Survey: 95% of Iraqis Believe The Country Is Worse Off Now

[Jcrowley]

Survey indicates Iraqis in despair:

Citizens in Iraq and in the US hope to see an end to the presence of American troops in Iraq

More than 90 per cent of Iraqis believe the country is worse off now than before the war in 2003, according to new research obtained by Al Jazeera.
 
A survey of 2,000 people by the Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies found that 95 per cent of respondents believe the security situation has deteriorated since the arrival of US forces.

The findings follow a poll by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal that found that less than one in four Americans approves of George Bush's administration’s handling of the conflict in Iraq.

It also comes as armed men attacked the convoy of Iraq's vice-president and as up to 30 Iraqis were kidnapped in Baghdad on Thursday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4940DA96-ABAE-4684-B86E-831004B3185A.htm

[Redstone]

1. No shit. Read a book titled "In the belly of the green bird," and you'll understand.

Not you personally, I mean everyone.

Redstone

[ninkasi]

2. Ok, what to believe

The Bush/Cheney monster, in claiming that it's the media's fault for reporting only bad news, or the opinion of Iraqi citizens who are suffering through day after day of bloodshed? At the risk of sounding prejudiced, I'll vote for taking the Iraqi's word for how it is now. They have lived under Saddam Hussein, and under the American invasion and occupation, and I consider them more qualified than anybody else to determine the conditions in their own country.

Apparently, we Americans are starting to agree with them more and more. Both sides are sick of the killing and dying, the maiming and destruction of property. We are all sick of having our treasury depleted in order to pay for war, with precious left over for programs to help the less fortunate. Bush is a disaster, plain and simple. He needs to be removed from office before he can inflict more harm on the world. Let impeachment proceedings begin.

[Maraya1969]

3. And for that shithead who wants to "take his time" to do something...I'm K@R

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Mind boggling, ain't it?

:crazy: Is it impeachment time yet?

[FedUpWithIt All]

5. I am stunned at the other 5% n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Are they profiting in some way, monetarily or politically?

:shrug:

[FedUpWithIt All]

7. Would have to be...

I mean if not they are probably living in hell on earth..and who gives that good marks?

[Kelly Rupert]

8. Kurds.

Kurdistan is doing wonderfully.

[Jcrowley]

10. Not at all

Even from semi-independent, Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, often described as the most peaceful and prosperous region in the country, the news I get is bleak. A November 28th email from a Kurdish friend (who is also a U.S. citizen) went this way:

"It is worse than ever. The problem is that our U.S. government and the Iraqi ‘Government' tell the world that things are improving here when they are not. All of the rebuilding bull crap is nothing but a scam that is worse than the oil-for-food program . We have ONE hour of electricity a day now. I have power to turn on some lights and my computer by way of a little generator that I hooked up to my office today. A gallon of gas costs over $4 now, when the salary of an engineer is less than $200 a MONTH."

Terrible as life is when Iraqis across the country find themselves essentially camping out in their own homes with few or no basic services, it pales in comparison to life in Baghdad, the country's capital and home to nearly one quarter of its population. A friend of mine, who works there as a freelance cameraman, sent me this grim summary a couple of weeks ago:

"Life here in Iraq has become impossible because of the militias, sectarian violence, and the occupation forces. Every day we see the dead bodies near our homes which have been killed by militias. We watch how the U.S. troops see these dead bodies and… do nothing to stop this violence. Two of my brothers just left their houses and rented a new place because they were living in a Shia area. They had to run away just because they are Sunni.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/16271

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[David__77]

11. Of course is it.

It's worse for people of all religions and certainly those of no religion at all. It's worse for women. It's worse for gays. It's worse for just about anyone other than a few exiles who swooped in to be US puppets for a handful of money.

[nam78_two]

12. K&R.nt