67-percent of Iraqis view the American-led coalition as 'occupying powers' [View All]

[IndianaGreen]

This is what caught my eye in The Guardian's account of the Black Hawk that was downed today near Tikrit, a story about a poll conducted by Iraq's Centre for Research and Strategic Studies that shows a rising opposition to US occupation.

IMHO, this poll shows the folly of pursuing any strategy that would keep US troops in Iraq for any length of time. Dennis Kucinich has called for a complete US withdrawal by New Year's Day 2004. I don't think that we can afford to stay in Iraq much longer than that.

US helicopter shot down in Iraq

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
Sunday October 26, 2003
The Observer

Iraqis appear to disagree. A poll released this week showed that 67 per cent of Iraqis view the American-led coalition as 'occupying powers', more than 20 per cent higher than a survey conducted shortly after the fall of the former regime. According to the poll, conducted by Iraq's Centre for Research and Strategic Studies, the number of Iraqis who view the coalition as a 'liberating' force has dropped from 43 to 15 per cent, and very few feel safe in the presence of the police or foreign armies controlling the country.

The poll highlights a growing contradiction in Iraq. As security and electricity appear to be improving, the violence directed at the occupiers in certain parts of the country, especially in the so-called Sunni triangle northwest of Baghdad, is growing. These attacks are expected to increase during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which starts this weekend.

In a second blow to US and British hopes for a Western-modelled democracy in Iraq, the poll also revealed that the vast majority of Iraqis preferred an Islamist government - 33 per cent supporting a theocracy and 23 per cent an Islamic democracy such as that in Iran.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1071460,00.html