"But I do know I instinctively distrust sentences like this. And this is from the op-ed from these seven members of the 82nd Airborne. 'A vast majority of Iraqis feel increasingly insecure and view us as an occupation force.'... These guys may be fighting the war, but they don't have access to the opinions of the vast majority of anybody in Iraq." Tucker Carlson, August 20, 20007
Tucker, you ignorant conservative. Don't project your lack of intellectual curiosity on to others.
Everyone has access to the opinions of the vast majority of Iraqis. Had you taken any interest in the topic, you would know that. Every poll taken there shows the same lopsided results.
If you doubt the vast majority of Iraqis view us as an occupation force, consider the Iraqis' response to polls that asked the following questions:
1. If the Iraqi government were to tell the US to withdraw its forces within six months, do you think the US would or would not do so? 78% said the US would not withdraw.
2. Who do you think controls things in our country [i.e. Iraq]? 59% said the US government, 34% said the Iraqi government, 4% said somebody else.
3. Is the United states playing a positive or a negative role in Iraq right now? 77% said it plays a negative role.
4. Do you support or oppose the presence of U.S. forces? 78% oppose, including 46% who strongly oppose.
5. Who do you blame the most for the violence that is occurring in the country? 40% said coalition forces and/or President Bush; 18% said al Qaeda and/or other foreign jihadis. (No one else got more than 8%.)
6. Since the war, how do you feel about the way the United states and other coalition forces have carried out their responsibilities in Iraq? 97% of Sunnis and 79% of Shia said they did a quite bad or very bad job.
7.And thinking ahead, do you believe that the security situation in Iraq will get better or worse in the immediate weeks following a withdrawal of Multi National Forces? 53% said the security situation would be a great deal better/a little better; 26% said it would be worse. (In Baghdad 53% said the situation would get better, and 23% said the situation would get worse.)
8. Do you think attacks on coalition forces are acceptable? 92% of Sunnis and 62% of Shia said yes.
True, these polls - the most recent available - are dated. But they also validate poll numbers going back three years earlier. Back in May 2004, when 51% of Iraqis still felt "very safe' in their neighborhood, 81% of Iraqis said they had no confidence in coalition forces. Another 7% said they had "not much" confidence.
You suggest a statement like "the vast majority of Iraqis feel increasingly insecure" is some kind of debatable point, yet to be proven. That's not ignorance; that's willful blindness. 50% of Iraqis know a family member or relative, friend or colleague, who has been murdered or kidnapped. In Baghdad, that percentage is 79%.
The troops aren't stupid, Tucker. They can read polls and they can see what's happening with their own eyes.