18% of Iraqis Have confidence in US and Coalition Troops

18% of Iraqis have confidence in US and coalition troops.

67% feel that reconstruction efforts in Iraq have not been effective. Source

   Of the 2,000 people polled in all 18 Iraqi provinces, only 26% said that they felt safe in their own neighborhoods.

    40% thought that the situation ( generally ) will improve. 39% believed that their lives are going well and 35% think that their lives will improve over the next year.

   78% of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition forces and 69% said the coalition forces worsen the security situation in Iraq.

   88% said that the availability of electricity was either " quite bad " or " very bad ".   Source

   About 69 per cent gave similar responses for the availability of clean water, and 88 per cent said so for the availability of driving or cooking fuel.

D3 Systems questioned more than 2,000 people across all 18 Iraqi provinces between February 25 and March 5 for the survey, which was published on Monday.

A survey conducted for the BBC in November 2005 had painted a much brighter picture, with 71 per cent saying their lives were going well, 64 per cent saying their lives would be better in 12 months, and 69 per cent saying the situation in the country would be improved in a year.

The increased pessimism was reflected in a 14 per cent drop in support for democracy, with eight percentage point rises in support for both a strong leader and for an Islamic state.

    The poll was commissioned by the BBC and ABC News.

 

Technorati tags: Iraq, Iraqis, U.S. troops, coalition forces, democracy

 

   

The White House and Congress To Butt Heads?

    This should be an interesting week as the White House and the Congress will not doubt be butting heads over the House's  bill that would pull troops from Iraq if it passes, which it most certainly will.

    The Lawmakers know that Bush will veto the bill and some  have said that this is just a charade.

    National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said, "If we do a premature withdrawal, then what we have is a situation where the Iraqi forces cannot handle the situation, which is the case now. We have Iraq as a safe haven for terrorists who will destabilize the neighbors and attack us."

Rep. John Murtha ( D-Pa.) , "They talk about us micromanaging. They've mismanaged the war so badly, they put the commanders in impossible positions. The public wants us out. They spoke in the last election. They're ignoring the mandate that the public gave the Congress of the United States, and in the end, they're going to have to redeploy." Source

   Of course we had Defense Secretary Gates on CBS " Face The Nation " saying, "Frankly, as I read it, the House bill is more about withdrawal regardless of the circumstances on the ground than it is about trying to produce a positive outcome."

   The White House is also slightly angry that the Democrats have added a few more items to the bill for funding that has nothing to do with the war funding.

   I generally do not support adding non-related items to any kind of bill, but if this it what it takes to get those criminals in the White House to do something, then I say go for it.

   Let Bush veto this bill if it makes it that far, because then he looks like the liar that he has always been. By vetoing this bill, Bush makes himself and the rest of the Republicans look bad for not funding the U.S. troops over a few petty items added to the measure.  Petty is not the correct wording here, as most of these items are needed since Bush has forgotten about the needs in the United States in order to fund his " war for profit ".

 

Technorati tags: Bush, Congress, John Murtha, Robert Gates, Iraq, Democrats, war funding