You must have watched good ol Michael Moore's movie. Let's not lie to ourselves about what Iraq was like before we got there. The majority of Iraqis feel that they are already better off and an even greater number feel that they will be better off within a year. Education wasn't great under Saddam and women certainly didn't have the rights they will have under the new Iraq.
Facts please. What Majority? Is there some poll that you are quoting from. Its just our Media shows the Iraqis as better off than before, but then again isnt that what the media is all about. If Iraq didnt have those sanctions from the gulf war, they would have been much better off than they are now. yes even with Saddam as the leader. Great that hes gone and all, but this situation could have been better.
The concept of sacrifice is so complex these days. I am not taking sides, really. I am against the killing of innocent people. But how is it that innocent people (soldiers and otherwise) die in Iraq because of the cause, and it's ok... But when some terrorists sacrifice their lives for their cause, it's cowardly? Same with suicide bombers. It's terrorism, and it's wrong. Innocent people should not die just like that. Not American soldiers, not civilians, not anyone. But I'll tell you one thing, none of these people are cowards.
I didn't say education wasn't great. But there were Iraqis going to college, becoming lawyers, and professionals. That includes many women. I hope education is better in the new Iraq. The rights of women may well take a step back. It's too early too tell. Because IRaq was secular and not an extreme islamic state, women didn't face the same lack of basic rights that they do in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. It depends on what kind of role more conservative religious elements will play in the new Iraq to see what happens to the women. As for Michael Moore's movie, I haven't seen it.
Hey, wait a minute, didn't everyone get the following message: "My fellow Americans,...Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." George Bush May 1, 2003
Facts please. What Majority? Is there some poll that you are quoting from. Its just our Media shows the Iraqis as better off than before, but then again isnt that what the media is all about. As a journalism student I can definitely tell you that Anti-Americanism is what's selling. Showing destruction in Iraq is definitely selling more, but what else would you expect from our left-leaning media. As for the facts, I'm looking once more but there have been countless surveys done by countless organizations worldwide that have come to this conclusion. I'll get on finding a link though.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/29/iraq.poll/index.html This is just one of the polls from this spring. It says that many Iraqis have an unfavorable view of the US but it was found out later that the pollsters only asked those in areas where huge fighting had occured about their opinion of the US. Despite their struggles and the challenges of forming a new government, 63 percent of respondents said they were convinced Iraq will be better off in five years, while 20 percent said they were unsure, according to results released Thursday. Sixty-five percent said they believed their immediate locale will be better off, the poll found.
Forty-two percent said Iraq was better off because of the war, while 39 percent said it was worse off. Given the sampling error, those figures indicated a dead heat. Thirty-three percent of those polled said the war had done more good than harm, while 46 percent said it had done more harm than good. Nearly half -- 47 percent -- said they believed attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq could not be justified, while 52 percent said those attacks could be justified some or all of the time. ***On a personal level, Iraqis appeared more optimistic, according to the poll. More than half of those surveyed -- 51 percent -- said they and their families were better off than they were before the invasion, while 25 percent said they were worse off.*** Fifty-four percent said conditions for creating peace and stability had worsened in the three months before they were questioned for the poll. Twenty-five percent said conditions improved during that time before the upsurge in violence. Asked about when they wanted U.S. and British forces to leave, 57 percent chose immediately, as in the next few months, the poll said; 36 percent said troops should stay longer. ***At the time the question was asked, 53 percent said they would feel less safe if the U.S.-led coalition left immediately. About half as many -- 28 percent -- said they would feel more safe. Sixty-nine percent said they or their families would be in danger if they were seen cooperating with the coalition.*** **** = the ones that want america in Iraq, man it seems like more of the polls show the support for Iraq not being invaded.. and here is some more Twenty-nine percent said troops had conducted themselves very badly, while another 29 percent said fairly badly; 24 percent chose fairly well, and 10 percent said troops had acted very well. Among those who said the troops acted badly, 54 percent said their opinions were based on things they had heard. Thirty-nine percent said they decided based on things they had seen, while 7 percent said they were judging from personal experience. Two-thirds -- 67 percent -- said troops were not trying at all to keep ordinary Iraqis from being killed in exchanges of gunfire, while 18 percent said the Americans were trying only a little and 11 percent said they were trying a lot. Sixty percent of those surveyed said U.S. soldiers sometimes or often showed disrespect for Iraqis during home searches; 29 percent said that the troops did not. Forty-six percent said the troops sometimes or often showed disrespect for Iraqi women during such operations, while 39 percent said the soldiers did not. Asked whether U.S. troops showed disrespect for Islam during such operations, respondents were split -- 42 percent said often or a little, while 43 percent said not at all. Those polled gave the troops low marks for reconstruction efforts. Asked about the restoration of basic services such as electricity and clean drinking water, 41 percent said the troops were trying only a little and 44 percent said they were not trying at all. #######Seventy-one percent surveyed said they saw troops mostly as occupiers, while 19 percent said they viewed them as liberators. Asked how they viewed troops at the time of the invasion a year ago, the respondents were split, with 43 percent saying they saw the coalition forces as occupiers and another 43 percent saying they considered them liberators at the time.##### This is what we are mainly talking about, and you just proved to me that Iraqis think America is occupying the country more than it is liberating it