Pace: Success In Iraq Based On Whether Iraqis ‘Feel Better Today Than They Did Yesterday’

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/29/pace-iraq-metric/

Pace: Success In Iraq Based On Whether Iraqis ‘Feel Better Today Than They Did Yesterday’

During a press conference last week, outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace said that “the recent rise in U.S. troop deaths in Iraq is the ‘wrong metric‘ to use in assessing the effectiveness” of the U.S. military in Iraq. “So it’s not about levels of violence,” he explained. “It’s about progress … in the minds of the Iraqi people.”

Today, Pace made similar remarks. He called the measuring the level of violence in Iraq a “self-defeating approach to tracking results” and added, “What’s most important is do the Iraqi people feel better about today than they did about yesterday, and do they think tomorrow’s going to be better than today?” When asked if he actually knew how the Iraqi people currently feel about the U.S. occupation of Iraq he conceded, “I do not have that in my head.”

Watch it/read transcript at link~

If Pace did consult the Iraqis about whether they “feel better about today than they did about yesterday,” the answer would be a resounding “no.” As a recent ABC News/BBC News poll found, “The optimism that helped sustain Iraqis during the first few years of the war has dissolved into widespread fear, anger and distress amid unrelenting violence“:

- 39 percent of Iraqis said they feel their lives are “going well,” compared to 71 percent in November 2005.”

- 40 percent of Iraqis said the situation in Iraq will be “somewhat or much better” a year from now, compared to 69 percent in November 2005.

- 26 percent of Iraqis said they feel “very safe” in their neighborhoods, compared to 63 percent in November 2005.

- 82 percent of Iraqis said they “lack confidence” in coalition forces.

- 69 percent of Iraqis said coalition forces make “the security situation worse.”

Whether one measures results in Iraq based on “how the Iraqi people believe they are today,” or on the increasing levels of violence, it is clear the United States is not succeeding in the war.

– Ryan Powers

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. "I blew up more today than yesterday..."

"...but not as much as tomorrow..."

The new Iraqi National anthem, I suppose?

[pinto]

2. OMG.

[Jim__]

3. So I guess we have to wait for the Gallup poll of Iraqis to see how things are going in Iraq.

Until we get that, we just don't know.

[Disturbed]

4. Pace is such a bright person. Why did he get fired?

I just don't understand that.






:sarcasm: