the pertinent issue before them, and that leaves illiterate Islamists out of the picture. John Heath, avid Republican. I guess it takes one to know one. Now if I said that Madmax would be all over for slandering Republicans.
That poll is dumb. On top of that, only half the people want the troops to stay for a year or more. That means the other half doesnt. The only reason half of the population wants the troops to stay is because we Fu**ed up their country so badly, that if we leave now, they have no support, whatsoever. Maybe the US can learn from this disasterous mistake.
FranchiseBlade: How do you not know better by now? Why in the world, given his posts over the last couple days, is ANYONE attempting to reason with johnheath (aka t4651965 and other banned ID's)??? He is clearly on his period and is running through the BBS like an open razor. Whatever tiny kernel of ability for thoughtful discourse he once possessed is clearly long, long gone. Like Clutch says, "Don't feed the trolls." Or, do. What do I care? It'll only speed up the banning process.
I guess I'm glutton for punishment. I also enjoy being called names, it brings on that youthful highschool or jr. high feeling, that I'm missing as I good older.
This face to face poll blows away the vast majority of arguments about the American occupation. Speaking of literacy.... from the original post: You.Gov said there was no certainty that the 798 respondents were a representative sample and that several interviews were conducted with gunfire in the background. This poll doesn't "blow away" anything if it's not a representative sample of Iraq or even Baghdad.
So true. At first, I wanted to know what happened to him, but now I'm afraid of the answer. Maybe he was bitten by a radioactive Tom Delay. ... Or maybe somebody grabbed his crotch.
what?? but wait...i thought.??? and we heard....??? and the us is the devil!!! and halliburton...and condoleeza....i mean....huh??? MadMax finally got one right! Wooooo!
I do think the poll is a good indicator of what the majority of Iraqis want. We need to support them and help them get a good solid government in place and let them police themselves, and we retreat to our permanent basis in Iraq. DD
Why do you think that? I gave my argument for why I thought it could not be trusted as a pulse of the people above. Do you think those polled are likely to be a representative sample? Or, do you think the poll happened to express the same sentiments that most Iraqis currently have (that is, YouGov was right by accident, essentially)? Or something else?
A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. Don't bother DaDakota with reasoning. He's got a banana in his ear.
I do think the poll is a good indicator of what the majority of Iraqis want. Why? They didn't even poll anyone outside of Baghdad. Do you think a poll of Austinites is representative of what Texans want? Why would you think a poll of Baghdadites is representative of what Iraqis want?
I was watching the editor of the Wall Street Journal on the Television last night and he had just gotten back from a tour of Iraq. He said that the majority of the people are very happy that the Coalition forces were there, and that the people that are in the guerilla fight are mostly deposed people from the Baath party. I find it striking that you guys see a poll taken IN Iraq and discount it. I mean, this is from the same people who post poll after poll to support their case, yet when one comes along that does not fit your particular viewpoints, you simply discount it. Unbelievable. Why is it hard to believe that the Iraqis are happy we are there and that they are enjoying freedom that they have never had? Maybe they understand better then a lot of people on this BBS that it will take a while to build up the infastructure necessary to govern effectively. I am happy that a lot of Iraqis are glad we are there....and the soldiers over there also say overwhelmingly that the people are genuinly happy to have them there. I guess they are lying too.....good grief...and in my immortal words....SHEESH !!! DD PS. Batman, the banana is not part of the Atkins diet.
I find it striking that you guys see a poll taken IN Iraq and discount it. I find it striking that you see a poll taken in one city not representative of the country and assume that it applies to everyone. Especially when said poll openly states that its not necessarily representative of the country. I mean, this is from the same people who post poll after poll to support their case, yet when one comes along that does not fit your particular viewpoints, you simply discount it. You do realize there is an enormous difference between a scientific poll and an unscientific one, right? The ones from Gallup and other sources are scientific and statistically sound. This one is not. Why wouldn't we discount a poll that self-admittedly is not representative of the country?
Thanks for the UNscientific pole john. This is just about as insightful as the Berkeley scientific study on conservatives... But somehow you bought into this poll while the liberals on this board were not dumb enough to buy into the Berkeley study. Thanks for your posts john: you make us liberals look better.
Major, I am basing my beliefs on the first hand accounts of people coming back from Iraq. This poll just confirms it. What evidence do you have that says the majority of people don't want us there? DD
Let's not go too far in the other direction. The pollsters did not say the poll was unscientific, they only said that it may not be representative. I take that to just be a requisite legalism, like how Dr. Pepper warns you not to get popped in the eye with their bottle-caps. They don't provide much info on how their sample was chosen. Maybe it was scientific, maybe not.
"You.Gov said there was no certainty that the 798 respondents were a representative sample and that several interviews were conducted with gunfire in the background." This is the little information they give about the poll. The fact that interviews were conducted with gunfire in the background suggest that they were unscientific. I don't see any reason to proceed cautiously as you suggest especially since this is being submitted by johnheath. If this poll had more merit, I think the smarter conservatives would have brought it heavily to our attention. But we're not dealing with smart conservatives here: we're dealing with johnheath. As it is, this poll was conducted to fuel the biases of those who are blind and unable to discern truth from speculation. Let these dumb conservatives be rounded up in a pen along with the dumb liberals that bought into the Berkeley study. Everything should be done so to discourage them from talking and wasting our time. (The last paragraph was in humor but the first paragraph should be taken in complete seriousness!)
